January 28, 2020

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) founded by Dr. K.P. YohannanDiscussing the life of women like Fena who daily suffer violent abuse, and the restoration and love brought about by nothing else but Jesus.

Life for Fena was difficult to say the least. In a recent report by the World Health Organization, researchers found that 35 percent of women around the world have been subjected to violence at the hands of an intimate partner, either physically and/or sexually. Fena fell to 35 percent.

Gospel for Asia founded by Dr. K.P. Yohanan: Discussing the life of women like Fena who daily suffer violent abuse, and the restoration and love brought about by nothing else but Jesus.
Far too many women suffer violent abuse. Thankfully, Fena (not pictured) has a new story.

Fena often suffered at the hands of her drunken husband, Bir, enduring beatings when he wasn’t sober. Not only did her husband drink, but all three of her sons followed in his footsteps. Their drinking led them to sell many of the family belongings in order to purchase more alcohol.  There was no peace in their home. Even the townspeople despised the men for their behavior.

Enough Is Enough

Something had to change in Fena’s family. She could not take the abuse or the strife in her home anymore. Fena decided to flee from her husband and sons and went to live in her mother’s house—an option many women do not have.

For 11 months, Fena pleaded with her gods for restoration and peace in her family. However, it was another God who heard her cries.

An Important Introduction

Meanwhile, a lady in the town introduced the local Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor Saee to her brother, who happened to be Bir. After they met, Pastor Saee visited Bir and his sons regularly. As they grew in their relationship with the pastor, Bir and his sons learned more about Jesus.

The more the men learned about Jesus, the more they could see the negative consequences of their addiction to alcohol. Their behavior and attitudes began to change. Even their neighbors noticed the difference and began to welcome their presence in the community.

But Bir had one more very important relationship to form. Bir began to show his love for his wife by taking care of her instead of abusing her—he even began praying to Jesus on her behalf. Fena gratefully received her husband’s change of heart. She moved back home, and the whole family now enjoys a relationship with Jesus.

Bir and Fena’s home is now filled with peace, and Fena’s life, which once resembled the stories of far too many abused women, has entered a bright, new chapter. She and her husband often share their story of restoration, love and peace with others.

“In my family, it was my husband who had hurt me and tortured me the most and never loved me before the transformation,” Fena says. “But now I get his love and care through Christ Jesus.”

The International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women is November 25. To learn more about the violent abuse women face today, please take some time to read this special report.


*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 Reports, One Woman’s Journey from Abuse to Love

Learn more by reading the GFA Special Report: 100 Million Missing Women — and the Aftermath of Acute Gender Imbalance.

Learn more about the Sisters of Compassion, Gospel for Asia’s specialized women missionaries, who have hearts that ache for hurting women and those deemed as poor and needy.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | SourceWatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | 10 Milestones | Media Room | Violence Against Women | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response |

January 24, 2020

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan – Discussing the national missionary life of Rahi, the oppositions, discouragements, the breakthroughs by humbly becoming a tool in God’s hands, and the power of His saving grace.

The sun had not yet illuminated the day, but Rahi was awake and on his knees. Every morning, he spent an hour talking with the Creator of the universe, His Savior, about all the things stored in his heart: family, ministry, personal needs and desires, the believers in his churches. Then he spent another hour in God’s Word, meditating and seeking the Lord’s will for his day and ministry.

In those sacred hours of the very early mornings, Rahi drew strength.

Sense of Urgency

Rahi has been serving the Lord as a GFA-supported worker for about 15 years.
Rahi had a longing to be a tool in God’s hands

Rahi has been serving the Lord as a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported worker for about 15 years. He started off as a film-team member, going from village to village in his home state to show movies about the life of Jesus.

“I had that sense of urgency in my heart that I should go and [share Christ’s love] to many people,” Rahi says.

He watched the Lord touch people’s lives as they saw Christ’s love for humanity displayed on the screen. People would weep and confess their sins; a few even decided they wanted to serve the Lord full time. Seeing how the Lord used him in a powerful way encouraged Rahi.

Throughout his time serving in film ministry, he and his team faced opposition for showing movies about Jesus, but Rahi believed doing the Lord’s work far surpassed any momentary afflictions.

On the Brink of Giving Up

After four years of serving in the film ministry, he spent the next three years in seminary, learning how to become a leader in ministry.

But after graduating from seminary, Rahi struggled in his new ministry location. He knew no one, and he had difficulties understanding the language. He struggled to communicate; people made fun of him when he mixed up words and accidentally used his mother tongue.

Discouragement settled in Rahi’s heart. He would call his leaders to ask if they would transfer him to a different place.

“I cannot survive here,” Rahi would say. “I cannot do ministry here because of my language problem. There is no one I can talk to.”

Every time he wanted to give up, his leaders would pray for and encourage him.

“You have gone with a purpose,” they told him. “God has called you to serve there, and He will do wonders and miracles. Just be patient and persevere through these little inconveniences, and definitely the Lord will use you mightily.”

A tool in God's hands: Rahi is a national Missionary serving with Gospel for Asia, a ministry founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan.

Breakthroughs in Ministry

Eventually, instead of being overwhelmed by his challenges, Rahi fixed his eyes on Christ. He knew God’s work should not stop despite his own weaknesses, so he wrote a tract called “God’s Kingdom Is at Hand,” had it translated into the local language and distributed it to the villagers. People responded; they’d call him up wanting to know more about Jesus.

“I was very encouraged to see people interested to know about Jesus,” Rahi says.

As Rahi stepped out in faith, he saw God going before him. The language he once thought was incomprehensible became easier to understand and speak.

“I started to listen to people keenly, and I started to force myself to learn the language,” he says.

Karun, a villager, remembers the first day he met Rahi. His brother had invited the pastor to his house and had told all his relatives, “Come, let’s listen to him. He’s telling us about who Jesus is.”

While Karun and his family listened to Rahi share about Christ and His compassion, hearts began to stir.

“Although [Pastor Rahi] was speaking in mixed language—his mother tongue, which is … very similar to [our language]—we all could understand most of it,” Karun said. “We liked what he said. I really was impressed and interested in knowing more about Jesus.”

A tool in God's hands - A national Missionary serving with Gospel for Asia, a ministry founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan.

Ministering to People by Becoming a Tool in God’s Hands

As Rahi persevered through the little inconveniences, the Lord drew people to Himself.

Today, Rahi oversees 12 churches with around 600 believers. His wife and a group of Sisters of Compassion and Bible college students help him in ministry because it has grown so much in five years.

Every day, they visit people and share about God’s love for them and about Jesus’ life and sacrifice. When they see people in need, they find ways to help them. So far, Rahi has helped distribute income-producing and quality-of-life gifts to more than 1,500 people.

“We distribute things that are needed for these people,” Rahi says. “We encourage them to trust in the Lord and pray that the Lord will meet their needs. ” We distribute things among both believers and non-believers so everyone in society will benefit.

Drawing Strength from the Lord

Throughout the many seasons of Rahi’s ministry and journey with God, he’s seen God’s faithfulness to use him despite his inabilities. And his heart still holds that sense of urgency for many people to know God’s love and grace personally. Every day, he lays his needs bare before the Lord and trusts Him to work.

“I draw my strength … from the Lord when I come to Him in His presence and thank Him and seek His guidance and blessings,” Rahi says. “God, in His mercy, has worked in the hearts of [the people I minister to]. I am just a tool. I go and share about Jesus, … but it is Christ and the Holy Spirit who actually bring these people to His saving knowledge.”

Sponsor a National Missionary.


Source: Gospel for Asia Reports, A Tool In God’s Hands

Learn more about the National Missionaries and their passion to help the people in their nations understand Christ’s love through various ways and allowing themselves to be a tool in God’s hands.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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January 2, 2020

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing the life-threatening danger of not having proper hygiene, and one of the easiest ways to save lives, preventing the spread of disease: washing hands.

Discussing the life-threatening danger of not having proper hygiene, and one of the easiest ways to save lives, preventing the spread of disease: washing hands.
Residents of this leprosy colony received hand soap and hygiene instructions from Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers in celebration of Global Handwashing Day.

According to a 2010 report consolidated by the Centers for Disease Control with information from the World Health Organization, 2,195 children die every day from diarrhea—which is more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. The same report also states diarrheal diseases account for the second-highest cause of death among children under age 5. However, strides have been made to combat and neutralize these diseases, with many organizations and governments working together. One initiative that has found success are hand-washing awareness programs.

Washing Hands: Defense Against Disease

Gospel for Asia (GFA) is one among many organizations spreading hygiene awareness in Asia, most notably hand-washing. Washing hands is one of the easiest ways to prevent the spread of disease. Programs organized by Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers help bring to light the impact clean hands have on a person’s health.

In celebration of Global Handwashing Day, a group of Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Sisters of Compassion taught proper hand-washing to those they serve in a leprosy colony. Equipped with videos, poems, handouts and demonstrations, the workers showed the children and adults how to properly and thoroughly wash their hands.

Fifty families that call this colony home, received a bottle of hand soap and instructions on how to use it. For many, this was a very new experience.

“I recall my younger age when I never got the chance to be taught such lessons,” one of the residents, Mahdat, says. “The children here are lucky to learn such useful lessons through which they can save their lives…”

Echoing Mahdat’s sentiment, fellow leprosy patient and colony resident Bavishya says, “Through [the Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers’] service, today we could learn the importance of hand-washing, which is very necessary for the children here because, most of the time, they fall into illness due to dirty hands.”

One of the children present, Salome, remarked on the program: “I learned when to wash hands, how to wash hands, and why I need to wash my hands. … I will paste [the handout] on the door of my house and will follow the instructions. Thank you.”


Discover how others are helped through Gospel for Asia-supported awareness programs.

*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 Report, Washing Hands Saves Lives

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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January 2, 2020

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing Sister Mary, one of a special number of women missionaries who open their hearts and homes for the sick and destitute, introducing them to the God who hears and answers prayers.

Sister Mary grew up in a small, remote village in Asia. She never went to school and has remained illiterate for 42 years. Despite her limitations, Sister Mary has seen God do impossible things. This is her story.

Discussing Sister Mary, one of a special number of women missionaries who open their hearts and homes for the sick and destitute, introducing them to the God who hears and answers prayers.In the year 2007, Sister Mary traveled with her husband, a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor, and other national workers to meet many suffering people in need. One woman was pregnant and sick. She was close to delivering her baby, and both were in danger.

Seeing the power of God displayed through prayers, Sister Mary decided prayer would be the bedrock of her ministry.

Faithful Prayers: The Fount from Which Healing Flows

Back in her own village, Sister Mary did not want to stop praying for people, and with it, the privilege of seeing God move in their lives. So, she started a prayer group. They gathered weekly to pray for the sick and needy. News of their group spread, and many people made their way to it to receive hope and healing through the prayers of Sister Mary and her companions.

“There were many people from far villages who were affected by fatal sicknesses like cancer,” Sister Mary recalls.

“Many came for prayer, and many got healed … There were some who were blind, some were paralyzed, and the Lord healed them. … We read the Bible to them and prayed for them, and the Lord healed them.”

For many, it was the first time they realized there was a God who cares for them personally and answers prayer.

Those who sought Sister Mary’s prayer group were not the only ones ministered to. Sister Mary noticed a change in her as well. Love for the sick and destitute grew in her heart. She wanted to be with them and serve them. She wanted to share with them the God of power and love.

Eventually, so many people came to the prayer group that they met in Sister Mary’s house that she knew they needed a separate facility. Often, people would drop off their family member or friend to be cared for until healed. Some stayed weeks or months. Sister Mary did what she always does—she prayed.

“Those who came for prayer needed rooms,” she says. “We lacked sufficient facilities. … I started to pray and fast for 20 days, and the Lord answered my prayers.”

Discussing Sister Mary, one of a special number of women missionaries who open their hearts and homes for the sick and destitute, introducing them to the God who hears and answers prayers.

The new building was christened “Bethsaida Prayer Center,” inspired by Jesus’ healing of a man who had been sick for 28 years by the pool of Bethsaida. Bethsaida Prayer Center would eventually grow to see 3,000 to 4,000 people pass through each year.

Trusting God in Life and Death

Discussing Sister Mary, one of a special number of women missionaries who open their hearts and homes for the sick and destitute, introducing them to the God who hears and answers prayers.Sister Mary stood in awe as God healed thousands of people in the Bethsaida Prayer Center through her simple prayers and those of her team. But not everyone rejoiced at the reports of miraculous healings.

One day, a man suffering from throat cancer, Kalpa, came to the prayer center. After a month, the Lord healed Kalpa. He and his whole family embraced the God of healing who came through for them in their moment of need. When the family returned to their village, news of their newfound belief stirred up trouble. When another family from the village wanted to join Kalpa in worshiping Jesus, the other villagers became enraged with Sister Mary and the prayer center staff.

“I told the villagers that the Lord did the healing [of Kalpa], and I told the family that the Lord loves them and offers eternal life,” Sister Mary shares.

“Hearing that made the village head furious, and he took a machete and tried to hack me. But the Lord protected my life miraculously. … I did not even realize [the machete] had touched my neck.”

A few months later, the very man who viciously attacked Sister Mary came to her for prayer when he was suffering from cancer. In His mercy, the Lord healed the man, which opened his heart to believe in the Lord Jesus.

Another time, Sister Mary was injected with a lethal poison by a violent man who opposed her ministry.

“I survived because my God is a living God, and He rescued me,” Sister Mary says.

“Yes, there are threats to my life in ministry, but I believe that God is always with me and protects my life … That incident did not douse my passion and desire to serve the Lord, rather it deepened my commitment to serve the Lord all the more.”

Discussing Sister Mary, one of a special number of women missionaries who open their hearts and homes for the sick and destitute, introducing them to the God who hears and answers prayers.

A Life Devoted to God

Prayer is the fuel for Sister Mary’s faith in the Lord. Her time with Him energizes her life, bringing the power to love and serving everyone she interacts with. Her trust in the Lord is the natural fruit of seeing Him perform so many miracles and answer so many prayers.

“I am so happy and glad that the Lord not only hears our prayers, but He also answers,” she says. “I know that the Lord is able to do what man is not able to do. … I always want to be surrounded by His presence.”

God, in His mercy, has seen fit to use the weak, despised and rejected—women like Sister Mary—to proclaim His glory around the world. Many women all throughout Asia serve as instruments of the Living God to bring the hope of Jesus into broken and suffering lives. Women have a unique opportunity to enter the secluded and often vulnerable lives of other women. The ministry and prayers of these mighty women are flooding communities in Asia with hope and joy in the name of Jesus.

Learn more about the Sisters of Compassion, Gospel for Asia’s specialized women missionaries, who have hearts that ache for hurting women and those deemed as poor and needy.


*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 Reports, ‘The Lord is with Me When I Pray’

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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December 28, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing families, just like Divya’s, struggling through life because they do not have the peace of Jesus, and the woman missionary like Sangeeta who help rebuild families by sharing His love.

Divya and her mother, Apurva, stepped inside their home. The residual smell of alcohol from the open and empty bottles spread across the floor assaulted their nostrils as soon as they crossed the threshold. When Divya made eye contact with her father, Mukul, she could nearly predict what he was going to say.

“Give me the money”, he demanded, “I am in need of a refill.”

When they refused, Mukul picked up the nearest pan and threw it against the wall. The clanging as it fell to the floor barely covered the sound of Mukul slapping Divya’s mother. Then he began throwing their belongings from the house. They begged for him to stop, but nothing changed.

Father Demands Family’s Wages for Alcohol

Discussing families, just like Divya’s, struggling through life because they do not have the peace of Jesus, and the woman missionary like Sangeeta who help rebuild families by sharing His love.Divya was 10 years old when Mukul began drinking alcohol. He became so addicted he couldn’t eat without it.

Because he refused to work, Divya and her mother worked all day to provide for their needs. And when they came home, Mukul constantly demanded money from them solely to get his fill of alcohol.

Apurva and Divya asked him to stop throwing the household items when he was angry, but Mukul never listened. Often, Divya and her mother had to leave for two or three days until Mukul calmed down.

One day, Divya couldn’t take the cycle anymore. She left home, and this time, she wasn’t going back.

Daughter Flees Father’s Abuse

Divya stayed with a friend for three weeks before her father realized she had gone. Mukul accused Apurva of sending Divya away and insisted she bring their daughter home that day.

Apurva visited Divya and asked her to return home, but Divya asked her mother to stay the night with her instead, hoping their absence would help Mukul change. The following day, Apurva arrived home without Divya, and Mukul became enraged. He lashed out against Apurva and began to beat her daily. Unable to handle the increased abuse, Apurva once more went to plead with Divya to return home.

Seeing her mother in so much pain overwhelmed Divya. She loved her mother, but that wasn’t enough for her to return home and endure her father’s mistreatment.

Discussing families, just like Divya’s, struggling through life because they do not have the peace of Jesus, and the woman missionary like Sangeeta who help rebuild families by sharing His love.

Daughter Confesses Suicidal Thoughts to a Woman Missionary

When Gospel for Asia (GFA) woman missionary, Sangeeta, learned of Divya’s situation, she came to see Divya and comfort her.

“I never had peace and joy in my life,” Divya told Sangeeta. “Many times, I thought, ‘Why was I born on this earth?’ Sometimes I’ve thought to end my life. When I look at my mother and see that nobody is there to take care of her or even my father, my mind becomes restless.”

Sangeeta replied, “Please do not worry. Today, we will go together and meet your parents.”

Divya went home with Sangeeta and talked with her parents.

Sangeeta shared the Word of God with the family and explained to Mukul the struggles he was causing for his family by drinking. She urged him to turn away from drinking and prayed for the family.

Discussing families, just like Divya’s, struggling through life because they do not have the peace of Jesus, and the woman missionary like Sangeeta who help rebuild families by sharing His love.

Father Changes His Ways

Sangeeta continued to visit the family, and within a month, Mukul changed his ways. The Holy Spirit worked in his heart as he witnessed Jesus’ love through the missionary and saw how the Lord answered her prayers. He stopped drinking, and his abuse of his family ceased.

Peace filled their home, and now, Mukul and Apurva attend church each week. Sangeeta still visits with the family, encouraging them to live according to God’s Word.

Many families, just like Divya’s, are struggling through everyday life because they do not have the peace of Jesus in their homes. You can help rebuild families by sending a missionary to their village to share His love.


Learn more about the Sisters of Compassion, Gospel for Asia’s specialized women missionaries, who have hearts that ache for hurting women and those deemed as poor and needy.

*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 Reports, Demanding a Refill

Learn more by reading the GFA Special Report: Widows Worldwide Face Tragedy, Discrimination — Some Find Hope to Overcome the Challenges of Widowhood.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | SourceWatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | 10 Milestones | Media Room | Missing Women | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response |

December 13, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing the despair of women, and even baby girls, victims of discrimination and acute gender imbalance, and the missionaries who bring hope, healing, and salvation through the grace of God.

At last, the baby began to crown, and with him came the fulfillment of his parents’ wishes. Five years of barrenness, five years of bitter arguments—this baby would put it all in the past. He would bring pride to the family, reap a dowry from his bride and help provide for the family. He would restore his family’s joy.

Discussing the despair of women and even baby girls, victims of discrimination and acute gender imbalance, and the missionaries who bring hope, healing, and salvation through the grace of God.As the baby took his first breaths, however, something wasn’t right, and hopes built up over the last nine months quickly died away.

Mayuri and Rafat’s little boy turned out to be a little girl—and that was nothing to celebrate.

Drunken Father Abuses Family, Steals Wages

Five years earlier, Mayuri’s hope hadn’t been for a baby boy but for a harmonious family life. While Mayuri’s father, Ekaling, spent his days drinking, gambling and chasing after women, Mayuri went to work every day with her mother, Olimani. Together, they earned enough to feed the family of five—except for when Ekaling demanded their wages.

If Mayuri and Olimani refused, Ekaling would beat them. Sometimes, he’d beat Olimani without any excuse.

Olimani worshipped all the deities she could, especially the local goddesses, in hopes that they would change her husband, but Ekaling remained the same. Finally, she decided to give 14-year-old Mayuri the escape she couldn’t have herself and arranged Mayuri’s marriage and a new life for her.

The abuse women face for bearing daughters is so great that many have resorted to gender-selective abortion and infanticide, resulting in millions of “missing girls” in Asia. Discover more about this and other issues facing South Asian women in Gospel for Asia’s new film documentary, “Veil of Tears.”
But before Mayuri’s 20th birthday, she would wish for a second escape.

Husband Abuses Young Wife for Infertility

Life with Mayuri’s new husband, Rafat, seemed promising in the beginning, but within a few years, the young couple’s infertility created tension in the family. In South Asian cultures, women are blamed when a couple can’t produce children. For more than four years, Mayuri bore the couple’s failure alone.

When Mayuri finally became pregnant, happiness returned to the home, but it only lasted nine months. Rafat expected a son, and when a daughter came, he refused to celebrate. He made certain to fully punish his 19-year-old wife for their child’s gender.

A few years later, a second daughter followed, and Rafat’s abuse doubled, and his mother joined in on the torment. Rafat spoke badly about Mayuri in front of the family, and just like Mayuri’s father, he began beating his wife.

Rafat threatened to leave the marriage, but in the end, it was Mayuri who fled. Her in-laws rejoiced at her departure.

Discussing the despair of women and girls, victims of discrimination and acute gender imbalance, and the missionaries who bring hope, healing, and salvation through the grace of God.

Daughter Returns Home, Finds Questionable Work

With nowhere else to go, Mayuri returned home. After all Olimani had dreamed for her then-14-year-old daughter, she grieved to see Mayuri now. The child had years of marital abuse to match her own, and now she had two daughters to provide for alone.

Mayuri’s father was gone. He had married another woman, and now both his wife and daughter could cross off the men who abused them from the long list of struggles they faced.

Mayuri set out to find work and came across a liaison who said he could get her work as a maid in another country, as long as she paid her own way there. The cost was more than she had, so she found people to lend her the money. Once again, however, Mayuri’s hopes were crushed.

The man was a fake, and after he took Mayuri’s money, he left her carrying a load of debt—with interest. Like her mother did before, Mayuri begged every deity she knew to save her life, but night after night, she and her daughters went to sleep hungry. She only saw one option left: become a prostitute to keep her children from starving.

Although Olimani didn’t approve of the new job, she could hardly tell Mayuri to stop—not with her two daughters to provide for and large debt to pay off. The neighbors, however, were less merciful and made clear how much they despised the whole family.

Years later, when a doctor discovered a tumor in Mayuri’s abdomen, she had no one to tell but her gods, and if history was any indication, they would offer her nothing.

Discussing the despair of women and even baby girls, victims of discrimination and acute gender imbalance, and the missionaries who bring hope, healing, and salvation through the grace of God.

Daughter Agrees to Visit Church

In search of healing, Mayuri visited many temples and offered sacrifices, but her condition continued to worsen. One day, however, Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor Patakin offered her the chance to pray to a different God.

Discussing the despair of women and even baby girls, victims of discrimination and acute gender imbalance, and the missionaries who bring hope, healing, and salvation through the grace of God.It wasn’t the first time Pastor Patakin had told Mayuri about Jesus. While other villagers did their best to avoid her, Pastor Patakin had dared on numerous occasions to visit the prostitute’s home. Normally, Mayuri ignored the pastor’s words, but when he invited her to a Christmas service at his church, she decided to go.

Years of being shunned had taught Mayuri to expect the worst when she walked into the church. But instead of condemnation, the believers gave her true, unflinching love. Mayuri left full of joy, and she eagerly returned each Sunday afterward.

During one Sunday service, Mayuri was touched as Pastor Patakin shared Psalm 91:15-16: “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Pastor Patakin spoke of many women whom Christ had healed from deadly diseases.

“If you pray to God, He will heal you and give long life to you,” he said.

Mayuri believed and put her trust in God. Then, like all the women Pastor Patakin had talked about, she experienced the Lord’s healing touch.

Treasured after 35 Years

As Mayuri watches her two daughters grow older, she is grateful to know their lives will be very different from the first 35 years of her own life. Their father is gone, but they have an entire church congregation that loves and supports them. And as they attend Sunday school each week, they are growing in their relationship with a heavenly Father who provides for every need.

After God healed Mayuri’s cancer, she continued to see His faithfulness as He provided respectable work as a daily wage laborer, which lets her send her daughters to school.

“Today, I am living; that is only by the grace of God,” Mayuri said. “I was totally healed from my sickness by the blood of Christ. … Now I am living by faith in Jesus Christ.”

By the grace of God, Mayuri’s life has been transformed, but millions of women in South Asia still wait for a glimpse of hope. Bring these women hope by sending a woman missionary.


*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 Report, A Baby Girl is Nothing to Celebrate

Learn more by reading the GFA Special Report: 100 Million Missing Women — and the Aftermath of Acute Gender Imbalance.

Learn more about the Sisters of Compassion, Gospel for Asia’s specialized women missionaries, who have hearts that ache for hurting women and those deemed as poor and needy.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | SourceWatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | 10 Milestones | Media Room | Violence Against Women | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response |

December 2, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing the real struggles and discrimination women and girls face, and the difference missionaries can make, whether young or old, to rescue the hurting, poor and needy.

Since 2012, the world has celebrated International Day of the Girl Child on October 11. According to the United Nations General Assembly, the day was established to shine a spotlight on “the need to address the challenges girls face and to promote girls’ empowerment and the fulfillment of their human rights.”

For far too many girls in the world, the process of growing into womanhood can not only be difficult, but it can also be dangerous. Unfortunately, danger played a role in Waida’s story.

Waida’s Story Begins

Discussing the real struggles and discrimination women and girls face, and the difference women missionaries can make, whether a young girl or old, to rescue the hurting, poor and needy.
Ziah’s gift of friendship, as shown between these girls, has made a world of difference in Waida’s life.

Waida was born into a happy family that worked hard to meet their daily needs. Sadly, Waida’s father died when she was young.

Eleven years after her father’s passing, Waida’s mother, Gitu, married a man she met at work. At first, Gitu’s second marriage was a happy one, like her first. However, her new husband’s attitude soon changed.

A Shocking Request

One year after they were married, he admitted he wanted to marry his teenage stepdaughter and asked Gitu to give Waida to him. Gitu was shocked by his confession. She refused his request and asked him to leave.

Later that evening, he left as she asked—but he took Waida with him.

When Gitu learned her daughter had been kidnapped, she fainted. Onita, a believer from the local church, heard what had happened and took Gitu to the hospital. Onita also told the local Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor, Kasu, about the situation.

Praying Her Home

The community of believers sprang into action. Onita stayed with Gitu, offering comfort through prayer and God’s Word. Others joined Pastor Kasu to search for Waida, but they could not find her or her stepfather anywhere. When there was nowhere else to look, they continued to pray fervently for Waida’s safe return.

While Gitu was surrounded by support from believers in the community, she conversely faced intense ridicule from some of her neighbors. The verbal abuse she endured while waiting, hoping and praying for her daughter to come home was almost too much for Gitu to bear. She nearly left her home to escape the hurtful words of some in her village. Thankfully, Pastor Kasu and a few believers from the church encouraged Gitu to stay.

Two months after being kidnapped, Waida miraculously returned home. Her stepfather brought her back, and then he left the village. The distressed mother’s tears turned into smiles at the sight of her daughter.

Although the mother and daughter were reunited, they were alienated by many in their village. Waida was troubled by the way her neighbors now looked at her, and her mother continued to face condemning words.

A New Beginning

Not everyone acted this way, however. One girl from the local church, Ziah, befriended Waida. She told Waida stories of Jesus’ love and His forgiveness. Soon, she invited her new friend to the Sunday school class at church.

“I thank my friend, Ziah, because when I was in a painful situation, she became a good friend for me,” Waida said. “Though she knew about the situation, she didn’t hesitate to make a friendship with me. She encouraged me a lot; I could see the love of Jesus Christ through her attitude. Now, I have peace listening to the stories from the Bible. So, I believed in Christ. Please pray for me that I would walk in His path constantly.”

Waida’s mother also chose to begin a relationship with the God in whose words she found comfort while her daughter was missing. However, she fears the villagers who already mistreat her will harass her even more if she attends church. Please pray for God’s favor and courage to rest upon her.

Waida’s story depicts the very real struggles some girls face around the world. By the grace of God, this story also shows the power girls possess to be a friend even when it isn’t popular. It can change someone’s world.


Discover another life-changing story of friendship between two women in Bhandura’s story.

*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 Reports, Kidnapped Girl Finds God’s Grace

Learn more by reading the GFA Special Report: Widows Worldwide Face Tragedy, Discrimination — Some Find Hope to Overcome the Challenges of Widowhood.

Learn more about the Sisters of Compassion, Gospel for Asia’s specialized women missionaries, who have hearts that ache for hurting women and those deemed as poor and needy.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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October 13, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) issues an extensive Special Report on illiteracy, the dominant disabler to flourishing for millions around the world, and the miraculous potential of literacy, to be able to read and write, that is able to change the lives of men, women and children for generations.

Maharashtra: Hkrishikesh, 11 years old, is in this class at her local Bridge of Hope Center. In the most recent years for which data are available from UNICEF, young women accounted for 59 percent of the total illiterate youth population.

The Complexities of Gaining Literacy

Avinash and Akshda are a brother and sister in the same class at their nearby Bridge of Hope Center.

The VeryWellFamily website teaches that the skills needed for reading and writing are not as simple as we so often assume. These skills include such things as the awareness of the sounds of language. These levels of learning will be the same for any culture. First is phonemic awareness: “the

ability to hear and play with the individual sounds of language, to create new words using those sounds in different ways.”

The article breaks down how this actually happens, a process that is quite complicated and mentions digraphs, onsets, rimes and phenomes. It is a process that occurs without intentional phonetically in the natural course of a child’s learning process.

To read and speak fluently, a child must also develop an awareness of print; there’s a road sign, there’s a bathroom sign, here are words on cereal boxes, and, of course, there are books filled with print. The learner must develop an active vocabulary (words generally known and used in conversation, speech and writing) and a passive vocabulary (words that are known but the meanings of which are interpreted through context and use with others).

Achieving literacy for a child includes learning to spell (hence all those spelling tests). This means achieving a comprehension of irregular spelling, silent vowels, diphthongs, etc. He or she must not only be able to read words on a page (or a sign) but also comprehend the meaning of what has been read. This includes the ability to project meaning into the words, to pick up clues in the text, to visualize imaginatively what is occurring through the reading.

To read, to understand what one has read, to voice one’s inner thoughts, to comprehend and communicate the meaning of one’s being so that it can be heard either verbally or through thoughts committed to the page is not such a simple task as those of us who love reading might assume. But the joy, oh the gift of joy, that can be given to one other person or to a classroom of squirmy but nevertheless eager learners is incalculable.

A Lifetime of Illiteracy and the Onset of Leprosy

Gospel for Asia (GFA) chronicles the tale of a woman named Kaavya. She was given this gift of literacy that filled a lifetime of longing when she was 64 years of age. What makes her story even more impelling was the fact that Kaavya also suffered from leprosy. Now, medical knowledge informs us that leprosy is a curable disease, but the stigma of this condition is implanted on the DNA of history, with a record of scorn and communal rejection that is recorded even in the New Testament stories of Christ’s healing encounters with lepers.

After a lifetime of rejection, Kaavya (pictured) feels loved and cared for in a literacy class held by Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Sisters of Compassion. The literacy class is held in the leprosy colony Kaavya calls home.

Kaavya’s father contracted leprosy with the result that the community ostracized the whole family. In time, the girl’s father died, and about then she began to experience symptoms of physical pain in her extremities and also a recurring fever. The crushing news from hospital staff indicated that the diagnosis of her difficulties was that she had developed leprosy also.

“It was the worst day and the saddest day in my life,” she said. “What to do? I could not die.”

Eventually, with treatment and medications, she procured a hospital job, but then, because she was illiterate, after 22 years of work, she was let go, unqualified in the eyes of the current staff. She married and settled into family life, but only a few years had passed when she discovered that her husband had a previous family. His first wife bore him eight daughters, and he was hoping some other woman would give him a son.

This is a chronicle of human misery, repeated in the hundreds of thousands of untold stories that exist around the world. But it does not have an unhappy ending.

“After years of hardships, Kaayva came to live in a leprosy colony, making her home with those who experienced the same kind of rejection she had,” the report states.

But here, the Sisters of Compassion, supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA), served the residents by practical needs. One of those expressions was in teaching the skills of reading and writing. Just imagine the meaning of this to a woman who had been expelled from a job of 22 years for being illiterate!

To become literate is exactly what miracle cures are about.
To be able to read and write is a gift of immeasurable worth. It is, indeed, a miracle cure.

“When I joined the literacy class, I learned lots of things,” Kaavya explains. “I learned not only reading and writing; I learned good habits, roles of women, wife and mother in the family. Now I am very happy … I will not lose heart because I can read and write.”

Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported literacy classes are taught by women missionaries who are trained in teaching reading and writing to adults. They write letters and words on chalk boards and carefully teach each student how to read and write those same letters and words. They guide their students’ hands, helping them become familiar with the feel and use of a pencil. Each woman enrolled in the literacy classes also receives a free literacy book in their local language. For tens of thousands of women across Asia, these free literacy classes have made a world of difference in their lives!

When the Word Became Flesh

I have often thought of Christ as the Great Translator who came to Earth to teach us Heaven’s language and ways.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Jesus’ life lived on Earth, and now communicated to us existentially through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, is the ultimate example of a superior language tutorial—one in spiritual literacy. By observing Him, by reading and inculcating His words, we learn to “read and write.” We become spiritually literate. And like those who conquer reading and writing in the everyday world, this too, this inexplicable capacity to know with the soul, brings light and opportunity and almost unbearable joy. Another kind of illiteracy has been overcome. To become literate is exactly what miracle cures are about. It is an intellectual healing, the acquisition of incalculable capabilities and the establishment of approval from others and from oneself. To be able to read and write is a gift of immeasurable worth. It is, indeed, a miracle cure.

WHAT CAN ONE READER DO?

Consider giving to Gospel for Asia’s literacy efforts. Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers have heightened personal exposure to the dilemmas caused by illiteracy and have daily witnessed the power of literacy training to spread Christ’s love, to lift individuals and families out of poverty, to change communities for the better. Undoubtedly, learning to read and write is one way the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. This, indeed, is a spiritual miracle.

Become intentional about the miracle of being able to read and write. Take some time to consider what it would be like if you were illiterate. Intentionally notice—even notate—the many times you read and write in a day. Then thank God that you were born in a literate culture with systemic educational programs in place to increase your reading and writing capacities.

 

Conduct an Internet exposure regarding the topic of illiteracy in your home country and then around the world. There is something about those online searches that embed the reality of illiteracy in your mind—more than just reading an article about illiteracy.

 

Pray about finding some way you can contribute to the literacy of one person. Discover what is happening in your own community regarding literacy training, and volunteer your time. Take some literacy tutoring training. Find out who is illiterate in your own community. In other words, be intentional.


Literacy — One of the Great Miracle Cures: Part 1 | Part 2

This Special Report article originally appeared on GFA.org.

Learn more about the Women’s Literacy Program, and how you can help over 250 million women in Asia who are illiterate.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Learn more about Gospel for Asia: Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Sourcewatch | Integrity | Lawsuit Update | 5 Distinctives | 6 Remarkable Facts | Media Room | Poverty Solutions | Endorsements | 40th Anniversary | Lawsuit Response |

October 11, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA)Discussing the Sisters of Compassion, women missionaries who choose to identify with the marginalized, and reflect God’s love to bring the hope of Jesus to their lives.

Prisha stepped out of the rickshaw only to be greeted by a crowd of dirty, half-naked children running around. One woman stood nearby barely clothed—much to Prisha’s embarrassment. Animal carcasses and burning waste littered the village, creating a stench so bad passersby would speed recklessly through the village to escape it.

Discussing the Gospel for Asia Sisters of Compassion, women missionaries who choose to identify with the marginalized, and reflect God's love to bring the hope of Jesus to their lives.

Prisha had heard about this village before. Punya Basti’s residents lived in squalor with no electricity, running water or toilets. Most of the villagers left for months at a time to find low-paying work and beg in other areas, but they still couldn’t afford to feed their children three meals a day—much less provide for them to go to school. Alcohol and drug abuse ran rampant, even among children, and fights commonly broke out. On top of all this, outsiders despised the villagers for their low caste and lack of hygiene and education.

Going Where Others Wouldn’t

Prisha had come to Punya Basti to serve as a Sister of Compassion, a woman missionary committed to sharing Christ’s love in practical ways, specifically among poor and marginalized people groups.

Pastor Hoob
Pastor Hoob’s (pictured) ministry was strengthened even more when the Sisters of Compassion came to Punya Basti and start to serve the women in the community.

Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor Hoob Kumar, who served in the village, was having difficulty ministering to the women.

“The ladies didn’t know how to wear clothes properly,” Pastor Hoob recalls, “and the mothers weren’t bothered that the vessels they cooked with and ate food from were not clean.”

Moreover, the women couldn’t open up to Pastor Hoob because he was a man. He knew they needed someone to come alongside them, educate them and listen to their struggles, so he asked his leaders to send Sisters of Compassion to Punya Basti.

Knowing she was called to go where others wouldn’t, Prisha agreed to go. Out of consideration for her safety, her leader said she could commute there each day from a nearby village that would have safer, more comfortable accommodations, but Prisha wanted to live with the villagers.

“I don’t want to stay in a different place,” she told him. “I want to stay in the midst of them, in the village, so I can understand their feelings . . . and they can understand the love that we want to show them.”

Immediate Challenges Require Unswerving Faith

But living among the villagers wasn’t easy. They rarely bathed or washed their clothes. Drunken fights broke out frequently, with men and women shouting vulgar words.

When the landlord of the house Prisha stayed in offered her and her fellow Sister of Compassion water, Prisha looked at the glass in shock.

“The glass that she gave [us] really smelled very bad. We were not able to drink from that,” Prisha remembers. “Seeing this glass, we were really broken, and we didn’t have anything in our hand to give them. All we could do for them was just pray to God Almighty.”

Prisha and her co-worker knew adjusting to this culture would require more than one prayer, though. They dedicated their first week to fasting and praying; then they began finding ways to help the villagers. They started by sweeping out the village’s filthy drains.

An Uncomfortable Yet Fruitful Lifestyle

At first, Punya Basti’s dirtiness made Prisha wonder if she would ever feel comfortable eating in the villagers’ homes. But she, and the seven Sisters of Compassion who eventually joined her, made a decision to embrace the villagers and share in their lives.

“Slowly we understood that if we don’t get to know them closely, we won’t be able to have relationships with them,” Prisha explains.

The Sisters of Compassion helped the local women with their chores, took care of their babies and ate the food they cooked—food most outsiders would have refused because it consisted of game like tortoise and mongoose.

The Sister of Compassion taught the villagers proper hygiene practices.

By identifying with the villagers, the Sisters of Compassion eventually earned their trust, and the villagers began listening to their advice. People stopped drinking and fighting. Women started dressing modestly and cooking in a healthier, cleaner way. Children started going to school, and the Sisters of Compassion taught them how to bathe, brush their teeth, comb their hair and dress neatly. The villagers even began seeing the missionaries as their own family.

“These eight sisters are like our daughters,” explains one villager. “We love them because they love us. They brought lots of changes in our family, in our home, in our society and in our children.”

Once Scorned, Village Shines

As the Sisters of Compassion reflected God’s love, many people decided to follow Him. Now Christ is transforming Punya Basti from the inside out.

Even when half of the village is away traveling for work, many people gather to worship Jesus each week, ready to learn more about the God who cared enough to send His daughters to live among them.

You can help another community in Asia experience Christ’s love by sponsoring women missionaries like Prisha!

Sponsor a Woman Missionary


Watch the video to learn more about Sisters of Compassion’s training, dress code and ministry.

Sisters of Compassion choose to wear a uniform that has a special and easily recognized meaning in South Asia: servanthood. It’s a humble sari worn by the poorest women and the street sweepers of Asia.

Learn more about Sisters of Compassion.


*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.

October 9, 2019

WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) issues an extensive Special Report on illiteracy, the dominant disabler to flourishing for millions around the world, and the miraculous potential of literacy that is able to change the lives of men, women and children for generations.

Gospel for Asia issues an extensive Special Report on illiteracy, the dominant disabler to flourishing for millions around the world, and the miraculous potential of literacy that is able to change the lives of men, women and children for generations.
Sarada is teaching three women in a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Women’s Literacy class. All statistical evidence shows that one individual who is given reading and writing skills greatly improves his/her chances of success. Increasing literacy of individuals also greatly enhances the society in which those people live.

Illiteracy in the United States

Perhaps it is easier to examine literacy and illiteracy through the lens of one country, the one many of us know best and consider one of the most literate in the world.

ProLiteracy, a nonprofit that champions the power of literacy to improve the lives of adults and their families, communities and societies in the United States (and around the world), views illiteracy mostly through the lens of those who are foreign-born residents. The Center for Applied Linguistics reports that in 2006, some 13 years ago, there were 37.5 million foreign-born residents, or 12.5 percent of the total U.S. population.

Since that data was collected, there has been a surge in states that aren’t normally considered high foreign population centers such as California, Texas, New York and Florida. The Center for Applied Linguistics also reports that since 2005, some 14 other states experienced a 30 percent greater increase in foreign-born residency.

36 million

adults in the U.S. cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level

They also state that the ESL (English as Second Language) population in the United States is diverse in terms of country of origin, education and individual language skills. In addition to Mexico and other Latin American countries, a growing number of non-native speakers of English come from China, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Korea, Eastern Europe and African countries. Of these residents born outside the United States, 68 percent have a high school diploma in their native country or the U.S.

With all this in mind, consider these additional facts on adult literacy in the U.S.:

  • “36 million adults cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level.
  • “68 percent of programs are struggling with long student waiting lists, and less than 10 percent of adults in need are receiving services.
  • “Children whose parents have low literacy levels have a 72 percent chance of being at the lowest reading levels themselves. These children are more likely to get poor grades, display behavioral problems, have high absentee rates, repeat school years, or drop out.
  • “One in six young adults—more than 1.2 million—drop out of high school every year.
  • “2 million immigrants come to the U.S. each year, and about 50 percent of them lack high-school education and proficient English language skills
  • “Low literacy costs the U.S. $225 billion or more each year in non-productivity in the workforce, crime, and loss of tax revenue due to unemployment.
  • “43 percent of adults with lowest literacy levels live in poverty.
  • “$232 billion a year in health care costs is linked to low adult literacy skills.
  • “75 percent of state prison inmates did not complete high school or can be classified as low literate.”

According to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy in the United States, research shows that the single greatest indicator of a child’s future success is the literacy level of his or her parents:

  • “A child from a highly educated family will experience 30 million more words by the age of three than a child from a low-literate home.
  • “Almost half of all children born to a mother lacking a high school diploma are not ready to start kindergarten.
  • “Students who do not read proficiently by the third grade are four times more likely to leave high school without a diploma.”

Literacy Efforts Around the World

The same results are evident in round-the-world data with many organizations working intensively to combat illiteracy. World Vision Ethiopia (WVE), for instance, is celebrating this year’s International Literacy Day with a campaign aimed at halting an alarming global trend: that of children graduating from primary school with reading deficiencies in their own mother tongue. Programs that emphasize reading proficiencies in five core reading skills are being implemented throughout 57 child-sponsorship Area Programs. Consequently, some 4,203 reading camps have been established across the Ethiopian nation. Nearly 1.5 million children are achieving reading and writing literacy in these camps; even more remarkable is that more than 15,000 youth are volunteering at these camps, helping serve not only children but also children’s parents.

Room to Read is a global non profit promoting literacy and girl’s education, which asserts that “when children are educated, they are healthier. Their job opportunities improve. For every year that they stay in school, their earnings increase by 10%. They are more civically engaged and less dependent on social welfare. They are more likely to educate their own children and break the cycle of generational poverty.”

Their ambitious goal is to invest in the lives of at least 15 million children by 2020.

Although challenges of global illiteracy and gender inequality in education and their repercussions are enormous, Room to Read feels they have the tools to eradicate them.

According to their website,

“Children in grade two in our Literacy Program in India, Laos and Nepal can read three times as many words per minute and correctly answer more than twice as many comprehension questions as their peers. More than 4,800 girls have graduated from our Girls’ Education Program, and 78 percent of our 2016 graduates enrolled in tertiary education or found employment within one year post-graduation.”

Book Aid International is a UK based charity that provided nearly 1.3 million books in 2018 to people in 25 countries in Africa, the Middle east, the Caribbean, and others locations around the world. They are focused on addressing illiteracy by getting books to people who need them most though “thriving partnerships with library services and NGO’s who make books available to their communities.”

Shetal, an 8 year-old Bridge of Hope student, sits on the floor with his BOH book bag during the morning session. He attends from 9 to noon.

Recognizing that 1 out of 5 people in the world cannot read or write, the World Literacy Foundation is operating in over 80 countries worldwide to lift young people out of poverty through the power of literacy. Two mentionable projects they have in Australia alone include the Indigenous Learning App meant to close the literacy gap between indigenous and non-indigenous children, and the ROOP Project (Reading Out Of Poverty) designed to “enhance literacy skills and reading levels of children from low-income backgrounds. ”In The Enchanted Hour: The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction, author Meghan Cox Gurdon makes the point: “As we shall see, listening to stories while looking at pictures stimulates children’s deep brain networks, fostering their cognitive development. Further, the companionable experience of shared reading cultivates empathy, dramatically accelerates young children’s language acquisition and vaults them ahead of their peers when they get to school.”

After that premise, who wouldn’t want to read to their children or to their grandchildren or to their neighbor’s neglected kids on the block? But wait, according to Gurdon, there’s more.

“The rewards of early reading are astonishingly meaningful: toddlers who have lots of stories read to them turn into children who are more likely to enjoy strong relationships, sharper focus, and greater emotional resilience and self-mastery. The evidence has become so overwhelming that social scientists now consider read-aloud time one of the most important indicators of a child’s prospect in life.”

All well and good (and let’s admit it, also amazing), but what happens when the adults in a child’s life don’t read to them? What if they don’t read to their children because they can’t read? They can’t read books or newspapers or signs or legal documents or school papers or homework assignments or medical reports. Again: What if they don’t read to their children because they can’t read?

Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers (like the Sisters of Compassion shown above) are helping to solve the literacy gap in Asia. In just one year, they taught 61,880 women how to read and write by providing free literacy classes. Many of those women had never had the opportunity to learn such a valuable skill because their families were either too poor to afford education or didn’t place importance on educating their daughters.

Solving the Literacy Gap

While searching for a significant role to champion while serving as First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush decided that a whole society could be impacted for the better if enough folk were given the skills of literacy. There is less crime among the literate, more educational advancement and better opportunities for success. She not only started the Foundation for Family Literacy, but she pushed hard for the National Literacy Act, which was passed in 1991 while her husband was president.

Mostly, illiteracy is cured by an army of tutors. The opportunities to volunteer and serve to erase illiteracy (to spread the miracle of reading and writing) are numerous.

61,880

women were taught how to read and write, in one year, by GFA-supported workers

Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers are helping to solve the literacy gap in Asia. In just one year, they taught 61,880 women how to read and write by providing free literacy classes. Many of those women had never had the opportunity to learn such a valuable skill because their families were either too poor to afford education or didn’t place importance on educating their daughters. But now, they—like Mandeepa—have experienced the “great miracle cure,” and their families are thriving because of it.

According to UNICEF, literacy rates have shown a positive trend in recent years, due to the multitude of programs and outreaches around the world to erase one of the root causes—if not the major root cause—of illiteracy, which would be a lack of educational systems.

GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centers put an ax to this root cause by providing impoverished children free educational help. Staff at these centers provide each student with the academic tools they need to excel in their studies. If they see a student struggling in a specific area, they take measures to help them learn and overcome their challenges.

Literacy rates among youth (aged 15 to 24) and adults are the test of an educational system, and the overall trend is positive, thanks to the expansion of educational opportunities,” reports UNICEF. “Globally, the youth literacy rate increased from 83 percent to 91 percent over two decades, while the number of illiterate youth declined from 170 million to 115 million. Regional and gender disparities persist, however. Literacy is lowest in least developed countries and higher among males than females. In the most recent years for which data are available, young women accounted for 59 percent of the total illiterate youth population.”

Personal Encounters with Illiteracy

I am an avid reader. It is nothing for me to go through some 35 books a month. Partly this is because of my writing profession; I am generally finishing a research deadline of some kind. The other part is that I just love to read. Reading has formed my character; exposed me to different kinds of thinking; enthralled me in the adventures of real and imaginary characters; improved my marriage and parenting capabilities; enhanced my housekeeping and gardening skills; and stimulated my intellectual, spiritual and psychological growth.

Zambia: Five desk mates share a book during a reading lesson in class. Although challenges of global illiteracy and gender inequality in education and their repercussions are enormous, non-profits like Room to Read feel confident they have the tools to address and eradicate illiteracy. Photo by Jason Mulikita, Room to Read

So in an attempt to have personal encounters with illiteracy, to develop an understanding I admittedly lack, I looked up literacy programs in my area for the purpose of considering what I, a solo person (who loves to read), could do to contribute to raising the literacy level of my hometown region, even if only by one or two individuals. I took a volunteer orientation class, an introductory evening of training to be followed by in-depth literacy tutor training this coming season. My $40 registration fee also bought the substantial workbook Teaching Adults: An ESL Resource Book, which I am reading. This, of course, deals with teaching those who are illiterate in writing and reading English. What gift could be more wonderful than coaching an eager English-language learner in the intricacies of speaking and writing English as a second language?

My husband and I live in the far western suburbs of Chicago. Our town is 52 percent non-white, mostly Hispanic. I can only relate to the immigrant experience of not knowing the language of an adopted country—e.g., not knowing how to read the road signs or the newspapers or the graphics that crawl across a television screen—by the times I have been plunged into a foreign culture overseas. Then I attempt to extrapolate those small and temporary situations into a lifetime of confusion due to the inability to read or write.

Obviously, knowing I would soon be returning home, or having a translator and guide shepherd me through the incomprehensible language and customs of a foreign country, renders these plunges only superficial. Due to our high Spanish-language speaking population, however, I run into literacy issues frequently enough—my own lack of Spanish-speaking facility as well as others’ lack of English comprehension. For instance, the name of the Lyft driver often sent to our door for a trip to the airport is Mariana. She makes sure we know she speaks “only little English.” I inevitably worry that she will take us to the wrong airport, but somehow, through a translation dispatcher system, we have so far been delivered to O’Hare or to Midway when needed.

While searching for a significant role to champion while serving as First Lady of the United States, Barbara Bush decided that a whole society could be impacted for the better if enough folk were given the skills of literacy. There is less crime among the literate, more educational advancement and better opportunities for success.

After my hairstylist’s departure to another state, I determined I would be part of the “new localism”—the grassroots effort of supporting the businesses and shops established by local entrepreneurs. “Oh, Lord,” I prayed. “Help me to find a decent stylist.” I walked into a hair salon in downtown West Chicago. There were five chairs and one person in the shop. “Do you cut hair?” I asked. “Si, si,” the woman responded. “Speak little English. Un pocito.”

“OK, OK,” I said, and signed an inch with my thumb and forefinger. “One inch off. All over.” Which is exactly what she did. She cut my hair one inch long all over my head. Without a doubt, it has been the easiest summer hairdo I have ever had. I wash it. Apply mousse. Then mess my hair up as it dries. No problem. But the experience gave me a baseline to imagine if every day and in every way these gaffes large and small would be part of the agony and effort of living. After time, one might just withdraw, choose silence, stop trying.


Literacy — One of the Great Miracle Cures: Part 1 | Part 3

This Special Report article originally appeared on GFA.org.

Learn more about the Women’s Literacy Program, and how you can help over 250 million women in Asia who are illiterate.

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