Dear GFA Friend,
Picture this scene: A young Muslim mother traveling on a bus holds her crying baby in her arms, unable to comfort him, and she herself is weeping uncontrollably. What would you do?
Sunita, a GFA missionary's wife, witnessed such a scene from a nearby seat. She felt the tug of the Holy Spirit on her heart to go and pray for them. Not knowing what to expect, she gently approached the Muslim woman and asked if she could pray for her and her child.
In response, the young mother poured out her heart to Sunita. She said that for the past few days, her three-month-old baby had not been drinking anything. Alarmed, the young mother had taken her child for treatment, but nothing worked. Finally, the doctors told her to take her baby home-there was no hope left. That's why she was in such anguish.
Sunita lovingly told the Muslim lady about the power of Jesus, and the woman gladly accepted Sunita's offer to pray for her sick baby. Everyone on the bus saw what happened next: The child stopped crying and started to nurse. The young mother was overjoyed.
Today, this young Muslim woman tells anyone who will listen how Jesus healed her child, and she urges others in need to go to a church for prayer. Many of them have come searching for Sunita, who is happy to explain to them how Jesus loves and cares about them.
Sunita is part of the Women's Fellowship, a very exciting new ministry of the GFA-related Believers Church. It was established in 2005 with the goal of strengthening local congregations by helping women grow spiritually, and today it is also equipping hundreds of women for evangelism and missions.
This is especially important, because as you may know, most of the women in our Believers churches are first-generation Christians. Their greatest need is to be grounded in the Word of God, learn to serve in the local church and share the Gospel in their communities.
In addition, many of the women come from poor economic backgrounds and have little or no education. So the Women's Fellowship also provides literacy training and teaches them skills to improve their health, economic level and family life.
In each church, the Women's Fellowship group meets regularly to study God's Word, spend time in prayer and learn about missions. The ladies also serve in various church positions, raise funds for missions and take part in outreach.
But the Women's Fellowship is just one part of the GFA Women's Ministry that also includes Bible college training for women missionaries, women's teams serving on every mission field, and pastors' and missionaries' wives serving alongside their husbands.
God is answering prayer and greatly blessing all of these efforts. For example, within two months, Women's Fellowship members in one Indian state led 244 people to Christ. In another, women's prayers helped set free the demon-possessed daughter of a sorcerer. In yet another state, 175 ladies are coming to church as a result of a Women's Fellowship literacy program.
Why is the Women's Ministry so important? In most Asian countries, women live very restricted lives. Generally, they are less educated than the men, are not free to make their own decisions and hardly ever interact with men outside their immediate families.
So it is not easy for male missionaries to share the Gospel with these ladies unless they attend church or their husbands come to Christ first. But there are no cultural restrictions for women such as Sunita to spend time with them. That is why it is imperative that we train the women in our churches as well as our women missionaries to be witnesses for Him.
GFA's Women's Ministry is growing very fast, and today it is my prayer that you will want to take part in these exciting developments. Please pray for these ladies, and if the Lord leads, your financial gift will help us train up thousands of women in our churches and Bible colleges to take the Gospel to women and children-and their husbands and fathers-all across the Indian Subcontinent.
To make your gift to GFA's Women's Ministry, . Or call toll free, 1-800-WIN-ASIA. Ultimately, your gift and continued prayers will help bring into the kingdom large numbers of one of the most unreached people groups on earth: Asia's women.
Thank you and God bless you.
Your brother in Christ,
K.P. Yohannan
Founder & President
