by
Matthew
on Fri 27 Oct 2006 02:00 AM PDT |
Permanent Link
When you put money into the basket each week at Bible Class, you are helping to support a missionary through Gospel for Asia. This is one way you are helping to change the world. This is one of the ways you are helping to spread the news of Jesus to other people. This is one way YOU are making a difference. Your few dollars a week MATTER! Here is a story of what GFA has been doing and what YOU have been a part of:“You cannot bring this foreign religion and corrupt the
minds of our people,” screamed the angry villagers. “If you don’t stop, we’ll kill you.”
Prabhulal, a Gospel for Asia native missionary, received
this dire threat when he first started his church-planting work in rural Rajasthan, India.
And as often happens to our native missionaries, things didn’t exactly improve
when the first villagers received Christ as their Savior. Thy were hated, branded as low castes and
treated as dirt.
The believers wee not even allowed to draw water from the
public well. This was an enormous
hardship for the Christians, especially the women, during the hot summer
months. They had to walk long distances
to get water and carry the heavy pots home on their heads.
In spite of the animosity and opposition, however, their
number grew. Some 75 to 80 people
gathered for worship each Sunday, and sometimes there was not even enough room
for everyone inside the building.
Then, last October, God rewarded the faithfulness of these
dear brothers and sisters through one of our GFA friends who sponsored the
drilling of a Jesus Well in their village.
Imagine the joy of the Christians when they received their
own well as a gift from the Lord and from the Body of Christ! And just try to picture the amazement of
their “enemies” when the believers invited them to draw water freely from the
Jesus Well!
Within a month, the hostile attitude of the villagers began
to change. They became friendlier and
started to interact with the believers as they drew water for themselves and
their cattle. Most of all, the Jesus
Well!
Within a month, the hostile attitude of the villagers began
to change. They became friendlier and
started to interact with the believers as they drew water for themselves and
their cattle. Most of all, the Jesus
Well opened the door for Prabhulal and the other believers to build
relationships and share the Gospel with those who formerly refused to listen.
You see, each Jesus Well has an inscription that encourages
those who draw water to ask our missionaries for an explanation. The inscription reads:
Jesus Christ says:
“Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the
water that I shall give him will never thirst” (John 4:13-14).
Thanks for your generosity. Thanks for your giving. Thanks for what you are doing to help others. FOR MORE INFO ABOUT GOSPEL FOR ASIA, GO TO WWW.GFA.ORG.