Girl Throws a Curveball into Plans

Mayuri had a rough family life. Her father, (Ekaling) spent his days
making some less than great decisions. He drank, gambled, chased
after women, and beat his wife.

Olimani worshipped all the goddesses she could think of to worship to,
but they could not save her.

Everyday,
Mayuri went to work with her mother, (Olimani.)

And as Gospel for Asia puts it,
she continued to do so until Mayuri
"was married off in order to escape
her father's abuse."                                                    

Pretty awful to be getting married
to escape the results of your own parent's marriage hey? Yet it seemed like a clear getaway.

Yet the story of Mayuri's married life
didn't exactly go "happily ever after."

Though there was a brief time of what could be called temporary happiness when Mayuri became pregnant and the couple eagerly awaited the arrival of their son.

Yet when Mayuri failed to produce a son for
her husband Rafat, but gave birth to a daughter instead...
he was quick  to anger.

Not only did Rafar begin to speak badly of Mayuri in front of his family,
but he also started beating her.
(Like her father had done to her mother.)

Though Rafat threatened to leave the marriage,
it was Mayuri who ended up setting sail.

Unsure where else to go,
Mayuri returned to her family's house.

Her mother was distraught over how Mayuri's life had turned,
when she had possessed high hope's and dreams  for her daughter's life and well being.

Mayuri soon learned that her father, and Olimani''s husband, Ekaling,
had married another woman.


On a quest to find work,
Mayuri was ripped off by a man
who left her in debt.

The only option she saw left,
was for her to become a prostitute
in order to prevent her children's starvation.

Mayuri was shunned by her entire community with the exception of one.
A pastor from Gospel for Asia. She also developed a tumor on her abdomen.

In a search for healing of some sort of another,
Mayuri started trekking to temples & offering up sacrifices.


Yet a day came,
when this pastor named Patakin offered Mayuri the chance to pray to the one, true,
God.

This was not the first time the two had held a conversation about Jesus.  
While the rest of the villagers did their best to keep their distance from Mayuri,
the pastor visited the home of a prostitute.

Usually,
Mayuri ignored what Pastor Patakin had to say,
but this time she listened when he invited her to a
Christmas service at a local church.

Many years of being shunned and cast to the side 
had taught Mayuri to expect the worst.

Yet when she walked through the church doors she
was met with love and acceptance.

She returned back to that Church 
and kept going back.

During one service,
a specific bible verse
jumped out at Mayuri that
Pastor Patakin read to the congregation.


"He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation."

-Psalm 91:15-16

Pastor Patakin
told Mayuri that,

"If you pray to God, He will heal you and give long life to you."

So Mayuri chose to believe in God,
and put her trust in the one that could save her..

and she experienced the beautiful and healing touch of God as her cancer went away.

Now as Mayuri watches 
her two daughters grow,
she is overjoyed
to know that their lives can be different from the life she knew growing up.

Rafat may be gone,
but now they have an entire church family to stand behind them.

They now attend Sunday School weekly and our growing in their relationship
with God;
as they come to know of his great love for them.

After experiencing God's healing,
Mayuri found work "as a daily wage labourer"
and both her daughters are enrolled in school
as
a
result.

In Mayuri's words in regards to her life's turnaround...

Thank-you for taking the time to give this a read.

If you'd like to help send a woman missionary to assist
women in need such as Mayuri once was...
here is the place.

http://www.gfa.org/women/sponsor/


Have a marvellous Monday.

-Jenna-out

Touch the "Untouchables" with the Love of Jesus!

Hello people with caring hearts,

Today I want to talk to you about the Dalits (otherwise referred to as the "untouchables".)

   Did you know that even today in the year of 2015,
that there are approx. 300 million people worldwide
who are still known as being "untouchable"?!

These people are denied the right to choose where
they will worship,
work,
and 
live.

They also experience great hardship in getting clean water.



You can read and watch more 
here             http://www.gfa.org/dalit/#

and donate $ towards Jesus Wells for the people here   http://www.gfa.org/water/


Thank you very much for your time.
Have a significant Sunday.

-Jenna-out


                                           

Saved from the Streets

I'd like you to meet Nandi                                 and                        Manjulika.

Nandi never knew his real parents,
and the people who adopted him treated him as their personal slave. They beat him whenever he failed to live up to their expectations...and if Nandi happened to call them "mother and father" they got real mad.

"You're not our child."
Were the words they'd fire at him.

(How awful! That must've been pretty painful.)

Manjulika also faced hardship. One morning she woke up to discover that her mother had died.
Manjulika and her sisters soon found out that their mother had died while at a hospital.

From then on out,
Manjulika found herself playing a motherly role for her younger sisters.

Sadly enough,
when their father would return after a long day of working as a rickshaw driver
he'd often come home drunk and beat his daughters.

Eventually,
her father who, ~quote~
"had no love to give his children, 
let the government take them to a Gospel
for Asia home for at-risk girls."

Meanwhile back in Nandi's world, 
the boy decided to run away from his
broken and abusive home
by boarding a train 
to a bigger, and hopefully better,
city.


However,
in a matter of mere months...he ended up
in "forced begging."

(have you ever watched the movie "Slumdog Millionaire"? Might be worth giving
a watch if you haven't.)

Nandi would beg along the roadside all day long,
and in the evening a man (probably the slavedriver/his boss you could say)
took all that Nandi had earned and "gave him a little food."

Almost a generous thing to do.

Nandi came to a point
where he was simply DONE
with this infuriating
and straight up degrading
routine that he told the man
he 
would
not
beg
anymore.

Enraged,
the man gave Nandi a beating.

The next morning,
Nandi (bravely) refused
once more to beg,
and the man beat another boy in front of Nandi
to intimidate him.

Filled with fear,
his stubborn willed
determination petered
out 
and
Nandi 
obeyed
the man.

A few months later,
an accident actually led to Nandi's sweet release.

As Nandi was crossing the street one night,
a car RAN OVER HIS FOOT.

(Owch!Brutal hey?!)

Fortunately,
a police officer rushed to Nandi's rescue
and had him taken to a hospital.

Nandi stayed in that hospital for 6 whole
months as he recovered.

A lady visited him during his stay,
and asked Nandi if he'd like to go
to a "children's home."

Yet in response,
Nandi told the lady...
"No, I don't want to go anywhere."

He was terrified of meeting new people
in new (potentially dangerous) places.

He'd already been through a lot.

How much more could he take?

However,
after observing the nice ladies
friendly, and kind nature...
he thought the offer over.

He soon accepted,
and was brought to a
"Gospel for Asia's home
for abandoned and runaway boys."

~
And meanwhile
Manjulika
was introduced to 
"Gospel for Asia's home for abandoned girls".

There she received great love
and care.

She was enrolled in a solid
school,

and they even threw Manjulika her very
own birthday party...which was the first she'd ever had.

~
Yet for Nandi,
entering a new place
was more challenging.

He felt overwhelmed
by the many new faces
and the structured routine.

Yet the staff members comforted 
him and said,

"Don't worry, because we are here like your mother and father",
they told him.

Upon his arrival,
Nandi was still having difficulty moving
due to his recent injury...so in order to accommodate & care for him,
the women working there brought him both food and medicine.

In Nandi's words in regards to their excellent service,

This touched Nandi's heart in a great way.

Today,
(August 28th/2015)
the lives of both Nandi and Manjulika look wildly different than they once did.
Previously,
Nandi had been captive to an abusive home
and then hostage to a savage slavedriver.

Manjulika had been left motherless
with her sisters to be cared for,
and a drunken father to beware.

Now Nandi is receiving a good education
at a local school,
where they learn of and experience
the love of Jesus through the staff members
that work there.

In the future,
Nandi is interested in serving Jesus through his singing.

He says that he 
"can see a light in the days to come."

Manjulika also has a dream.
She longs to teach children the things 
that she had learned. Yet Manjulika
knows that the most important thing she
can teach them,
does 
not 
come
from
a 
schoolbook/textbook/whatever you want to call it.

Manjulika says that,
"The thing that makes me happy the most is that I know Jesus loves us.
I want people to know Jesus loves each one of them, no matter who they are
or what background they are from."

Thanks to the outpouring of love from Gospel for Asia
homes for children,
kids such as Nandi and Manjulika
are coming to know just how deeply
they're loved,
and it's changing lives!

Awesome right?

(you can read the GFA article here
or click on the second link...or maybe both...
to learn about GFA's ministry for Street Children.)


http://www.gfa.org/gfa-world/2015/more-than-a-mothers-love/

http://www.gfa.org/ministries/abandoned-children/

Adios Amigos! You're loved deeply by Jesus! (Please don't ever forget that.)

-Jenna-out

The Healing of Hope

Hey hey someone caring! Today's post is on Ruth's story.


Where Ruth grew up,
women are generally despised
for being women.

They are thought to be a little on the expensive side
due to what a daughter's marriage dowry can cost
her family.

Ruth's family already had 3 daughters when
she was born,
and her father was less than pleased with the arrival of Ruth.

He openly seemed to resent her,
and made it quite clear that he had been anticipating a son...not another daughter.

Fortunately,
Ruth was introduced to a local church via some women missionaries and thus discovered the love of God... 2 years later she decided to go to Bible College.

Ruth went to her father to touch his feet in what is considered a "cultural sign of respect" but he didn't let her touch his feet. As she bowed down to touch his feet, her father didn't let her,
but rather, 
"he kicked her in the face.
With that, Ruth left behind the only life she'd known
and went to Bible College."


 Ruth kept in touch with the women missionaries and the pastor from her church;
while she was attending the Bible College. At one point,
she got a call from the pastor who informed her that her father
was "following Jesus now."And was asking how Ruth was doing.

Ruth went home,
after 3 years of not seeing her father.

"As the bus pulled up to the stop,
she saw him again. 
And she didn't know how to feel,
as she came off the bus.
She again knelt down to touch her father's feet. This 
time instead of kicking her...
her father took her by the hands,
lifted her up
(and for the first time in her life)
he hugged her."

After that,
Ruth journeyed from village
to village with the women missionaries
to spread the love of God.

Later down the road, (8 months later)
Ruth received a request from the Bible College
asking her to help oversee the Girl's dormitory.

"If those first women missionaries hadn't come to her village,
she doesn't know where she would be today. But because they
did, she can now bring hope to thousands of other women 
across South Asia.


What a beautiful and heart breaking story.
It amazes me to note the change that happened
not only for Ruth and her salvation
but also for her Dad's
and now for the women that Ruth is sharing this hope with.

Thanks for the taking the time to read.


Video can be watched here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzrste0b0GE&feature=youtu.be


-Jenna-out

The Flame of Shame

Hello compassionate, kind, and caring people.

Today's post is on the topic of shame and a beautiful woman named Saachi's experience with such a terrible thing.



Saachi had a family with her husband Udit,
and everything seemed to be going a-okay.

However,
she began to observe a difference in
her husband's manner. Saachi wasn't sure what was up.

Udit stopped giving Saachi money,
and would beat her when she asked.

Eventually came a day when
Udit vanished.

The word came out that he had been having an affair.

Saachi was submerged in sorrow
and wept.

She was unsure of how she would now provide for her family.

Thankfully,
she did find work...and started on at a factory.

Saachi knew that the income would help keep her family alive.

However,
she was harassed at work by several men
and eventually accepted one.

Yet Saachi quickly became ashamed of herself
and decided to light herself on fire.


As she began to do so,
the neighbours heard her piercing cries
and she was taken to the hospital with some serious burns.

Yet the story doesn't end here.

Meet Jabeen.  A woman missionary supported by Gospel for Asia
who had also been through the overwhelming heartache of discovering her husband had been having an affair.

Yet God led Jabeen to a pastor who shared with her the love of Jesus.
She decided to make her faith from childhood
officially her own.

Later down the road,
God called Jabeen to serve Him full-time 
and Jabeen answered the call!

Jabeen knew that Saachi needed to hear her testimony
so she shared the story!

She also told Saachi the most important story of all.

  Jabeen told Saachi of Jesus,
and how precious her life is to Him...and that Saachi doesn't
have to pay for her sins because Jesus already did.

  Saachi wept at these words of healing
as she learned that God would 
"never be unfaithful to her or abuse her. 
He loved her perfectly."


Three weeks later,
Saachi was freed from the hospital
and decided to go to Church. 

It was there that she decided to accept the love of Jesus.

Though the scars on her body still remain,
"God is healing the scars on her heart."

On top of this,
Saachi has found a job that helps support her and her family,
and also maintains a close friendship with Jabeen.

Saachi knows in her heart that God sent Jabeen at just the right time...when the need was greatest.

In the words of the original article,

"Gospel for Asia women missionaries like Jabeen can minister in ways men can't.
Understanding the struggles of other women in Asia as they visit homes and hospitals,
they are able to share the Gospel with those in need of hope."

Speaking of hope,
I hope this article has sparked something deep inside of you.



Please remember that God loves you.
Have a wonderful evening,

-Jenna-out


http://www.gfa.org/news/articles/engulfed-by-shame/

heysomeonecares: Mega Monsoons=Furious Floods

Hey caring people,

As you may already know....there have been some mega monsoons lately.
Some severe flooding has flooded several countries as a result.

  Here ^ is a rather intense photo that demonstrates the water depth and damage.

     ^And another.

According to a Gospel For Asia article here 
http://www.gfa.ca/flood/myanmar-india/?cm_mmc=GFA-_-Email-_-2903891-_-150812%20CA%20Digest%20283%20WB58-G200%20(1)#cta

The floods have caused some of the most awful destruction that Myanmar (Burma) has seen since the year of Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

  Approximately 1 million people have been directly affected by this recent catastrophe. Crucial crops have been destroyed in what is known as the "Rice Bowl of the Far East." The majority of Myanmar now lies submerged in water and there are also 4 areas/regions in Myanmar which have been officially described as...wait for it...

"designated disaster zones."

  Fortunately,
Gospel for Asia workers have been getting themselves out there.  They have sought
to demonstrate the awe-inspiring love of God by reaching out with hands of compassion,
love, and marvellous mercy; to the flood victims who are made in the image of God! (Just like you and I.) How amazing is that!

They've provided these people with clean water as well as food to eat.

Other countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Vietnam,
have been heavily impacted by sudden floods as well.

 In Manipur, India...some of the floods have actually gone so far as to sweep homes away
and shut down a Bible College.  I think that the photo below gives a fairly accurate portrayal 
of the anguish (and just all around sense of lost) that these people might be feeling. 

Yet hope is not lost! 

Gospel for Asia workers are planning ways to further reach these people.

and you can play a part.

Thank-you very much for taking the time to read this post.

Have an impactful rest of the day and evening,

-Jenna-out

heysomeonecares: Let's Care Even More!

      Hey someone caring!

Welcome welcome! This blog entry is a bit of a "shout-out" promotional sort to direct your attention to the Gospel for Asia produced "Veil of Tears" film.

You can purchase your very own FREE copy from their website.

Why should you? Well,
I believe you will find this to be a heart-breaking
and compelling experience.

So go ahead.

Have a sensational soul saving sort of day.

-Jenna-out

http://veiloftearsmovie.com/take-action/

heysomeonecares: an illiterate life?!

     Good evening folks!                 

   Did you know,
 that there are over 250 million women in Asia
   who can't read or write?

This is quite tragic indeed (despite what her radiant smile might tell you.)
However, there still is a reason to smile! They don't have to stay in the dark.
They can be taught how to read and write.

And then tickety boom! One day they can be reading & writing up a storm. 
One of the greatest challenges they face is not being able to read the bible
due to illiteracy! Surely we can help change that!

Act today! Give now if you so desire! It only takes a mere $1 to help one of these
women. They're waiting! Go and give! It's not too late!
http://www.gfa.org/women/literacy/

Have a super great evening
and don't let me pressure you...but I hope you keep this in mind.

Adios amigos.

                                                                                                -Jenna-out

Spread The Love

Hey caring people!

Welcome back! Today's post is centred on prayer.

Did you know that out of India's mind-boggling population of 1 billion... that 40% of the people
are under 18 years old? Crazy right?! Which is also similar in other countries such as Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

These young people face many hazardous circumstances in their day-to-day lives.
Such as disease, hunger, and loneliness.

Please remember to keep them in your prayers...that they would come to know
just how deeply, madly, and richly they are loved by Jesus.

http://www.gfa.org/pray/youth/