Rejoice!

Tragedy, poverty and hardship plagued Bakool and his family for years. In the following account, Bakool relates how God intervened in his life and brought peace and practical aid to combat the poverty he faced.

This is Jobi Masih with his rickshaw. Like Bakool, in the story below, Jobi struggled with alcohol and hopelessness until Jesus transformed his heart. After finding Jesus, both men labored hard—yet unsuccessfully—to provide for their families.

Poverty Overwhelms Family

“I am Bakool ... I am 40 years old. I have a wife and son. I come from a Christian family. Though we were Christians by belief, we would never go to the church, and we were not involved in any church activities. I was a laborer on daily wages. Sometimes, I would get work and sometimes not. At times, I would rent a cycle-rickshaw and transport people for a living. The money I earned was just enough for the rent of the cycle-rickshaw.

“There was poverty in our home. We hardly had food to eat. I was in debt. My wife used to quarrel with me. I was very discouraged because of all these things. I used to drink alcohol and do drugs to forget my struggles. My oldest son fell into a pond while he was playing, and he passed away.

“Sometimes, we would fall ill, but we had no money to get medicine. I was not able to provide proper food or education for my youngest son. I would ask for money from our neighbors. People mocked us because of our poverty. I did not know what to do in my life. I was really in anxiety. Several times I thought of ending my life. I was not able to come out of this wretched situation.

Family Finds Peace Despite Poverty

“[GFA-supported] Pastor Vipin was serving the Lord in our village. There was a church building that had been constructed three years ago. Pastor Vipin would visit us and counsel me from the Word of God and invite me to the church, but I did not listen to him. However, my wife and son started going to the church. Gradually, I saw their lives were changing. I also started going to the church.

“I found that in spite of poverty and struggle, there was peace in my life. I decided to leave drugs and alcohol and live a life for Christ. My wife [decided to live for Jesus, too]. God helped us to live in peace with each other. The anxiety, which I had, was not ruling over me anymore. We regularly went to church.

Prayers and Christmas Present Overcome Poverty

“By this time, a Christmas gift distribution program was held in our church. Our pastor saw that we were in need of a tool that would help us earn our living. Through the church, we were gifted with a cycle rickshaw. We were very thankful to the Lord and to the church leaders who gave us this rickshaw. Now I do not have to pay rent for a rickshaw. We are earning our daily living without difficulties.

“I thank everyone who helped us in our poverty. Whenever I ride the rickshaw I thank the Lord and the Church.

Like Bakool’s Christmas gift, the rickshaw Jobi Masih received transformed his family’s life. Jobi, who had once lived in a tent on the side of the road, was able to buy a plot of land and build a home.

“Please pray for us so that we will continue to trust God for everything and grow in His knowledge.”

Thank You!

Through the prayers and support of GFA friends like you, GFA-supported workers in Asia can minister to people around them. These men and women regularly pray for opportunities to bless individuals both spiritually and practically. Every Christmas gift given through GFA friends is prayed over, given with love and the hope of meeting specific needs of those who receive them.

Your prayers have been part of blessing Bakool and others like him. Thank you!

Like Harsika, the woman in this photo also lost her husband. They both found comfort through the prayers, support and encouragement of GFA-supported workers.

Her doctors couldn’t understand. Harsika should have been dead. Her kidneys were diseased. They failed to function. Yet the widow was still alive ... barely.

As disease ravaged Harsika’s body, worries plagued her mind.

She was a widow with one unmarried son and daughter still at home. They had no money. How could her children get married if the family had no money? She was dying. Who would ever marry her children if she couldn’t arrange their marriages?

Death reigned over her, and fear robbed her of peace and joy—until God sent someone who carried hope with him wherever he went.

Worried Widow Wastes Away

When Harsika first met GFA-supported pastor Bodhan, she discovered a compassionate ear. She poured out her troubles while he listened patiently.

“Because of our financial crisis,” she explained to Pastor Bodhan, “the last three months I didn’t go for the regular treatment. So nowadays I feel very weak and near to death, and the doctors are also wondering about me, saying, ‘How is she still alive?’ ”

Pastor Bodhan didn’t have any answers in himself, but he knew about Someone who had been working countless miracles on earth for more than 2,000 years. As they talked, hope bloomed in the worried widow’s mind. Pastor Bodhan prayed for Harsika, and she responded in faith.

“If God heals me from this problem,” the dying widow determined, “I will testify of His miracle to every person in [my area].”

After that encounter, Harsika decided to start attending worship services.

Power of Prayer

When Harsika came to the church the following week, Pastor Bodhan and all the believers prayed for her. She came back the following week, and the ones after. As time passed, Harsika’s health improved—without any treatments!

Today she is a living testimony of the power and love of God to everyone around her. Praise Jesus!

GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centers put smiles on the faces of hurting children, as well as good food in their bellies.

Dyuti stood alert by the side of a busy road, a young mother hen with a small flock of younger children about her. Though only in 7th grade, Dyuti was their guide to the neighboring village. She daily led the youngsters to a GFA-supported Bridge of Hope center, the place where her own life had turned around forever.

Judging by the smile Dyuti wore and the joy she carried with her, few would guess the hardship the young girl had faced in her life.

Father Sends Children to Orphanage

Dyuti lives in a tiny shelter made of plastic tarps. Her home has no electricity, no running water and no other facilities. When Dyuti was 3 years old, her mother succumbed to an illness and passed away. Her father remarried, and he and his new wife found work as daily laborers. Although they made enough to feed Dyuti and her older brother, Bibek, her dad spent most of his earnings on alcohol instead. Life was difficult for the little girl, and even more so when her father sent her and her brother to an orphanage.

Dyuti and Bibek didn’t like life at the orphanage. Maybe they missed their stepmother and the kindness and love she gave them. Maybe it was having to adjust to a new way of life. Whatever it was, Dyuti and Bibek couldn’t take it. They ran away from the orphanage and walked the 15-mile journey home.

Unsupplied for School

After the children’s return, Dyuti’s father didn’t send them away, but he still neglected their needs. The family struggled financially, and it didn’t help that little Dyuti had a dream her parents couldn’t hope to fulfil on their own.

Even though Dyuti had no notebook, no pens and no schoolbag to aid her—not even a pair of shoes—she wanted an education. Her parents couldn’t afford the supplies, nor could they help her with her studies because they were both illiterate.

But then some GFA-supported Bridge of Hope workers found out about Dyuti’s family situation. They invited the young, eager girl to enrol in the center in the neighboring village, where she would receive tutoring, nutritious meals and essential school supplies to help her in her studies.

Dyuti was overjoyed, and her joy was contagious.

Leading the Flock

At the center, Dyuti quickly gained a beautiful reputation as God sparked a new hope in the young girl.

“She always has a smile on her face,” shares a GFA-supported worker, “and [she] makes others smile by her words. She is very helpful to the needy at any time.”

This is Dyuti standing in front of her home. Without the opportunities given to her through Bridge of Hope and the prayers of her sponsor, it is likely she will never have a home more solid than this tent.

Dyuti’s gentle and kind spirit, eagerness to help and ability to make people smile won her the love of the staff and the trust of many villagers. Soon, many parents entrusted Dyuti with their most precious possessions: their children.

Along with Dyuti, about 35 other children from her village had been invited to attend the same Bridge of Hope center, but most of their parents were nervous about sending their children on the 1-mile trek because of the traffic. Knowing Dyuti would take care of them changed their minds.

Now, every school day, Dyuti leads dozens of children to the Bridge of Hope center and safely home at the end of the day.

Many people have noticed a positive transformation in Dyuti’s life through the GFA-supported Bridge of Hope center, but perhaps no one more than her parents.

Some 82,000 children like Dyuti are currently enrolled in GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centers scattered throughout Asia, while thousands more have graduated and now face the future with transformed lives.

“Bridge of Hope has really been a blessing to our family and our village children,” they shared. “We are grateful for the free education, food, clothes, school bag, books and the love offering gifts, which our family received. Also, we are thankful for the love, concern and the words of encouragement from the staff. We are thankful to God for all the blessings we have received through the Bridge of Hope center.”

Many people throughout Asia never have the opportunity to know they are loved by the Creator until a film team shows them Christ’s miracles, sacrifice and resurrection.

Fifty-year-old Jagrav stood before the silent crowd.

“I do not know how many people here believe in what they have heard or seen,” he said. “But I believe in God ...”

His words were clear, but none of his neighbors responded to his declaration.

Jagrav walked over to the two GFA-supported workers and told them he wanted to know more about the Christ. Could Jesus be the answer he had been looking for all his life?

Restless Despite Rituals

Jagrav grew up as a devout follower of his ancestral religion, and he was familiar with all the proper rituals and practices he needed to perform. But despite his diligence, Jagrav could never find fullness of joy or true peace in his heart.

Life continued on, decade after decade, but no answer came. Eventually he and his wife had three children, two girls and one boy, but their little ones didn’t bring the peace Jagrav longed for, either. It didn’t help that he and his wife continually fought over petty things. He didn’t know what to do.

Movie Shows Man the Way

When a GFA-supported film team arrived in Jagrav’s village, most people didn’t want to hear what the two men had to say. The team members, Pranit and Kharanshu, prayed God would go before them, and soon several men and women, including Jagrav, said they were eager to watch a movie about the life of Jesus.

As the projector displayed the love of Jesus on a portable screen, the crowd watched enthusiastically. When the film was over, the team showed another one called “New Life.” At the end of the night, many people exclaimed how amazing it was.

“It is amazing how much God loves us,” several villagers said. “We have never seen such a movie and have never heard such a story.”

However, despite their overall enthusiasm, most people didn’t want to change their lives in the light of this news—except Jagrav.

He stood before the crowd and made a bold declaration; then he invited the GFA-supported workers to his home so he could learn more about Jesus. Something had stirred his heart: hints of peace and joy he had never known before.

These are two GFA-supported missionaries standing by a generator, speaker, DVD player and LCD projector. Such equipment, provided through GFA friends like you, makes it possible for more people to hear and see the love of God displayed. Thank you!

The Only One in His Village

As Jagrav talked with Pranit and Kharanshu the next evening, he encountered the power of the Holy Spirit. God revealed how Jagrav could find lasting joy—and Jagrav leapt at the opportunity. He walked away from that evening a changed man. He took a copy of the New Testament, which he began reading every day.

His wife didn’t try to stop him, but she made her disapproval clear. She told him how their relatives and the other villagers would look down on him for his decision. But Jagrav responded with an unexpected joyfulness to her disparaging remarks.

“I do not care what others choose to believe,” he said. “I believe in the Word of God, and I encourage you to believe also.”

Although his relatives have scolded him severely, even threatening to take away his wife and children, Jagrav is firmly in love with Jesus. Because there are no other Christians nearby, Jagrav travels to the neighboring village to worship Jesus in fellowship with other believers. Despite the challenges he now faces, the joy and peace Jagrav experiences far exceed any hardship, and he is delighted to know Jesus the way he does. Praise the Lord!

I’m glad to have this opportunity to share with you again. How nice it would be to be able to sit down in my living room with each of you over a cup of tea and talk about all the Lord is doing! Here is just one incident that encouraged me deeply.

A few months ago, I was at a special convention in Nepal where I had the opportunity to see our Brother Manja share several times. For those of you who might remember, Brother Manja was formerly in prison for almost 10 years under a false accusation. As I sat and listened to him, I was amazed to see God’s hand on his life. But what amazed me even more was meeting his wife and kids, witnessing their profound godliness and learning more about their story.

You see, the entire time their father was in prison, these kids never heard their mother complain. She encouraged them every day, talking about the privilege the Lord gave them to sacrifice their father for the sake of the Gospel.

With so many children of missionaries and pastors, I hear about them getting bitter and upset because of the life of their parents, always asking things like, “Why is God taking my parents?” or “Where is God?” And it is a very sad fact how many of them walk away from the Lord.

The amazing thing was, with Brother Manja’s children, they didn’t walk away. In fact, someone at that convention told me that his son had just started going to Bible college! Despite all that he saw his family go through—or perhaps because of it—he wants to serve the Lord. And his parents never once told him that’s what he needed to do with his life.

I know so many of you faithfully prayed for Brother Manja and his family through the years of his imprisonment, and I want you to know: God heard, and God answered. This family is thriving, and God’s blessing is evident in their lives.

As this year draws to a close, I just want to say thank you once again for standing with us and with brothers and sisters like Manja and his family.

Through your life, support and prayers, many people in Asia are coming to realize God’s love for the first time in their lives, like the men and women you read about in this issue of Harvest. Thank you, and may God bless you.