Gospel for Asia

Wills Point, Texas – Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report Part 1 – Discussing the impact of education on the eradication of extreme poverty and illiteracy. When considering the issues of poverty and lack of education, an old saying comes to mind: "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Poverty and low education are each self-perpetuating: Those born into poverty (or illiterate households) often live the remainder of their lives in that same condition and have nothing more to offer their children. [1]  What's more, it is as if poverty and low education have a magnetic attraction, relentlessly pulling those who are caught in one cycle deep into the other too. Why is that? Kristina Birdsong, a writer for Scientific Learning, sums up the relationship between poverty and education by saying, "Today more than ever, education remains the key to escaping poverty, while poverty remains the biggest obstacle to education." [2] Let's look at o...

Wills Point, Texas – GFA Special Report ( Gospel for Asia ) –  Discussing the large and small scale efforts and solutions to end inequality, social injustice, grinding poverty, human rights violations, that continues to exist, affecting millions of women, men and even children. Small Steps, Big Change In the face of such enormous inequalities, it can be difficult to know how to respond and where to start. But just as the problem of social injustice is not really a single, abstract issue so much as the many individuals it affects, so ending inequality is about changing personal circumstances as well as addressing the structures that allow inequality to continue. That sort of action is taking place on large and small scales. At one end of the spectrum, the World Bank is supporting a $63 million empowerment project in Jharkhand, India, which aims to help adolescent girls and young women complete secondary-level education and acquire job skills. A microfinance lo...

In 2 Timothy 2:5, St. Paul writes, “Anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.” Take notice of the fact that no athlete—to whom Paul compares the servant of God—makes up the rules of the game. They are pre-established by the authorities—with no gray areas. One must run strictly according to these rules or else the judge of the game will disqualify him, even if he is the first to cross the finish line. In His Word, God has set particular rules and principles for how we must conduct ourselves in light of the calling with which He called us. These principles are fixed , firm and unbending . The principles are the lighthouse keeping us on the right course. No matter how huge or strong a ship may be, it must move based on the lighthouse’s instruction. The lighthouse never moves— the ship must move . Navigating the Course In the same way, the guidelines God gave us in His Word on how to live and se...

We must be wise and recognize that there is a very real battle for our dependence. The enemy knows that if he can turn our eyes and trust off of the Lord, he will have a mighty foothold into our lives and ministry and will be able to tear both down. As we see in 1 Chronicles 21, why did David come under God’s curse and the nation of Israel have to face God’s judgment? Because “Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel” (1 Chronicles 21:1). Notice that it was the devil who planted the thought in David’s mind to number his army. I am sure David thought, I must fight another war. I had better be sure about what I have available to me. It probably seemed like a good suggestion, but it was a tool of the enemy to destroy David’s ministry as he began to look to the strength and number of his army rather than to the strength and power of God. How true it is that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the author...

Have you ever had an experience where you’ve seen a bunch of text written in another language and had no clue what it was saying? Maybe it was even written using a different alphabet or script. The text might have been full of interesting or useful information, yet you couldn’t access it. Maybe your curiosity was piqued, and you wondered what it said. Or maybe it even caused some inconvenience for you, particularly if you were traveling in a foreign country. Now imagine if you had this experience in your own language every single day, where all the text surrounding you—billboards, caution signs, emails, contracts, forms, books, labels, price tags or even this blog—was meaningless. This would be much more than inconvenient. It would limit practically every part of your life. You would need to depend on others around you for simple tasks. You might have to take a stranger’s word for something, hoping you could trust them. Your options for what kind of a job or salary you could get w...

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas - Discussing what people can actually do to help resolve the global water crisis.  “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.” — Ecclesiastes 4:9 We learn about the importance of working together when we’re children. As early as kindergarten, careful teachers share lessons about helping others. Moms and dads often start those lessons even younger. If everyone helps out around the house, chores get done more quickly with less of a burden on one person. The core messages are responsibility and finding strength in numbers. The most daunting and insurmountable obstacles aren’t so intimidating after all, not when everyone shares the load. For one person reading sad stories about the global water crisis, it might seem impossible to solve. How much of a difference can one person really make? Alone, it would feel like moving a beach, one tiny grain of sand at a time. But together, people ca...

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas - Discussing the topic of gendercide. Whoever dreamed up the idea of gender reveals was onto something fun. Have you seen them on social media? Sometimes, they’re baby shower games or scavenger hunts that bring the participants ever closer to finding out the big secret. Sometimes, they’re clever videos. One of the most bittersweet examples was for a military wife whose husband had been killed in action before meeting his new child. His fellow soldiers made a video of the big reveal with a shower of pink tissue paper and confetti descending as they cheered for the new baby girl. Gender reveals have surprise endings by nature: something pink or something blue. In America, we tend to cheer for girls and boys, alike. In parts of Asia, the happiness scale dips heavily in favor of boys. Many girls never have confetti, applause or even a chance at life beyond the earliest days of protection in their mother’s tummy. Selective Abortio...

Aaliya was fortunate. She survived her prenatal condition and her birth. Nonetheless, her life as a child was miserable, primarily because she was – through no fault of her own – a girl. Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas - Discussing when girls are considered to be a curse to their families. There's just something about a brand new baby girl that can put a twinkle in her father's eyes and a smile on her mother's face. It's a joyful scene when the new addition to the family arrives and is soon cradle in her mother's arms. In just a few minutes, baby will be adorned in pink, and family members will be taking pictures of the newborn. Minutes later, those photos will be delivered to a myriad of family friends over social media. Those friends will post congratulations and add emojis, digital stickers and all other manners of online artwork to celebrate the occasion. Not so much in India, China and other Asian countries. To the contrary, i...

In places where traditional women missionaries face persecution, Sisters of Compassion are welcomed as trustworthy counselors and friends of the community. Widowhood. No one can imagine the pain that follows the death of a spouse until they have experienced it. Suffice it to say that the only way to describe that pain is that it is, indeed, unimaginable. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, the indescribable pain of the loss lingers long after you expect it to. Two Scripture verses have been a comfort to me as I have experienced the pain of which we speak. One is from the Old Testament; the other from the New. “A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation.” (Psalm 68:5) “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27) A Biblical perspective on widowhood is essential for Christians everywhere...