Category Archives: Poverty

August 30, 2013 · 8:25 am

When It Comes To Kids, I’m Easy Pickings

It had been a long financial wilderness for my painting company with no letup in sight. Yes, I had plenty of ladders, brushes, rollers, truck, supplies, and a sprayer, but there was no money for advertising or needed insurances to tackle commercial jobs.

What should I do?

I came up with the idea to give my equipment away to a friend who hoped to start his own painting business. Rick was a hard worker and maybe he could make something happen where I could not. Plus, it seemed biblical to give and not ask anything in return.

Yet, as I readied myself to tell Rick about my plans, the Lord spoke to my heart. “I did not give the burden to Rick. I gave it to you.”

You see, the painting company was started to help feed starving kids in foreign lands, but somehow, in the midst of the agonizing financial trials, I loss sight of the reasons for the company. And if I turned my back on the painting company and all of its problems, I’d be walking away from the burden the Lord placed on my heart.

I made up my mind that day to struggle onward, no matter what it cost me.

So, when I ask you to consider helping the children in Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope program, I am not handing you my burden. It’s mine. I paid a price for it by eating out of dumpsters and sleeping in cars because of no money. I paid a price for it in prayer and fasting. The burden for these children is mine and it’s too precious to give away.

But if the Holy Spirit touches your heart for these children, consider it a privilege to help them. This is how I now view my burden for these beautiful children.

2 Comments

Filed under Bridge of Hope, Christianity, Church, God, Gospel For Asia, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gospel For Asia, Kingdom of God, Poverty

August 9, 2013 · 11:49 am

“It’s About The Economics, Stupid!”

Yes, we should give to the poor out of our love and compassion, following Jesus’ example. But also, there is a economics reason for giving to the poor.

If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD— and he will repay you. (Proverbs 19:17 NLT)

Rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord… Ephesians 6:7-8)

If you check any prospectus for investment purposes, there will be fine print, disclosing the possibilities of your losing money. Why? Because bad things can happen to even the best of companies, organizations, municipalities, and nations. No investment on earth can ever be guaranteed 100% safe.

But giving to the poor is a heaven-backed investment, guaranteed by God and His word, which He honors above all His name. Plus, the extra benefits of giving to the poor are better than Medicare or any insurance policy:

Oh, the joys of those who are kind to the poor! The LORD rescues them when they are in trouble. The LORD protects them and keeps them alive. He gives them prosperity in the land and rescues them from their enemies. The LORD nurses them when they are sick and restores them to health. (Psalm 41:1-3)

So, if giving to the poor is an economics’ issue with you, you just might want to check out the facts before shaking your head.

And while you’re at it, consider Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope Program, where 100% of your investment helps children in India.

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, God, grace, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty

August 2, 2013 · 8:00 am

Pastor Rad

I was praying about some problems here in America three days ago. As I prayed, I was overwhelmed by the size of the problems and the difficulties in changing our attitudes. The problems loomed larger and larger in my mind and began dragging me down into a pit of despair. I wondered, “Will these problems ever change?”

Then, I felt the Lord speak to my heart, “Larry, I’m big enough to handle these problems. Just trust Me.”

Then the following morning, I was praying about some family issues. The problems seemed too big to handle and may take years to resolve, if ever.

Once again, I felt the Lord speak to my heart, “Larry, I’m big enough to handle these problems. Just trust Me.”

This is a four-part series about Pastor Rad and his beliefs that God is big enough to advance the gospel in India and change the nation.

If you’re interested in learning more about Gospel For Asia, click here.

8 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, church planting, God, grace, India, jesus, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, Church, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty

July 12, 2013 · 1:06 pm

What Would You Do If You Saw This Scene?

(Click to enlarge)

The young girl is a member of the 300 million people-group in India known as the “Untouchables” or Dalits. This people-group is considered subhuman, impure from birth, and worthy of nothing but contempt. Anything a Dalit touches is then considered impure and contaminated, and must be thrown away.

Dalits work at the most degrading and menial jobs in India. They clean out the open-air toilets, latrines, and sewer lines with their bare hands. They work back-breaking twelve-hour days as laborers on farms or carry firewood from the forests. All for only pennies per hour in wages. Crimes against Dalits, such as rape or kidnapping as slaves, are seldom reported because the police turn a blind eye when they hear the whole story.

The Dalits are the least of the least and the poorest of the poor.

So, you can understand why it’s acceptable for the young girl to dig through garbage. She is, after all, already contaminated and who knows? Maybe she’ll eke out a few pennies to help feed her family that day.

Let’s say you were walking down the street and happened on the scene shown in the photo. What would you do?

If you don’t have a good answer, check out Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope Ministry.

11 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, Gospel For Asia, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty

July 6, 2013 · 10:50 am

A Mother Shares Why She Sponsors Children

In the above video of 2 minutes and 49 seconds, a mother explains why she sponsors children in Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope ministry.

2 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, God, grace, India, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, Church, Poverty

June 19, 2013 · 2:14 pm

Sponsor A Child – Save A Family

Let’s say your spouse dies, what would most likely happen next?

Your family, neighbors, and friends would show up at your home to comfort you. They would bring food. There would be an outpouring of love shown to you through many different ways in the days following the funeral and the months afterward.

But not so, if you are a wife in rural India, especially in Mula’s case.

Mula and her husband loved each other, but he died from cancer after seventeen years of marriage. When that happened, Mula was blamed for her husband’s death, forsaken by both families, shunned by her friends, and despised by her community. She and her four children faced a desperate future.

Fortunately, her oldest daughter attended a Bridge of Hope school. Through this connection with Gospel For Asia, Mula attended a seamstress school and eventually received a sewing machine. She now earns enough through sewing to feed and clothe her family.

The reasons all this happened:

1. Someone sponsored the daughter for $35/month.

2. Someone bought a sewing machine from GFA’s Christmas Catalog for $85.

What may seem like pocket change to the people who sponsored the daughter or who bought the sewing machine, made a life and death difference to Mula and her family. And oh yes! Mula gave her life to Jesus.

Do you have any spare pocket change? It may be enough to sponsor a child, which may end up saving a family.

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, Gifts of the Spirit, God, India, jesus, Poverty, Prayer, Prophecy, spiritual warfare

Tagged as Christianity, Gifts of the Spirit, India, Kingdom of God, Prophecy, Spiritual warfare

June 14, 2013 · 1:18 pm

Hope for Those Born into Brothels

My good friend Derrick Coy in his recent post, Journey with us through the slums and brothels of India, wrote about the above 2004 documentary film, Born into Brothels. Check out his post for more info on the film.

The first child you meet in the film is a beautiful 10 year-old girl named Kochi who lived in a Calcutta brothel. “They ask me, ‘When are you going to join the line [to be a prostitute]?” she said, looking out the window. “They say it won’t be long.”

Later in the film, a gifted young boy named Avijit, lost his mom because a pimp set her on fire. The police did not even investigate the murder. The devastated Avijit said, “There is nothing called hope in my future.”

All through the disturbing film, which I watched twice, I thought about K. P. Yohannan’s dream of harvest fields in Asia:

…Right in front of me was a river so wide and raging that I dared not step closer or try to cross it…

My heart broke. Was I only going to look at the harvest but not be able to embrace it? I stood there weeping, feeling so helpless and full of despair.

All of a sudden there appeared before me a bridge reaching from one side of the vast river to the other. It was not a narrow bridge, but one that was very broad. It was completely filled with children from all over Asia − poor, destitute children, like those I’d so often seen on the streets of Calcutta, Kathmandu and other Asian cities.

Then it was as though someone spoke to me and said, “If you want to have this harvest, it’s all yours. But this is the bridge you must cross to get it.” (Except from No Longer A Slumdog by K. P. Yohannan, ©2011, page 90)

K.P. Yohannan’s dream became the basis for the Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope. So far, more than 500 Bridge of Hope Centers provide over 60,000 children with the love of Jesus, quality education, daily meal, and medical care. As these young children begin to understand God’s love, they carry the gospel home to their families.

Zani Briski, the main English speaking character, voiced her frustration in the documentary. “I’m not a social worker. I’m not a teacher even. That’s my fear, you know, that I can’t really do anything…” she said.

Bridge of Hope does something, by offering hope for the poor children of India, even those born in brothels.

7 Comments

Filed under Christianity, Church, God, grace, India, jesus, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as born into brothels, Christianity, Church, India, k p yohannan, Kingdom of God, Poverty

June 7, 2013 · 3:25 pm

Got Room For One More in Your Heart?

My prayer is that every abandoned and unwanted child in India can hold up a picture of a family who has decided they have room in their hearts for one more child. This is not a little prayer, but a monster one. You see, there are 11 million abandoned children in India, of which 90% of them are little girls, like the one above.

If you have room in your heart, check out Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope ministry as soon as possible.

2 Comments

Filed under Christianity, God, grace, India, jesus, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Christianity, India, Kingdom of God, Poverty

June 1, 2013 · 2:44 pm

Don Bosco…WOW

Most of what we call poverty in America, many Asians would label it as riches. The pictures in the following article by my good friend, Mark Pedder, are eye opening.

Markpedder's Weblog

Ok, so I thought I had seen poverty, knew what it was, what it looked like, what it smelt like, I mean I really thought I had been there. Which, considering where we live, that’s fair enough.

But today in Don Bosco we went for a wander to map the place out. At the end of the row of buildings was this little slum area that I had never noticed before, so I thought we’d better go in and check it out. Less than 100m into this place there is a pathway that turns left, so let’s go there…WOW. It led us to another 8 double storey buildings, roofs fallen in, rubbish so high, that some of the buildings only look single storey until you get up close to them. People living in homes 6ft by 6ft sq, on stilts, like high rise dog boxes.

I entered a building half…

View original post 240 more words

4 Comments

Filed under Christianity, church planting, Faith, God, Kingdom of God, Poverty, Prayer

Tagged as Poverty

May 31, 2013 · 8:21 am

Just Recently Updated my Retirement Fund. How About You?

Although I’m a Baby Boomer and have enjoyed living in one of the most prosperous ages in the history of the world, our savings account hovers between $25 and $100 most of the time. Our 401K and IRA accounts never did get past the planning stages. Real estate investments? None. Gold, silver, and precious jewels? None. Other investments? None. None. None.

At 67 years of age, am I worried about our futures?

No, absolutely not!

You see, I believe the following scripture to be true:

Blessed is the one who considers the poor! In the day of trouble the LORD delivers him; the LORD protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies. The LORD sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness you restore him to full health. (Psalm 41:1-3)

So, when I say we have just updated our retirement fund, I actually mean we decided to sponsor three more children in the Gospel For Asia’s Bridge of Hope program. We now sponsor a total of four children and hope to add more before the year is out.

Maybe you’re the type who reads this, shakes your head, and says. “A fellow should never put all his eggs in one basket. He needs to be a good steward. What if your idealistic beliefs fail you, then what? Who’s going to take care of you?”

This is where the rubber meets the road for us Christians. As they say in Texas Hold ‘Em, “We’re all in with God,” and isn’t that where we all want to be?

Just take a moment to review your retirement portfolio today. Can you afford to add one child at $35 per month?

And here’s another little nugget of truth, God will cover your investment for you. It’s a win/win deal for you and a needy child!