Rejoice!

People in the village could hear the sounds of a man’s screams as the rickshaw passed. It stopped near the building where the Christians met, and a desperate and haggard-looking family stepped out. They brought the screaming one with them and went in to the Sunday morning service.

The pastor prayed. The believers prayed. They claimed Scripture and called upon the name of the Lord Jesus.

And the screaming stopped.

Three Years Later

After Jagat witnessed God free his son from a torment he, a renowned witch doctor, had been unable to stop, he fell down at the loving feet of Jesus. His wife and children, along with their spouses, did likewise, and they all came up renewed.

Jagat’s family started gathering every week with GFA-supported pastor Nirmalya, the same pastor who had prayed for Jagat’s son that Sunday. And so life continued for Jagat and his family.

For generations, Jagat’s ancestors had lived on a plot of farmland, a tradition he and his four adult children continued. His children, along with their spouses, each had homes on the same property. They all worked alongside their father to grow and harvest their crops—mostly wheat and corn. The family even owned some oxen to help them plough their land, but despite all of their hard work, the family struggled. They had wheat and corn to eat and black tea to drink, but they had little else to fill their stomachs. The foods satisfied their hunger, but the family, especially the eight grandchildren, needed nutrition.

They needed milk.

A Quart of Love

One December, Pastor Nirmalya invited Jagat to a special Christmas gift distribution where the loving father received a pair of mature goats, as well as a kid. That meant, from the very first day Jagat brought the goats home, he and his family received milk to drink—a quart every day.

Countless people find freedom from severe torments and sicknesses through the prayers of believers.

A splash of milk in their tea. A bit of buttermilk and ghee to cook with. Some curd to fill a child’s belly.

The goats have made a difference.

Jagat and his family can hardly contain their gratitude. To thank the Lord for His marvellous provision in their life, Jagat soon brought an offering to the church—a precious quart of milk to bless others in the congregation. All this has been made possible through the prayers and donations of GFA partners around the world.

Sadly, suicide rates are extremely high among women in some parts of Asia. But as women like Saneh (not pictured) discover their worth in Christ, they find a reason to keep living.

Saneh had endured her stepmother’s scoldings and her father’s punishment every day for many years. The harsh treatment at home made it difficult for her to function at school and around others. She had no friends. Bitterness, loneliness and disappointment filled her life. She didn’t want to live anymore and thought about suicide. When her aunt saw Saneh’s miserable state, she brought her home to live with her, but still Saneh felt hopeless.

Two years later, Saneh had unexpected visitors: a group of women from the local Women’s Fellowship. Saneh heard joyous news from them. As Saneh heard about the love of Jesus, she began to open up about her troubled life. She was encouraged from God’s Word, and the team prayed with her.

Saneh had never heard words like these before. She wanted to hear more and gladly took some of the literature they had with them. As Saneh read about this love she had long been lacking and contemplated what the women had shared, Christ touched her heart.

A week later the women visited her again, and they could see the change on Saneh’s face. She is now smiling and filled with hope—all because she knows that Jesus loves her!

Through the personal attention and love they receive in Bridge of Hope, children like Ritesh (not pictured) find the inspiration and help they need to leave behind destructive habits and pursue their full potential.

Ritesh greedily eyed his friend’s belongings. He waited until his friend wasn’t looking, and then stealthily reached out his hand to snatch and hide the desired item. He thought he’d get away with it, as he had many times before in his life, but he was wrong.

The kind yet disapproving eyes of the Bridge of Hope worker watched him. This was the second time Ritesh was caught stealing from his friends at the center. His teachers counselled him, but Ritesh still couldn’t understand why stealing was wrong. The workers at the GFA-supported Bridge of Hope center weren’t about to give up on him.

A Rough Beginning

The thick stench of recently chewed tobacco had often leaked from the 12-year-old’s mouth as he entered the Bridge of Hope center in the early days of his enrollment. Ritesh hadn’t been attending for very long before the teachers and social workers at the center recognized many of the young boy’s struggles. That’s why they took it upon themselves to give him extra attention, encouragement and counselling, giving him the love he hadn’t known growing up.

Ritesh had lost his mother when he was small. His father later abandoned him, leaving him in the care of his grandmother. Because of his family’s extreme poverty, Ritesh was put to work in a hotel. Devoid of the love and encouragement he needed, Ritesh developed destructive patterns of life—patterns that were only changed through Bridge of Hope.

Love Transforms

Through many months of care and counselling, Ritesh found a fresh start. First he stopped stealing from the other children. Then he stopped chewing tobacco. The changes in his life brought much delight to his relatives and to all his friends at the center. What’s more, over the years, Ritesh studied diligently and turned out to be one of the best students in his center!

Through the consistent love of the Bridge of Hope staff, this once-troubled child found a bright future.

All this has been made possible through the prayers and donations of people like you. Thank you!

Every Jesus Well has a story. These women, both leprosy patients, now have an abundant source of clean water in their village because of the generosity of believers like you around the world.

Jesus Wells have the ability to transform villages, providing not only clean, fresh water but also the opportunity for people to find clean hearts and a fresh start at life in Jesus.

Every Jesus Well has a different story. With thousands of Jesus Wells blessing communities in Asia already, it’s difficult to share all the stories with you! Here you will find a small selection of stories we’ve received about Jesus Wells and what God is doing through them. We hope they bless you and remind you how being part of the GFA world through your life and partnership is making a tremendous difference!

Jesus Well Brings Villagers Back

Although the vast majority of Jesus Wells are drilled deep into the ground—some as deep as 1,200 feet—occasionally the location of a village and its unique situation requires a different approach for providing clean water.

That was the case in Muna’s mountain village, where villagers needed to walk two miles over steep hills and through valleys to gather water for their daily needs.

But today, around two miles of pipes connect that water source to the village’s Jesus Well, which for this region took the form of a cement water tank. Now this village has a local water source!

Muna is incredibly thankful for the Jesus Well and the transformation it has brought to his community. Several families who had left because it was too difficult to find water have now returned. Muna shares how the Jesus Well and the church building that was constructed nearby have united the people in his village and brought them all joy.

Dispensing Liquid Love

Pastor Ranadeva loved the people in his village and wanted them to know it. The people regularly heard about the greatest love of all—Jesus—but not everyone wanted to hear. Still, the pastor loved them as well as he could, and one day he was able to show them practically by drilling a Jesus Well to meet their need for clean water.

Datta, an elderly man in the village, had never been very interested in Pastor Ranadeva. But one day, after the Jesus Well was installed, he welcomed Pastor Ranadeva into his home. Datta listened from the Word of God and took some literature to read, and later he attended prayer meetings in the village, where God touched his heart.

Today, Datta and his family continue to draw water from the Jesus Well located less than half a mile from their home.

No Longer Waiting in Line

Poorva, a 50-year-old widow and mother of four sons, didn’t like having to wait in line at the only water pump in town. But until a GFA-supported pastor named Manit arranged for the installation of a new Jesus Well, Poorva had no other options.

After the well was installed, Poorva couldn’t hold back her gratitude. She thanked Pastor Manit profusely—she would have more time to do things around her home instead of standing in line, she shared. As they talked, she decided to attend Pastor Manit’s church, where she and her eldest son soon fell in love with Christ—the One who saved their time and changed their lives forever.

Eleven Jesus Wells

In a village of 15,000, one hand pump just wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, that’s all the people in Layak’s village had. As the leader of the village, Layak wanted to provide for his people, but he didn’t have the resources to do so. That’s why it filled him with such inexpressible joy when a local GFA-supported pastor inquired about installing Jesus Wells.

Within a few months, the dedication ceremony was held for 11 Jesus Wells, and hundreds gathered to witness, including several local officials. Many people expressed their astonishment that Christians would love them so much and follow through with providing for their needs.

“This is something very different that I am seeing today in my life,” shared one elderly man.

Layak, moved with happiness, made a bold decision: “I will donate a piece of land in the village for a church to be constructed as well,” he declared after the ceremony. “I want to see a church in my village.”

Without steady work or good influences in their lives, many youths, like Garjan (not pictured), become entrenched in immoral and destructive habits with no hope of escape.

It was Garjan’s big day. He looked nice, handsome even, in his wedding attire. By all appearances, he seemed like a young man ready to start a new life with his bride.

His parents, as they had often done for their only son, prayed and offered sacrifices to their gods. All their hopes hung on this marriage. They knew their son was a rebel, an alcoholic and worse. No matter how they tried to correct and change him, he only went deeper into a selfish squalor of immorality.

They arranged the marriage as a final effort to fix him.

It didn’t work.

Sneaking into a Prayer Service

Not long into Garjan’s marriage, his wife delivered a baby boy. But afterward, she developed a problem of persistent bleeding. The doctors gave her medicine, but Garjan didn’t care for his wife enough to help her with the treatments she needed. Her problem persisted, and so did Garjan’s immorality.

Then one day, Garjan decided to peek in on a prayer service led by a GFA-supported pastor he knew, Pastor Philemon.

Garjan had met with Pastor Philemon many times over the years. The pastor had prayed for him and encouraged him to mend his ways, but Garjan had never wanted to listen. But that day, as Garjan heard the sounds of prayer and worship, God tugged on his heart, and he sat down among the believers.

In the following weeks and months, he came back again and again, even bringing his wife.

The Transformation They Always Wanted

As Garjan and his wife attended the services, they heard about the relentless love of Jesus from Pastor Philemon. He continued to pray for them, and God heard his prayers.

Garjan left his bad habits behind one by one, and God healed his wife of her bleeding.

Through Pastor Philemon and God’s Word, Jesus gently and patiently spoke to their hearts about His grace, and they gratefully and lovingly responded.

Garjan’s parents and in-laws were initially upset that he wanted to follow Christ, but after witnessing the transformation God had wrought in his life, their only response now is gratitude.

Today, Garjan and his wife are preparing for the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

There were so many Christians. They couldn’t fit. The small house was packed already, and it was only getting worse as more people experienced the Lord’s grace and power.

When Ramani learned about GFA-supported pastor Duranjaya, she approached him. She needed help. She opened up and shared with him about her five-year struggle. She continually felt uneasy and tormented; it seemed to her that an evil spirit was affecting her life. When Pastor Duranjaya heard this, he prayed for the troubled woman, and she felt encouraged to start attending prayer meetings with the other believers. Ramani started going to prayer meetings, and within a few months, God freed her completely. She gave her heart to Him, and through her life and testimony, others did as well.

And so the number of people wanting to gather for worship grew. Ramani and the others gathered almost every week in the home of one of the believers. But, as much as they loved Jesus, not everyone was comfortable with the arrangement, and sometimes the believer who owned the house wasn’t available to host.

Still, more people wanted to gather together.

Crying Out to God

So they did what any congregation would do—they prayed.

For five years they cried out to God, asking Him to provide a permanent place of worship, a place that would hold everyone and allow them the full joy of fellowship together.

God honored and answered their prayer.

They received a piece of land and permission to build. Through the generosity of Christians around the world, the finances came in to begin construction.

Many of the Christians who hadn’t wanted to crowd into a small home gladly met to worship the Living God within the sanctuary of their new church building.

“Now we will not have any difficulty,” shares Kinshuk, one of the believers in the village, “but we can worship in freedom.”

Thank you for helping make stories like this possible.

When my children were young, I travelled even more often than I do now. It was God’s grace and mercy that I never knew the hundreds of times my children would cry at night, asking where I was. But they never once heard their mother complain.

Instead my wife told them this: “It is because we let our daddy do this that many more people will be in heaven someday. It is our privilege to do this.”

I remember times she would take me to the airport before a long journey, and I wouldn’t want to get on the airplane. But then she would smile and encourage me to go. I didn’t know until years later how she would often cry all the way home.

Throughout the years of GFA, there has been so much sacrifice and commitment in the face of hardship. I honestly don’t know where we would be today without having walked through all these things and persevered, trusting the Lord as we share His grace with the nations.

However long your journey has been, I’m sure you will recognize this reality: Commitment and sacrifice are a necessary part of seeing more people understand who Jesus is. Sympathy so often is not what we need; what we need are encouragement and strength to press on in the midst of hardship.

First Peter 2:21 reads, “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.”

My brother, my sister, can we pray the Lord will revive our hearts for the sake of those who don’t know Jesus, and that He will break our hearts with the things that break His? Can we look at one another in the midst of trials and say, “Press on my brother, my sister; it is worth it. Eternity is ahead of us, and there will be many people there because of your life”?

May the Lord give us all grace to embrace the struggles He allows into our lives for the sake of those who don’t yet know Him.