A Jacket Can Change a Life Through the Gifts of Gospel for Asia Friends

A Jacket Can Change a Life Through the Gifts of Gospel for Asia Friends March 12, 2021

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide – Discussing Parmeet who once struggled to provide for his family because he couldn’t work in the extremely harsh weather – but now, because of his new jacket from donations of Gospel for Asia (GFA World) friends, he can work even when it is very cold!

“Ihave many times cried because of the bitter cold,” shared 70-year-old Parmeet during an interview with a Gospel for Asia (GFA World) field correspondent last year.

“When it is extremely cold, we are not able to do anything; we are not able to go out and work in the field,” he explained. “And if we don’t work, we don’t get food.”

 Discussing Parmeet, the challenge of harsh winter weather, and how donations from Gospel for Asia friends make a difference for poverty alleviation.

Life Below Zero

Where Parmeet lives, it drops below zero degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Throughout the winter months, people can’t even take a bath because it is so cold—they only wash their faces, and that only after heating the water.

“If we touch the cold water, it hurts our hands so badly,” Parmeet explained.

People’s hands become dry and cracked. Frostbite is a regular threat for Parmeet and his large family, who layer all the ragged clothes they own in an effort to stay warm. To survive the frigid nights, the entire family crowds together near the kitchen stove and sleeps on sacks filled with husks and sawdust.

Firewood is essential for survival. In fact, Parmeet, a daily-wage laborer, often spends hours gathering firewood for his neighbors in order to earn a meager income. But due to the cold, he couldn’t get an early start or work for very long, meaning he struggled to provide food for his family. But that changed the day he received a jacket through the donations of Gospel for Asia (GFA World) friends—through people like you. “This is a very good jacket,” Parmeet shared. “It is of very good quality. … It has kept my body very warm. … Now I am able to go and do whatever work I am assigned.”

Sustained by the warmth of the jacket, this father, who already knew the love of the Savior, can work longer hours and make more money to feed his family.

“This jacket has not only protected me from cold and sickness, but this has encouraged me,” he said. “I feel my spirit is very high; I am very happy now.”

Thank You!

Although a large percentage of winter clothing packets go to help pastors and other GFA workers, some are also given to help and encourage men like Parmeet.

“I am so happy and so grateful to you for giving me this jacket,” Parmeet said, addressing his unknown benefactors around the world. “I pray the Lord would bless you. … Thank you very much for loving me and caring for me.”


*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.


Source: Gospel for Asia Rejoice! Newsletter, A Jacket Can Change a Life

Learn more about how generosity of donations can change lives – through Gospel for Asia (GFA World) and its Christmas Gift Catalog, gifts like pigs, bicycles and sewing machines break the cycle of poverty and show Christ’s love to impoverished families in Asia. One gift can have a far-reaching impact, touching families and rippling out to transform entire communities.

Learn more by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:

Click here to read more blogs and on Christmas Gift Catalog on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.


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