WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide – Discussing Manal, his quest of faith, and the Gospel for Asia pastor who helped him discover who God is through Scripture.
Who was this living God? Manal heard of Him through reading literature and by word of mouth, but he never grasped or understood who Christ is and what He has done for us. Manal began his search to find out what the Word of God meant. Though his culture and religious background consider Christians as lowly, Manal never could shake off his deep desire to understand their God.
Driver Finds a Church
While many impoverished people in Asia seek provision for their physical needs, their hunger for spiritual answers is often even greater. Manal searched for years before finding answers in Scripture through a Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor.
One day, as Manal was working as an automobile driver, he learned from his passengers about a local church. Hungry to gain more knowledge, he attended the church.
Gospel for Asia pastor Kalap welcomed him, and after hearing Manal share about his longing to know more about God, Pastor Kalap began to teach Manal through God’s Word, the Bible. Much like Philip and the eunuch, Kalap guided Manal and answered his questions, helping him understand the uniqueness of Jesus in ways he could understand. Pastor Kalap prayed earnestly for him, asking the Lord to reveal His deep love and truth to the man’s heart.
After that, Manal regularly visited the pastor. Pastor Kalap shared with him a copy of Scripture, which Manal gratefully began reading every day.
Soon Manal’s quest came to an end as he found the love of God for himself through the Scriptures. His face shone with joy. Not only had Manal found what he was searching for, but he found the eternal life his soul longed after!
Serving the One He Sought
Manal is now strong in his faith and determined to follow the Lord regardless of the comments of others or of the persecution that may come along the way.
“Now I know for sure that there is only God who can give eternal life, and I want to serve Him with my life,” Manal says.
Praise God for fulfilling the desire of Manal’s heart!
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Source: Gospel for Asia Rejoice! Newsletter, The Quest
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 empty heart present in children and adults alike apart from Jesus, and the comfort and love of God discovered in Gospel for Asia Sunday School.
Dacia was known to be an obedient and joyful daughter, but now she had once again defied her parents’ explicit demands. Angered at their daughter’s out-of-the-ordinary actions, Dacia’s parents laid out harsh punishment for the 12-year-old. She was not to attend the meetings, not to mingle with her friends and she was certainly not to read that Book. But all Dacia wanted was to learn more about Jesus.
An Empty Feeling Within
Children all around the world attend Sunday school just like Dacia (not pictured) was able to do thanks to Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers and others serving in this way.
Dacia grew up in a household that revolved around tradition. She and her three siblings learned to follow in their parents’ and grandparents’ footsteps, holding to the rituals passed down from generation to generation. Life for the family was good. Thanks to her hardworking father, Dacia was able to attend school, where she excelled in all her subjects. Respectful and obedient to her parents, she heeded all their teachings. But Dacia still felt as though she were missing something; an empty feeling in her spirit grew and grew.
Dacia often listened to her friends talk about songs, dances and stories that were unfamiliar to her. Curious, the young girl would ask her classmates where they had learned these things.
At the Sunday school, they replied. Her schoolmates explained that every Sunday, children met at the local church led by Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor Marek. There, they were taught songs and stories related to events in God’s Word. Hearing her friends’ constant enthusiasm, Dacia wanted to attend and, the stories and songs stirred a desire to know more.
Some days passed, and still, Dacia thought about Sunday school. Then one of her classmates said something about a week-long event filled with games, stories, songs and other activities open to all children. Dacia asked her classmates if she could also go to this event. They happily invited her, but there was a problem: Dacia needed her parents’ permission to attend.
Finding Love and Joy through Gospel for Asia Sunday School
At first, Dacia’s parents would not let her go, but Dacia begged them. After near-constant imploring, Dacia’s parents relented to their daughter’s desire.
The week-long church event was full of excitement for Dacia. The days sped by, each one full of fun games, songs and dances that taught children about Jesus. Here, Dacia finally found what she had been missing: the loving arms of God.
After the event, Dacia’s heart burned to know more. She began attending the Sunday school and eventually bought her own copy of God’s Word so she could read and meditate on it every day. Months passed, and Dacia continued to grow in her love for Jesus, but when the young girl shared her newfound faith with her parents, they responded in anger. They did not think her trips to the church or her time spent in God’s Word would leave a permanent mark on their child, yet they had. And now Dacia’s mom and dad needed to put an end to it. They forbade Dacia to attend church or read the Holy Scriptures.
Faith in the Midst of Fire
Dacia could not get rid of her cherished copy of God’s Word, so she hid it at a friend’s house, where she could still go and read it. She also found a way to secretly attend church services whenever she could, but it didn’t stay a secret for long. When her parents found out Dacia had ignored their demands, they were furious and punished her severely. The emotional and physical pain Dacia endured because of her faith drove her to tears on multiple occasions.
Despite the ire and disapproval of her parents, Dacia could not separate her heart from Jesus. She found strength in reading the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit inspiring and molding the young girl’s faith. Dacia had come to truly understand just how much Jesus loves her.
Pastor Marek and her friends also encouraged her and stood with her in prayer. In the midst of strong opposition and discouragement, Dacia was able to keep her eyes fixed on Jesus. Today, she prays for her family hoping they, too, will one day find what she did: God’s unfailing love.
Please pray for Dacia, that God will give her the strength and grace she needs to not lose heart and that she will grow deeper in her relationship with Jesus. Pray her parents will recognize God’s love for them.
*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 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 the Sunday School Ministry that can pioneer ministry work in a village, where sometimes when missionaries go into a village, the only ones willing to listen to the Good News are the children.
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 Badin, his family, the challenges brought by disability and disaster, and how Gospel for Asia Pastor helps rescue and bring alleviation in a time of grave need.
When the rains came, they came violently and suddenly. Badin watched in horror as landslide after landslide occurred near his home. Then water began to creep into Badin’s home, and he knew he had to evacuate. With his wife and three children, Badin made a break for the closest city. Hopefully, they would make it.
The Waters Rising
Badin, pictured here, shows the gaping hole in his home brought about by the landslides.
Badin and his wife, Wilah, lived in a rural village in South Asia where Badin worked as a laborer on a local farm. Due to a physical disability from birth, he could not undertake hard labor, but Badin provided for his family as best he could.
Then the torrential rain came. Badin didn’t think the water would reach their house, so they stayed put. But late that night, at around 9 p.m., the first landslides began. After one swallowed a neighboring home, Badin turned to his wife—they needed to evacuate now.
Gathering their children and what supplies they could carry, Badin and Wilah made their way toward the nearby city.
But it was too late.
They were stranded in their village, the high water impassable. They couldn’t return home either—four feet of water lay claim to their humble dwelling.
Shelter at the Church
Before leaving their home, Badin called GFA World worker Gosha, the leader of their church.
We are evacuating and in need of help, Badin said, “Can you help us?”
The pastor and other believers rushed to collect the evacuating family, but news came that stopped them in their tracks. Reaching Badin’s village would be impossible; the way was blocked. Undeterred, Pastor Gosha approached some local officials and asked if they would be willing to rescue Badin and his family.
Some hours later, rescue personnel reached Badin and his stranded family. They brought the family to the church, where Pastor Gosha and other believers had set up space for Badin and his family to sleep.
For the next 12 days, the stranded family was taken care of. They received bedsheets, clothes, food and water. Many others who found refuge in the church received the same provisions to help them through the difficult days ahead.
When the floodwaters receded enough for safe travel, Badin returned to his home to inspect the damage. Almost every belonging they had was gone. Walls were demolished; mud and stones filled the house. Their home was unfit to live in.
After the authorities deemed his home not safe for residents, Badin returned to the church, where they stayed until a temporary rental house was found for them. Thanks to the church, Badin and his family were safe, fed and clothed—and that’s all they could have asked for.
*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 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 the need for Disaster Relief Work, Gospel for Asia’s “Compassion Services” with relief teams who love the Lord who are focused to help victims of natural disasters find a firm foundation.
She called me Dad. Jessie had come home to celebrate her birthday—she was turning 68. “I know the routine, Dad” she reminded me. (I am 83 years of age.) And immediately, she began to jump in and help my wife, Karen, with tasks that needed doing around the house. My wife hates to run errands. She feels that they can eat up a whole day when she’d rather be accomplishing other kinds of goals—such as meeting writing deadlines.
Jessie had first come to live with us when she was 37 years of age. Homeless. On the streets. A mutual friend brought a very disgruntled young woman to our door. Wearing a leather jacket, she had developed one of the toughest demeanors I’ve ever seen. This was her adaption in order to face down a hostile world. Karen, nevertheless, with a spiritual gift of discernment, understood that beneath Jessie’s rough exterior, there was a beating heart still filled with unaccountable tenderness.
“Yep! On the inside, I’m just a marshmallow,” Jessie says now, describing what we came to discover was the truth. Despite an abusive mother, despite getting into “a lot of bad stuff” as Jessie would say, something true and beautiful, had survived those years as a motorcycle gang moll. Some inner spirit filled with longing for the right kind of love had survived her practiced liturgy of worshiping the dark and satanic.
Karen says that when she opened the door and discovered this tight ball of humanity beside our friend, an unaccountable kind of love flooded her emotions. So, Jessie came to live with us, went through an extensive rehabilitation as part of our family of four growing children. She stayed for six years. She and Jeremy, our youngest son and 10 years old at the time, became great buddies. How could Jessie not thrive with Jer acting as counsellor and life coach. This budding relationship was not only hilarious, it was touching beyond description.
We asked Jessie, on her latest visit home, what she remembered about those years in our house. “Oh, the love. You just loved me, and you loved one another. I also remember that we prayed a lot. I mean a LOT! … Why did you take me in?”
Well, it was obvious. Karen had prayed for help in the house, with the children, with the hated running-errand tasks, with the piles of laundry, and with the dishes in the sink. Who was she to argue with God concerning the way that prayer was answered and how it was packaged?
It occurs to me as we head into another national day that honors the fathers in our lives, that there are many people who become non-biological fathers to displaced folk who desperately need fathers.
Jessie’s transformation to a God-lover, to an ardent Jesus follower (“Oh, Jesus! He’s my life. He means everything to me!” she reported in our recent catching-up conversation.) was framed and formed by living in our not-perfect-by-any-means family, where there was at least a healthy and caring father-figure.
Have you observed that it’s easier for people to form an understanding of a loving God when they have had loving parents? Loving, wise, caring father figures often pave the way for a redemptive path toward God.
So, this Father’s Day, perhaps it would be a good exercise to consider those men who have been father figures in our lives. What teacher gave you crucial and encouraging attention? Did you have a neighbor who taught you how to use his tools? Was there an uncle or a great-uncle who encouraged your faith walk? Was there a Sunday School teacher who let you know he considered that you had much promise?
I had a band teacher in high school, Dan Perino, who took me aside and asked if I had ever considered running for student council president. “If you did, David, you would be sure to win.” In fact, I had never even thought of such an idea. However, I took his nudge seriously, mounted a campaign and to my great surprise, won the election! This was an embryo incident that helped me understand I had qualities in my personality that other people considered “leadership potential.”
Karen says that whenever Jessie calls on the phone and in her gravely voice prays, “DEAR LORD, BLESS KAREN . . .” my wife is always moved to tears.
I know that I am moved deeply when she calls me “DAD.”
Learn more about the GFA World national missionaries who carry a burning desire for people to know the redemptive fatherly love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide – Discussing Salbador, his struggle to provide for his family against poverty while enduring near constant chest pain, and his son’s persistent faith for healing for his father.
For 32-year-old Salbador, the past two years had been fraught with discomfort and pain. The father of three worked at a factory to provide for his family, attempting to keep them out of poverty. Long hours and tough labor resulted in severe, near-constant chest pain. Multiple hospital visits proved no help; the doctors could offer no relief for Salbador’s pain.
A Son’s Faith
Udahl (pictured front second from the left), convinced his father, Salbador (pictured center back) to attend the church after his chest pain would not dissipate.
Salbador was a believer in name but didn’t fully follow in Christ’s footsteps. His 10-year-old son, Udahl, however, attended church faithfully. Multiple times, Udahl invited his parents to go with him, but they always found some excuse to not go, even after they listened to Udahl chatter excitedly about all he learned at Sunday school.
When Salbador’s chest pain first flared up, Udahl recommended they go to the church.
“I have seen [Gospel for Asia (GFA)] Pastor Pallatin praying for many sick people in the church,” Udahl told his parents.
Maybe the pastor could pray for Salbador? Maybe Salbador could be healed?
Still, Salbador did not go. Udahl was a child; what did he know?
Undeterred by his father’s stubbornness, Udahl decided to invite Pastor Pallatin to his home. His father could be healed, Udahl knew it.
Through constant and diligent prayer, great things can be accomplished. And like this man pictured, Salbador experienced God’s love through constant prayer.
Healing Finally Found
Through constant and diligent prayer, great things can be accomplished. And like this man pictured, Salbador experienced God’s love through constant prayer.
When Pastor Pallatin visited, he shared exactly what Udahl had told his father: Jesus could heal Salbador’s pain. It seemed impossible, but this time Salbador finally decided to listen. Pastor Pallatin continued to visit the family, continually offering up prayer for Salbador to be healed from discomfort. And soon, those prayers were answered.
Salbador’s chest pain, which had plagued him for two long years, vanished. Rejoicing, the family invited Pastor Pallatin to continue visiting their home and sharing from God’s Word. And after a few blissful months of growing in Christ’s love, the whole family devoted their lives to Jesus.
“For the past two years, I had been taking medicines, but there was no relief,” Salbador said. “Now, the Lord Jesus healed me completely, and I do not feel any discomfort and pain during my regular work.”
Through his son’s persistent faith, Salbador has found healing and a new, invigorated life.
“We are proud of our son,” he said. “As he took initiative for this new life.”
*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.
Join the GFA World Prayer Team as we lift up in prayer the people of Asia and their needs. Receive prayer requests for Asia with a special focus each month. You can have a part in ministering to those in need—through our most powerful tool: prayer.
Learn more about the GFA World national missionaries 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.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide – Discussing the sickness brought by the lack of clean water, and the Gospel for Asia Jesus Well provides relief for both body and spirit.
The people needed water desperately. The old water pump provided by the village officials years ago was wearing out, resulting in an inadequate water supply in the hottest months and unsanitary water in the rainy seasons. Many villagers were contracting illnesses because of drinking the unclean water, while still more were struggling to get any water at all.
But these villagers needed more than just clean water—they needed living water. Severe sickness and daily disagreements among residents caused unrest to dominate the village as its inhabitants bickered with each other over various matters.
Between the lack of water and the lack of peace, the village people needed help and wholeness more than ever.
The prayers of Abay, Kahua and Pastor Mabon (not pictured) were answered through the installation of a Jesus Well in their village.
A Family Finds Freedom
Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastor Mabon lived in a small village nearby, where he led a thriving congregation. One day, Kahua, a member of Pastor Mabon’s church, listened to his neighbor Abay share about his many struggles. Frustrated, Abay explained that he did not agree with some of the activities other villagers were partaking in, and he was doing his best to separate his family from these villagers.
Seeing Abay’s discouragement, Kahua shared Jesus’s love with him and prayed for him to experience the peace and joy of Christ. Kahua and Pastor Mabon continued visiting Abay, providing encouragement and care to him and his family.
Abay became more and more interested in learning about Jesus and began attending Pastor Mabon’s church with his family. Over time, the Lord worked in Abay’s heart, transforming his discouragement into hope, and he experienced the love, joy and peace of Jesus for himself. As he grew in his relationship with Jesus, Abay prayed more and more for not only the needs of himself and his family, but also the needs of his village: the need for clean water.
Jesus Wells Provides Quenching of Village’s Thirst
*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 national missionaries 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.
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 hardships of poverty and widowhood, and the hope of rescue availed through God’s message revealed from a Gospel for Asia booklet.
After heavy winds collapsed her roof, Marial had no means to purchase the tin sheets needed to repair it. As a result, her home was a poor source of shelter from the winds and rains. When stormy weather returned, Marial was left exposed to the harsh elements.
Even though Marial could not read the booklet she was given, it started a conversation that also led to her being able to receive some much needed tin roofs through a GFA Christmas distribution.
Despair wound its way into Marial’s heart as she surveyed her situation. The meager pay she earned as a daily wage laborer was not enough to cover her costs for survival. As a widow living alone, Marial depended on the mercy of neighbors to supply her with whatever food they could spare. She certainly didn’t have money for a new roof.
Sitting in her dilapidated house, Marial wondered if there was a reason to keep living if she was only to be met with hardship and despair. In the midst of her struggles, it seemed there was no one who could rescue her.
Until one day, GFA pastor Dierick came by and offered Marial a booklet.
Gospel for Asia Booklet & A Curious Offer
Marial didn’t accept the booklet because she couldn’t read or write, but she was curious. Speaking with the young pastor, Marial questioned how words in a booklet could possibly have any benefit to someone with her needs for food and shelter.
“This is the Word of God,” GFA Pastor Dierick responded. “In it you will find God’s blessing in your personal life, and you will find true peace in Jesus.”
Questions formed as she considered the pastor’s words. What could this God do to change her situation? The deities to whom she’d prayed faithfully for relief from her destitute situation left her with no response. Was this God any different?
Pastor Dierick patiently answered all Marial’s questions and, before the conversation ended, invited Marial to attend his church.
A Better Gift
“That day, after I listened to the [Good News], I felt peace in my heart,” Marial shared. “I started to think about the words that I heard from the pastor. I started thinking about the love of Jesus and how He came down to earth and shed His precious blood on the cross of Calvary for the redemption of mankind.”
Marial began attending church and learning more about Jesus.
“The Lord indeed spoke to my heart and helped me to understand His divine love,” she said. “I started to spend time in God’s presence, and I prayed to the Lord to meet all my basic needs.”
As she attended church, Marial also learned about GFA’s Christmas gift distribution program. The program provided gifts that helped meet the financial and material needs of families in the community. Knowing her need for a new roof, Pastor Dierick secured a gift of five tin sheets to cover her roofless home.
“I could not believe my ears when I heard that news from the pastor,” Marial said. “With overwhelming joy, I thanked God for answering my prayers.”
Marial came to understand how deeply loved she is through the gift of a booklet, and through the gift of a roof over her head, she experienced God’s provision and was filled with hope for the future.
*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 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 how you can change someone’s eternal destiny by giving toward Gospel literature and tracts. It doesn’t cost much: Less than a penny will give someone a chance to hear about Jesus through a Gospel tract.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, issued this Special Report update on the worsening hardships of leprosy patients amid the COVID 19 pandemic.
COVID-19 Causes Setbacks for Existing Leprosy Patients
As authorities struggled to know how best to respond to the COVID-19 crisis in the first part of 2020, it was all too common to find those who contracted the virus likened to “lepers”—a fear-mongering and dehumanizing reference to those with leprosy (Hansen’s Disease).
For example, when Italy began looking to reopen after a significant lockdown prompted by a high coronavirus death toll, the country’s foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, commented, “If anyone thinks they can treat us like a leper colony, then they should know that we will not stand for it.”
In Australia, former television presenter Sam Newman commented that people in Melbourne, which introduced some of the toughest COVID-19 restrictions in the country, were “living in a leper colony.”
Meanwhile, in England, when television doctor Hilary Jones was asked whether it was safe to visit Birmingham, a city where cases had spiked, he answered “‘it’s not like a leper colony or anything.”
While such comments reveal some of the deep-seated alarm still aroused by the disfiguring condition, it’s also been suggested that lessons learned from the coronavirus could lead to leprosy rates being drastically reduced in South Asia—one of the areas where it remains most prevalent. During the pandemic, wealthy people in cities wouldn’t allow domestic help to come to their homes from where they lived in the slums for fear of COVID-19 infection. It is hoped that this dynamic will further expose the health disparity between rich and poor, maybe prompting a renewed effort to end the inadequate living conditions that incubate the disease.
People with leprosy have to deal with two crippling challenges— the lack of pain caused by deadened nerves that results in deforming injuries and the unseen internal pain they experience because of prejudice.
First, however, there will be a need to overcome the setback for existing leprosy patients caused by the pandemic. The lockdown across Asia meant many patients were not able to access the regular treatment required to treat them successfully, according to one group of researchers. Another study found people with leprosy were at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, in part because of the difficulty they had in maintaining personal hygiene due to deformities and lack of money for soap and sanitizers.
Dr. Mary Verghese, Executive Director of The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMT) Photo by The Leprosy Mission
The pandemic impacted leprosy patients more than any other vulnerable group, said Dr. Mary Verghese, executive director of The Leprosy Mission Trust India (TLMT). According to Dr. Verghese, “People affected by leprosy are one of the most marginalised sections of society.”
Elsewhere, with the pandemic bringing leprosy renewed media exposure, it could also awaken greater appreciation for the plight of those ostracized because of their condition. After all, being confined to one’s own home for an extended period because of coronavirus concerns may be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t compare to being forcibly isolated for the rest of one’s life in a leprosy colony.
It’s easy to recognize that people with leprosy have to deal with two crippling challenges—the lack of pain caused by deadened nerves that results in deforming injuries and the unseen internal pain they experience because of prejudice. There has not been a lot of research into the disease’s emotional damage. However, a recent study in Bangladesh set out to quantify how it impacts sufferers personally and found 60 percent of those disabled by leprosy who were surveyed felt that life was “totally meaningless.”
Because the pandemic has only worsened many leprosy patients’ isolation and economic hardship, one report in Nepal warned that it “may lead to increased loneliness among them, which may further affect their anxiety and depression level.”
A Sister of Compassion is talking with this Leprosy survivor. She helps her with chores that she’s unable to do because her leg was amputated due to Leprosy.
Every week, Sisters of Compassion and paramedical staff meet with the leprosy patients in this Leprosy colony and clean, bandage and dress their wounds, as well as properly medicate them.
One simple thing that Sisters of Compassion do at the leprosy colony is to meet people, talk to them, ask about how they are feeling, and pray for anyone who is sick or needs other prayers. Their words of encouragement have touched many lives in the leprosy colony and everyone appreciates their visits.
Leprosy patients don’t often experience love or care from others because of the disfiguring disease that afflicts them, and the social stigma that often accompanies it, but the love of Jesus shown to them by Sisters of Compassion brings hope and smiles to their faces!
Leprosy patients with obvious deformities are typically relegated to isolated colonies where they are often abandoned as social outcasts by family and friends. Sisters of Compassion regularly visit leprosy colonies, offering patients food, supplies, medical care and loving concern in the name of Jesus.
GFA World Doing What it Can to Alleviate the Difficulties of People with Leprosy
Aware that people with leprosy were being pushed even further to the fringes by the pandemic, Gospel for Asia and other organizations already working among these outcasts did what they could to alleviate their difficulties.
Providing Basic Necessities
GFA workers distributed laundry detergent, soap and food aid to widows and leprosy patients. These provisions were especially helpful because many leprosy patients sustain their daily existence through begging, which became impossible when the lockdown meant they couldn’t leave their homes.
Giving Goats as Income-Generating Tools
Physical limitations preclude leprosy patients from some income-generating tools, but Gospel for Asia (GFA) has found a creative way to help them—giving them goats to raise. Goats offer a good solution for several reasons: They are fairly low-maintenance and easy to manage, they multiply quickly, and their kids and milk yield can provide a regular monthly income, eliminating the need to beg.
Helpful Care from Sisters of Compassion
GFA’s work in scores of leprosy colonies across Asia extends beyond meeting just practical needs, as important as that is. GFA’s Sisters of Compassion and members of local churches who visit the colonies on a regular basis also aim to touch bruised hearts.
Physical Compassion and Genuine Concern
In addition to providing income-generating help, food and clothing, Gospel for Asia (GFA) teams offer physical care that embodies the love of Jesus. It comes in the manner in which Jesus responded when a man suffering from a skin disease came asking to be healed. Jesus didn’t do so just with a word of command, as He could have. Mark 1:41 notes, “Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out his hand and touched him.”
In the same way, Gospel for Asia (GFA) teams close the emotional gap that has separated so many people with leprosy from the rest of the world by literal hands-on care, such as tending for wounds. Patients at one colony were deeply touched when a visiting group shared a meal with them. It was “the first time people came and ate with us,” one said.
Among the residents of one of the leprosy colonies visited by Sisters of Compassion is Macia, who has lived there for more than 50 years, since contracting leprosy as a child. “Before the sisters came there was no one to help trim our hair or cut our nails, or help us clean our houses and encourage us,” she says. “The sisters help us by cleaning our wounds and they make us happy and encouraged all the time.”
Dr. K.P. Yohannan, GFA World Founder
For GFA founder K.P. Yohannan, this incarnational ministry is “an example of how God works. He wants us, in our physical bodies, with hands, legs, eyes and ears, to live as Christ lived.”
If this special report has touched your heart and you would like to do something to help people with leprosy, please share this article with your friends and consider making a generous gift to GFA World to help leprosy patients in South Asia and other locations.
About Gospel for Asia
Gospel for Asia – Transforming Communities (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Read the rest of this Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report: Pandemic Worsens the Hardships of Leprosy Patients – COVID-19 intensifies two crippling challenges —Part 1
Learn more about the GFA leprosy ministry, or the Reaching Friends Ministry, helping remind people affected by leprosy that, despite the stigma of leprosy, they have dignity and are valued by God.
Learn more about the GFA World 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 by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide – Discussing the growing community of people who have been touched by God’s love and healing power through the prayers of a Gospel for Asia worker who ministers and cares for them.
Gospel for Asia pastor Kontar recognized he was spending an increasing number of minutes each day with a phone attached to his ear. But he wasn’t catching up with old friends, chatting about the latest news. God was using these phone calls to bring healing to people who had never heard about Jesus.
Like the man pictured, Pastor Kontar spent many phone calls praying for healing for his new friends in Kessie’s village.
It all began with a woman named Kessie, who grew up in a community where Pastor Kontar taught a group of believers each week. Though Kessie’s family practiced a traditional religion, she’d heard stories of how Pastor Kontar’s prayers brought healing to the sick in her village.
After she married, Kessie moved to her husband’s neighboring town. One day, Kessie learned that her neighbor, Efia, was afflicted with an unknown illness. For two months, Efia suffered, her body growing weaker and weaker with each passing day. She and her husband wondered where they could turn for treatment as worry heightened into fear and their hope began to dim.
An Important Phone Call
In Kessie’s new community, there was no pastor or fellowship of believers, but she remembered Pastor Kontar from her childhood home.
She gave Efia Pastor Kontar’s phone number, encouraging the ailing woman to call and ask for his help. Based on stories from back home, Kessie knew Pastor Kontar had a compassionate heart and a special way of bringing healing to those for whom he prayed.
Efia’s husband, Ashon, called Pastor Kontar immediately, desperate to try anything that might restore his wife’s health. Pastor Kontar listened carefully as Ashon described his wife’s condition, responding with the Good News about Jesus and His power to heal. Pastor Kontar ended the call with a prayer for Efia’s healing.
Efia’s health began to improve until she was completely free from her illness, the strength of her body fully restored.
Gospel for Asia Pastor Ministers to Those in Need
Efia wasn’t the only neighbor to whom Kessie gave Pastor Kontar’s phone number.
Renny called Pastor Kontar seeking prayer for his body that was racked with severe pains. Pastor Kontar patiently listened to Renny’s story and prayed for his complete healing. Soon the aches in Renny’s body eased and harmony was restored in his joints.
Still another young man, Panyin, suffered from the influence of evil spirits, leading him to abuse his father. The man’s mother decided to call Pastor Kontar, who prayed for Panyin’s freedom. Once again, God answered Pastor Kontar’s prayer, and Panyin was freed from his torment.
Soon, Pastor Kontar was praying with many people in a village where he’d never set foot. Over time, they invited Pastor Kontar to visit.
At long last, Pastor Kontar put faces with the many names over which he’d prayed. There were Renny, Panyin, Efia and Ashon. He greeted them with warmth. Even though he hadn’t known their faces, God certainly did, answering the many prayers Pastor Kontar had offered on their behalf.
The village, once without a fellowship of believers, now has a growing community of people who have been touched by God’s love and healing power and will never be the same.
*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.
Learn more about the GFA World 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 the need for Disaster Relief Work, Gospel for Asia’s “Compassion Services” with relief teams who love the Lord who are focused to help victims of natural disasters find a firm foundation.
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WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, issued this Special Report update on the worsening hardships of leprosy patients amid the COVID 19 pandemic.
One of the unanticipated side effects of the seismic COVID-19 pandemic has been how it shed light on a community long consigned to the shadows—the several million people around the world living with leprosy.
This occurred in the news recently when the last county in the United States to get COVID-19 was shown to be located on a remote Hawaiian outpost and former leprosy colony.
The media exposure brought heightened attention to World Leprosy Day on January 24, an annual awareness initiative supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the “Bust the Myths, Learn the Facts” banner aiming to dispel the misinformation that keeps the disease shrouded in fear.
Leprosy: Bust the Myths, Learn the Facts
Despite the fact that around 95 percent of the world’s population has natural immunity to the disease, leprosy patients continue to face unfounded discrimination. For example, in parts of South Asia, more than 100 laws restrict the rights of people with leprosy, including barring them from running for local office.
Despite the fact that 95% of the world’s population has natural immunity to the disease, leprosy patients continue to face unfounded discrimination.
Nor is leprosy as contagious as is widely believed. A study in Bangladesh found that less than two percent of those who shared a home with someone with leprosy would contract the disease themselves, “which is a reminder that there is no need to isolate people affected by leprosy.”
But that hasn’t curbed the shunning and shaming of leprosy patients, who are often forced to leave their communities and reduced to begging.
Surprising to many is that the United States had its own leprosy colonies until not too long ago. The largest, in Hawaii, closed in 1969 after taking in more than 8,000 patients over its lifetime, while the last, in Louisiana, where patients weren’t allowed to vote or marry, was shuttered in 2015. Around 200 new cases are still reported in the United States each year, most among people who have spent time in parts of the world where the disease is more prevalent.
At one stage, a century back, the assistant surgeon general declared there were “1,200 lepers at large” in America, seeking permission to round them up like criminals, recounts journalist Pam Fessler in her book, Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice. It tells the story of the Louisiana leprosy colony and her husband’s grandfather, who ran away when he was diagnosed with the disease to avoid being confined.
“Throughout history, those believed to have leprosy… were among the most reviled members of society, outcasts sometimes believed to be sinners who brought the illness upon themselves,” says Fessler. “Even today, the threat of leprosy is used to demonize immigrants and people living in homeless encampments as potential carriers of the disease—although there’s no evidence that’s true.”
These leprosy patients are waiting their turn for treatment at a GFA medical center.
Every day, GFA Pastor Jiva visits the leprosy colony to encourage and pray for the patients and families there. “It is because of God’s grace that I have the strength, courage and motivation to work among these people, to share with them, to hug them, to love them and to care for them,” he says.
Many villages bar those people who are of a lower social status, or are afflicted with Leprosy, from using their wells, but Jesus Wells installed by GFA are open to everyone!
Dr. KP Yohannan, Founder of GFA World, recently visited a leprosy colony where he had the opportunity to help clean the wounds of leprosy patients, pray for them, and give them blankets for the upcoming winter season. Around 500 Sisters of Compassion daily serve leprosy patients all across Asia, faithfully following Christ’s example to serve these who are the most vulnerable and forgotten.
Most of the people affected by leprosy are very dependent on others for moving around or doing any sort of work. The largest share of them make a living by begging in the streets or marketplaces.
Some residents in leprosy colonies can still function at various levels. In other cases, there may be a couple of families that have healthy members who can cook and care for others who are sick.
How can a person work without their hands or feet? Leprosy often will cause people’s feet and hands to become disfigured, making it very difficult for men and women affected by this disease to provide for their families.
By providing treatment and practical help for leprosy patients, GFA workers show that Jesus loves and accepts all—even those rejected by society and crippled by Hansen’s disease.
In her culture, she may be considered an outcast because she suffers from leprosy. But many women and men like her who suffer from this disease are encountering God’s love in their lives through simple acts of kindness like nutritious meals provided by GFA World.
Eliminating Discrimination and False Conceptions Surrounding Leprosy is Key to Eliminating the Disease Itself
As a previous Gospel for Asia (GFA) special report underscored, eliminating discrimination and false conceptions of leprosy is key to eliminating the disease itself. For, while effective drug treatments have been available since the 1980s, ongoing stigma means many sufferers wait too long to be diagnosed, causing irreversible damage. Meanwhile, clinical trials on a vaccineare continuing.
The coronavirus-fueled renewed focus on this largely forgotten disease has been two-edged—revealing how much deep-rooted ignorance and prejudice still has to be overcome while also offering hope for greater compassion, and even possibly a reduction in its incidence.
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Read the rest of this Gospel for Asia – Transforming Communities (GFA World) Special Report: Pandemic Worsens the Hardships of Leprosy Patients – COVID-19 intensifies two crippling challenges —Part 2
Learn more about the GFA leprosy ministry, or the Reaching Friends Ministry, helping remind people affected by leprosy that, despite the stigma of leprosy, they have dignity and are valued by God.
Learn more about the GFA World 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 by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:
Jessie had first come to live with us when she was 37 years of age. Homeless. On the streets. A mutual friend brought a very disgruntled young woman to our door. Wearing a leather jacket, she had developed one of the toughest demeanors I’ve ever seen. This was her adaption in order to face down a hostile world. Karen, nevertheless, with a spiritual gift of discernment, understood that beneath Jessie’s rough exterior, there was a beating heart still filled with unaccountable tenderness.
Elsewhere, with the pandemic bringing leprosy renewed media exposure, it could also awaken greater appreciation for the plight of those ostracized because of their condition. After all, being confined to one’s own home for an extended period because of coronavirus concerns may be uncomfortable, but it doesn’t compare to being forcibly isolated for the rest of one’s life in a leprosy colony.
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