Rejoice!

Once upon a time, Cherin had been an ambitious young girl. Though her parents were impoverished daily wage laborers, they worked hard, and so did Cherin. She dreamed of studying diligently and achieving great things. Perhaps she imagined becoming a doctor, a teacher, an artist or a politician . . .

 But when Cherin was 6, a horrific event changed the landscape of her nation, and Cherin’s family fell even deeper into poverty.

“I still remember my mother begging food for us from neighbors,” she says, “and many times we even went to bed without food.”

As her family struggled for survival, Cherin had to reframe her dreams for a good education and great achievements, but she stayed positive. At age 22, she began living with a man, hoping they could build a decent life together. Cherin gave birth to two daughters and a son, and she and her partner worked together to care for the children. But as years went on, alcohol addiction stole her partner’s affections. He stopped providing for the family and eventually left them for another woman.

Now Cherin alone would have to care for their three kids. Once again, this wasn’t how she had dreamed life would work out, but once again, she kept hoping for a bright future. Determined to provide for her children, she started a business selling fruit. Slowly, the family reached a level of stability. Then tragedy struck again.

Cherin became paralyzed on her left side, with no clear reason why. She couldn’t perform all her normal tasks. Though relatives and neighbors helped occasionally, Cherin saw no way forward. This time, she couldn’t muster her positive, persevering mindset. She fell into depression.

“I always heard that God answers prayers, but now I know it.” — Cherin

Even in her despair, however, Cherin believed God cared for her, and she daily asked Him for help. Then, one day, a group of white-clad women stepped up to her doorway, finding her on a small, dusty bed with one of her children. These GFA Sisters of the Cross listened to Cherin’s story. Afterward, they faithfully prayed and fasted for Cherin’s healing, and they visited regularly to help her with daily activities. With assistance, Cherin also visited their church, where a GFA leader prayed for her.

Just as Cherin had believed, God heard her prayers—and her new friends’ prayers. Gradually, Cherin began to walk with a cane. God is also providing for her family in another way: The local child sponsorship project enrolled two of her children, so they have been receiving education, health insurance, nutrition and free medical check-ups. This lightens the financial weight Cherin once shouldered alone—and offers her children a chance to achieve things Cherin couldn’t.

“I always heard that God answers prayers, but now I know it,” Cherin says. “Thank you, [Sisters of the Cross] team, for knocking at my door. Thank you [to the church] for helping me and my children.”

Bishop Daniel

Do you remember the moment you came to know the Savior and made Him Lord of your life? Each of us has a different testimony of how it happened. But all of us experienced that when Christ comes in, He makes all things new. He is the Light that breaks through our darkness. And this light is the hope of all mankind to become new creations through Christ.

The apostle Paul encourages us in Romans 6:4 to no longer walk in darkness but in the new resurrection life God gave us: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should also walk in the newness of life.”

This month, along with Christians from all over the world, we have the joy to celebrate the greatest event in history: Resurrection Sunday. That’s when Christ rose from the dead, conquering sin, death and the grave. He indeed has the power to make all things new!

I often use the time during Holy Week (from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday) to reflect on all the pain and agony Christ went through on our behalf. It reminds me afresh of His suffering and how much He loves us—and how much He loves the world.

In this issue of Rejoice!, I hope you are encouraged by the stories you read from the mission field. Stories like that of Cherin, a dear woman whose difficult life caused her to become paralyzed and depressed. Yet the eternal Light broke into her hopelessness when our Sisters of the Cross came to visit her and help her. Their love and care gave Cherin the chance to become a new creation through Christ.

This Easter, I pray you will take time to remember what Christ went through for your redemption and how much He loves you. This love is the same for every man, woman and child on earth. I want to thank you for helping us take the hope of the Gospel to some of the neediest places on earth. Because of your generosity, many people are finding new life in Christ!

God bless you, and Happy Resurrection Day!
Bishop Daniel

Watch Jason & Melanie discover their impact!

20 Children Receive Nutrition Supplements
A local Women’s Fellowship discovered a great obstacle faced by the children in two nearby slums where they had started schools: a lack of adequate nutrition. So the women provided a supplement that fights malnutrition.

“I used to feel very exhausted always and did not have the strength to walk to my school,” said one of the children. “… [Now] I [feel] energetic, and I gained strength to do all my duties.”

Rural Nepal
Local pastors and Women’s Fellowship members arranged a mosquito net distribution for 78 families in an area plagued by dengue fever from mosquito bites. Due to poverty, most people cannot afford nets or medication, and many die each year. These nets will save lives.

November 10, 2024
After two years of theological study and practical ministry training, 20 Bible college students graduated. They were encouraged and sent out with these words: “Challenges, suffering and hindrances may come into your life, but remember God’s calling always. Preach the Good News and transform people’s hearts; God has called you for it.” 

October 17, 2024
On World Poverty Day, a local Women’s Fellowship showed a tangible expression of God’s love by gifting 13 families with goats, along with instructions on how to raise them.

“I am very happy and thankful to the Women’s Fellowship team for their concern and giving us goats as a gift,” said Sonje, a recipient. “I will rear this goat as instructed and make it a source of income for my essential needs.”

Because God sent a GFA missionary to their community, Niya and Aiko (pictured) learned about the hope found in Christ.

GFA pastor Rodas knows what it is like to face rejection for Christ. He serves among his own people group, a small but friendly community committed to their traditional faith. If people share about a different faith, they politely listen but reject the message. Yet Pastor Rodas has a passion for Jesus that compels him to introduce everyone he meets to the One who changed his life.

When Pastor Rodas started ministering in his region, some people liked him but ignored his message. Others hated him. They gossiped about him, asking, “Why does this missionary often visit us to share his faith?”

Without losing heart, Pastor Rodas ministered Christ’s love faithfully. He knew the God who could bring breakthroughs—even in the lives of the people who hated him.

Niya and her brother, Aiko, were among those who despised Pastor Rodas. Though the pastor visited Niya’s family regularly, she never shared her ongoing problem: At night, fear gripped her, robbing her of peaceful sleep. Her family took her to doctors, who prescribed medications and nutrition. But Niya’s health didn’t improve, so she went to religious leaders, who performed rituals. “Soon you will be healed,” they claimed.

But their prediction didn’t come true, and Niya grew discouraged. One day Aiko made a startling suggestion: “We will ask the missionary to pray for you,” he said. A few minutes later, before they had even contacted Pastor Rodas, he showed up at their home. This coincidence struck Niya. Maybe the pastor’s God was real, and maybe He saw her.
Aiko told Pastor Rodas, “We never asked you to pray for my sister, but today we want to see whether your God will heal my sister.”

Pastor Rodas read Scripture and prayed for God to do a miracle in Niya’s life. That night, Niya experienced what she had been missing: peaceful sleep. And it continued from then on. God had answered Pastor Rodas’ prayers and shown mercy to Niya.

Amazed by His miraculous power, Niya and Aiko began to believe in Christ. Because God sent a GFA missionary—a missionary sent with the support of partners like you—Niya and Aiko came to know the God who can transform lives.

Thank you for offering children like Yanai (pictured left) a hope and a future!

When Yanai joined the child sponsorship program in 2006, he didn’t even have the money to buy a pen. His parents were unemployed, making it difficult for them to provide for Yanai and his two older sisters. Without school supplies, eight-year-old Yanai struggled in his studies. That’s when his parents enrolled him in GFA’s sponsorship program.

With the support of the staff and the school supplies he needed, Yanai’s studies improved, and he dreamed big: After graduating at age 17, he pursued bodybuilding training. Yanai began competing as a bodybuilder and working as a fitness trainer at a gym. He excelled in his competitions, winning merit certificates several times. With the savings from his job, he opened his own gym, which now serves 130 people and employs 12 trainers. In December 2023, Yanai won first place in a national bodybuilding competition. 

Yanai’s success has enabled him to care for himself and his parents.

Yanai’s success has enabled him to care for himself and his parents. And Yanai is not the only one succeeding—one of his sisters, who also graduated from the sponsorship program, has become a teacher in a private school. Stories like theirs are possible through the faithful prayers and support of partners like you. Your help has transformed children’s futures, providing them with opportunities they never thought possible. Thank you for empowering these kids to reach their God-given potential!

Zach (pictured) trusts that God can use even small steps of obedience to reach the world.

GFA partner Zach spent his childhood dreaming of missions. But while he was in college, that dream seemed far away. He didn’t feel like he was making the impact he’d always wanted to make, and he didn’t know what to do about it. Discouraged and confused, Zach dropped out of school. During that time, Zach picked up Revolution in World Missions from his campus ministry director’s basement library.

 “It [Revolution in World Missions] really challenged me to just think differently about missions and all the things that I had thought before,” Zach says. “I realized that I could be part of the Great Commission where I was at.”

After getting a job at a local taco place, he started supporting GFA’s field work, believing that God could use his obedience to reach the ends of the earth. 

Since then, Zach’s missions journey has continued with small steps of obedience. Along the way, he’s learned that even simple things—such as saving $16 a month by riding his bike to work—can make a difference in the kingdom. Millions of believers now worship the Lord through GFA’s ministry, and as Zach reads stories of these new brothers and sisters in Africa and Asia, he can see the impact he’s making. “I think that’s really what’s continued to draw me—seeing stories of lives really being changed,” Zach says. “… I was watching God at work.”

“It really challenged me to just think differently about missions …” — Zach

Because of you, our faithful partners in the Gospel, we continue to drill Jesus Wells and distribute BioSand water filters in Africa and Asia, including at Keenan and Samara’s home. These first-generation believers came to know the Lord through divine healing, and a few believers began gathering together for worship in their home. Eventually, it blossomed into a church. The young congregation’s greatest need was clean water, so their pastor arranged for a Jesus Well (pictured) to be installed right in front of Keenan and Samara’s home on November 20. Now all can come and receive the Water of Life!

Thank You! 
Jesus said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24 nasb). Our missionaries die each day—die to themselves, their hopes, their dreams and their desires in order to see eternal life born in the people they serve. And you, our faithful partners, choose to suffer alongside our brothers and sisters to bring Good News to those who have not yet had a chance to hear it. May the Lord honor your sacrifice. —Your GFA Family

K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan)

The letter I held sounded like an excerpt from one written by the Apostle Paul 2,000 years ago.

My friend wrote me of hardship, sickness and stoning. They had been hot, hungry and stranded, and they faced constant jeopardy. Several beloved co-workers had lost their lives. But they believed it was worth it: Hundreds of people were following Christ, and who knew how many more would follow?

How was this possible in the midst of such hardships, suffering and even death?

These courageous servants simply understood what it means to follow Christ and put the souls of others ahead of their own desires, safety and comfort. They had no resistance to paying whatever price it took to bring Jesus to others. They counted it a privilege to suffer for Christ’s sake, like it says in the book of Acts.

This is why I am saying to you now: Accept the inconveniences; pour your life out for others. The hills and valleys, all the threats and all the problems, your lack of sleep, the cost of your tears—your sacrifice—may be the key to spur another into action, to give them the motivation, encouragement and strength they need to press on in serving Christ. It will all be worth it in the end.