The Parable of Nirash

Wills Point, Texas – GFA (Gospel for Asia) – Discussing how the Unsponsored Children's Fund helps provide a chance for hope and life to children without sponsors.

The Parable of Nirash - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia

My name is Nirash. I am only a child. I am always sad.

We have very little to eat. Sometimes I have to walk to the river with my mother to carry water home for cooking. It is a long walk and the water pots are heavy.

There is always someone in my family who is sick.

I can't read or write because I have no one to teach me. My mother and father can't read or write either.

My father works very hard every day. When he comes home, he is so tired that he gets angry easily. He complains about his work in the fields and the way he is treated by his overseers. He is sad because he does not earn enough money to take care of us and to pay something called his debts.

My mother has told me that I may have to go to work soon, perhaps in a brick kiln, to earn enough money to feed us better.

I know some other kids who work in brick kilns. They are very unhappy. They are always too tired to play with me. I hope I don't have to work in a brick kiln.

There is a pastor man in our village who visits our home from time to time. He knows that I would like to learn to read and write. He has told us about a place called Bridge of Hope on the other side of the village.

The Bridge of Hope has teachers who are kind and loving. All the kids get a hot meal every day. Doctors come to the center to make sure the kids are healthy. Kids who go to Bridge of Hope learn many things, so they do not have to work in brick kilns or in the fields like my father.

When we heard about Bridge of Hope, we were excited. The pastor said my parents don't even have to pay for me to go. There are people far away who pay for each of the children to go to Bridge of Hope.

I told the pastor that I want to go to Bridge of Hope. He wants me to go too, as soon as someone is willing to sponsor me.

There are millions of helpless children in South Asia. GFA cannot send them all to Bridge of Hope centers, but we are trying to reach as many as we can.

We never want to turn any child away. That's why we have established an Unsponsored Children's Fund, so our field partners can provide the support for a needy child who otherwise would be in a hopeless situation.

Oh, and by the way, Nirash is not the name of a real child. This is, after all, a parable. Nirash is the Hindi word for "hopeless." It is our prayer that through Bridge of Hope, the Unsponsored Children's Fund, this will be the story of more and more children – a story of finding new life.


Pray for our Bridge of Hope centers. Pray for the children. Pray for the staff.


To learn more about Bridge of Hope, go here.

To learn more how to take part in giving hope to children through the Unsponsored Children's Fund, go here.


To read more posts on Patheos on Bridge of Hope, go here.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.




Go here to know more about Gospel for Asia: GFA.org | GFA Reports | GFA.net | MyGFA.org | Facebook

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more