Last updated on: October 29, 2022 at 5:22 am By GFA Staff Writer
Madin finally had to leave. Being from the lowest class, he had suffered exploitation and mistreatment at the hands of his upper-class neighbors all his life. He couldn’t handle the abuse anymore. Seeking peace for his family, he knew they could no longer live in their village. In the face of such hardships, Madin moved his family to a big city, hoping for more opportunities in a place where class was not the sole identity of an individual. Having no connections, the harassed family moved to a large slum within an overcrowded city. All over the world, millions of disenfranchised people have ended up in similar slum dwellings. In 2017, about 900 million people lived in slums across the globe.
Hope Dawns in the Slum with Message of Acceptance
Madin worried about his children. He had escaped ridicule, but poverty had followed him. He seemed doomed to live as an outcast with his children inheriting his fate.
Then, one day, Madin heard about a God who loved him. Amaan, a first-year Bible college student, went to Madin’s slum to share about God’s great love and forgiveness of sins. As Amaan walked through the muddy, narrow lanes of the slums, his heart broke for the people living in these conditions. He wanted to help them any way he could to improve their lives. But what could he, a poor, Bible college student, do?
When Amaan met Madin, he shared God’s Word with this discouraged father. Madin listened attentively to the Bible college student share about the God who accepted them, even though they had always felt so worthless and disposable.
In Need of a Miracle
Amaan faithfully taught weekly literacy classes in the slum. One week, as he made his way to the slum, he passed by a mountain of garbage and found a small boy rolling in the refuse, covered in dirt.
Shocked, Amaan approached the boy and recognized Madin’s son, Savith. Amaan quickly found the boy’s parents to ask what happened. Madin shared how, a week before, Savith began acting strangely and kept wanting to go to the garbage pile. They realized he was being afflicted by an evil spirit, so Madin and Ramana took him to a religious leader to perform a sacrifice on behalf of their son. But Savith continued to get worse throughout the week.
His distraught parents didn’t know what to do. They couldn’t afford to take him to get medical attention. They hoped he would somehow heal on his own. Feeling helpless, Madin and Ramana left their son to roll in the garbage heaps.
Miracle Leads to Worshiping Community
Amaan moved closer to the flailing boy. He reached out his hands and offered a simple prayer to Jesus. Savith immediately sat up and looked at Amaan. Encouraged, Amaan talked to the boy, but Savith did not respond. Amaan prayed again, and the tormenting spirit left. Savith stood up, perfectly healthy.
“We prayed and went to the temple … but nothing happened to him,” the parents explained. “However, you have prayed, and this boy is healed now.” Seeing their beloved son restored filled Madin and Ramana with joy. They encouraged Amaan to visit them frequently.
Astonishment washed over Madin and Ramana. They did not know the power of God before that moment.
“We prayed and went to the temple … but nothing happened to him,” the parents explained. “However, you have prayed, and this boy is healed now.”
Seeing their beloved son restored filled Madin and Ramana with joy. They encouraged Amaan to visit them frequently.
“Our door is open for you all the time,” they told Amaan.
News of the little boy’s healing astounded many neighbors in the slum. Intrigued, many came to Madin’s house to hear Amaan share from God’s Word, and they learned more about this God who had shown Himself so powerful.
No longer rejected, Madin now knows acceptance from his Heavenly Father and the love of fellow worshipers—his new eternal family.
In 2018, residents in more than 900 slums heard about the love of Christ through Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers. Slum ministry is unique and requires creativity on the part of national workers. They meet people in desperate and sometimes life-threatening situations. These compassionate men and women seek to minister to people’s physical needs while also ministering to their spiritual needs.
As governments grapple with how to provide housing and services for the exploding populations in their cities, Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers are bringing hope today into the litter-strewn paths of hundreds of shantytowns across Asia. Thousands of people have found hope in Jesus for today and security for eternity.
Last updated on: November 12, 2022 at 9:56 am By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) – Discussing what national workers do daily to spread God’s love across Asia. “They need to think about what is needed, not what is possible because possible can change. A major problem I see . . . is not having visionary leaders.” —R.D. Thulasiraj, Director of Operations, Aravind Eye Care System
Mr. Thulasirai’s sage observation, although having nothing directly to do with missions, might be worthy of our consideration of what it really means for indigenous, national workers to be supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA) and its generous donors.It is difficult for us to imagine the role of pastors and other national workers in Asia because we have not seen what they have seen, nor have we experienced what they have. One thing is for certain, these pastors and workers do not have the same routine that most Western pastors do.
Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor Marty grew up in an Asian slum where, as a young boy, he often dug for food in the bottom of dirty garbage bins to avoid starvation. He describes life in the slums as a vicious, generation cycle.
Garbage litters the streets. Dirty drinking water and the absence of simple hygienic practices like hand-washing cause disease rates to soar. Prostitution, sex trafficking, and other crimes hold countless people in bondage with no escape.[1]
Now, Pastor Marty and his family minister to families in the slum where he was raised. One believer in his church said, “He is a great example for us as he represents Jesus. He does what Jesus would have done. Helping the poor and needy and loving people. He is always willing to help people.”
Another Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor, Kanak, witnessed people in his village drinking from the same pond in which they bathed and washed their livestock and dirty dishes. He’s seen mothers unable to feed their children because they have no source of income. He ministers to children and adults who have no education. He works among people who barely have what they need to survive let alone prosper.
“When I see the condition of [these] people, their poverty, . . . it hurts me. It pains me to see them suffering. I wish I could bring changes in their lives.” —Pastor Kanak [2]
Like Pastor Marty, that’s exactly what he is doing. He spends time with the villagers and becomes acquainted with their struggles, assessing what would help them the most and show them Jesus’ love. These men, and multiple others like them, spend their days considering the needs of the people to whom they are called to serve.
They demonstrate spiritual leadership by “thinking about what is needed.” Because they understand the people’s needs, they are able to discern what they can do to help those individuals, families and villages according to what they need most.
If people need clean water, the pastors may arrange for the installation of Jesus Wells or distribution of BioSand water filters. If the people need education, national workers help establish Bridge of Hope centers for children and literacy classes for adults. If a rural household needs a source of income, they may arrange for the most appropriate farm animals for the individuals in need. In the slums, they may organize vocational classes to train women to generate income to provide for their families.
People with vision are those who see a need and then make every effort to meet that need. Vision in ministry is all about seeing the need, then doing something about it.
Once we see their needs and minister to them, they will already begin to see Christ in us.
To read more about these national workers, click on the their stories below:
Last updated on: November 28, 2019 at 3:27 pm By GFA Staff Writer
Gospel for Asia (GFA) News, Wills Point, Texas
Imagine. You’re a woman in Asia with no rights.
You’ve just been married to a man who wants to use you to get rich. You really don’t have the money he’s looking for, yet you’re family’s required to provide a “wedding gift” — a dowry. Your father takes out a loan to pay the groom and his family, yet it’s still not enough. The husband’s family demands even more while your family is left impoverished with nothing more to give. Now your fate is to be burned in a blazing fire because what your family had to offer him didn’t make the cut.
Sound unbelievable? Bride burnings and dowry deaths still occur in Asia, even today.
Imagine. You wake up one day to find your husband went to work one morning then suddenly went missing. Days pass and you find out he was mauled by a fierce tiger, or lost his life in a work-related accident. You’re a widow now. But instead of getting support from your family during your grief, everybody who loved you before now abandons you and no longer cares for you, because they believe you have bad Kharma, which makes you responsible for your husband’s death. Is there any hope for you now?
Sound incredible? Millions of widows in India suffer alone and abandoned due to this social stigma.
Is there any hope for the women of Asia who find themselves living out these scenarios?
After the movie was finished, people wanted to know how they could help the suffering women in Asia.
Movie Night at Local Church Raises Awareness
On Nov. 10, a few Gospel for Asia (GFA) staff and members of a local church came together to watch GFA’s documentary film, “Veil of Tears.” One couple who came to view the film was so shocked at the treatment of women in Asia that they covered their mouths throughout the movie as they considered what could be done to help these precious women that God loves so much.
Mary, a member of the local church, was overwhelmed by the reality that many women in Asia face.
“It’s overwhelming. You wonder how you can help,” Mary explained. “I’m just one person.”
Pastor David Cartwright, senior pastor of the local church, was gripped by compassion seeing the way some women are treated.
“My heart breaks when I see how deep evil and sin go in our world,” Pastor Cartwright said. “It’s hard to believe groups of people are so unloved and despised and treated like they are. It is beyond anything we see in our culture.”
Sisters of Compassion takes care of the lowest of the low and listen to their stories.
Gospel for Asia-supported Workers Bring Hope to Suffering Women
Near the end of “Veil of Tears,” the mood of the movie turns from the abuse and violence against women in Asia to hope as Gospel for Asia-supported women missionaries and Sisters of Compassion—women who are specifically trained to minister to the least of the least—enter the scene.
These national workers are changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of women in Asia simply by ministering to and loving them. They also offer programs that help improve a woman’s quality of life. One of those programs is literacy classes, which will keep a woman from signing bad contracts or being cheated at the marketplace.
“I’m really impressed with the literacy of the children and the women, because I think that changes lives,” Mary explained. “I think that’s one thing that no matter what country you’re in or who you are, literacy changes lives.”
The film also shows the ministry Sisters of Compassion have on an island that is home to millions of widows who have been overlooked and abandoned by their family and friends.
“When I stand before my God,” one Sister of Compassion explained, “He’ll say to me, ‘You’ve done a good job, and because of you, these widow mothers are in heaven also.’”
One Person Can Make a Difference for Women in Asia
After the film ended, a Gospel for Asia staff member stood before those who were in attendance and pointed out that we may not be able to do everything, but all of us can do something.
“If God cares about our personal struggles,” she said, “certainly He cares much more about the bigger things.”
Then everyone gathered in groups to pray for women missionaries and those women who are suffering. Mary was impacted by the call to prayer.
“It’s going to make me think and pray differently, and hope I don’t get callous,” Mary said.
The question I’m going to leave with you is a question I asked before: Is there hope? Through people’s prayers and support of the women missionaries and Sisters of Compassion, many women who have no hope will finally find it.
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For more blogs by Gospel for Asia on Patheos, go here.
For more details on the powerful documentary movie, Veil of Tears, go here.
WILLS POINT, TX — Endless scrolling and digital overload are creating a surprising hunger among the smartphone generation known as Gen Z — a deep longing for a real, personal encounter with God, says a global missions leader.
“Young people are craving more than just entertainment and information,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, president of global mission agency GFA World. “They’re craving to encounter the living God.”
GEN Z’S ‘GOD ENCOUNTER’: GFA World’s Set Apart retreat June 2-8 offers young people ages 18-30 the opportunity to swap social media and compulsive texting for a week of “encountering God.”
His comments follow a new study by Barna researchers that revealed young Americans are more likely than older Americans to affirm a “personal commitment to Jesus Christ.” In other research, based on a poll of 2,000 young Americans, two-thirds of Gen Zers said they had prayed to God in the past week, while more than one-third said they had read from the Bible.
Findings suggest many teens and young adults are seeking something deeper than social media likes and followers.
Now Texas-based GFA World is giving them that opportunity.
From June 2-8, the Set Apart retreat at the mission organization’s campus in Wills Point near Dallas offers Gen Zers and Millennials ages 18-30 the opportunity to swap social media and compulsive texting for a week of encountering God — the “encounter they crave,” according to Bishop Daniel.
A Narnia-Like Experience
He likens the retreat to the moment in C.S. Lewis’s “The Chronicles of Narnia” when the children step through the wardrobe to encounter Aslan, a fictional representation of Christ.
Gen Z longs to “walk through the wardrobe” and meet with God personally, he said, “but they don’t know how or haven’t been given the opportunity.”
The retreat will inspire young people to respond to Jesus’ challenge to “deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me” — a radical call, Bishop Daniel says, to embrace “what it means to follow Christ, to live in the light of eternity.”
Seeking A Solid Foundation
Many young people feel empty and are looking for something to anchor their lives on.
A recent report in Premier Christianity noted a growing interest in historic Christian practices and liturgies — dating back to the early church — that “have become more attractive to young adults seeking a solid foundation.”
When young people set aside their phones purposefully for a time of silent prayer and reflection, Bishop Daniel said, the effect on them is profound.
“You have no idea how many young people say that the most impactful thing in their life is just to have the opportunity to encounter the living God,” he said. “As we listen for God’s still small voice, he meets us, but we must give him the space to speak to us.”
Bishop Daniel sees this generation as the future leaders and missionaries of the church — the ones who will carry the message of Christ into the next era.
“They’re going to be the ones to move nations,” he said. “The greatest gift we can give them is the opportunity to encounter God for themselves.”
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and more than 150,000 families provided with the means to break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX — After 45 years of groundbreaking ministry in Asia that includes sending out thousands of national missionaries, a U.S.-based mission organization is expanding in Africa. Texas-based GFA World (www.gfa.org) — formerly known as Gospel for Asia — is moving into a new frontier, with the launch of a new missions base in Liberia in addition to projects already underway in Rwanda.
“Africa is bursting with possibilities,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, the organization’s new president. “Roughly 40 percent of the population of Liberia, for example, is under the age of 15.”
NEW WAVE OF HOPE ACROSS AFRICA: Texas-based GFA World (www.gfa.org) has launched a new mission base in Liberia, in addition to the construction of a large-scale multi-specialty hospital and training complex in Kigali, Rwanda — a “springboard” for ministry across Africa.
Across Africa, it is estimated at least 32 million children of primary age, mostly girls, do not attend school because their families cannot afford the fees. GFA World’s child sponsorship program seeks to change that, and actively partners with communities.
The organization is also launching projects and missionary training in Liberia.
Training and equipping nationals — or locals — to do missionary work is nothing new to GFA World. In the 1980s, its founder, K.P. Yohannan, launched what was described as a “revolution in world missions,” sending thousands of trained national missionaries on foot and bicycles to “share the love of God” in communities across Asia, bringing hope and healing to places where there was no previous exposure to the Gospel.
‘Never Met a Christian’
Many people in isolated villages have never heard the Gospel message — or even met a Christian — while millions live and die without ever hearing the name of Jesus Christ, the missions organization says.
“National missionaries know the local customs, languages, and beliefs, and don’t face travel or visa restrictions that cross-cultural workers have,” said Timotheos Yohannan, adding that local missionaries “can easily connect with their own people.”
Meanwhile, the organization’s ministry base in Kigali, Rwanda, continues to expand. With one of the highest-density populations in Africa, there is only one doctor for every 8,300 people. The organization is constructing a large-scale multi-specialty hospital and medical training complex that is modelled on its state-of-the-art facility in Asia that helps nearly 2,000 patients every day and trains hundreds of medical students.
The Rwanda-based hospital complex will train medical professionals from across Africa, as well as help set up a network of permanent health clinics.
Plans are underway for new projects in Liberia, mirroring the work in Rwanda — including educational opportunities for children, clean water projects known as “Jesus Wells,” and medical camps where the most at risk families can get free healthcare.
“One-third of the world’s communities are still waiting to experience Christ’s love for the first time,” said Timotheos Yohannan. “No one should die without knowing the love of Christ.”
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 freshwater wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX — Millions across Africa and Asia brace for the annual drought season that could result in catastrophic loss of life in coming months as millions turn to filthy, disease-ridden ponds as a last resort to find drinking water. A heartfelt call to arms comes from the global mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) as World Water Day on March 22 spotlights the pervasive water crisis.
GFA World warns before World Water Day millions drink dirty ponds. | Image courtesy of Gregg Wooding.
“About 2.2 billion people have no access to safe drinking water, and 829,000 of them will die this year from waterborne diseases, most of which could be prevented,” said Bishop Daniel Timotheos Yohannan, the organization’s president. “This is something we should all care about.”
Since 2007, the Texas-based organization has drilled 40,000 freshwater wells — known as “Jesus Wells” — and has supplied some 39 million people with safe drinking water in some of the world’s poorest and thirstiest regions.
They’re called “Jesus Wells” because they’re inscribed with Christ’s words recorded in John’s Gospel: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.” The wells are much-frequented community gathering spots — like a town square — giving local Christians opportunities to “share God’s love,” Bishop Daniel said.
This year, GFA World aims to drill thousands more in drought-prone places across Africa and Asia. Each well reliably supplies clean drinking water to hundreds of people for 20 years or more, even during severe drought, the organization said.
Teams typically drill 600 feet to reach fresh water — and the end-result transforms local communities, saving countless lives at risk of cholera, typhoid and other often-fatal waterborne diseases.
In Vimal’s village in Asia, women had to line up for two hours every day to fill their water jugs from the nearest safe water source, with trips to the well adding up to ten miles a day. When the water dried up during periods of drought, fights broke out over water at the muddy village pond, their only other option.
All that changed when the mission organization partnered with a local pastor and his congregation to drill a new well, maintained by the local church.
“The women don’t have to spend half their days hauling water,” Bishop Daniel added, “the children no longer miss school searching for water, people don’t get sick from drinking polluted water, and the attitude of the villagers toward Christians has changed.”
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX — A U.S. faith-based organization has hatched an “eggs-traordinary” challenge to help fight global poverty and hunger.
GFA World’s “chicken challenge” is part of its annual Christmas Critter Campaign that aims to “rescue families from poverty and show them Christ’s love.”
‘IM-PECK-ABLE’ TIMING: Just in time for the holidays, Texas-based mission agency GFA World has hatched the “chicken challenge,” part of its annual Christmas Critter Campaign to rescue families across Africa and Asia from poverty and hunger.
“This is not a one-time hand-out,” said Bishop Daniel, the organization’s president. “Providing a pair of chickens can assist a family out of the cycle of poverty. It impacts not only the family, but the entire community in a positive way, and helps the kids to be healthier.
“Everything we do provides the opportunity to share the love of Christ tangibly and practically.”
The “chicken challenge” invites people to donate a pair of chickens each month for a year, helping a dozen families in some of the poorest places in Africa and Asia fly the poverty coop.
Chickens and eggs not only provide a rich source of dietary protein but also generate a reliable income stream, according to GFA World. It supports thousands of indigenous — or national — missionaries who serve millions of the world’s poorest people on two continents.
For more than 45 years, national missionaries supported by the Texas-based Christian organization have helped transform communities through poverty-fighting initiatives, clean water projects, children and women’s programs, and by sharing the “good news.”
Eternity Is ‘Thing That Matters Most’
The Christmas Critter Campaign also gives people the opportunity to donate goats, pigs and water buffalo, as well as other life-changing gifts such as clean water filters, sewing machines, and warm winter clothing.
Practically sharing the love of Christ makes an eternal difference, the organization says.
Giving people who have never heard even the name of Jesus the opportunity to “experience Christ’s love and hope” was the driving force behind the organization’s founder K.P. Yohannan, who died after a car accident earlier this year.
“The only thing that will matter is what was done to impact (lives for) eternity,” he said, just weeks before his death.
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX — U.S. mission organization GFA World (www.gfa.org) is responding to deadly floods in the South Asian nation of Nepal — a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Helene in the U.S.
As the Southeastern U.S. reels from the devastation and death toll caused by Helene, the landlocked nation of Nepal — famous for Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak — has also suffered deadly flooding on a massive scale.
In Nepal, torrential monsoon rains triggered floods and landslides that have claimed nearly 200 lives with dozens still missing, including in the capital, Kathmandu.
In Lalitpur, a city with 300,000 residents south of the capital, rescue teams were digging with their bare hands around the clock to reach people buried under thick mud and rubble, according to reports.
‘Heart-Wrenching’ Situation
“The situation in Nepal is heart-wrenching right now,” said Bishop Daniel, president of GFA World, a faith-based ministry that supports national missionaries across Asia and Africa.
Thousands of people are in desperate need of food and shelter after flood waters and rivers of thick mud barreled through the Kathmandu valley, the Texas-based organization reported.
“Our local partners in Nepal are providing relief aid such as food for those affected, and reports are trickling in of church members who’ve lost their homes,” Bishop Daniel said. “We’re asking people to keep all those suffering in Nepal in their prayers, along with those suffering in the southern U.S.”
Located between India and China, Nepal is used to heavy annual monsoon rains, but experts say the scale of this flooding is unprecedented, causing chaos across central and eastern parts of the country.
GFA World has played a leading role in supporting compassion-centered humanitarian projects in the isolated nation, which has a population of 31 million.
National missionaries trained and supported by the organization trek through the Himalaya Mountains to share the love of God with people in remote villages and pray with those who are sick.
About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)
GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping thousands of national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, and helping more than 150,000 families break the cycle of poverty through income-generating gifts. More than 40,000 fresh water wells have been drilled since 2007, hundreds of thousands of women are now empowered through literacy training, and Christ-motivated ministry takes place every day throughout 18 nations. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.
Last updated on: November 28, 2022 at 7:58 pm By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide, discussing the despair of Kalyska, her husband’s betrayal, her brother’s thievery, and the hope and peace that God brought through a friend and a Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary.
“Frustrated” didn’t begin to describe how Kalyska felt. Her younger brother had effectively stolen the money she had lent him. Nearly all her savings were now gone. It was a heavy blow to the single mother of two. Kalyska already had difficulty providing for her son and daughter, but this was the final straw. How could she recover?
A Mother’s Struggles
Kalyska, pictured here, is thankful for the love she was shown and the opportunity to provide for her children.
Things hadn’t always been like this. Kalyska had once had a happy home, if not a perfect one. Kalyska’s marriage had started out happy, but three years and two children later, she discovered her husband was seeing another woman. Her husband, confronted with his infidelity, hurled physical and verbal abuse on Kalyska. Then he left.
Kalyska was left alone to take care of their children. Fortunately, with some savings and the small income she now earned through tailoring, Kalyska was able to send her children to school once they were old enough.
But the reality of her situation shattered any semblance of peace. Many individuals, hearing of Kalyska’s plight, offered to help—but all they wanted was to use Kalyska for their own gain. Fear and despair took hold in Kalyska’s heart. She didn’t feel safe; she wasn’t safe.
Then Kalyska’s brother visited. Jobless, he needed a place to stay while he looked for opportunities. Kalyska graciously let him stay at her home. Eventually, he found a job, but it was an international posting, and he needed money to get there. So Kalyska loaned him most of her savings on his promise he would send the money back once he started his job. But no money came; the brother stopped all contact; Kalyska had virtually nothing left for her children.
An Opportunity for Hope, Peace
Not long after her brother absconded with her money, Kalyska was out at her local market. There, she happened to meet a lady named Peleria. A conversation ensued, during which the stressed mother shared all the horrible things she had recently endured. It was all too much—first her husband’s betrayal, then the predators’ threats and finally her brother’s thievery.
Peleria listened to Kalyska bare her heart with patience and compassion. As the talk progressed, Kalyska invited Peleria to her home the next day; they could continue talking then.
At Kalyska’s home, Peleria shared with Kalyska about her sister, Idalis, who happened to be a Gospel for Asia (GFA) missionary. Idalis ran a small program teaching women—specifically, single mothers and widows—how to sew, and Kalyska could help Idalis teach and earn a regular income. An opportunity to provide for her children? Kalyska took it.
When Kalyska began working at Idalis’ home, the sisters shared of God’s love. They shared of the comfort He brings to the helpless and the aid He brings to the needy. They also invited Kalyska to the weekly prayer meetings held at Idalis’ home.
When Kalyska sat with her children in the meeting, a feeling washed over her that she hadn’t felt in a long time—peace. And, oddly enough, joy. She wanted more.
The peace she felt at that first meeting is now a permanent staple in Kalyska’s home. After embracing God’s love, Kalyska began attending the local church and became a frequent visitor at Idalis’ home every week for prayer. Instead of living in constant fear and insecurity, Kalyska had found safety and love in the Lord through Peleria and Idalis. Kalyska didn’t need to bear her burdens alone anymore—she had help.
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia World stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Learn more about the GFA World national missionary workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
Learn more about GFA World programs to bring value, hope and love to women and their families, and break the cycle of poverty by helping through Vocational Training, Sewing Machines and Literacy Training.
Last updated on: September 6, 2022 at 8:23 pm By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) and affiliates Gospel for Asia Canada, founded by KP Yohannan issued the second part of a Special Report update authored by Karen Mains on the chilling reality of missing and murdered indigenous women in North America.
Rosenda Sophia Strong’s family pose for a portrait near Legends Casino off of Fort Road in Toppenish, Wash. on Thursday, Jan. 31, 2019. Sophia has been missing for four months and was last seen leaving the casino. Her sister, Cissy Strong-Reyes, and brother, Christopher Strong, are preparing a vigil for Rosenda set for February 16. Photo by Amanda Ray / Yakima Herald-Republic
A Personal Experience with One Abused Woman
Decades ago, a friend brought a young woman to our home. She was rough, every cell within her tight with anger, and I was overcome by an inexplicable tenderness for her. Given her unwelcoming exterior appearance, I could only conclude that the Holy Spirit had given me this unaccountable tenderness for someone I never had before met.
“Why did you take me into your home?” she inquired over the phone recently, in that personal attempt we all take as we age to make sense of our previous selves.
“Well, let’s see,” I answered, trying to remember. For the sake of privacy, let’s call this woman, now in her 60s, Jennie. “You needed a place to live, and I needed someone to help with the kids, the house, running errands. And—oh, yes—the love I felt for you was an indication to me that we were supposed to take you in.”
A pair of moccasins tops are pictured in a handout photo from the ‘Walking With Our Sisters’ exhibit. The pieces were created to honour missing and murdered native women. Photo by CTV News
My husband, David, and I (plus our four kids) gave Jennie a safe place, an example of what a pretty healthy family looked like, plus lots and lots and lots of hours listening, answering questions and prayer. At this point, it’s easy to pat oneself on the back and utter a lot of self-congratulation. However, it was Jennie who brought gifts to us. I learned about the capacity of humans to endure untold suffering. I learned about resistance and about the reality of being haunted, if not possessed, by evil strongholds. I learned about the power of love, endurance and eventual gratitude.
Recently, I became ill with an eating disorder, the cause of which a medical team could not identify. Without any intention to do so, I lost 43 pounds. Jennie drove her car 1,000 miles to get to me and stayed for two weeks, pitching in. “I know the routine,” she said upon entering the house. At another time, she flew back across the same 1,000 miles to help me for another two weeks.
You cannot imagine, given our history together, the impact of her prayer on the phone to me. “Dear Lord,” she prayed, her voice still gravelly and sincere, “Karen needs our prayers. I pray that you will bring health back to her again.” I wept on the other end of the line, remembering the once-tight ball of wounded humanity, used again and again by the men in her life from childhood onward to her role as a motorcycle gang moll, this woman who once appeared at my door, brought by a common friend.
And along with the tears, as she prayed, I whispered again and again, Dear Lord … dear Lord … dear Lord. Whenever I get discouraged and begin to question the theology of redemption, in which I am steeped, I remember Jennie.
The questions raised by the reality of a large demographic of women of any population facing extinction should impale us on the truth that something serious and radical must be done. However, educating ourselves on the suffering of others requires that we strive to uncover the truths of the whole MMWG landscape.
For instance, the first response among analysts as to the cause of high incidence of sexual violation, disappearance or outright murder of females was turned against the nearby males in these indigenous population groups. The consolidated data from some 300 contributing police agencies confirmed this conclusion that some 70 percent of the offenders were of “aboriginal” origin, 25 percent were of non-aboriginal origin, and 5 percent were of unknown ethnicity.
The Native Women’s Association of Canada’s database, which was established in 2005 to track the actual cases of MMIW, concluded that the consolidated data from those 300-some police agencies was in error and gathered from an extremely limited narrow statistical field of only some 32 homicides of indigenous women and girls. The NWCA also determined a bias within the policing community, which appears not to have taken seriously the need to conduct investigations into the actualities of missing women. They preferred instead to consider the problem “a tribal matter” and to conclude that the incidents fell under the purview of local indigenous leadership. Consequently, too many cases had been allowed to “go cold,” and crucial evidence had been lost or discarded.The actual statistical data, such as that gathered by the United States Department of Justice when it focused on the incidence of missing and murdered women among indigenous peoples, determined that this group is, in reality, usually sexually assaulted, stalked and preyed upon by non-natives.
According to the Department of Justice, “More than half of American Indian and Alaska Native women will experience sexual violence in their lifetimes.”
Imagine … what it must be like for a woman of any age to live in an environment so hostile to her sex that she knows someone who has gone missing or who has been murdered.
Much of this is due to the fact that jurisdictional issues have historically left legal loopholes leading to non-native rapists and murderers coming to reservations to “hunt” native women with impunity. Simply said, in many jurisdictions, tribal legal systems have historically been confined to territorial boundaries so that tribal jurisprudence cannot exercise sufficient criminal justice over non-tribal members.
The wheels of justice often grind slowly for victims, particularly when the very laws that have been established allow for perpetrators to go unprosecuted. But in recent years, a deliberate attempt at awareness-raising regarding MMIW has finally resulted in a consequent outcry of indignation from news venues, legislators and a recently sensitized public. This has been most heartening.
In 2018 and 2019, legislation began to move through the systems of local governing institutions. Washington, Minnesota and Arizona have taken steps toward building databases that reflect more-accurate statistics on missing and murdered women and girls. The United States declared May 5, 2018, as a national day of awareness. House Bill 2951 of Washington State ordered the state highway patrol to study and report on truths relating to MMIW. And on March 7, 2019, Congress introduced the House of Representatives Bill 1585 to specifically reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which had been eventually repealed. Former Senator Heidi Heitkamp sponsored the bill known as Savanna’s Act to increase cooperation and coordination between “Federal, State, Tribal and local law enforcement agencies,” and this cause has now been reintroduced in 2019 by Senator Lisa Murkowski. The gap created without intra-agency interaction has been analyzed as one of the reasons why murdered and missing indigenous women incidents of violence have fallen through the cracks.
Mostly, what will keep legislative movement and interest alive is public outrage and outcry. A Women’s Memorial March on February 14, Valentine’s Day, was sponsored in downtown Eastside Vancouver, a geographic area notorious for incidents of MMW. These annual marches are intended to highlight the reality of disappeared or murdered women, with family and friends of the missing women, frontline activists and concerned workers stopping at sites pregnant with meaning to memorialize the lives of those who have been lost. The REDress Project is a public art installation where empty red dresses are hung or spread to symbolize those females who are missing or murdered.
In 2015, the body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was found murdered and dumped face-down in the Red River in Manitoba. She had been wrapped in a plastic bag that was weighted with stones. The yearly response is a memorial so that people will not forget. Teams of volunteers in canoes and boats search Winnipeg waterways, dragging the waters as a visible demonstration of protest against perpetrators. Running water washes away forensic evidence that leads to conviction.
The Internet is full of faces of the missing. An hour searching these public visual collages will convince any interested party of the numerical incidence of the murdered and the missing. I’ve printed off one of the colored collages of numerous faces and protests and grieving families to help me not forget the hours I’ve spent becoming sensitized to the problem while doing research for this article.
What We Can Do
Perhaps this has become a tiresome reminder: We can do something just by becoming informed.
Those of us untouched by this kind of violence naturally don’t want to know more about it. Information, however, has the possibility of keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe. Of course, we don’t want to see predators behind every tree (or at every stoplight at every lonely road crossing), but we do want to be wise. Pepper spray is a great deterrent. Caution discussions need to be introduced for the extrovert or for the innocent. Self-defense classes need to be taken for the vulnerable, for both men and women.
We can become sensitized.
We can undertake individual or group research studies. Most of us don’t want to delve much into the underbelly of our societies. Too often, we have to force ourselves to read the book, watch the documentary, do the Internet search, make a file of the articles we find in magazines or print off on the home office printer.
If God happens to “drop someone into your lap” (or bring some woman to your front door), be open to that impulse of mercy… if not to bring them into your own family, at least become a listening and encouraging friend. Believe me, if God is in this encounter, you, despite this person’s distress, will be the primary beneficiary.
We can pray.
My husband, David, an ordained minister, now in his senior years, is a proficient and organized intercessor. If he says, “I’ll pray for you,” he does. If he says, “I’m praying for you,” he is. His prayer lists are long, and he lingers for loving moments every day over them.
I, however, have always been more spontaneous, praying for folk when I think of them. However, I am convinced that I am not as diligent a pray-er as David. So I’m going to try a new technique. I’m a visual gal: I think a bulletin board of the faces of missing girls and women will stimulate me to keep praying better than a written list in some of the journals I regularly misplace.
The collage of faces and protesters and signs and statistics from one of the Internet pages dedicated to the topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls will do just fine. Printed off in duplicate, then posted over my writing desk, on the hallway bulletin board, on the pinup board in my office—these should keep me reminded, keep me caring, and warn me not to forget.
We can impose the statistics of violence on each town in which we live.
One day, you too may have the experience (if you haven’t already) of hearing a voice of a woman, a friend you came to love, who survived a horrendous background of abuse, saying on your behalf, “Dear Lord, I pray that you will heal and be near this one I love …”
And then, you too, moved deeply at this evidence of God’s redemptive activity, like me, may find yourself weeping, tears dripping down your cheeks.
For instance, the first response among analysts as to the cause of high incidence of sexual violation, disappearance or outright murder of females was turned against the nearby males in these indigenous population groups. 
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