Faithware Passages

We welcome another story from Sara, our friend and guest blogger from Gospel for Asia.

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Lately I have been thinking about how many people still have to hear the Gospel. Two thousand years after Christ died and rose again, and so many still don’t know this good news. The Joshua Project reports that there’s still 6,650 people groups that are still unreached, which makes up about 2.75 billion people.
This is one reason why I fell I love with the ministry of Gospel for Asia—because through our national missionaries, we are working to reach these unreached groups.
The task seems so great, yet lately God has been teaching me that indeed, it is not too great for Him.
Recently a GFA-supported missionary Kapil Gavde was working in a village where people were staunch in their traditional religious beliefs. He would tell them about Christ, and give them tracts to explain clearly the Gospel, yet they rejected him.
Yet Kapil did not give up. He and the church fellowship he was leading prayed that God would provide a way for them to reach the unbelievers, and soon an opportunity arose to host a day-long Gospel meeting. Kapil and his church members invited 80 people to come, and during the day the Gospel was shared with them.
At the end of the day, they were asked if anyone wanted to respond to what they had heard, and 20 people raised their hands that they were making a decision to trust in and follow Christ!
Soon these new believers began actively attending Kapil’s church and telling others about their new faith.
This story has been an encouragement because it is just one way in which God is showing Himself more than able to reach the lost. I believe that God primarily works through our prayers, and that is why He was faithful to bring these 20 to salvation—because Kapil and the believers asked God.
One hundred years from now, what is going to matter? The car I own, the clothes I wore, the money I made? None of it will matter. I want to use my time and resources to help reach the lost. Although I have been chosen to serve at Gospel for Asia, I still feel God asking me to give up more time to PRAY to reach more of these unreached people groups. I have begun to work into my prayer time a few minutes to pray for unreached people groups, because in 100 years, I believe THAT will matter. I want to see that my time was spent doing something that lasted for eternity—standing in the gap for the 2.7 billion souls waiting to hear that there is salvation.
What a blessing in 2110 to meet the people my prayers affected! May the Lord give me the strength to put aside my wants, and pray!
By the way, thank you to those of you who have been praying for me. I am so blessed to be able to serve the Lord here at Gospel for Asia, working to reach the most unreached. In order to send 100% of missions donations to the field, GFA staff raise their own support. If you are interested in supporting me as I serve here, please visit www.gfa.org/hometeam and enter 6254 in the designation field. Thank you!
Sara Linert

Sara Linert
linert@gmail.com
651-249-9294

This free book changed my life.
www.gfa.org/freebook

Support me as I serve at Gospel for Asia:
www.gfa.org/hometeam
(enter 6254 as the designation code)

It was great to see Sara again at Higher Ground Music Festival. Unfortunately the tsunami came and we were not able to spend much time catching up, but she did have some great news. I’ll just let her tell you…

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It’s official! I move to Texas to begin serving with Gospel for Asia on September 28th!
Thank YOU to those of you who have read my posts and prayed for me over the past several months to this point. I am so excited to finally be moving to Dallas to begin serving in Gospel for Asia’s home office full time.
Recently I was reminded of the reason we make sacrifices to invest in missions. Just a few days ago was the anniversary of some of the most deadly attacks on Christians in history. You may recall hearing about extremist attacks on Christians in Orissa, India. Blaming the Christians for a murder, fanatics went on a bloody rampage across the state of Orissa, killing many, and causing 50,000 Christians to flee for their lives. One year later, some are rebuilding but 20,000 still remain in refugee camps, too afraid to go back to their villages and homes.
Being a Christian in Asia means facing great persecution. One GFA native missionary once said persecution to them was like pizza to us. Just think how many times we have pizza in a month…in a week… Words cannot express the difficulty they face to bring the Gospel to the unreached. I am amazed that they staunchly continue their work, knowing that the sacrifice is worth bringing the Good News to the places where it is most needed, to those who have never heard it.
This is one reason why I am serving with Gospel for Asia. I am honored that God has chosen me to help these native missionaries continue their work amidst the persecution by serving them, supporting their ministry, and praying for them. Please know that if you have prayed for me, you too have helped to reach the most unreached.
As I prepare to move, I am grateful that God has now raised 90% of my financial support. That means that I only need 7 more people to commit to giving $30 a month. Maybe God is calling you to make a financial sacrifice and be one of those who gives $30 a month (or more, or less). If so, please contact me at linert [at] gmail [dot] com. Please pray about joining my financial support team, and know that God will bless your financial sacrifice. It will help bring countless into the Kingdom of Heaven. Just think of how amazing will it be to meet them one day when we get there!
I pray many blessings on you, even though we have never met!
Sara

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Congratulations Sara, we will keep you in our prayers and look forward to more post as you get settled into your new job.

We just returned from Higher Ground Music Festival in Winsted Minnesota.  The festival is a two day event with music starting at 11:00 a.m. running until about 11:00 p.m. The acts ranged from emerging artist to current stars and from hip-hop to hard rock. You can view the list of artists here. The main draws though were Kutless, Disciple, Breathe Deep, Marks Schultz, Jeremy Camp and Third Day. Being a vendor we are towards the back of the venue under a large tent, so we get to hear the music and thankfully, most of the time, the sound level is at a volume where we can still converse with customers.

On Friday the outside temperature ran about 90 degrees, but a nice breeze made it comfortable. Unfortunately inside the tent there was very little breeze so it was much hotter inside than out. Saturday started out much cooler and much more comfortable but then, the rains came. Two separate waves came that lasted about 1 1/2 hours and dumped about 1.5 inches on the area. The floor of the merchandise mall was a mud puddle and two acts were canceled, but the storm passed and everyone survived.   Appropriate that it is Woodstock’s 40th anniversary.

We got to see some old friends, hear some great stories from some of our customers and meet some new friends along the way.  We were so happy to see Sara again and she is very excited about moving to Dallas to start her work with Gospel For Asia.  Please keep her in your prayers and support her how you can.  Some of you know my love of soccer, so one new vendor near and dear to my heart was Torrey and Heather who started The Mission Ball; a very unique product that was very popular. Another was 1M4JC, a shirt company with a unique twist. Each shirt is numbered and their goal is to reach one million for Jesus Christ while supporting other ministries.

All and all a great show, great music, great conversations and wonderful examples of faith.

I must apologize to Sara. She sent this during my little vacation and I wasn’t able to post it right away. Although it is a slightly dated, It is still relevant.

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Greetings from Minnesota! It is bittersweet to write readers of Faithware Passages today. On the one hand I am thrilled to tell you that God has graciously raised 68% of the support I need to finally head to Dallas to serve with Gospel for Asia. He is so good, and I am so thankful that I will be there soon.

At the same time, my heart is heavy to report to you a story which you may not have heard about in the mainstream media. Last Monday a horrific cyclone hit West Bengal (a state in India) and Bangladesh. Over 200 people were killed by Cyclone Aila and over 1 million people are estimated to be unable to get to their homes. For an already poor area of the world, a cyclone such as this is devastating. Please read this article for more information on Cyclone Aila.

The silver lining is that Gospel for Asia has many workers throughout that part of India and Bangladesh, which means that help is already on the way. God is so good to allow us to be involved in bringing relief to those impacted by the cyclone, and at the same time bring the Good News to so many who may have never heard before.

Please be in prayer for West Bengal and Bangladesh. Pray that many will give to provide water, medical attention, and an ability to rebuild not only their homes but their hearts!

Thank you in advance for your prayers for Asia, and for your prayers for me as I continue to raise support and (hopefully) move to Dallas to begin serving very soon!

Blessings,
Sara

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Let’s help get Sara to Dallas, You add your support by contacting her at  email Sara, also don’t forget Sara will be glad to send you a free copy of the wonderful, life-changing book, Revolution in World Missions, Just contact her at the above address and you will see your copy in a few days.

We have been hearing about the political turmoil effecting the country from our friends in Nepal. You can read more about it here. Also “Gospel For Asia” (who our friend Sara is going to be working for very soon) has over 300 Churches in Nepal.

Please keep our friends in Nepal in your prayers.

Please keep Gospel for Asia and their native missionaries in your prayers.

Please pray for the leadership and citizens of Nepal.

I was talking with a friend who just returned from India and the first thing he talked about was the poverty and about children he saw living in the slums and how we just do not understand how blessed we are in this country.  This echos what I think is one of the more memorable chapters in K.P. Yohannans book, where he talks about coming to America for the first time and his impressions of seeing the riches that we take for granted.

I will again mention that Sara can send you a free copy of this wonderful, life-changing book, Revolution in World Missions. email Sara with your name and address and she will gladly send you a free copy!

So enough from me, here is another guest post from our friend Sara:

Have you had a chance to see Slumdog Millionaire yet? Having been to India I saw it just to see if it indeed was an accurate representation of live in the slums. I have to say that it was. I’ll warn you that if you haven’t seen it, it is difficult to sit through as the details are accurate, and therefore rather gruesome. But I would encourage you to sit through it if you can because millions of Indian children live in slums across India, not to mention in other Asian countries.

It is the need for God’s truth to shine in India that drives me to serve with Gospel for Asia. In northern India alone 500,000 villages have yet to hear about Jesus. We need to bring the Gospel to them! But that doesn’t mean we all have to go. There’s many of our Indian brothers and sisters waiting to be trained and sent to the field, and we can partner with them.

I will soon be leaving to work in Gospel for Asia’s home office in Dallas to support the missionaries on the field. If Slumdog Millionaire jerks at your heartstrings and you want to be involved in bringing the Gospel to those children and their parents, please consider supporting me! You can email me at Sara for more information. Or, look me up on facebook! The best part is that YOU can be involved in reaching the most unreached…all from your life and family at home.

I look forward to hearing from you!
Sara Linert

Oh, and thanks for your prayers; I now have 53% of my monthly support goal!

Back on Jan 19, we first introduced you to a friend of ours, Sara, who is raising funds to begin her ministry work with Gospel For Asia.  Check out her previous posts here.  She will continue to post for us to first, keep us updated on her progress to raise funds and then to update us on her ministry work once she moves down to Dallas.

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Hello again Faithware Passages readers! I write today with wonderful news! God has been so gracious to me, as I now have 50% of my goal for support for going to serve with Gospel for Asia. If you don’t remember, I am moving to Dallas to serve with Gospel for Asia in their home office. I am half way to my needed monthly pledges. God is so good!

Gospel for Asia sends 100% of donations for the mission field to the mission field, which is why “home team” staff must raise their own support. This support covers the cost of my living expenses including rent, food, transportation, etc. I have to raise $2,300 in monthly pledges before I can head down to Dallas and start serving with them. I can’t wait to get there!

I recently heard a story about some amazing things that God is doing in Asia and wanted to share it with you. Nepal is a mountainous country along the northern border of India and it is a country in which Gospel for Asia works. Nepal is the world’s only Hindu nation, but a few years ago the government decided to allow people to practice other religions. Although much persecution still happens, it was a step in the right direction. Last year the government even declared Christmas a national holiday! Gospel for Asia native missionaries reached out to their communities with Christmas celebrations. Even TV and radio programming talking about the meaning of Christmas aired throughout Nepal. Truly God is doing great things in Nepal, and in many other countries in Asia where for the first time people are hearing about Christ!

I am so excited that soon I too will be able to be a part of what God is doing through this amazing ministry.

If you feel led to pray for me as I continue to raise my support, here are a few requests:
1) Pray for me to have confidence as I contact people about sponsoring me.
2) Pray for people to see the lost in Asia and want to get involved in reaching them.
3) Pray for me to have greater consistency in spending time with God every single day. The foundation of my life (in addition to my support raising) must be prayer!!!

Blessings,
Sara

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If you would like to know more about Gospel for Asia and learn how God is reaching the most unreached in Asia, Sara can send you a free copy of a wonderful book, Revolution in World Missions. Email Sara with your name and address and she will gladly send you a free copy!

Back on Jan 19, we first introduced you to a friend of ours, Sara, who is raising funds to begin her ministry work with Gospel For Asia.  Check out her first post here.  She will continue to post for us to first, keep us updated on her progress to raise funds and then to update us on her ministry work once she moves down to Dallas.

If you would like to know more about Gospel for Asia and learn how God is reaching the most unreached in Asia, Sara can send you a free copy of a wonderful, life-changing book, Revolution in World Missions. Email Sara with your name and address and she will gladly send you a free copy!

I highly recommend this book. It first discusses author and “Gospel For Asia” founder, K.P. Yohannan’s early commitment to ministry work in India. I found it amazing how strong his faith was in his early years and how he ministered just as they would have 2000 years ago.  He then talks about his move to the United States and ends with lessons on why it is so important and so much more effective spreading the gospel using native missionaries instead of importing missionaries.

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Hello Faithware Passages readers,

It’s been a while since my first post and so I am sure there are many new readers since then. I am a friend of Jeff and Sue and I am about to embark on a journey to serve with a missions organization called Gospel for Asia. We train Christians from Asia to reach their own people for Christ. We focus on sending to places where the Gospel has not been preached - in the 10/40 window, where 97% of the unreached people of the world live. Did you know that over 2 billion people have yet to hear about Christ? 80,000 people die every day having never heard about Jesus Christ’s salvation from eternal damnation. We must reach them! But how?

We can support native missions and be a part of sending these Asian brothers and sisters to the most remote areas of the 10/40 window - places we can’t get into. That’s what I will be doing. I will soon leave cold Minnesota and move to Dallas where I’ll work on a team that works to send these Christians in Asia. If you would like to be involved in reaching the most unreached, I recommend going to www.gfa.org/video and clicking on “Titus - Native Missionary.” It’s a 7 minute video that will touch your heart!

For now I am raising my support so that I can move to Dallas and begin my work. I have just over 40% of my goal - praise God! Please pray for me as I reach out to individuals, small groups, and churches. God is doing amazing things and I can’t wait to see what he does next!!!

Blessings,
Sara

I would like to introduce you to Sara.  Sara will be a guest writer from time to time and will keep us updated with her mission work with Gospel For Asia.  Following is her first post.

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Did you know that over 2 billion people still have not heard the name of Jesus? How can they be reached? Unfortunately the vast majority (97%) of them live in some of the most remote areas in Asia, in countries very hostile to the Gospel and closed to Western missionaries.

Fortunately, God has opened a way for them to hear about Christ’s saving grace through native missionaries. Native missionaries are from the places where they serve, and have proven to be very effective in planting churches because they already know the language and culture, and the live at the same income level as those they minister to.

I met Jeff and Sue and was first introduced to Faithware at a music festival in Minnesota. Gospel for Asia, the ministry I will soon work with, had a booth right next to their Faithware booth. I am honored to call them friends and they asked me to write for their blog about Gospel for Asia.

Gospel for Asia trains and sends these native missionaries to reach the most unreached. As soon as I raise my support, I will be working with them in their home office in Dallas, helping to raise up sponsors for these dear missionaries in Asia.

If you would like to know more about Gospel for Asia and learn how God is reaching the most unreached in Asia, I have free copies of our wonderful, life-changing book, Revolution in World Missions. Email me your name and address and I will gladly send you a free copy!

Stay tuned for more posts from Gospel for Asia!