Gospel for Asia

WILLS POINT, TX — Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report #1 —  Discussing the world’s quest for access to clean water that is safe to drink. Photo credit  Giacomo Pirozzi, UNICEF The statistics are mind-numbing. 502,000 people die each year from diarrhea — caused by unsafe drinking water. [1] 2.1 billion people have no access to safely managed drinking water. [2] 159 million people get their drinking water directly from surface water sources. [3] 263 million must travel more than 30 minutes daily to collect their water. [4] Safe drinking water is something most of us take for granted. But for millions of people, the only water they have is contaminated. And millions more are at risk of having no water at all. According to the United Nations, 1.9 billion people (27 percent of the world’s population) live in “potentially severely water-scarce” areas. [5] They wake up each morning knowing they must fight to survive. For those of us who enjoy ready access to ...

When I first came to the United States, I visited a large, well-known church where the pastor announced an evening prayer meeting. I came early that night, genuinely concerned that I might not find a place in the sanctuary. Serving on the mission field, I had learned that, as a follower of Christ, prayer was the most important factor in life. I had no doubt that the churches in America were praying churches and eagerly looked forward to the meeting. That evening I waited and waited for the thousands of believers I had seen in the morning to come and intercede for the pastor, the church and the mission field, but in the end only seven showed up . It was an experience I will never forget. As you read news reports about tragic events, put yourself in the place of the people involved. You will feel their pain, desperation and their hopelessness at not knowing the name of Jesus. My dear friend, you will be able to weep for them, and God will be pleased to answer your prayer on the...

Long-term ‘desperate need’ likely as thousands lose everything, reports ministry leader appealing for more ‘helping hands’   STONEY CREEK, Ontario  —  GFA-supported workers (formerly: Gospel for Asia )  are stepping up efforts to help with rescue and relief efforts in India’s flood-stricken Kerala state, as the death toll and number of displaced people in the worst flooding in nearly a century continue to climb. Though rains have mostly subsided, an unknown number of people are still stranded or without food and water, and resources at packed relief camps have been stretched. More than 300 have died as a result of the flooding, and “thousands remain marooned,” according to BBC News. GFA-supported teams have used boats to search for and rescue some of the missing, and visited relief camps to deliver urgently needed supplies, including medicines, food, water and toiletries. Workers at GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centres have also been dist...

Facebook share Twitter share Share on Google+ प्रतीकात्‍मक फोटो New Delhi, Nov 20:  With an aim to provide better living conditions to the less privileged people of the country, Believers Eastern Church on Sunday inaugurated 13 Sanitation Projects in Agwanpur area of Faridabad, Delhi- NCR and Bhati Mines area of South Delhi. The inauguration was done on the mark  World Toilet Day  and will benefit more than 2.5 lakh people living in this area. HIGHLIGHTS The inauguration was done on the mark World Toilet Day and will benefit more than 2.5 lakh people living in this area. The organization has constructed nearly 28,000 sanitation facilities. The project was inaugurated by Smt. Rosy Pandit (General Secretary of Mahila Morcha, B.J.P), Smt.Prita Ahuja President of Pargati India, Smt.Hemlata Sharma from Paryas Welfare Society, along with church leaders Bishop Dr. Simon John, Rev.Fr. Jagan Mohan Rao, Rev.Fr. Deepak Kumar, Rev.Fr. Patrash M...

A GFA-supported missionary Jayin held a position of high respect in his community and was well on his journey to self-realization and ultimate reality. But Jayin was searching for something more. He was searching for God. His role in the village was to share his spiritual understanding and enlightenment with those who came under his tuteledge in the hope that their experience will transcend his own. Jayin's dilemma was that he had been unable to find the living God in his studies, his traditions or his rituals. Realizing that all that he had learned and practiced had done nothing to bring him to the true God he was seeking, he became frustrated. It disturbed him deeply that he conducted and taught all of the physical rites and metaphysical ruminations to his students. If he couldn't find God in them, how could they? As he continued to struggle, he spiraled into depression and nearly lost his mind tilting at the windmills on his increasingly quixotic quest. He...

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas - Discussing the purpose, passion and impact of National Missionaries. Dr. K.P. Yohannan’s seminal book, Revelation in World Missions , may have been inspired in part by a recognition that the nations of the world were themselves facing major changes in the post-World War II era. Many nations, previously parts of global empires, were experiencing the early stages of independence. Independence is the favorite traveling companion of national identity. Whenever or wherever one nation is subject to another there is always some measure of lost identity that accompanies the loss of governmental and economic control. This has been true through all of recorded history. Ruling governments, including the Greek and Roman empires, gave great priority to determine the appropriate form of governance that would be most tolerable by the local culture whilst maintaining control over them. History also shows that no government has ever found...

We cannot live in neutral and expect to coast into fulfilling the call of God on our lives. We must put ourselves in gear, allow the Holy Spirit to identify the areas of our lives that need self-discipline and then daily make the choice to take up our cross and follow Him. The nature of discipline is doing the things we don’t exactly feel like doing . Self-discipline is a highway, taking us off the roads full of traffic and frequent stops and setting us on a clear, focused, straight path that enables us to do the most with our lives. Here are a few areas that are especially important to be disciplined in. Time Management Discipline Your life may be spiritually dry because you are not committed to disciplining your time so you can have a devotional life. You don’t read your Bible faithfully and systematically every day. You don’t take time to pray and seek the Lord. Why should you be disciplined with your time? Because you have a higher call. You are under Go...

In the early years of my ministry, I spoke according to my own ability and cleverness. Though people were impressed, inside I was drying up. I struggled without any overcoming life in me. I carried a lot of information in my head, but I was like a chandelier with the switch turned off. It looks nice, the bulbs are brand-new, the electrical cord intact, but the power needed to light it is missing. One evening, before I was to speak in a meeting, I sat alone in my room and cried out in desperation to God. “Lord, I know my outline and I know my stories, but my heart is empty. I have no power. You promised to give me power. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit and give me power to minister tonight.” The Lord heard my prayers and did a mighty work that night. I don’t even remember the message I spoke, but afterward many people were weeping and crying out to God for Him to work in their lives. Did I do it? No. The Holy Spirit did it! In your life, as you are filled with the...

We all have expectations for ourselves. We all have ways we would like to be different. Perhaps we would like to be more patient or less prone to anger. When we do not measure up to the standards we have set for ourselves we become discouraged. But you  have to realize that God is not discouraged with you . He never gives up on us. He never stops working with us. Balance is needed between knowing our sins and insufficiency and knowing that it is God who works within us, perfecting us for His glory. When you pray, do you oftentimes get weighed down with confessing your own sins and repenting for every wrong thought and failure? Sometimes it seems we can’t get over this, living with constant memories from the past and old sins that caused great pain. Many people live continually with the words, “If only . . . if only . . . I wish,” playing through their minds, unable to move past their failures. Sometimes we feel that we don’t pray enough. We are not spiritual enough . . ...

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, ...