Bridge of Hope Center Impacts Entire Family

Nine-year-old Sansita Kavi walks daily through a thick mountain forest to attend tutorial classes at the Bridge of Hope center located in a rural village in South Asia. Sansita's journey has not only changed her life, but the lives of her entire family.

Many of the children, like Sansita, travel long distances—up to three miles—to have the opportunity to attend school. Pastor Jobi Masih, a Gospel for Asia-supported national missionary, started the school in 2002, before GFA began the Bridge of Hope program, out of his own personal burden for the Dalit children. In the beginning, some students walked up to nine miles each day. Now those who live farthest from the center stay in a government-owned dormitory where Pastor Jobi's wife takes care of them.

Five years ago, young and illiterate, Sansita began her first day of school. Along with receiving a traditional education, Sansita learned stories from the Bible. Her interest in the Gospel increased, and soon she began to regularly attended Sunday school.

Each day after hearing the message of Christ's salvation, Sansita went home and shared these truths with her parents. Seeing the dramatic transformation in his daughter's nature, her father, Devdarsh, went to see Pastor Jobi.

"My child has changed a lot," he told the pastor, "and she is teaching us the truth that she is learning from Bridge of Hope."

Later, Pastor Jobi visited Devdarsh and his family in their home. He shared his testimony and invited them to church, and they attended the next worship service. As they listened to the Word of God, they felt God's peace and love filling their hearts, and Devdarsh along with his whole family received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Today they regularly attend Pastor Jobi's church.

Sansita and her family are but one example of the tens of thousands of children and adults impacted by the GFA's Bridge of Hope program, which enrolls more than 59,000 impovershed boys and girls.