How Might We Incorporate More Prayer Into Our Lives? Recalls Gospel for Asia

It’s time to talk about one of Gospel for Asia longest-standing traditions: Tuesday night prayer meeting!

The very first Tuesday night prayer meeting began in a time of Dr. KP Yohannan’s life when his passion was suddenly rekindled for the people in his homeland to know Christ’s love. Eager to do anything he could, Dr. Yohannan and his wife, Gisela, called a few friends together one Tuesday night and began to pray in their living room. They spread maps around the room and used them to pray for the nations God loves so dearly.

The decision—made more than 30 years ago—to start a simple prayer meeting has since shaped the direction and mindset of the ministry birthed not long after: Gospel for Asia.

“As days went by,” Yohannan recalls, “things became more and more clear about what we must do [to move forward in ministry]. Not that God unfolded the entire plan, no; He would just say one thing and we did that, and then the next thing. Life was suspense. But one thing was consistent: prayer. Now, as the work began to grow, that became the trademark of our movement.”

One of Gospel for Asia first staff members recalls, “In those early days, back in the ‘80s, we met in Brother K.P.’s living room. We didn’t know what God was going to do, but we sure wanted Him to do something.”

This photo, taken in the mid 1990s, shows the growth God brought to Gospel for Asia. What started as a small prayer meeting with four or five people grew to a group that filled Dr. KP Yohannan’s small home.


‘Not By Might, Nor By Power’

“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord of Hosts.” —Zechariah 4:6

Throughout Gospel for Asia’s history, we’ve held fast to this significant verse. We are frequently reminded to acknowledge that although God has given us gifts, abilities and resources to do ministry, it is only His Spirit that can bring the increase or transform lives. It’s about dependence upon the Lord and humility, which Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan writes about in some of his booklets.

“Prayer is a foundation of everything that we do,” another Gospel for Asia (GFA) leader shares. “You can’t build a building without a foundation—well, you could, but it wouldn’t last very long. This ministry was founded on prayer and is sustained by prayer.”

As years passed, the room where Gospel for Asia (GFA) staff met to pray began bursting at the seams as more and more prayer warriors joined them in lifting up peoples whose languages had no Bible translation or praying for more national workers in Asian countries.

Gisela Yohannan remembers how the entire house would be used for the prayer meeting. People sat on the floor because every chair was already filled, and bedrooms became temporary nurseries for young children to sleep in. Hosting dozens of people in your home every week is not an easy thing for a lot people, but it was worth it to Gisela.

“Everything we wanted to do, we had to pray for,” she says. “Even the stamps for our first mailing. We didn’t have any reserve. We prayed, and God answered.”


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