Rejoice!

Typhoid, jaundice and malaria ravaged first-grader Pranati’s little body all at once.

She had become the victim of a harsh climate—and of drinking contaminated water. She was on the cusp of death when she was admitted to the hospital.

Pranati’s family tried everything in their power to make her well. They gave special offerings and prayers to their gods and even sought help from witch doctors, but her condition worsened. The fever affected her brain, causing her to act strangely. She would unexplainably burst into weeping or shouting or suddenly become silent.

While Pranati was in the hospital, her grandfather, Karmendra, heard about Gospel for Asia pastor Randhir Mehra. He was told if this pastor came and prayed for his granddaughter, she could be healed.

Karmendra found Pastor Randhir, and when the pastor heard of the girl’s grave situation, he immediately went with Karmendra to the hospital. Pastor Randhir prayed for Pranati and told her family about Jesus Christ’s great love for them.

Healing Opens a Door

Miraculously, Pranati’s health was restored, and she was able to go home after spending three months in the hospital. The entire community was amazed at Jesus’ healing power. In fact, four families chose to give their lives to Jesus as a result of this healing, including Pranati’s grandparents. This also opened up a door for Pastor Randhir to minister in their village.

Pastor Randhir started making regular trips into the village to share the love of Jesus and teach from God’s Word. Every Saturday he held a prayer meeting at Karmendra’s house. As a result of these prayer meetings, 13 believers joined the fellowship in one month!

While Pastor Randhir spent time with the villagers, he realized their great need for clean water. They depended on a river a half-mile away and a nearby lake for their water, but in the summertime, these two bodies of water dried up. They could only farm during monsoon season, and the lack of water forced the families to move to rented rooms in the nearby city every summer. So Pastor Randhir requested a Jesus Well for the village.

Jesus Well Impacts Lives

Workers planned to drill the well next to Karmendra’s home. Even though local officials said the village was too dry for a well, fresh water came forth from it! Full of joy, the people magnified and admired the Lord for this miracle.

Now that the village has enough clean water, the overall health of the community has improved. The villagers don’t need to fear becoming sick like Pranati did. In addition, people have been able to live in the village even during the hot summer months.

The villagers are so thankful for this Jesus Well and how it has enhanced their lives. Because it is right next to his house, Karmendra loves telling people about Jesus when they come to draw water from the well. Now 15 people are coming to the prayer meetings in Karmendra’s home each Saturday.

Through Pranati’s healing, Jesus’ love has transformed this village. Thank you for helping make this possible.

Farah not only taught Shona to read but also shared about the Lord, telling her and the other women in their literacy class about His work in her life and His goodness toward her and her family.

Listening to Farah’s testimony influenced Shona, who absorbed the stories of God’s faithfulness as she learned how to read and write. Once Shona could read, Farah gave her a New Testament to take home. Shona began reading the Bible regularly, and God’s Word started to take root in her life. She eventually responded to the call of Christ’s love and chose to follow Him.

Because Shona read the Bible out loud, her husband also heard the Good News and believed in Jesus. Now Shona and her husband attend a local fellowship, and Shona even leads the weekly Women’s Fellowship meetings.

Thanks to generous partners like you, Shona and so many other women have learned to read and write and, most important, have learned about Jesus through reading His Word.

As she grew closer to Him, she often told the Lord her most secret desires.

Eleven-year-old Oja’s parents did everything they could to provide for her and her two brothers, but their finances still came up short at times. They did not have a home to call their own, and each day they struggled to find work to feed their children.

One thing Oja’s parents did not have to search for, however, was a good friend for their daughter. Iksura, Oja’s best friend, believed in Jesus, and although Oja came from a different religious background, she decided to start going to Sunday school with Iksura each week.

As Oja sang songs about Christ and heard stories from God’s Word, she began to love Jesus more than anything else in her life. Desiring to know Him, she started spending time with Him in prayer.

Oja became more involved at Iksura’s church, and during a time of fellowship at a believer’s house, Gospel for Asia pastor Udar explained the Good News of Jesus to her more clearly. With her heart already brimming with love for Jesus, Oja then realized He was her Saviour.

As she grew closer to Him, she often told the Lord her most secret desires.

Girl Keeps Praying, God Keeps Answering

Although she had not mentioned it to anyone else, Oja asked God to give her the opportunity to attend a nearby school. Her parents did not have the money to send her there, but she asked Jesus to make it possible anyway. Because she scored so well on a government scholarship exam, Oja was able to enroll in the school she had prayed so faithfully about.

Another request close to her heart was that the Lord would provide for her family. Not long afterward, the government gave a piece of land to Oja’s family. Then Oja asked God to bless her father, who wanted to raise livestock, and two weeks later, a relative gave him a pair of goats. Now Oja’s father has eight goats to raise on the land he received.

More than just seeing God answer her prayers for physical provision, Oja saw Him take care of her family’s spiritual needs: both of her parents chose to follow Jesus wholeheartedly!

The Lord used a simple invitation to Sunday school to change Oja and her family from the inside out. Now even their relatives can see the difference Jesus has made in each of their lives.

As Gospel for Asia pastor Rajdeep ministers in a South Asian city, he is witnessing many remarkable events.

Before Pastor Rajdeep and his wife moved to this city in November 2012, many pastors had been deterred by the location’s lack of electricity and clean water and the dominance of anti-Christian groups, but God burdened Rajdeep and his wife for this city and began using them to touch many hearts there.

Bibhas became one of the first lives impacted.

Son’s Life Careens toward Destruction

As Pastor Rajdeep passed a man sitting outside his home, he took the opportunity to stop and talk. After only a few moments, the man, Bibhas, began weeping.

Bibhas and his wife lived with their son Motilal, Motilal's wife, and their two children. They were suffered as Motilal’s life swerved out of control, taking the entire family along for the ride. Unable to break his alcohol and drug addictions, Motilal drank every day and came home to beat his wife and children. He spent his earnings on alcohol, and due to his irresponsible behaviour, he eventually lost his job.

Without income, Motilal began taking his father’s hard-earned money—the only income left for all six family members—to feed his addictions. But because Motilal was their only son, Bibhas and his wife felt powerless to change or stop him.

When Bibhas met Pastor Rajdeep in front of his home and heard of a true hope, he couldn’t hold back his emotions.

Pastor Rajdeep gently asked the older man why he was crying, and Bibhas described his family’s plight. Sitting down, Pastor Rajdeep shared how Jesus transforms lives. Hearing this, Bibhas placed his hope in Christ and asked the pastor to pray for his son.

In addition to praying daily for God to change Motilal, Pastor Rajdeep started visiting the family regularly to talk with and pray for them. He also asked the believers in his congregation to intercede with him for Motilal.

‘Now I Am Completely Free’

After two months, Bibhas visited the pastor to joyfully share that Motilal had stopped drinking and started working on the family’s land!

“It is surely the work of God,” Bibhas said. “Now Motilal’s life is changed, and he has begun to care about us. I am truly glad.”

Bibhas asked the pastor to hold a prayer meeting in his home. When Pastor Rajdeep came a few days later, Motilal himself shared what God had done.

“I was addicted to alcohol and even other sorts of drugs for many years. Many times, I thought of leaving this bad habit, but I could not,” Motilal explained. “In the last month, my mind automatically began to abhor my behaviour, and gradually I stopped taking drugs. Now I am completely free from alcoholic bondage. It is surely the work of God that He transformed my life.”

That day, Motilal and his entire family decided to follow Jesus.

A Miracle of Growth

Now, Motilal’s family is growing in Christ and telling others what Jesus has done in their lives. Less than two years after Pastor Rajdeep’s arrival, many more people have similar testimonies, and he is leading five growing fellowships in a city once known for hostility toward Christianity.

God is doing miracles in this city because a pastor and his wife obeyed His call, and it is through your support and prayers that many more missionaries can labour faithfully. Thank you for partnering with them!

Neighbours whispered that Triveni’s health problems were happening because her family had done something wrong...

Triveni’s family did not know what to do. Due to a wound on her leg, their daughter frequently fell down and injured herself. As a result, she couldn't walk properly, had a suppressed appetite and often became weak and sick, suffering from fevers, colds and coughs. Although she took many medications, nothing could heal her.

Neighbours whispered that Triveni’s health problems were happening because her family had done something wrong, something that displeased her forefathers’ gods.

Triveni’s family prayed fervently to their gods, but her health still did not improve. They even visited witch doctors, but her condition only further deteriorated. At one point, her poor health stopped her from attending the Gospel for Asia Bridge of Hope centre where she was enrolled.

The Bridge of Hope staff noticed Triveni’s absence and visited her home. When her parents explained the problem, Davis, one of the staff members, comforted the family with the Word of God, sharing from Deuteronomy 23:5.

“[Jesus] can cure all the diseases,” he said, “and can change [every] curse into a blessing.”

These words excited Triveni’s parents, and they asked Davis to pray for Triveni’s healing. As they continued to hope God would do a miracle, Triveni’s family also visited Davis’ church. There, the local GFA pastor prayed for Triveni, and God gradually healed her.

Triveni and her family realized that only Jesus has the power to do such a thing, and as a result, they put their faith in Him. Now they are continually growing in their faith as they attend church faithfully.

Healed from the illness that hindered her for so long, Triveni, 14, enjoys participating in Bridge of Hope again. Through the help of the staff there, she is receiving nutritious food and excelling in her studies, as exemplified by her consistently strong grades in school. She hopes one day to become a teacher so she can help other children thrive as she has.

Bridge of Hope does not simply provide for the physical needs of Triveni and thousands of other children; it also opens the door for entire families to experience the love of Jesus. Through your prayers and support of Bridge of Hope, parents are noticing vast improvements in their children’s attitudes and children are even being healed, just as Triveni was. Best of all, these transformations are revealing the love and power of Christ to entire communities, and many people are responding.

One Sunday, Dhruvesh went to church as usual, but after the service, Pastor Tarak pulled him aside.

Dhruvesh fervently prayed for a bicycle. The young man had no hope of reaching his job on time every day without steady transportation.

Before he ever had a job, Dhruvesh grew up in a poor family with little opportunity to rise above his poverty. He had no work to support himself, and his mother often fell sick. In such times there was no one to care for him.

One day, while Dhruvesh met with some Christian friends, they asked him to share any prayer requests he had so they could pray for him. After Dhruvesh told them of his various struggles, they invited him to go to church with them.

Dhruvesh visited the church and there met Gospel for Asia pastor Tarak. The pastor prayed for him and invited him to come to church regularly.

A week later, Pastor Tarak and his family visited Dhruvesh to pray for him. They assured him God could wipe away all his tears and use him for His glory. As the days passed, Dhruvesh began attending prayer meetings, where he found encouraging fellowship and grew in his faith in Christ.

God began providing for Dhruvesh when another believer at his church asked about his welfare. When Dhruvesh explained he had no job, his friend helped him find one.

The job was a good opportunity, but it was almost 10 miles away, making it too far to commute on foot. Dhruvesh had to ask others to give him rides to and from his workplace; he needed a more secure mode of transportation. It was then that he began asking God for a bicycle.

One Sunday, Dhruvesh went to church as usual, but after the service, Pastor Tarak pulled him aside.

“Do you want a bicycle?” Tarak asked.

Dhruvesh was surprised the pastor had known his need.

“Yes! I am in need of a bicycle,” he replied.

Only a week later, Pastor Tarak called Dhruvesh to church. He told the young man that God had heard his prayer, and then he presented Dhruvesh with a new bicycle.

Dhruvesh could not contain his delight. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he thanked Jesus for His provision. Now Dhruvesh can reach his job on time every day. He is very grateful to those who made the way for him to receive the gift.

Reading the stories of Pastor Rajdeep simply fills me with wonder at all the Lord is doing. When I was 16, I left my home in South India and went north with a team of young people to share Christ’s love.

One of the villages I went to was the village where Pastor Rajdeep has been serving for the last year and a half. This was actually the first place I was given the privilege to suffer for Christ. Even now, I feel as though it is right before my eyes. We were beaten so badly that in the end, some of the brothers couldn’t even stand on their legs.

I will never forget this man who came out with a can of crude oil and threatened us, “We have brought this to pour it over you and your vehicle and burn you all down here.” They burned all our Bibles and our tracts in a heap in front of us, and we thought we were going to be burned too. But then another man said, “You dogs, you leave here in five minutes or we will kill you all!” Of course, we ran away. I can never forget it. For years, even just the name of that village filled me with fear.

That is why it is so amazing to see that Pastor Rajdeep is now leading five growing fellowships there. God has worked through the simple faithfulness of a brother and his wife who were willing to lay down their lives and take the risk to share the love of Christ in an area which was once so hostile to Jesus.

Thank you for faithfully praying for and supporting men and women like Pastor Rajdeep. Without your prayers upholding pastors and missionaries like him, we would never see such stories of God’s mighty hand at work. God moves in response to prayer, and I thank you so much for your partnership and desire to see His love shared among the unreached in our generation.