WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by KP Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada – Discussing how Gospel for Asia cannot be clearly understood until it is seen as a ministry motivated by “a special love for the people of Asia.”

When it comes to thinking about international faith-based organizations like Gospel for Asia (GFA), we generally want to know what they do and how they do it. That’s not a bad thing, but it is not the most important thing.

One phrase describing Gospel for Asia (GFA), virtually hidden on the FAQ page of their website (www.gfa.org), stopped me in my tracks. It instantly redefined the ministry of Gospel for Asia (GFA) for me.

Volumes have been written about Gospel for Asia’s work. By far, the greatest portion of what has been written is about the poverty-driven problems across the South Asian portion of the infamous 10/40 Window and the GFA-sponsored projects developed to address those hardships.

Regardless of the articles, books and videos relating to the problems being addressed by Gospel for Asia (GFA) partners in a dozen South Asian countries, however, it is clear that God has given GFA a special love for the people of Asia.

Living with unwavering faith in Jesus Christ and motivated by this special God-given love for the people, Gospel for Asia (GFA) has brought hope to hundreds of millions of people across South Asia for more than 40 years.

The South Asian people, from slum-dwellers in the big cities to families in far-flung villages where survival is their daily goal, have witnessed firsthand the love of faithful Christian workers laboring among them.

Many of GFA’s projects in South Asia are well-known. They include child sponsorship through Bridge of Hope centers, access to clean water via freely accessible Jesus Wells and BioSand water filters, adult literacy and skill training, vacation Bible schools, compassion and disaster relief, medical camps, installation of sanitary toilets in places where open defecation is the only option, mobile medical camps, gifts of blankets, clothing, food, mosquito nets, bicycles, farm animals, and Bible-teaching churches where none had previously existed.

It’s not about the projects. It’s about the people.

The number of people who have experienced GFA’s special love, even over the past 20 years, is in the millions.

In 2019:

• More than 300,000 women received free health care training.
• Nearly 60,000 women learned how to read and write.
• More than 12,000 women received vocational training to enable them to earn a living.
• Nearly 250,000 children participated in Vacation Bible Schools.
• 300,000 poverty-stricken people were given warm blankets.
• Nearly 400,000 people were given mosquito nets to protect them from the scourge of vector-borne diseases.
• More than 260,000 families received income-generating or quality-of-life gifts through GFA’s annual Christmas Gift Catalog campaign.

Over the past two decades:

• Nearly 140,000 children were provided food, medical care and education through GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program.
• More than 37 million people have gained continuous access to clean water through GFA’s efforts.

It’s not about the labor. It’s about the love.

The hidden phrase I mentioned early in this article appears in this paragraph.

“Our mission in life is to be devout followers of Christ and to live lives fully pleasing to Him. God has given us a special love for the people of Asia, and it is our desire to minister to them and help them through ministries such as education, health and practical gifts, or through the spiritual transformation of peaceful hearts, restored relationships and mended lives.”

As I read that paragraph, I could not help but recall the Apostle Paul’s words recorded in 1 Corinthians 13:3, 13:

“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these [is] love.”

The ministry of Gospel for Asia cannot be clearly understood until it is seen as a ministry motivated by “a special love for the people of Asia.”

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