On World Health Day, Sisters of Compassion shared practical knowledge and tips with these men and women to help them protect their health.
A team of GFA World Sisters of Compassion greeted 27 men and women who had gathered from the community. It was a special occasion, but the faces were familiar. This team regularly visited the village, serving people in need. But today they had a special purpose. Aware of the people’s vulnerability to sickness, these ladies saw World Health Day as an opportunity to organize a program to arm villagers with knowledge against infectious diseases.
Ruth, a ministry leader for Sisters of Compassion, accompanied the local team. She encouraged the men and women to keep their homes and surroundings clean, taking the time to explain the symptoms and treatments of diseases such as malaria and dengue. After offering ways to stay healthy, the Sisters prayed for the villagers.
The program was eye-opening; many of the participants had been unaware of the easy steps they could take against these deadly diseases.
“Sometimes when we get sick, we blame it on witchcraft and other such things,” said Reiko, one participant. “But today, we have learned the truth about the real cause of some of these diseases. I thank the Sisters for educating us about these things.”
Many invited the Sisters to their homes, wanting to learn more about healthy living; this opened doors for more ministry as the Sisters prayed and spoke with villagers on a deeper level.
Leprosy patients in Asia often experience stigma and isolation, but many, like the woman pictured, have found hope as GFA workers show God’s care and sometimes provide medical assistance.
At a glance, nothing looked remarkable about the cluster of homes separated from one another by small patches of grass, but an invisible barrier separated them from the surrounding city. The residents of these homes were leprosy patients, isolated from the outside world because others viewed them with fear.
Leprosy Leaves Little Hope
Of the 50 families living in this leprosy colony, almost all had at least two members with Hansen’s disease (leprosy). Though the disease is curable and leaves minimal damage if detected early enough, patients from poorer backgrounds, like the residents of this colony, lacked access to treatment. Many ended up with irreparable nerve damage, resulting in damaged toes, fingers, ears, nose and eyes.
“My husband and I [have been] lepers many years,” said Nadea, a resident at the colony who also suffers from kidney failure. The medicine she needs is expensive, and she can’t always afford it. “I cry always thinking about our situation.”
Like Nadea, many of the colony’s residents suffered from other diseases in addition to their leprosy, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and asthma. Their poverty ensured they could not afford the necessary treatment. Begging was the only way they could alleviate their situation—until GFA workers intervened.
All Receive Treatment
A group of Sisters of Compassion, GFA workers, served among the leprosy patients, providing meals, cleaning their homes and clothes and dressing their wounds. Touched by the Sisters’ care, many of the colony residents asked them to pray for them and read the Bible to them. The Sisters treated everyone with kindness, looking past their disease to see who they were: real people with real needs.
Knowing the residents’ need for medical treatment, the Sisters of Compassion and other GFA workers organized a free medical camp.
One chilly day, the workers, together with two doctors from local hospitals, gathered the families in the colony. The doctors patiently examined the patients and prescribed medicine to about 300 adults and 200 children. One by one, each resident experienced God’s love through encouraging words, smiles and help.
“Thank you all for your unforgettable service,” Nadea said.
One of the doctors remarked, “I am incredibly blessed today to serve this underprivileged community. … It is a great help you have done [for] these poor people.”
Through the compassionate help of GFA workers, the people of this leprosy colony are finding hope. God’s love is breaking through every barrier that has kept them hidden in plain sight.
GFA Sisters of Compassion often befriend and care for widows who have experienced tragedy and rejection.
Rani’s life had withered under the shadow of pain and hardship, but one day light penetrated that shadow when three women simply noticed Rani and the sadness lining her face—a sadness that had built up over many years.
From Loneliness to Friendship
Rani received little education growing up, so she had limited options in life. She married, but her marriage proved a painful one as her husband fell prey to alcohol. While enduring her husband’s addiction, Rani suffered an excruciating case of hemorrhoids that sapped her health and strength, although she took medication. Doctors said she needed surgery, but she couldn’t afford it. Then Rani’s husband died. Suddenly, Rani was alone in her pain. She struggled to earn a living by washing clothes and dishes for people.
One day, Rani met three Sisters of Compassion. These GFA workers had received special training to share God’s love with the marginalized and neglected—including people suffering from leprosy, widows and people in poverty—and they were committed to serving Rani’s community.
When the Sisters of Compassion met Rani, they noticed she looked weak and sad. They prayed for her and shared words of comfort about God’s love. They began visiting Rani frequently, and a friendship grew. As Rani heard her new friends talk about Jesus, she felt a fresh sense of peace.
One day, Rani told the Sisters about her physical pain, and they prayed for her. The Sisters also encouraged Rani to believe Jesus could heal her.
A seed of faith germinated in Rani’s heart as the Sisters continued praying for her, and Rani gradually improved. When Rani went for a medical check-up, the doctor told her she no longer had hemorrhoids!
Rani chose to follow the God who healed her. She grew closer to Jesus, faithfully worshipped with the local church each Sunday, and joined in prayer meetings. The Sisters of Compassion, who once noticed Rani’s sadness, continued to visit their friend, whose face now shone with peace and joy.
GFA Sisters of Compassion, like these women missionaries, are committed to ministering to impoverished and suffering people, such as widows, leprosy patients and slum residents. However, they often share hope with many other people in their communities, too, just as Raka and Nandali did.
As GFA Sisters of Compassion Raka and Nandali walked through the village they served in, they heard a loud fight erupting from a nearby house. The Sisters rushed to the house and attempted to calm down the occupants, Jinpal and his wife, Pankaja. This only made Jinpal angrier and he demanded the sisters leave.
Instilling Peace Through His Word
Two days later, the sisters walked by Pankaja’s home again. Pankaja, who was outside washing clothes, saw the women and stopped them.
“I am very sorry [that] on that day my husband sent you [away],” Pankaja said. “Now I am alone at home. Please come have a cup of tea.”
As the three women talked, Raka and Nandali saw that Pankaja desperately needed encouragement and peace.
The Sisters of Compassion told Pankaja about the love of God, and how He can heal fractured hearts—and homes. As the days went by, the sisters’ friendship with Pankaja grew, and Raka and Nandali encouraged her and prayed for her. Eventually, Pankaja grew curious to learn more about Jesus. She began reading the Bible and praying on her own.
At first, Jinpal opposed his wife’s new habit of reading the Bible and praying, but Pankaja didn’t stop. Eventually, Jinpal realized his wife’s new habit was changing the atmosphere of their home. His interest piqued, Jinpal began to join his wife’s prayer times.
A Family Transformed
One day, Raka and Nandali received a call from Pankaja, asking them to visit. The sisters, along with the local pastor, went to encourage the family. Jinpal and Pankaja announced they wanted to follow Christ.
After finding Jesus, the entire family lived in harmony. They began worshiping together at the local church and growing in their faith. Through the diligence of Sisters of Compassion, the peace of Christ finally dwelled in Jinpal and Pankaja’s marriage and home.
Loneliness. Financial hardship. Snakes. Sahima’s life was full of burdens, but now her hands were full of hope.
A shred of joy lit within Sahima’s heart as she took a sack of staple food items into her hands. Many would see the package as an unremarkable gift, but for Sahima, it represented that she was seen and loved.
Hardships Multiply
Sahima’s struggles began 20 years ago, when her husband passed away. With her two children grown, Sahima lived alone, struggling to make ends meet. Financial stability seemed an impossible dream, as she worked in her community’s traditional vocation, snake-charming, which earns tiny wages—and scrutiny from both the nation’s government and animal welfare groups.
She watched in sadness as her daughter, who lived in the same village, suffered from constant stomach pain. Sahima sold the family’s land for medical treatment, but her daughter wasn’t healed.
Ten years after the death of Sahima’s husband, the cruelest blow landed. Sahima’s son passed away, leaving his two sons behind. Sahima took in her grandsons, but the aging grandmother earned very little. Sahima was worn down physically and emotionally; she suffered from knee pain, and she grew depressed.
New Friends and New Life
One day, Sahima met three Sisters of Compassion who led a prayer meeting and tutoring program in her village. At Sahima’s home, the GFA missionaries listened patiently and attentively as Sahima told them about the sorrows and pain that burdened her, and they lovingly encouraged Sahima. After the conversation, a new sense of joy sprouted in Sahima’s heart.
Desiring to bless the widow, the Sisters of Compassion visited Sahima regularly to help her with housework. With love and care, they cooked food for the family, washed clothes and trimmed Sahima’s fingernails. During their visits, they shared about God’s love and prayed for Jesus to heal Sahima and her daughter.
“He will take care of you and your children,” they told Sahima.
Sahima’s knee gradually began to feel better. After two weeks, Sahima told the Sisters, “I am thankful to God for healing me from knee pain through your prayers. I do feel [the] peace of God filling my life. Now, I believe in Jesus Christ.”
Love Leaves Lasting Mark
From then on, Sahima began to follow Jesus. She started attending the prayer fellowship conducted in her village each Wednesday.
One day, Sahima attended a special event the Sisters helped organize to observe International Widows Day. To show widows God cares for them, GFA workers distributed sewing machines to 10 widows and packages of staple food items to eight widows. Sahima thanked God for the ration package she received.
Although Sahima and her family still face challenges, she now knows there is a God who cares for her and her family in all their needs. She is growing in her relationship with Christ as she daily prays to Him and puts her trust in Him.
After God sent Sisters of Compassion to Sahima’s doorstep, their friendship and help became a lifesaver to the hard-pressed widow and her family. He used the GFA workers to lift Sahima’s burdens, showing her that He loves and cares for her. Now, Sahima gets to watch joyfully as her family members encounter the same life-changing love: One of her grandsons has also decided to follow Jesus.
Thank you for supporting national workers like the Sisters of Compassion who shared hope with Sahima. Through them and through your partnership, Christ is transforming the lives of many hurting people and communities.
GFA-supported ministry to leprosy patients brings hope and practical help to those who are often rejected by society and family.
Leprosy. The very word carries a certain stigma and arouses apprehension in Asia, as if merely uttering it could expose you to the disease. Those affected by leprosy are often feared and find themselves either chased out of their homes or ignored and neglected. This forced exile leads many to live with others afflicted with leprosy in colonies across Asia.
A Life of Hardship
Bhini was diagnosed with leprosy as a child and subsequently began living in a leprosy colony. After Bhini married a fellow leprosy patient, they relocated to a different colony in another state.
Life was not easy for the family. In the face of poverty, Bhini and her husband went door to door begging in order to put their children through school. Then in 2016, Bhini’s husband died of a heart attack, leaving her as the sole provider for their son and daughter. Despite her illness, Bhini continued to beg, hoping it would be enough for her and her children.
Healing in His Arms
As the years passed, the struggle to survive took its toll on Bhini. The wounds from her leprosy grew more severe the older Bhini became. Wounds in her hands and feet kept Bhini from walking or doing simple chores in her home. Her children were grown by then, but Bhini could no longer take care of herself.
GFA-supported ministry to leprosy patients brings hope and practical help to those who are often rejected by society and family.
One day, a team of GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion visited the leprosy colony. The women brought love and compassion to each resident they met, and when they talked with Bhini, Bhini heard of the love of God for the very first time. They showed genuine care for the widow and invited her to attend services at the local church.
The Sisters of Compassion regularly visited Bhini, cooking her food, cleaning her home and dressing her wounds—all while praying for and encouraging her.
Little by little, Bhini understood the depth of God’s love. The debilitating wounds from her leprosy began to heal, and an even greater healing took place in her heart when she invited Christ into her life. Her children, seeing the transformation, followed her example.
Like many other men and women blessed through the compassion of GFA-supported workers, Bhini now rejoices in God’s love and acceptance.
Thank you for helping equip workers in Asia who boldly bring God’s love to men and women in slums and leprosy colonies. Through your partnership with GFA, God is transforming lives for eternity. Thank you!
Women missionaries build relationships with women by regularly visiting their homes, listening to their hosts’ concerns and praying together as the Lord leads them.
Rupak opened his front door wide to let in the three brightly dressed women. Wanting to honor his guests, Rupak quickly retrieved three chairs for the visitors.
Rupak stationed himself close to his wife and asked the women about themselves. “What are your names? Where do you come from? What do you do?” As the women responded, his expression slowly changed.
“Do not sit in our chairs!” Rupak spat out, face hardened. “Do not come into our home again!”
Saesha, Rupak’s wife, looked after the women as they hurried out the door. God had healed her through these women’s prayers, and she desperately wanted to know more about this God.
Open Doors, Closed Doors
Two weeks earlier, the three GFA-supported national workers met Saesha while she was sick with typhoid and malaria. Wanting to bring Saesha comfort, the women offered to pray for her. At first, she was nervous they were going to cast a spell on her, but when the women explained they would pray in Jesus’ name, Saesha accepted their prayers.
Later, when the women came back to see how Saesha was doing, her husband was waiting with her to thank the women whose prayers had brought healing to his wife. His gratitude quickly turned to anger, though, when he found out what God they served.
After Rupak kicked the women out of his home, they continued to see Saesha, faithfully ministering to her. She invited the women to her home on Fridays while her husband was at work, and Saesha grew in her knowledge of Jesus.
But, one Friday, the women arrived at Saesha’s home to find Rupak waiting for them. He scolded and threatened the ladies and banned them from ever coming to his house again.
Change of Circumstances Causes Change of Heart
For the next two months, the three women prayed faithfully for Saesha but did not attempt to visit her again. They also prayed for Rupak.
Meanwhile, Saesha fell sick again, pain racking her abdomen. Rupak took her to the doctor, who said his wife needed an expensive surgery. Rupak didn’t know what to do: He could never afford the surgery. Saesha implored her husband to call the sisters whose prayers God had answered once before.
Rupak did not hesitate. Desperation for his wife’s healing eclipsed his prejudice toward Christians.
Rupak searched for the women whom he had once wished to never see again. When he finally found the village where they lived, he begged them for forgiveness and asked them to come pray for his wife. The three women left with Rupak, praising God in their hearts. He was already answering their prayers for this family, and they were confident He wasn’t going to stop now.
Afterward, the women missionaries came to Rupak and Saesha’s home every Friday to fast and pray. After one month, Saesha’s pain disappeared. She went back to the doctor, who gave her an ultrasound—and declared her completely healthy.
Women missionaries build relationships with women by regularly visiting their homes, listening to their hosts’ concerns and praying together as the Lord leads them.
The three women continue to meet at Saesha’s home every Friday, praying with her and a few others from the village. While Rupak does not attend the prayer meeting, he has become a fierce defender of the sisters.
“If anyone opposes you here in the village, I will stand for you,” Rupak declares.
Through literacy classes, women who had never before had the opportunity to be educated are learning to read and write.
At age 34, Pival had a husband and five children, but she was missing something that most people gain during childhood. With her days spent laboring tirelessly in the fields to provide for her family, it seemed she was too busy to learn something new.
But when two GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion told her they were teaching literacy classes for women, the words tumbled out.
“I do not know how to read and write,” Pival said.
Struggling for Subsistence
Without education and with no land of their own, Pival and her husband struggled to provide for their children through slash-and-burn agriculture (clearing forest to cultivate crops) and through daily labor jobs.
They were desperate to please their gods. Every Wednesday, Pival fasted, performed rituals and sought her god’s blessing, but that didn’t give her prosperity.
Two Sisters of Compassion, Jiya and Shari, lived nearby. One day, as they were visiting ladies in Pival’s village who attended their literacy class, they met Pival. As they talked, Jiya and Shari told Pival of God’s love. They also explained they taught a class to help women who couldn’t read or write. Pival asked to join.
Through literacy classes, women who had never before had the opportunity to be educated are learning to read and write.
New Skill, New Hope
Glad for Pival’s interest, the sisters welcomed her to the class, which included about five other women. As they taught Pival how to read and write, their friendship grew. They continued to visit Pival, encourage her and pray for her.
Attending the literacy classes faithfully and eagerly, Pival soon could write her own name. Excitement and gratitude filled her heart.
“With the help of Sisters of Compassion team, I am learning to read and write,” she said.
Not only did she learn to read and write, but she also was impacted by Jiya’s and Shari’s friendship. Seeing their commitment to Jesus, Pival desired to know Him and placed her trust in Him. She got involved in the local church and began growing in her faith.
Because Jesus sent two friends to demonstrate His love, Pival gained the valuable skill she longed for—and a gift even more precious.
Twelve-year-old Aijez had never set foot inside a school. He and his family lived in the slums. His father, Mukil, earned a living as a daily laborer, while Aijez and his siblings worked at a tire shop for additional income. Because the young boy worked to support his family, Aijez had no opportunity to attend school. Every day as he worked at the tire shop, he saw other children walking to school. All he could do was watch, unable to join them.
Destitution Abounding
Aijez, like many slum children, was caught in the vicious cycle of utter poverty. Because he could not go to school, his future held nothing but continued impoverishment. Day after day it stayed the same—toiling at the tire shop—and would have continued this way. However, some Sisters of Compassion, Gena and Meriel, started serving in his area. Surveying the slum, these sisters saw a very real need.
Gena and Meriel watched many children sitting and playing in the mud. They saw the destitution and hopelessness in their eyes. So these women went out, spreading word that they were holding literacy classes. At first, only a few families sent their children to the classes, unsure of the sisters’ intentions. But as trust was built over time, more and more children and mothers began to attend. But trust had not yet been established in Aijez’s family.
A Transformation
Aijez watched the children attend the classes, and he wished he could join them. One day, Aijez came across Gena and Meriel. When the sisters saw this dirty, unkempt boy, they saw something beyond his poverty; they saw his deep desire to learn.
The sisters invited him to the literacy classes. Aijez secretly began to attend the evening classes after his daily labor work. He knew his father, Mukil, wouldn’t approve, but Aijez yearned to learn. Every night, with pencil in hand, the eager boy began his education. Aijez soaked up everything the sisters taught.
After some days, Gena and Meriel, not wanting to go behind Mukil’s back, approached the man. They showed him Aijez’s desire to learn and asked him to send Aijez to the classes full-time. By the grace of God, Mukil agreed. When Aijez heard that he would attend the classes with his father’s blessing, he rejoiced and thanked the sisters wholeheartedly.
A God-given Chance
Aijez worked hard, both at class and at the tire shop. He knew this was an opportunity he could not waste. Seeing Aijez’s diligence in his studies, Mukil let Aijez’s mother and sister attend the classes as well.
In the span of six months, Aijez learned the alphabet both in his dialect and English; and is able to write and read numbers, too! Aijez can now attend a real school. No longer does he work at the tire shop but attends school full-time. After school, he still goes to the literacy class, soaking up the love and encouragement from the Sisters of Compassion.
“I am thankful to these sisters for their hard work,” Aijez shares. “If they had not come here, I would have never learned or [got] a chance to go [to] school. Today I am so happy that I am going to school along with other children and playing with them.”
Now, the mud and dirt are no longer Aijez’s future. He and his family can look to something higher than the ground around them. For them, the cycle of poverty is breaking.
Stories like Aijez’s are only possible because of donors and sponsors like you. Because of you, there are many families who will experience similar changes, through God’s ministers. Thank you, and God bless you!
GFA-supported workers provide compassionate care to those who have faced lasting effects from leprosy, like this woman and like Kajri.
Wind whipped through the plastic sheets, lifting them to the sky as they strained against the bamboo frame. Huddled inside the small, sparsely thatched structure, Kajri shielded herself from the sharp wind as her plastic walls waved above her head. The home wasn’t much, but at least she had one.
Kajri lives in a leprosy colony where most of the residents have small thatched homes just like hers. The people in her community earn a meagre living by begging or collecting scraps discarded by others to sell at the market.
Sisters of Compassion Bring Hope and Help
A bright moment breaks into these lives, so vastly altered by leprosy, when GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion come to visit. These five ladies visit the leprosy colony every day. They help with personal hygiene, clean and bandage wounds and tidy up the leprosy patients’ homes.
In Asia, the stigma of “uncleanness” persists in many leprosy colonies. The physical deformities created by the dreaded disease limit the options for manual labor, often the only work leprosy patients are deemed worthy of.
Seeing the impossibility of getting work as a leprosy patient, the Sisters of Compassion arranged for a distribution of income-generating gifts for this impoverished community. On the day of the distribution, the leprosy colony was suddenly filled with the sound of cows mooing, piglets squealing and goats bleating. These living gifts would provide milk to sell and offspring to raise, multiplying the initial gift.
Just What She Needed
GFA-supported workers provide compassionate care to those who have faced lasting effects from leprosy, like this woman and like Kajri.
Kajri, sitting among the crowd gathered, was too old and weak to care for a cow or goat. But God knew what Kajri needed, and animals were not the only gifts available. When her name was called and she approached the front of the crowd, a bundle of shiny tin roof panels was presented to her.
The Sisters of Compassion installed the tin sheets for her. Their gift spoke God’s powerful message to her heart—you are known, you are loved.
Now, under her newly built roof, Kajri no longer fears storms. She waits for the sisters’ daily visit, wanting to hear more about the God they serve.
“Oh, my God,” says Kajri, “bless these people who took much pain to build a house for a widow like me.”
Because Hansini chose to protect the life of her ill son, her husband abandoned her. Now providing for her family alone, she found great comfort when she learned Jesus values her and her son.
Hansini looked incredulously at her husband. How could he want to kill their infant son? She refused to support his decision, which only caused more tension in the house and in their marriage.
Joy Turned to Sorrow
Hansini married Gautam when she was only 14, and their family grew to include two daughters. Hansini and Gautam both worked as laborers, but income was scarce, especially when Gautam squandered all his earnings on alcohol. His addiction caused many problems at home, and he abused Hansini.
Finally, Hansini found some relief after she bore Gautam a son. The delighted family named him Alhad, which means “joy”. Gautam’s behavior changed substantially, and he began to care for his wife and children.
But that joy was soon endangered—and so was Alhad. A year passed, and their beloved baby had not grown properly or learned even to sit. A doctor visit produced a shocking diagnosis: Alhad had a hole in his heart. Unable to afford the needed surgery, the family returned home.
The Cost of Love
Soon, Gautam announced he wanted to kill Alhad because there was no way to heal him. Hansini courageously opposed him. The tension in the home built. Finally, Gautam gave her an ultimatum: “You have to throw your son somewhere; otherwise I am not going to stay with you.”
Hansini sternly told her husband that at any cost, she would not kill her son.
After that, Gautam disappeared. Abandoned, Hansini struggled to care for her children. Each day, she faced the consequences of her decision to protect her son. But God, rich in mercy, sent some women missionaries to her to affirm His love for her and her son.
Jesus Loves the Little Children
One day, two GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion came to Hansini’s home. Hansini sensed she could trust these new friends, and she shared openly about her problems. Alhad was now 4 years old, and he still had not grown stronger.
The sisters comforted Hansini and reassured her of Jesus’ love for her and her child. Words from Scripture brought Hansini hope that one day, her son would be healed by Christ.
She asked the women to come to her home regularly to pray for Alhad, and she joined them in faith.
The Sisters of Compassion continued investing in Hansini’s life and in the lives of many others in her area. They visited Hansini every week to keep encouraging her and to worship Jesus together.
Although she is still without her husband, Hansini has discovered the One who never leaves us nor forsakes us. She has hope for her son and holds the knowledge that her Maker loves her.
Tragically, many women are abandoned by their husbands. These women endure many hardships and live much like widows. Thank you for enabling women missionaries to minister to women like Hansini!
Sisters of Compassion working in Asian slums bring hopeful light into what are otherwise deeply depressing places. Lonely, hurting people are uplifted and renewed by friendship with the sisters and with the Friend who heals their hearts.
Two of her children were gone. Missing. Where were they? What had happened? Where had they gone?
It was her husband. He had taken them. Taken them and left again without telling her a word.
Panic and fear washed over Amlika. What would she do? Who could she turn to?
She had no one.
Locked in Fear
After getting married at an early age, Amlika, now 29, and her husband had five children. They crowded into a single-room shanty in the middle of a slum on the outskirts of a major city.
Her husband started drinking. He stopped working. He began chasing after other women.
And then he left, leaving Amlika with the responsibility of caring for their children, ages 9 to 3.
Loneliness. Agony. Fear. Shame. Worry. Hunger. This was her life.
Amlika cleaned people’s homes, but despite her daily labors, she scarcely earned enough to feed her family.
And then two of them went missing.
Amlika’s husband had come by a few times through the years, bringing a little bit of money for his children, but he had never stayed long. Then one day, he suddenly vanished with two of the kids. A few days passed before he showed up again to bring them home, but it was enough to fill Amlika with fear that she could lose them forever. After that day, she locked the door with her children inside whenever she went out to work.
A Compassionate Hand
Some GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion served in the slum where Amlika and her children lived. One day, Amlika decided to attend a special Mother’s Day event at the local Bridge of Hope center—the center her eldest daughter had been enrolled in soon after Amlika began cleaning homes.
The young mother saw the Sisters of Compassion sharing kind words with other women, and something made Amlika want to talk with them. She asked them to visit her home, and they did.
They came to Amlika’s home with eternal love in their hearts. The women talked, and tears flowed down the young mother’s face as she shared about her plight. The Sisters of Compassion comforted her and shared about the One who never leaves us. The women introduced her to a local GFA-supported pastor, who also visited Amlika. Through their faithful companionship and prayers, peace penetrated her fear, truth replaced anxiety, and dignity overcame shame.
“I am experiencing [Jesus’] guidance and love in my life,” Amlika shares. “I have nobody to trust or to support me in times of troubles. I have no idea what the future holds, but now I have found hope in Jesus. I am confident that Jesus will give me strength to overcome all the adverse situations of life.”
Meeting a Practical Need
Sisters of Compassion working in Asian slums bring hopeful light into what are otherwise deeply depressing places. Lonely, hurting people are uplifted and renewed by friendship with the sisters and with the Friend who heals their hearts.
Amlika found a peace that surpasses understanding and circumstances, but she still struggled to provide for her youngest children. Thankfully, Bridge of Hope was taking care of her eldest daughter’s need by providing a daily meal and other necessities.
Knowing Amlika could still use some help, GFA-supported workers collaborated to bring her aid. On International Widows’ Day, Amlika received a sewing machine!
Gifts like sewing machines, provided through the donations of men and women like you, have changed the lives of thousands upon thousands throughout the years, and Amlika is one of them.
Amlika started learning how to use her machine and became confident this gift would enable her to earn more money to provide for her children’s needs.
A sewing machine was a perfect fit for Amlika because now she will be able to run a tailoring shop from her own home. That means Amlika won’t need to worry about coming home to find her children missing again. She can spend more time with them, help them grow and love them well.
GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion frequently minister to those who suffer from leprosy’s disfiguring and damaging effects. The woman pictured lost her leg due to the disease, and the Sisters of Compassion frequently help with her chores, visit her and bring joy to her life.
She had only been married a few days. What should have been one of the best times of her life was suddenly marred by a strange condition in her leg.
Yoshita, only 25, had contracted leprosy.
Leprosy Lingers
Yoshita and her husband came from a poor community in an area where leprosy is not uncommon. Most people in her village worked hard as farmers or daily laborers, straining their bodies for an entire day in the hopes of earning enough for one meal ... but their wages also had to satisfy the people’s common addictions to alcohol and drugs.
Yoshita labored hard among her neighbors, but sometimes she could only beg along the side of the road. When leprosy attacked her leg, hopelessness settled into her heart.
She visited doctor after doctor, but they weren’t able to mend her suffering. She turned to local practitioners of traditional medicines, but nothing improved. As the years passed, her pain increased, and her mental agony grew. All hopes of finding a cure were shattered, and she found herself in a hospital.
Ten years had passed since her wedding, and Yoshita had little to show for it but a missing leg and a hurting heart.
Unexpected Hope
But as Yoshita lay in the mission hospital where her husband had admitted her, she heard something quite unexpected: songs of praise.
A group of GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion had come to the hospital. They made their way through the rooms, visiting with and praying for those who were ill, singing songs and reading encouraging Scriptures to lighten burdened hearts.
When these sisters prayed for her, Yoshita noticed a difference in her body, but beyond the physical relief she experienced was the emotional freedom she felt as God lifted the agonizing weight of crushed dreams from her heart.
As she talked with the Sisters of Compassion, Yoshita learned about the Author of hope and decided to turn her heart over to Him for safekeeping.
Broken Heart Restored
GFA-supported Compassion Services workers, like Sisters of Compassion, serve amid the suffering. They minister in places like leprosy colonies, hospitals and slums, and they help people after natural disasters, aiming to bring the peace of Christ to those who have no hope.
GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion frequently minister to those who suffer from leprosy’s disfiguring and damaging effects. The woman pictured lost her leg due to the disease, and the Sisters of Compassion frequently help with her chores, visit her and bring joy to her life.
Through your prayers and support of the ministry of GFA, you have been part of blessing countless men and women, like Yoshita. God touched her in her hour of need, and her broken heart has been restored.
Fulmala’s young hands swept floors, laundered clothes and washed dishes.
Young hands of a child that should have been playing. Young hands that should have been learning. Young hands that carried home meager wages day after day, night after night, year after year—wages Fulmala couldn’t even count.
As darkness fell once more, she made her way home through the twisted maze of shanties to the one she called home, slipping past piles of rubbish and streams of refuse along her way.
She didn’t know how to hope for a better future.
Teen Struggles in Silence
Through the years, Fulmala, now late in her teens, slowly grew accustomed to the monotonous rhythms of poverty.
Tears still slipped down her cheeks at night because of her loneliness. Her mother, brother and father all worked as hard as she, but they still couldn’t escape their poor condition. They hadn’t even been able to send Fulmala to school. Her father took to drinking at nights in an effort to relieve his own pain, adding yet another burden to their already difficult lives.
The familiarity of poverty, perpetuated by the lack of education, continued unabated, until the day a few women dressed in white quietly slipped into Fulmala’s slum. Like the first flowers of spring, a soothing balm of peace in the midst of a world of pain and shame, the Sisters of Compassion came.
Compassionate Sisters Start Literacy Class
When the sisters showed up at Fulmala’s front door and invited her to attend literacy classes, joy blossomed within her heart. Fulmala eagerly gathered with others in her community, women who, like her, couldn’t even write their own names, read warnings on labels or verify their wages.
One night out of every week, Fulmala’s hands—hands that were not as young as most first-time students’ but were just as eager—raced from her labor to grasp the stub of chalk and learn the skill she had been denied in her childhood.
As the indecipherable characters of her mother tongue expanded to take on meaning in her mind, Fulmala’s joy expanded with them. A new kind of joy also grew in her heart, one that couldn’t be explained in so many words.
Witnessing the conduct of the GFA-supported Sisters of Compassion, the kind women who had brought the aroma of grace into her life, Fulmala realized there was yet still more joy to be grasped, a joy she observed in these sisters and was eager to learn more about.
Learning of the One Who Loves Her
Fulmala’s heart learned to hope before her classes ever finished. Tears don’t fall down her cheeks nearly as often as they once did. Every day, her eyes search out the Scriptures, deciphering one character, one word at a time, a daily verse to sustain her.
“As an uneducated person,” Fulmala shares, “I was ashamed of myself. I never imagined that I would be able to read and even to write my own name. But these classes help me to think positively, and I am sure that I will become a real blessing to my family.”
Fulmala found that Jesus loves her and hears her prayers. One of the first prayers He answered was her plea for a better job.
Fulmala’s heart has been swept clean. New clothes are waiting for her, radiant and white in the kingdom to come. All this has been done by the One with the nail-scarred hands—Jesus.
