Rejoice!

The gift of a Savior is so great that it must be shared—with all the world! The national missionaries you link your life with share the love of Christ in word and deed every day of the year. And during the Christmas season, the time they spend with people across the mission field takes on a special significance. Here are just a few ways they have shared hope in Christmases past!

School for Special Needs Children
In one region, our Sisters of the Cross (previously called Sisters of Compassion) organized a particularly meaningful event at a school for children with special needs. The pre-Christmas celebration included prayer, a telling of the Christmas story and singing Christmas carols together. The children performed a festive dance and enjoyed watching a skit depicting the story of Christ’s birth.

During one part of the program, one of the children distributed small gifts and treats to all the students. It was a meaningful way to share the significance of this holiday with these precious children.

“It was a very nice celebration, and I wish all of you a very happy Christmas. God bless you.”

— Sima, age 12

Tea Gardens
Many adults in rural regions of Asia work at tea gardens, and that is where our missionaries headed to bring Christmas cheer. Pastor Jair and his team visited tea garden workers and shared the Good News. They even had the opportunity to distribute 70 audio New Testaments while they were there.

Prisons
Perhaps no one is more in need of hope than those who are incarcerated. Twenty national missionaries, Bible college students, staff and their families visited a prison to share the love of God and the message of Christmas with inmates.

The missionaries and their families conducted two programs—one for men and another for women. Assembled in the community hall, the inmates heard a message about Jesus Christ’s birth, His perfect life and His sacrifice to forgive us of all our sins, no matter how big or small. The attendees listened to Christmas carols, and after the program, they received gifts of the New Testament to keep. In all, 250 people heard the incredible story of Jesus that day.

Please pray for all these precious souls who have heard about the Lord—for the children, who have tremendous mental and physical challenges; for the laborers, who toil daily to support their families; for those in prison, who long for a better life. Please also pray for our missionaries as they host more ministry activities this Christmas and throughout the year. May their efforts have an eternal impact on hearts that are so precious to Jesus.

Grateful recipient (pictured right) of the warmth, safety and hope your support helps make possible.

As the Christmas season ushers in colder weather, we are mindful of those around the world who are without adequate clothing or shelter to protect them from the elements. Some have endured unimaginable tragedy in the face of natural disasters. Others live in hopelessness and poverty every day of the year. Here are just a few reports, many from last winter, to give you an idea of how your prayers and support are enabling national missionaries to bless more people this Christmas.

One region in Nepal continues to recover from the effects of a major earthquake, which destroyed many people’s homes. Families here are especially vulnerable as temperatures plummet. Missionaries here distributed 95 blankets to help keep people warm during frigid months.

“You understood our need.” — Bakari,  blanket recipient

Extremely poor families in another area of the mission field can’t afford to buy clothing to keep their children warm. Our teams there distributed warm clothes to 173 children.

Many people across the mission field—including over 200 families at a leprosy colony in Nepal—suffer from both poverty and disease. Those who live here do without things we may take for granted, such as warm blankets and fresh food. But thanks to partners like you, missionaries distributed blankets to 45 of the neediest families, and a warm meal to over 150 individuals.

And all of these gifts were distributed in the name of Jesus! Your partnership is bringing vital help, in Christ’s name, to even more men, women and children across the mission field. Thank you for showing the love of God to those in need!

Ulryk and his family came to know Christ after attending a Christmas outreach program.

You partner with national missionaries across the world who organize Christmas outreach programs each year to share gifts—and the Good News of a Savior—with people in need.

During one program headed by GFA Pastor Poul, a villager named Ulryk was profoundly affected by what he heard: the story of the birth of Jesus Christ. So, inspired by the message, he met with Pastor Poul and asked him to visit his house to share more about Jesus.

Pastor Poul took this God-given opportunity to visit Ulryk’s home, sharing the Good News with Ulryk’s family. Pastor Poul told them about the unconditional love of Christ, and how He came to Earth to save us from sin and give us eternal life.

News of this Savior was indeed new to Ulryk and his family. They practiced a traditional religion in which they worshiped a stone. But Ulryk said that hearing about Jesus comforted his heart—the Gospel touched him deeply.

You help national missionaries reach people like Ulryk with Christ’s message of hope!

Today, Ulryk and his family regularly attend Pastor Poul’s church. Ulryk says that since coming to know the Lord, his life has completely changed. The love of Christ brought peace to Ulryk’s home! His family, once flooded with strife, now walks in unity, praising the Lord for His grace upon their lives every day.

Pastor Poul was able to hold the Christmas outreach program and plant the seed of the Good News because of partners like you. Thank you for sharing your faith with people like Ulryk and his family!

Longtime GFA supporter Micah has a heart for orphans, widows and sharing the Gospel! “I love GFA because they go where I can’t go,” she says.

In 2009, Micah read K.P. Yohannan’s Revolution in World Missions. “This was a life-changing book,” she says.    “It opened my eyes to see the need.”

At the time, Micah was a stay-at-home mom who did not have her own income, except for Christmas or birthday gifts from family. “I determined in my heart that I wasn’t going to buy anything for myself,” she remembers. “I decided whatever money I make I’m going to give to support a missionary over there.” And that’s exactly what she did.

Fast-forward 15 years. Micah recently earned her master’s degree and is a full-time math teacher at a Christian school. Her kids, ages 14 to 21, are thriving and share her love of giving to bless others.

As a mother and a teacher, Micah leads by example in all that she does. For her, giving and Christianity go hand in hand. We are thankful for her selflessness and for the generosity of spirit she so willingly shares with others!

Support from partners like Micah and you make it possible for national missionaries to reach those who otherwise might never hear the name of Jesus.

Micah sums it up this way: “Are we going to use our prosperity to keep pouring it on ourselves—more, more, more—or are we going to share it with those who need it? And as we share it, tell them about Him?”

“It blesses me to know that I’m helping people.” — Micah

We have long been committed to reaching those without hope with the love of Christ in word and deed. Through your prayers and support, you are making it possible to do that! Thank you for standing with us to help the continuing construction and provision of medical equipment needed for a hospital in Rwanda.

This hospital will help break down barriers to medical healing, and provide opportunity for new life in Christ. It will be a catalyst of hope for the people of Rwanda and throughout Africa.

Thank you for the part you are playing in this important work!

K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan)

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” —John 1:14 (nkjv)

God became man. Christmas.

 Think with me. God, whom you cannot see or touch, is sitting in heaven. God, who was distant from us, came to earth. He became flesh and dwelt among us. Finally, we could touch Him. Mankind saw Incarnate God with human eyes! And even now we see His glory.

The world is mourning, groaning, waiting for redemption. All of time and eternity came together with one purpose of God—redemption. For God Incarnate came to redeem our spirits and transform our minds until finally these earthen vessels, our bodies, will be transformed just as the God-Man, Jesus.  

We rejoice this Christmas because God gave us the means to be forgiven, to be spared, to be saved and, more than that, to become His sons and daughters!

Now we, the new creation, are to be agents of His redemption. As His hands and feet on earth, we must carry forth this message. We can do that by living as He lived and suffering as He suffered, remembering His sacrifice—so that at this time next year, millions more might be transformed by the miracle of God dwelling in our midst.

Let us now go forth into all the world carrying the Gospel message.