Gospel for Asia

Have you noticed how sad they look Old or young—they care for none Each one walks as if alone. Are you alone on this crowded street? The sound you hear is your heart beat No one to talk to for you see none. I, too, walked alone, as you do now Then one day I stood still, by the road And saw the many, just like me. Blinded by my own ego, I couldn’t see That I was far better off than many out there. Others became my concern from then on; It was no longer me alone. To think of others and their hurts, Giving my life away for others in need This was the way I found my life. K.P. Yohannan. “Walked Alone.” Dance Not for Time . GFA Books, 2013, p. 136. ===== Click here , to read more articles by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan, or visit Patheos . Go here to know more about Dr. KP Yohannan: SourceWatch | Wiki | Flickr | GoodReads | Radio

Take a moment and imagine you’re a farmer in Asia . You work hard all day, day in and day out. But you’re working in a place where there is so much dust. Often, you get dust in your eyes. Over time, your vision is damaged. Even though you’ve worked hard all your life, you still can’t afford treatment to take care of your eyes. It is a frustrating situation. This was the predicament of a man named Bakhtawar . Many people in the area where he lived faced similar problems. That’s why GFA-supported workers decided to organize an eye-care camp where people could come and get free eye exams and treatment. Patients came from a dozen surrounding villages to receive care from the specialists there. These patients included people like Rahman, who had never been able to afford glasses and was so thankful for the free medical care he received at the camp, and Chakori, who had waited years for treatment because she never had enough money. Through Gospel for Asia-supported medical ministry, ...

I plopped down in an empty chair in the terminal at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and heaved a big sigh. I had 16 days of nonstop traveling and speaking behind me and now had two hours between plane connections to catch my breath. Usually I do not mind waiting awhile in the terminal—I enjoy watching people—but on this day I was tired of it. Why am I doing this? I asked myself. What’s it all about, anyway? I was exhausted from sleeping in strange hotel beds with pillows that seemed to grow harder every night. Even the hot chili powder I brought with me to spice up my food had run out. After pouring my heart out to groups all over the country, I was drained and angry with the world. I was even angry with my office staff for booking all these speaking engagements. I had approved the meetings, of course, but it felt better to shift the blame away from myself. I walked over to a pay phone and dialed the Gospel for Asia office in Dallas. I do not even recall who ans...

The Holy Spirit touches the hearts of people who commit their lives to Him wholly; who follow Jesus simply because He said, “Follow Me” ; and who do whatever He asks them to do. It is as simple as that. We see the same response from the disciples Jesus called . . . . These men dropped everything they were doing and followed Jesus. I imagine that Zebedee, James and John’s father, watched in consternation as his sons got up from their nets and followed Jesus. Perhaps he called after them. Perhaps he thought they had lost their senses. . . . Jesus still issues that call [to come and follow Him] to those who claim to be His followers. Peter states, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Jesus told His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. . . . All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:34–35). When we read straight...

At Gospel for Asia, we’ve been praying for the water crisis that’s been happening in South Africa . Sometimes I think about it a little more as I take a shower, drink a glass of clean water, or see the rain pouring down. Millions upon millions around the world are wondering where their next drink of water will come from. Can you imagine waking up this morning at the crack of dawn to wait in line for the water truck to arrive ? Maybe you have to dunk your bucket into a dirty old well, because it is your only source of water supply. Your children are getting sick often and you know the brown substance you’re drinking is not ideal. But you have no other choice. Balab and the other Christians in his village had a problem of their own. They were banned from the public water source—a source that was already polluted and full of bad bacteria. If they needed to get water, they had to wake up early before the sun rose to avoid being beaten or abused. It was an ongoing struggle. No ...

Gospel for Asia (GFA) News, Wills Point, Texas Several billion people around the world live without sufficient access to clean water. Over one billion people lack water supplies. Another 2.7 billion find water scarce for at least one month of the year. Read Gospel for Asia (GFA)’s Special Report on The Global Clean Water Crisis . A 2014 survey of the world’s 500 largest cities estimates that one in four is in “water stress.” Twelve major cities are in danger of running out of clean drinking water, if not soon, within the somewhat near future. Cape Town . The water crisis in the Cape Town has commanded headlines around the globe when the African National Congress declared a national state of emergency as the city had expected to run out of drinking water by April. The deadline was moved to July but, during the third week of March, the government announced that the immediate crisis had been averted. Sao Paul o is Brazil’s financial center. The city of 20 million faced i...

Gospel for Asia (GFA), School of Discipleship News, Wills Point, Texas One day after a Sunday morning worship service a couple months ago, I was sitting on the couch in my living room watching a movie when I heard a knock at my front door. I hopped up, half expecting to greet one of our friendly neighbor kids from across the street. Who I found instead upon opening the door was a couple of our School of Discipleship students. “Hey guys, what’s up?” I asked. “Hi,” one of them said, shifting from one foot to the other. “We’ve been walking around the neighborhood this afternoon asking people some questions and wondered if you had a couple of minutes.” “Sure, I have a little time,” I smiled, seeing where this conversation was headed. “What’s on your mind?” “We’re wondering if you know who Jesus is?” Not missing a beat, I played along. “Yeah, they talk about Him in church all the time…” Gospel for Asia students and staff share the Gospel at the Texas State Fair....

Eight years ago, I experienced just a taste of the mission field. I walked through grimy slum alleyways to reach a cheerful Bridge of Hope center ; I walked along dusty village paths to a place known as “the miracle church” because of the mighty acts of God witnessed there; I pumped the handle of a Jesus Well that was the answer to many prayers; I worshiped alongside believers whose language I didn’t know, but whose God I did know. Each of those experiences is precious, but the one that stands out most vividly, even years later, is an interaction I had with a missionary whose name I do not know. I call him the brother from the window. While in Asia, I visited a place that was familiar to me—not because I had been there before, but because I had prayed for that exact place just months earlier. We had received a report that a group of Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported missionaries had been attacked and beaten. It was due to some huge misunderstanding with the community, but i...

Lok, a man from South Asia, had been suffering from severe back pain for three years. He had begun listening to a GFA-supported daily radio program, and one day he joined the broadcaster in a prayer to Jesus. He simply asked the Lord to heal his back. A few weeks later, the local GFA-supported workers received a letter from Lok. With great joy he reported that God had heard his prayer and healed him completely! This stack of letters is just a fraction of over a million responses GFA-supported Radio Ministry receives from interested radio listeners each year. For us it’s always an encouragement and a challenge to witness how God delights in answering the prayers of people who may not even know much about Him. He responds to their simple faith in Him and the Word of God they have heard. Whenever Jesus taught His disciples about prayer and serving God, He listed two specific groups of people they were not to imitate. The first group was the Pharisees, whom He often labele...

Creator became creation Holiness became sin Innocent pronounced guilty Life-giver killed by sin and hate Trinity was broken Father forsakes His Son His friends ran away Left all alone to suffer Bloody and wounded His back plowed over Flesh from His body torn Blood pouring out Fairest among 10,000 Disfigured from abuse Human, He no more looked My Savior and Lord The cross was heavy Fell He along the way He chose Calvary To redeem me from sin I stood by the cross Looked into His bloody face He looked at me With love so tender full of grace I understood then He took my place To make me His I am no more my own . . . K.P. Yohannan. “ The Cross .” Dance Not for Time.  GFA Books, 2013, p p. 245-246 . ===== Click here , to read more articles by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan, or visit Patheos . Go here to know more about Dr. KP Yohannan: Integrity | Facebook | Twitter | Book

When we read the life stories of Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Paul and the other apostles, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Amy Carmichael, Adoniram Judson, Jim Elliott and others, we are awed by the total commitment these people had to follow the L iving God. What was it that caused them to love God more than their own life and impact their generation and the world in the process? I believe there was a common denominator in each of their lives: a continuous work of the Lord, removing their dependencies and everything they looked at to sustain them, so that He could become all in all for them. This wasn’t accomplished in one day, one year or even 10 years. Often, it took a lifetime. It was perhaps 50 years after Abraham first heard God’s call to follow Him that he stood on Mount Moriah ready to sacrifice his son. It took God all those many long years of continuously tearing away Abraham’s dependencies to bring him to the place where he was willing to lay down all his...

That evening I was playing with my children in front of our house in our yard under the tree. Sparrows were chirping— we looked up and saw their nest up in the tree. There she sat, motionless, two tiny birds under her wings. That night no star in the sky— darkness reigned from its throne. A storm roared through trees shook branches fell. The sky grew angry clapped its hands lightning shot out thunder growled. Clouds burst open and began to weep in a great downpour— no letting up. Next morning The rain had stopped the sun rose. I went out to look for the birds. Soaking wet she sat in the nest two tiny heads peeking through her wing. Was she sleeping? “Oh, no,” I thought. “She can’t be dead, can she?” Yes, she died in the rain. She could have escaped, but for the love of her children, she gathered them under her wings to save their lives. The love of the sparrow touched my...