Compassion Services:
Meeting Needs in
Jesus’ Name
Halil is just one of thousands of lives changed through
the witness of missionaries like Chaitan, who are willing
to extend Christ’s compassion in times of intense
need, and often in the least desirable of localities.
Made up of missionaries and Bible college
students, Compassion Services teams tangibly show
Jesus’ love and also offer eternal hope found in Him.
Team members go through special training for these
mission fields and are truly the hands of Jesus to
many people whose society has turned them away.
In addition to slum ministry, missionaries reach out
in the following ways:
pneumonia. This is why GFA’s medical ministry is able
to do so much with basic and preventive medical care.
Trained teams of nurses and doctors visit dozens
of villages and Bridge of Hope centers with life-changing medical supplies and simple hygiene
training. They treat physical illnesses and also share
the Good News with people who are often hearing it
for the first time.
Leprosy ministry
Anisure Roze’s life will
never be the same. He lived in a
leper colony, his disease a life
sentence of separation, until
missionaries shared Christ and
God healed him. But Anisure
chose to remain in the colony,
and now he is a missionary who serves others who
suffer from the disease.
The World Health Organization estimates that
there are more than 180,000 new cases of leprosy in
South Asia each year. New patients face not only a
disease, but they face lives as outcasts, too.
Gospel for Asia workers minister to these people
rejected by their own communities. They tell of Jesus’
love and help them with their many needs and
challenges, including caring for wounds and providing
special shoes for affected feet.
Medical ministry
For thousands in Asia,
rural village life means that
no doctor is nearby for
broken bones, toothaches or
the flu. In fact, two key
causes of death for children in
this region are diarrhea and
Disaster relief
“You are the only
ones who showed they
actually cared about
us,” the weathered
man told a missionary.
The Pakistani father
and his family had lived through one of the world’s
deadliest earthquakes. But the statistic didn’t matter
much to them. Their home was a pile of rocks. Their
protection against the cold—simple blankets and
sweaters—lay buried, along with their food supply.
When Compassion Services teams go into
disaster-stricken areas with desperately needed food,
clothing and simple forms of shelter, the reception is
overwhelming. But the teams don’t only bring physical
help. They listen to the survivors’ stories, weep with
them, love them and point them to the promise of a
better life in eternity.
These teams are often first on the scene because
they are made up of local missionaries and Bible
college students. After disasters such as the 2004
tsunami, the 2005 Pakistan earthquake and almost
yearly South Asia flooding, teams do what they can to
help rebuild and counsel long after others have left.
More on the Web: Visit www.gfa.org/compassion
and nd out more about how GFA’s Compassion
Services ministry is touching people’s lives all
across Asia.
