Rejoice!

Bryn once begged on the streets, arousing sympathy as passersby gawked at her disfigured limbs, but now she lives in a small room in a leprosy colony. Over the years, Bryn’s disease ravaged her body, leaving stumps in place of hands and legs. Now 75 years old with failing eyesight, Bryn has spent many years with the monumental task of caring for herself. These difficult circumstances have left no room for self-pity, so Bryn scoots around the floor to do laundry and cook for herself.

Leprosy Patient Let's in Helping Hands

One day, Bryn met three GFA Sisters of Compassion serving in her leprosy colony. These women, dedicated to serving the poor and marginalized through prayer and practical help, are frequently found in slums and leprosy colonies. The young ladies told Bryn that Jesus is there to care for her. Could that really be true? Her own son and daughter-in-law did not care for her; why would this stranger named Jesus?

The Sisters continued talking with Bryn and asked how they could help her.

“I don’t want anything, but please fix the door of my room,” she told them.

Three Trustworthy Sisters Appear

Every Tuesday the three Sisters stopped by to visit Bryn. The old woman’s heart softened towards her new friends, and eventually she let them help her with daily chores and cook meals. It felt good to be taken care of after weary years of doing everything for herself.

The Sisters also shared with the Women’s Fellowship leader that Bryn needed a new front door. The church’s Women’s Fellowship group collected money, and their pastor went to Bryn’s home to install it.

These women, like Bryn, have experienced loss and rejection due to leprosy.

New Door Opens to a New Life

The care and consistency of the Sisters showed Bryn the love she had been denied since her tragic diagnosis. Despite her disease and deformity, she was loved and loveable. Eventually, Bryn realized Jesus really did care for her and had shown His care by sending the three Sisters to love and help her.

Now, every Tuesday, Bryn’s new door opens wide to welcome her friends. As the Sisters in white merrily clean and cook, Bryn’s heart is filled with gratitude. She thanks God for the new friends who care for her, friends upon whom she can depend.

The boys and girls pictured above are some of thousands of children who have received free food at GFA World Bridge of Hope centers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though lockdowns in Asia prevented GFA’s World’s Bridge of Hope centers from holding their normal activities last fall, Bridge of Hope and other GFA workers continued to impact children, their families and entire communities as they offered helping hands in a time of great need.

In just a few months, tens of thousands of food kits were distributed, which included essential items such as rice, lentils, flour, beans, cooking oil and sugar. These distributions focused on children enrolled in Bridge of Hope but also included other local families in need.

“When we heard the center is closed, we were sad,” said Lalia, a 14-year-old student. “But you did not forget us; rather you remembered us. Thank you for showing your love by providing these valuable ration items during this crisis.”

Numerous children, parents and other recipients expressed gratitude for the GFA workers’ concern and care in their time of need, giving them “hope for living” in this time of crisis, as one student said.

Cadia is a widow with five children, one of whom is enrolled in Bridge of Hope. Unable to earn money as a domestic worker, Cadia was struggling to feed her family.

“There were days when we had nothing to eat,” said Cadia. “This ration kit has come as a relief to us. I am thankful to all the leaders for providing this to us.”

Pagyel’s parents are among the many daily laborers who have been unable to work.

“During this pandemic, my parents are really struggling to meet even one-time meal at home,” he said. “Today, I am deeply grateful to [Bridge of Hope] center for giving me and my family the ration kits.”

Learn more about what GFA World is doing to help during the pandemic »

Abnor (pictured) found freedom from alcohol addiction after a GFA pastor befriended him.

Saer, a GFA pastor, was walking in his village when he met a short, wiry young man. Pastor Saer quickly observed something was not right with him. Maybe the pastor noticed the young man’s eyes were bloodshot, or his breath smelled of liquor, or his speech was slurred. Whatever clues Pastor Saer picked up, he deduced the young man was completely drunk. Would he listen to anything the pastor said?

New Friend Offers New Hope

The young man, Abnor, had lost his father years earlier. He lived with his mother and earned an income working as a driver. Abnor sought solace by seeking blessings from his traditional gods and goddesses—and drinking alcohol—but these didn’t give him the fulfillment, purpose or connection he needed.

When Abnor met Pastor Saer, his drunken state didn’t stop him from unburdening his desperation to the pastor.

“As I kept talking to him,” Pastor Saer remembers, “Abnor began to share that since he was addicted to alcohol, his health was going down day by day. Though he knew that it was harmful for his body, he could not stop his addiction to alcohol. He became helpless. Nobody loved and cared for him due to fear as well as his drunkenness.”

Seeing the young man’s desire to change, Pastor Saer regularly prayed for him. The pastor also encouraged Abnor, assuring him that God could help him change his way of life. Over time, Abnor grew closer to Christ, and his mindset shifted from resignation to determination to change. Gradually, the young man overcame his addiction with God’s help.

“It was hard for me to stop drinking alcohol,” Abnor says. “By the grace of God, my pastor, Saer, … supported me through prayer. Today, I could leave my drinking habit. I was addicted to alcohol for three years. Now, I am amazed that I am completely a changed man.”

Abekwa and her family are some of thousands of people, like the women pictured, who have lost homes and possessions due to catastrophic earthquakes in their country.

In an instant, one catastrophe can completely redirect a life’s trajectory. For Abekwa, that happened the day her village quivered on its perch atop a vista of sharply angled green and brown slopes. The Himalayan foothills reeled and rumbled, earth stampeding down steep hillsides, flattening homes and taking lives. When the earthquake stilled, Abekwa and her family stood and beheld a new landscape: Their village lay flat. Abekwa’s family already lived in poverty. Now, with their home destroyed and their village leveled, what would they do?

Pushed to the Brink of Giving Up

Abekwa’s parents struggled to provide for Abekwa and her three younger siblings. Illiterate themselves, Abekwa’s parents couldn’t help their children with school, and the kids struggled to learn. When the earthquake devastated their village, including the public elementary school the children attended, Abekwa and her family lost the little they had. They couldn’t even find food to eat.

Abekwa and her family are some of thousands of people, like the women pictured, who have lost homes and possessions due to catastrophic earthquakes in their country.

Abekwa’s family moved to a larger town nearby where the children could attend school while the parents worked hard to provide by rearing and selling sheep and goats. With the struggles Abekwa’s family faced, the girl took on much of the burden of caring for her siblings. She cooked two meals a day and helped her siblings get ready for school.

With increased responsibility, Abekwa fell behind in her studies. Teachers scolded her and her siblings for not completing their homework. Though Abekwa worked hard, she couldn’t succeed in school. What was the point of trying? Shouldn’t she just quit school and help her parents with their work?

A Second Chance for Success

The family had moved in hopes of gaining some stability, but now their children were struggling. This bad situation hit a turning point when Abekwa’s father learned about an opportunity in their new town.

Abekwa’s father heard there was a GFA Bridge of Hope center that provided free education for children in need, and he enrolled Abekwa and her siblings.

At the Bridge of Hope center, a second chance for success plopped into Abekwa’s arms like a present, one she gratefully unwrapped. The tutors at Bridge of Hope assisted Abekwa and her siblings with their school assignments, offering help their parents couldn’t provide. The children also received school supplies and a daily nutritious meal, decreasing Abekwa’s need to cook. Best of all, the Bridge of Hope tutors encouraged Abekwa and her siblings. Gradually, the children excelled in their studies.

Through the help of Bridge of Hope, Abekwa regained the motivation, drive and hope she needed to achieve an education. She not only continued going to school, but she graduated in a region where about 40 percent of children don’t even attend upper secondary school.

Abekwa and her family are some of thousands of people, like the women pictured, who have lost homes and possessions due to catastrophic earthquakes in their country.

Abekwa overflows with gratitude for the chance to finish school—a chance that poverty and disaster almost stole from her.

“I am so thankful and grateful to Bridge of Hope for providing free tuition and one-time meal[s],” she says. “Before coming to the Bridge of Hope, teachers in the school used to scold us because we used to go to school without writing homework. … I was thinking to discontinue my study and help my parents at work. But I continued my study because of Bridge of Hope. The tutors helped us to improve in our study. … I thank the Bridge of Hope staff for love, care and encouragement in our lives.”

Jesus Wells bring desperately needed clean water—and the grace found in the Living Water—to people like Jahaira and the woman pictured.

People steadily streamed to and from the well. Clasping empty buckets or plastic jugs, each villager waited their turn. Clear water filled container after container to the brim. A nearby plaque spoke to the passersby: “Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

These words intrigued 40-year-old Jahaira as she began collecting water at the newly installed Jesus Well, which served around 200 people.

For some time, people in the remote village had drawn water from a pond nearly a mile away. The water, polluted through bathing and washing clothes, sickened many who drank it, including Jahaira, who suffered from near-constant stomach pains and diarrhea from drinking the dirty water. But no other nearby water source existed.

The doctors could not heal Jahaira’s sicknesses, and their treatments didn’t alleviate her pain. All they could suggest was for Jahaira to boil her water before drinking. There should have been a better solution.

Clean Water Heals Woman, Brings Hope

By God’s providence, a better solution arrived. GFA pastor Badan, who led a church in Jahaira’s village, requested a Jesus Well for the village. After the well was installed, many villagers gathered their water from it, including Jahaira.

A week later, Jahaira’s stomach pains and diarrhea vanished. She believed it could have only been the result of drinking the pure, clean water from the Jesus Well, which had a plaque inscribed with John 4:14. Jahaira wanted to know more of this Living Water she saw spoken of on the plaque, so she talked to Pastor Badan. He told her about God’s love for her.

Today, Jahaira rejoices in both the Living Water and the physical water God has provided.

Learn More About How GFA Provides Access to Clean Water »

Taboras and his family (pictured) earn a living collecting and selling rags and garbage.

Poverty surrounded GFA pastor Vasek. One day, the pastor happened to meet two young boys—two young boys who should have been in school. When the pastor asked them how they were doing, the boys shared with him about their lives and invited him to their home. A few minutes later, they arrived at a ramshackle tent made of plastic bags and strips of fabric that were held together by sticks.

Pastor Vasek then met the boys’ 55-year-old father, Taboras, their mother and nine siblings. As they conversed, Pastor Vasek asked if any of the children went to school. No, Taboras responded. They helped him by scouring small hills of refuse for bits of rags and other sellable pieces of garbage. It was their livelihood, the only way they could sustain themselves. Sending his children to school would mean the family could lose wages needed for survival.

A Future Beyond a Garbage Heap

But Pastor Vasek knew an education would open avenues for a successful future that would otherwise be closed to them. Should they not attend school, they would forever be stuck in poverty.

The pastor explained to Taboras the benefits of an education. His children would learn things that could help shape a better future, one that didn’t include picking rags the rest of their lives.

Hearing the pastor’s explanation, Taboras agreed to send his school-aged children to get an education. Pastor Vasek helped four of Taboras’s children enroll in the local school, paying the fees himself.

Every day, Taboras’s children went to school instead of to a garbage heap, and they tackled the new lessons set before them. Taboras thanked the pastor for helping him send his children to school. Now, Taboras and his wife know their children have a chance to embrace a brighter future beyond the garbage heap.

My son, Daniel, has always been fascinated with how things work. One of his favorite things to do is to take something apart and tinker with it. He is always inventing, or reinventing, some little gadget. One of his attempts, as a young boy, was to reinvent firecrackers. He would break the heads off some matches, roll them up in paper and light them, hoping for an explosion.

I never did see one of those “firecrackers” explode. On the outside each one looked like a firecracker, but it did not act like one because what Daniel rolled up lacked the explosive charge of a true firecracker.

When we know about the Good News, but we do not give ourselves to its life-changing implications and the power of the Holy Spirit—it is like Daniel’s firecrackers. It does no good for us to look good on the outside but lack true power within. …

C. S. Lewis wrote in The Screwtape Letters, “Active habits are strengthened by repetition, but passive ones are weakened. The more often [a man] feels without acting, the less he will be able ever to act, and in the long run, the less he will be able to feel.”

How true this is! God’s Word says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22 NIV). …

God is not looking for strong, rich, confident people who look like they have it all together. He is looking for those willing to live according to what they know, committed to a heavenly kingdom, who come to Him with their inadequacies and weaknesses, ready to be filled with His power and live with heartfelt urgency to change the world. He is looking for you.

The stories in this newsletter were made possible because men and women like you have answered Christ’s call and risen up to enact change for eternity. Thank you for embracing sacrifice to see the Lord change lives. May He bless you!

Some of this material appeared on K.P. Yohannan’s blog on September 23, 2020. You can find the entire post, and read more from K.P. Yohannan, at www.patheos.com/blogs/kpyohannan.