Category Archives: Asia

Update from Indian Christian Fellowship – Andaman Islands and Mainland India by Varughese Mathew

Loving greetings  from Andaman Islands to our  beloved partners at The Bridge International. May God continue to bless and strengthen your husband Steve and you in the furthering of the Gospel. Thank you for your love and kindness toward my family and ministry!  Our family is well, although my wife, Sarama, has problems with her neck due to a serious car accident a few years ago.  Our two daughters are happily married and have one daughter each, the youngest is two years old.

Easter gave many opportunities to share the message of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ

In Port Blair (capital) we continue to care for needy children in two facilities; presently we have a total of 90 children in Bethany and Calvary Children’s Homes.  It is going well.  By God’s grace, in the Andamans, the ministry of ICF is slowly expanding.  In Indira Nagar and Chouldari a few new families  have accepted  the Lord. We are opening worship and prayer fellowships among them.

Our main burden is sharing the Gospel and planting local prayer Centers in Andaman Islands, but  also on India’s mainland.  ICF has planted a new ministry in the state of Punjab among the Sikh people. The Lord is blessing Pastor Gagan who from there is reaching people in Jammu and Kashmir (disputed area between India and Pakistan) as well as in Himachal Pradesh (the northernmost region bordering the Himalayas). The ministry has grown to a point whereby we urgently need a facility in Punjab which could serve as ICF’s Regional Head Quarters for these three states and also include a Bible Training School.

In West Bengal, 2.5 hours train journey from Kolkata  (formerly Calcutta) we started a ministry among Bengali speaking people, which has now expanded to 13 fellowship groups. We are facing the issue that the local ministry leaders are very poor who work long hours on other people’s farms to make a living.  This limits the time they can devote to their mission work.  A few months ago, I visited West Bengal and baptized 21 people.  Now, several new believers are again ready for baptism, and some desire to attend Bible Training School.

Testimonies

In the last few months God has been so gracious to see a few young people come to faith in Jesus Christ. One of them is Mohammed Khan. He was born in the Middle Andaman. As a little boy, due to his parents experiencing an irreparable crisis, they placed Mohammed in an  orphanage in Port Blair. While he was there, both his parents died but Mohammed was not told about it.  At 16, after he had reached the time limit of his stay in the orphanage, he was dismissed.

During one of ICF’s outreaches,  we met Mohammed and  shared the Gospel of Salvation with him. Even though  born into the Muslim faith and brought up as such, when he heard about the forgiveness of sin by a loving Savior and the gift of eternal life, his heart was deeply moved.  He made a decision to accept Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and embrace the Christian faith.  He has been baptized and is presently enrolled in a Bible training course.  He is facing severe  opposition  from two of his sisters. Please pray for Mohammed Khan!

The second one is Shahrukh Khan and Reeta Kandulna. Shahrukh  was born into a very rigid Muslim family  in the village  of  Namunagar in South Andaman. His upbringing was not very pleasant. Soon after his father’s death, his mother married another man who was a drunk and very abusive. Throughout his childhood, Shahrukh lived with the terror of abuse and filthy language both from his mother and stepfather, so he grew up a brokenhearted man.

To sustain himself, he dropped out of his studies and began looking for work.  During that time he got married to a women from a Hindu family, which caused more problems in  his life.  Opposition from his own family as well as  from the Muslim community became intense.

A few months  before our Mission Team was doing a Gospel outreach  in Namunagar, I came across Shahrukh.  He  was processing large amounts of tobacco products.  As I started to talk with him about the consequences of uncontrolled  tobacco use, and continued by telling him about the marvelous life he could have through faith in Jesus Christ, God’s love flooded his heart and he came to faith.

His wife, Reeta was a radical Hindu, and at first would have nothing to do with her husband’s newfound faith.  Gradually, as she observed the transformation from darkness to light in her husband’s life, she was also drawn to the love of God through him.  After a while, she also accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior.  So  Shahrukh Khan and Reeta Kandulna are today an active, Christian family who boldly share their faith.

They still live in the village where Shahrukh grew up.  The villagers are staunch Muslims and hostile to the Christian faith and Christians, so the family is facing severe threats from them.  Please pray for Shahrukh and Reeta and their two small children!

Preaching, teaching, training, baptizing, worshipping, feeding, comforting… India Christian Fellowship with Varughese Mathew and his team are reaching out to the orphans, the marginalized, the hungry for Truth, with the Good News of God’s love!  YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTNER WITH THEM… JUST CLICK ON THE Donate BUTTON ABOVE, AND HELP SPONSOR THEM AND THEIR OUTREACHES! 

 From R.K.’s Corner

We live in a culture where big is always considered better. It is quantity over quality.  “How much” or “how many?”  are often the questions we ask to evaluate that which we seek to validate. This attitude has also saturated our Christian communities.  “How many church member does your church have, how big is your ministry?”

The Lord’s measurement is very different. In Luke 15, Jesus presents several parables by pointing out the eternal value of each individual human being.  One is the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep in the safe enclosure to seek out the one that is lost.  Jesus concludes in Luke 15:7, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.”

Varughese Mathew and his wife are among our partners who have forged a road less traveled, seeking to care for one individual at a time. In 1988, this young Christian couple living on India’s mainland heard God’s call, obeyed,  walked away from life’s securities. Instead they brought the Biblical message of a loving God through the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus Christ to unreached poor and destitute peoples living in the Andaman Islands, an archipelago situated 1,000 miles from the mainland coast in the Indian Ocean. There, they have lived and served the Lord for 33 years.

                 In 2005, while seeking to find a reliable source for direct distributing of humanitarian relief funds among victim living near the epicenter and seriously affected by the massive tsunami, we came across Pastor Mathew and his Indian Christian Fellowship (ICF).  Andaman Islands were close to the massive underwater earthquake which caused the catastrophic tsunami disaster which flooded the coastlines of the countries situated along the rim of the Indian ocean and beyond.  Pastor Mathew was highly recommended by our evangelist friend in Norway, Aril Edvardsen who knew him through his own ministry Troen’s Bevis. They had sponsored ICF for a number of years. Since then, at times we have helped sponsor some of ICF’s individual missionaries and various projects. Pastor Mathew has visited our home in South Florida,  so Steve and I have come to know him personally.

In addition to managing their two children’s homes on the island, and evangelizing, training and sponsoring indigenous fellowship leaders throughout the archipelago, the Mathews have expanded their ministry on the mainland of India by establishing small missionary centers and prayer fellowships in Northern India near Pakistan, the border region of Kashmir and the Himalayas, as well as in Southern India near Bangladesh. In this Bridge Report, there is a brief update on ICF’s activities, as well as a few testimonies of individuals who have come to faith in Jesus Christ.

For more background information and to familiarize yourself with the Mathews, ICF and The Bridge’s participation, copy and paste links in your browser of prior Bridge Reports on our website:

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/january2005.pdf
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/march2006.pdf
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/november2010.pdf
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/august2012.pdf
https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2015/06/

 

India & Nepal—Helping Victims of Covid-19 Pandemic via HGNM’s Love Your Neighbor Initiative

By Dawa Buthia—Founder and Director of
Himalayan Good News Networking Ministry (GNNM)

God has given us two hands, one to receive with and the other to give with.” Billy Graham

I am thankful to our hardworking teams who are continuously and selflessly laboring as leaders and team members in the  Covid-19 Response action called LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR INITIATIVE by the NGO Branch of  HGNM, during these hard times we all are going through as we respond to the needy families who are starving  due to the shut-downs.  In addition to  dealing with our own personal challenges and lacks, we have the joy of reaching out with love and sacrificially serving others in our neighborhoods and communities who are in serious need, as we are all human beings created by God in our communities where we dwell.

Since April 14, we have visited countless communities and met the basic needs of thousands of families, many living in remote communities.  We are privileged to serve our fellow brothers and sisters in cooperation with, and under, the central and state government supervision.  We are motivated by the  many scriptures (more than 300) in the Bible which command us as believers to care for the poor and the least in society.

“Blessed is he who considers the poor; The Lord will deliver him in time of trouble.  The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, And he will be blessed on the earth…” Psalm 41:1
“Is this not the fast I have chosen… to share your bread with the hungry, and bring to your house the poor who are cast out; when you see the naked, that you cover him…” Isaiah 58:6-7
“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:17-18.

APRIL 12 Today we are able to help  very poor villagers who work daily for their basic food in a tea garden in Atal.  We also helped some brothers and sisters stuck in Siliguri and living in empty school class rooms.  For them it is difficult to even find enough food for one meal a day.  We provided cooking utensils, gas burners, and various food items.   I encourage each one of you to become partners with us in helping the really needy people like these who are struggling for survival!

APRIL 17  With the help of Siliguri traffic police, provided food items for around 90 families in two different locations.  During the next week, we provided liquid sanitizers, safety gloves, and masks to the local police, as well as to the general public.  Our NGO HGNM works under the instruction of, and in coordination with the government of India’s Ministry of Home Affairs.  We work well together.

APRIL 24   Distributed  food items to 200 of the most poverty stricken families in Mangpong Busty, Cha Aikar village, and in Rangdan, and Siliguri locations.  We will continue to provide food for the people who have been hardest hit by the Covid-19 lockdown till the closing of workplaces again open up.  We thankfully appreciate your prayer support and participation!  May God bless you richly and abundantly!

MAY 2    Praises be to God that by His provision we could respond to 79 underprivileged and needy families of Bhuttabari. Thank you to team “Compassionate Care” for your participation and contribution to make this distribution possible.

MAY 12   I learned that a woman was serving people in this pandemic with no distinction among the needy poor people of Daang midwestern Nepal and I felt immediately that I should extend my little weak arms to strengthen her and share what I have. She faithfully reached 106 families of Ward number 5/6 with food distributions for a month.

MAY 14  The love of God has no boundaries, no caste, colors and creed, it simply expresses His heart.  The Musahar are considered one of the lowest of the Dalit groups within Nepal and suffer tremendously from their low status in society. Their name is derived from two words meaning “rat catcher” which is attributed to them for their tendency to eat rodents. My friend Indra Shrestha, thanks for distributing food to them in Janakpur Tarai region of the flatland in Nepal bordering to India.

MAY 17  Our friends were feeding people and cleaning the temporary shelter,  home to those who have been held up during this lockdown in Nakpur Tarai areas of the flatland in Nepal bordering to India.  This was done with the  utmost dedication and service,  which reminds me of Jesus’ washing of His disciples feet.  Through that, He was teaching us humility and  service towards our fellow man.

MAY 18  Two outreaches today, one in Eastern Nepal and another in a district of Siliguri.  We met the immediate needs of the poor daily wage laborers who are without any food left in their kitchen.  We tried to make them smile and have a hope for tomorrow, trusting that God will deploy a good Samaritan to provide a little something more which will sustain them to see another tomorrow.


MAY 21 Today we initiated a successful outreach by feeding our neighbors at Kamlabagan Tea Estate. Praises be to the Almighty that we could shower compassion on this less privileged group in the midst of their traumatic situation while the tea plantation has been closed down.  I thank all our volunteers and partners of the ‘Compassionate Care’. without you this wouldn’t be possible. Thanks for your sacrifices and love for the people.

MAY 31 Yesterday, our team visited two small, very remote villages, Maisirang and Kutsing in the Chepang community with total of 48 homes. Some of them had walked nearly 3 hours to collect the food  we had for them.  Their food shortage is so desperate, they hardly have any rice to eat, let alone the variety of food we normally eat in abundance  daily.


JUNE 7   From T.E. Mirik Kharbari:  We feel so privileged to have served these needy families during the hardest time of their lives.  The pandemic has taken away their daily work which was the only means by which they were able to bring home food to their spouses and kids.  We were looking for someone who could help us reach them and help provide their daily needs.  So, we teamed up with HGNM.  Through their provision, we brought small packets with big love to the people which they accepted with great smiles on their fearful faces.Community service gives me a valuable opportunity to enter different communities which are less familiar to me, but they are just as colorful and valuable, and most importantly… they are in great need!

“When you’re giving to charity picture yourself helping Christ because by serving others you are serving Jesus”.

From R.K.’s Corner

Four years ago, I met Dawa S. Bhutia at a mission conference in Norway.  Dawa is an ethnic Tibetan and former Buddhist from Bhutan, who is founder and leader of Himalayan Good News Networking Ministry, India having raised up and trained scores of leaders serving the Lord in Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Tibet, and in some of the most remote  places in the Himalayan mountains. You can find his fascinating testimony and ministry information at

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2016/09/

                 The Covid-19 is ravaging the globe with its  deadly disease; not a single country in the world has been able to avoid its devastating effect on their people’s very way of life.  Nowhere has it had a worse impact than among the poor. In wealthier Western countries, governments are assisting their population with medical and financial help, but in the third world, people have to fend for themselves. Before the pandemic, among India’s 1.4 bill. people, 300 million lived under the poverty level.  Imagine how many there are today!!
Dawa and his team are making a difference among the most needy.  They risk their own health by reaching out to those suffering from the shut down, but they follow Jesus’ command to feed the poor! Here you will find a few samples of the many places they visited with love, hope, and provision during April and May, and into June, when India opened up the country.

If you want to become a partner with Dawa and his team in serving Bhutan,
India, Nepal, and Tibet with the Gospel, please mark your donation: “Himalayas”.
THANK YOU!

Afghanistan: The Village of Peace – Reported by P.W., Founder

Bringing Peace and Prosperity to a War-Torn People
The Heart: Culture of Peace

If you look at the work of Village of Peace in Afghanistan from the outside, you first see the chickens, the gardens, the sewing machines and dresses, the peanuts and saffron.

But that is not really what it’s all about. It’s about a fundamental change in the country, a change in culture. That is precisely why we train all our people in our corporate culture.

It is based on five core values: seek peace, have compassion, be generous, pass on the good, and be a good leader. These values ​​are reasonably at odds with generally accepted standards in Afghan society, where violence and jealousy determine mutual communication.

“It doesn’t matter what question is asked,” a training participant once said, “in our society the answer is always violence.”  We notice that our ‘Philosophy of Peace’ is popular with people. They are fed up with violence and want to build a future. Village of Peace is a cooperative organization in partnership between a group of caring leaders in business, entrepreneurship, and educators from the West, and Afghan nationals who desire to actively rebuild their communities and war torn country for peace, prosperity, and self-reliance.

Short Background Information

Village of Peace has existed for almost five years. During that time, the foundation has been built thoroughly: the basis on which the Afghans can now continue to rebuild themselves. We now have four well-functioning centers in the country: in Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Bamyan and Herat. These centers form the DNA of the organization. Here Afghans can receive training, projects are started, and they experience the organizational culture and core values ​​in practice.

The Programs

This year, we purchased two plots of land. Those plots are the key to developing ownership, a principle that is of paramount importance at Village of Peace. After all, by making Afghan orphans the owners of land, they will build their own future and that of Afghanistan.

With the Food Security Program we combat malnutrition in Afghanistan.  We have been experimenting with a variety of crops that are conducive to Afghan soil, and which nutrients need to be added for a healthy crop.  The peanut harvest failed, so we are learning from our mistakes and researching why and how to improve our methods.  The saffron growth, on the other hand, has been very successful.  As we learn, the team teaches the local farmers how to expand their agriculture and bring them in as partners.

An important part of this program is High Diversity Gardening, in which the women learn to grow vegetables in their gardens which strengthen their immune system and combat malnutrition-related diseases. And it works: the women have more energy and their anemia has disappeared.

What started less than two years ago as a modest Chicken Farm has now grown into a large social enterprise with healthy revenue, growth and profits. The impact is already noticeable: a genuine chicken industry is emerging in Bamyan. There is good contact with the local government and farmers from the area. Almost naturally, cooperative methods arise that strengthen the position of farmers, for example when it comes to purchasing of raw materials.

Please click on this link and watch the Chicken Farm operations, run by and for Afghans:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-54ElwE1v4&feature=youtu.be

The dozen or so women who work at the Sewing Workshop in Kabul, have reason to celebrate—they have achieved very good results after a difficult start.  They began by sewing traditional dresser for women, and would travel to their homes to do the measuring and fitting, as few had transportation.  That became very labor intensive, and it was difficult for them to make a profit.  Then, they came up with the idea of expending into designing and sewing dresses for young, professional women in the city who can afford to pay decently for a modern dress.  They work tirelessly in a positive, joyful atmosphere to meet the needs of clothing for their community, and they have become a well known business for the quality and service to their customers.  Last year, they sewed and sold 2000 home-made items of clothing!  Here, you watch them celebrate their success with their Manager with a chocolate cake!

Last year we established several small-scale Bakeries in Mazar. Based on the women’s feedback, the groups are a bit smaller and there is extra support toward the sale and promotion of the bread loaves. The women are proud of what they have achieved and eager to create and plan improvements for the future.

Our first Community Center opened in 2019! We had a long wait time before for the government approved all official documents, but our patience is rewarded. The four local supervisors have been living on the site since the summer, and the first orphans were selected in mid-December and moved to Sarpanah. More children will follow this year.

It is an exciting process: the design and form of Sarpanah will serve as a blueprint for future communities. The intention is that the widows also take care of one or more homeless orphans. In this manner we stimulate new social structures, so that women and children – who no longer enjoy protection and care from their biological family – can experience the safety and security of a family.

The Human Development Training – our basic training course,  teaches the core values ​​and practices in an Afghan context of compassion, generosity, transparency, leadership and peace is becoming increasingly popular. Some men attend, and many women who attend bring their adolescence daughters to the classes to learn this new way of thinking and living which give them hope to achieve their dreams of doing great things!  A new generation is emerging with a new, fresh vision for their people and their country!

Helping Corona Virus Victims—Food Parcels to 500 Families

Our campaign for emergency relief to Afghanistan was launched at the end of April. The outbreak of the Corona virus had an enormous impact on Afghanistan. The people were already living under severe circumstances and these measures only made it worse. Many people lost their homes or jobs and have no income to take care of their families.

In the past month, we discovered that many of you care about the fate of the Afghans and are willing to support them financially. That is heartwarming for us, and especially for our Afghan teams. All the responses and gifts greatly encouraged them.  Our Afghan teams have to date been able to distribute more than five hundred food parcels in several cities, and they plan to continue. Working in close consultation with the local authorities, they researched which families were eligible for the emergency aid. Here, we show you how the parcels were distributed among the families in need.

In March, far-reaching measures were taken around the world to contain the spread of the Corona virus. This was also the case in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Many Afghan men, who worked in factories in Iran, returned en mass, about 700,000! Fleeing from Corona, they came looking for new work. Many families ended up in refugee camps.  The concern is, that as they return to their towns and villages, they will spread the Corona virus to all corners of Afghanistan and overwhelm the few existing medical facilities.

To help the poorest families hardest hit, our Afghan teams suggested handing out food parcels. These packages would contain essential and long-lasting food products, such as flour, rice, chickpeas and oil. They would be supplemented with hygiene products, such as soap and disinfectant. Thanks to all the generous donations, the team was able to get started within two weeks., and plan to continue their efforts. Here you see the courtyard of our office in Mazar.

In close cooperation with the local authorities, it was determined which families were the first to receive help. In this way it was ensured that the various aid projects of other organizations worked well together. During the registration process, information is also given about Corona. The women are also given a flyer in which hygiene measures are explained.  After registration, the women receive the food package. Because it is too much to carry themselves, they wait in the shade for their lift – at social distancing of 5 ft!

In Kabul there are several small camps at great distances from each other. There is a shop at the camp where we place our order for the packages. In this way we also help support the business of the local middle class family.

In Herat, smart use was made of the empty space next to the school where normally English lessons are given. All packages were prepared early in the morning. About a hundred packages were distributed that day.

In total, our teams were able to distribute about five hundred emergency packages. An Afghan family consists of an average of seven people. This means we were able to provide food to a total of 3,500 Afghan men, women and children.

Please mark Your Donation Village of Peace!

From R.K.’s Corner

Have you been following the news media’s coverage of the eruption of unrest in the streets in some of the large U.S. cities?  The unlawful death of a black man by a police officer, caused protesters marching in the streets against what they deem systematic racism and police brutality, calling for reform in the way police handles law enforcement among Afro Americans.  Regretfully, several militant Marxist revolutionary anarchist groups were embedded in the crowds.  They helped create mayhem, egging on mobs who began looting, burning their own black neighborhoods and assaulting the public and the police. The unrest is growing in the streets, calling for police reform with demands for equal treatment by law enforcement, while leaders are calling for law and order in the streets and endeavoring to unite lawmakers across the political aisle in Congress for more equitable legislation.  There are sentiments, especially among segments of the younger generation, to abolish the American Constitution, which is based on the bedrock of the Biblical Judeo-Christian worldview, which declares: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As a young man, our longstanding friend and partner behind the vision and development of The Village of Peace, PW, received a call to move with his young family to Afghanistan to share the Good News with the people there. The Soviet Army’s 1979 invasion of the country, and subsequent continual wars derailed his plans—but he never lost the vision.  Four years ago, almost 40 years later, the dream came true, but differently than planned.  In the last five years, he has successfully mobilized an international group of western professionals and volunteers who are working hand in hand with Afghan men and women to forge fundamental cultural change in the country based on five core values: peace, compassion, generosity, transparency, good leadership!  The irony is – young Afghans are successfully incorporating the values of Western civilization into their lives which many young people in America are walking away from and rejecting!  Perhaps they have somethings to teach us?

Kara Leigh – Serving Cambodia’s Child Victims of Sex Trafficking

Cambodia or Kampuchea (officially called Kingdom of Cambodia) is a country in Southeast Asia. It is located near Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand with a population of 13 million. The people of Cambodia are called Cambodians or Kampucheans. Khmer is the official language. The country has recently emerged from a long civil war and the rule of the Khmer Rouge. It is part of ASEAN, Association of South East Asian Nations. The Khmer (Cambodians) account for the vast majority of the population. Ethnic minorities include Chinese, Vietnamese, Muslim Cham-Malays, Laotians, and various native peoples of the rural highlands.

In the 1970’s, Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime killed over 2.5 million people, starting with intellectuals and community leaders. They forced children to be soldiers which escalated the genocide and destroyed family structures, cultural institutions, and the entire fabric of society. This left the people of Cambodia with a demoralized view of human worth, which was almost necessary for survival at that time. After the Khmer Rouge genocide ended, children became a commodity. Cambodia’s unique economic challenges, history, and geographic location make it a hub for human trafficking and child sex trafficking. The country provides a large population source for new victims, is a transit point along many organized human trafficking routes, and has become a destination for traffickers and sex customers alike. Svay Pak was once known as the child sex trafficking capital of the world. 

Buddhism has existed in Cambodia since at least the 5th century AD, with some sources placing its origin as early as the 3rd century BC. Theravada Buddhism has been the Cambodian state religion since the 13th century AD (exempting the Khmer Rouge period), and is currently estimated to be the religion of 96.9% of the population.

HERE I AM – SEND ME!

My name is Kara Leigh.  I am a missionary to Svay Pak, Cambodia to combat the evils of child sex trafficking with the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

When I was in my early twenties, I learned about the horrors of child sex trafficking. I was reading “Outlive Your Life” by Max Lucado and after reading page 28, I never picked the book up again. On those pages, I learned that kids as young as two were being sold into the sex trade, specifically in Cambodia. I spent days researching what that actually meant. I wept over the acts of rape and violence that were happening to children around the clock; the starvation and abuse, and that they didn’t even have mothers to give them hugs or brush their hair.  Among the different times I have experienced brokenness in this world, this would certainly make the top three.

My faith was so young that I didn’t even know what a ministry was! After spending a few days crying, I googled something similar to “people doing something about sex trafficking in Cambodia.” After searching through different links I was completely inspired by the work being done by ministries to rehabilitate and reintegrate survivors of sex trafficking. Although programs existed, this did not quench the brokenness and drive in my heart for something to be done. I decided then that I would be going to Cambodia.

At that young age and as a young Christian, I really had no idea how it would all come together. I was at the age of making big decisions, but I didn’t feel any clear direction towards a specific career. I was passionate about Jesus and passionate about people, but I lacked the maturity to know where to invest this as it pertained to education. As I continued to study during my first two years of college, my heart became increasingly convicted that I was wasting away time. I began to really seek the Lord’s will and the words He spoke to my heart were “Love and get your hands dirty.”

It was time for a missions trip. I was looking into a one month mission trip to Cambodia, but through the Lord’s leading I landed on a year long international mission trip. During this trip, the Lord transformed my life.

I grew up in a broken home of divorced parents and many siblings. Although my family experienced a lot of hurt and betrayal, it was through the sacrifices of my parents that I was able to eventually come to a knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ. I became a Christian at age 19, just before God called me to Cambodia, however He had a lot of healing to bring me through. At that point, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. A part of that was how much the enemy had sewed self-hate into my identity. Growing up, I had a family member repetitively tell me how ugly, stupid, and worthless I was. The words spoken became my core belief about myself. I grew up feeling like a burden and believing that I was so grotesque that I didn’t even want anyone to look at my face. I reached such a low point that I prayed to God that if it was best for me to die, He would take me away.

During that year of missions, I came face to face with the falsehoods that had been claimed over me for so long. Over the next several years I sought counsel and healing in order to be able to present myself as the best servant for Christ that I could. You see, the issue with self-hate is that it produces a broken understanding, view, and relationship with the Father. As long as I hated myself, I hated the image God and all within Him that was also found in me. The Enemy’s deceit in this created a wedge that needed to be removed. Through the struggles I experienced in this, a deep devotion and love for the Lord was born. I claimed then that I had suffered enough self-hate for 1,000 people, so I would bring 1,000 people into freedom with me. 

At the counsel of R.K., I eventually returned to school to pursue a degree in English Education. This was the route of tent-making that God opened as a practical way to serve the people of Cambodia. I am now on board with Agape International Missions and AIM School in Svay Pak, Cambodia.  AIM uses a holistic approach to prevent, rescue, and rehabilitate children from sex trafficking. AIM School provides academic and spiritual excellence in education while protecting children from trafficking and abuse.

One survivor who suffered the worst abuse that AIM has ever seen said of the school, “If I have had something like this I would have been able to go to school and be normal.” – Survivor Reaksmey.

My vision is to live out God’s desires of restoration and renewal in the chapter of Isaiah 61. It starts by stating, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound…”  I may never fully understand the life that a trafficked person has endured, but what I do know is that I was once a captive to my own sin and hurt and the Lord set me free and this is exactly what I want to do for others. God has never turned His face from me because it was too difficult or too heartbreaking for Him, so how can I do this to any other? In fact, He sent His own Son into my world to pay the ultimate price for my sin. So now I also go.

This urgent call on my heart has led to my desire to give up all that an American life has to offer in order to reach out to this forgotten generation of Cambodia. Is it easy? No. As I choose this route, friends beside me are making high incomes, getting married, and having children. This often leads to feelings of loneliness and fear of “financial destitution” as some have warned me against; but at the end of my life when I draw my last breath, my desire is to hear, “Well done, thy good and faithful servant… enter into the joy of your Lord.”

“Children could survive a horrific event, but they can’t heal from it without the act of protection and unconditional love. That’s what it means to be safe and free.” Reaksmey

FROM R.K.’S CORNER

A few years ago, I met Kara in our then local church. She was then a shy and seemingly unremarkable woman in her early twenties, seeking to find her place in life as a new believer after growing up in a complicated family whereby her parents had gone through a painful divorce.  In a conversation with Kara, she told me she would forego her education, as she was called to Cambodia to share the Good News of the love of Jesus and care for the children who are victims of sex trafficking there  Thinking this was no more than youthful, ignorant zeal, my friend, Barbara and I met with her and urged her to go back to school and get a diploma in a “tent-making” profession to fall back on.  What about becoming a teacher of English as a foreign language?

Fast forwarding eight years.  A few days ago, Kara and my paths crossed again.  I was astounded—Kara has grown into a beautiful, confident, mature, well educated, and articulate 28 year old woman of solid faith.  Being discipled by the faith and wisdom of older women (thanks, Karen and Kathy!), Kara has used the years wisely in preparing herself to follow the call God gave her in her youth.  She is ready to walk away from the future comforts of the “American dream”, to follow in the Master’s footsteps and embrace the abused and wounded children of Cambodia with the love of Jesus.

In today’s crisis of the Corona pandemic when people fearfully worldwide are pulling into the isolation of their homes, Kara has still her heart set on Cambodia. I recommend Kara to you…  please consider partnering with her by financially investing in the restoring and healing of the trafficked children of Cambodia!

 

Update from Yermek Balykbekov — Karaganda, Kazakhstan

My wife and I have two precious daughters, the oldest is already attending college.  In 2004, God gave me a promise that we would also have a son.  By the grace of our loving God, in March 2019, He gave us that precious gift  – our long awaited son Ansar came to this world! We are so grateful to the Lord.

For a number of years, our Kazakh Fellowship was under the umbrella of the Word of Life’s Russian speaking church. In the Fall of 2019, I was being led by the Spirit of God to step out and enter into a new phase of ministry.  Some of the Kazakh and Russian fellows joined me and a new Christian Kazakh Fellowship was founded.  That was a historical moment for us all.  Prior to this, the vision I carried in my heart to see Kazakh people being saved and discipled through their own language and culture seemed to be “dead”.  But that was not in God’s plan.  In His time, He resurrects His own plans and purposes.

My story of stepping out of the denominational boat and walking by faith on top of the water may sound very encouraging to some of you, but it is not without a cost to self.

During the last seven years I had been in a desperate situation in my ministry and I was ready to quit. It was like, you don’t see anything ahead of you; nothing was happening in ministry; nobody was getting saved, healed and delivered; the church members were occupied with and distracted by the worries of this world.   It was so discouraging and demotivating! But there was one thing I wasn’t ready to quit: Praying and having devotional time with the Lord.

Here in Kazakhstan we have great steppes, which are expansive mountain plateaus with valleys in between. During the summer season I used to go up to a nearby steppe.  There I would seek the Lord and  pray while fasting. Sometimes I would be praying for 3-6 hours, desperately asking God to show me the way.  One day, while I was praying as usual and seeking His face, the Holy Spirit told me clearly: “You are so impatient, wait on my time”.

A few times I felt the Lord speak to me about moving out of the local church where I was assistant Pastor and leader of the Kazakh fellowship, and gradually I began to be confident in my heart it was from Him.  A couple of months later I met a Korean minister at a Pastor’s retreat in Almaty. She was prophesying to me that change was coming and that I would see the power of God be manifest.  I received it by faith and returned to my city. Two months after this prophesy, during another leadership gathering I met other anointed ministers from the U.S.A. and the U.K. They prayed for me and I was told that something was about to happen and I would see the Power of God in the ministry I had been doing.

The next day as I was praying in my prayer room in the church, suddenly a strong presence of God came upon me.  I was wrapped in His love and found myself lying on the floor, crying out and experiencing His love. I was crying for more two hours and couldn’t even get back up on my feet.  After that experience, something started happening. The manifest presence of the Lord began to be visible in our Kazakh ministry.  Salvation and hunger for the Word of God took place; people were  physically healed from diseases and freed from demonic bondage.

TESTIMONIES FROM PEOPLE

Below are three praise reports from our ministry, but there are many more.

My assistance’s wife had been diagnosed with spinal cancer.  She underwent surgery and chemo therapy, but it didn’t help much. The doctors didn’t give her any hope of recovery. We kept praying and interceding—and the Lord healed her!  After her healing, she went back to the doctor and ask to be tested, and the medical professionals confirmed she was totally  healed. She is doing great and is now serving the Lord with us!

An older man who is the brother of one of our sisters in the church had developed gangrene in his right leg from the knee to the toe.  He had been told by  his doctor that his leg needed to be amputated, otherwise he would die. His sister asked us to visit him and pray for him, but we were not able to get there, so we prayed over a piece of cloth and sent it with her to do what the disciples did in the Book of Acts.  She placed the cloth on his leg and prayed. Two weeks later we received a message that this old man’s leg was healed, the gangrene was gone and he had turned his heart to Christ. He had heard about Jesus many times before, but had refused the Gospel.  When the miracle happened, he could resist no longer.

Recently, a young Kazakh man attended our home group.  He had an infection in his inner ear, and the pus was seeping into his brain. Every morning when he woke up the pain caused him to take strong pain pills. When we prayed for him he felt heat radiating in his inner ear and into his brain, and suddenly pus began flowing out of his ear.  That night he slept very well, and when he woke up the pain was gone.  He needed no more pain pills!  After one month he visited his doctor who told him he did not need any surgery because the infection was gone and his ear was perfectly okay. He was deeply impacted by the Power of God, and although he did not repent right away, this miracle made him think seriously about who Isa (Jesus) really is. He is in the process of coming to know Jesus Christ.

THE VISION OF THE NEW CHURCH

As mentioned above, in October 2019, by the grace of God we planted a new Kazakh church and  ministry which we believe will reach people throughout Kazakhstan and beyond its borders.

  • Our vision and passion is to preach the Gospel and raise up a new generation of Jesus’ disciples who will go out and spread the Kingdom of God in our nation.
  • Our strategy is to partner and align with other Kazakh churches, home churches or fellowships for the sake of the Gospel.
  • We gather regularly with our Kazakh believers for teaching, encouragement, prayer and fellowship and building networks with other Kazakh pastors. In January we had a great fellowship meeting in Nursultan (former Astana).
  • We pursue the goal to spread the Kingdom of God, not denominations or church franchises, but cultivate God’s Kingdom culture so that our nation would be transformed from the inside–out by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Truth of the Word of God.
  • We believe this cannot be accomplished without the manifestation of God’s power by the Holy Spirit.

FROM R.K.’S CORNER

The timing of the Lord never ceases to amaze me: In 2003, John Macintosh, a Canadian missionary who at the time was serving in Russia with the ministry Athletes in Action visited us in our home in Florida.  He told us about Yermek Balykbekov, a young Kazakh he had met in Moscow who had four years prior come to faith in Jesus.  He had forsaken a potentially lucrative future in Martial Arts to follow God’s call to return to his homeland and reach his people for Jesus Christ. We were moved by the obedience and faith of this young man, and decided to get on the ground floor with him by sponsoring him and his new ministry.

Tomorrow, 17 years later, just at the time we are publishing this fresh update on Yermek and his life and ministry, John Mackintosh “happens” to be in South Florida and will again be visiting our home… for the second time!

Thanks to our faithful partners’ donations and prayers, we have been able for almost two decades to walk alongside Yermek in helping support his life and ministry.  To learn more about him and follow his and his fellowship’s journey of faith, please copy and paste the three links below:

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/october2011.pdf

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2014/07/

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2017/07/

Please mark your donations  8342 Kazakh Workers 2

P.S. Due to security reasons, we have blocked some of the believers’ faces.

 

 

 

Visiting Kalmyk Communities in China and Mongolia – Report by Sarang Badeev

My name is Sarang Badeev.  25 years ago, I came to faith in Christ in Kalmykia.  For 15 years, I pastored the church which had been planted in the capital city, Elista, in the early 1990ties.  For the last ten years, I have been traveling and preaching the Gospel to Kalmyks who live in other countries, especially in China, Mongolia, and the United States.  The following is a travel letter from my last visit to Kalmyks living in Central Asia and China.

The Mongol-speaking Kalmyks are Western Mongols.  Their language is different from that of other Mongols, so some linguists think that theirs is an archaic and ancient Mongolian language.  Following after the Huns, Avars, and other ethnic groups, Kalmyks are the last nomadic people who crossed the steppes of Asia and reached Europe, where they settled.  They are also the only people who later managed to migrate back to Asia from where they came, although half of them remained in Russia, where they today live in the Russian Autonomous Republic of Kalmykia, located between the Black and Caspian Seas.

Kalmyks are monotheists (believing there is only one God).  That comes from the fact that in the past, the Kalmyks were Christians, evangelized in the 7th century by Nestorian missionaries who were sent out by the East Assyrian Church.  This makes it, to some extent, easier to preach the Gospel among them. For example, in Kalmykia Russia, they are monotheists in mindset, therefore easily understand the doctrine of God’s Majesty, his Power, and his Unity.

In China, Kalmyks remember well that, in the past, they had been Christians.  Several have told me, “When we were Christians, we were strong.”  This makes a bridge between them and me when I preach. Centuries later, while the Kalmyks in China were under the rule of the Qing Dynasty, they were introduced to and embraced Buddhism.  Presently, Buddhism plays a big role in their lives.  In their Buddhist temples, they have their own ethnic priests. Despite the fact that the majority of Kalmyks in China lead a nomadic lifestyle, they make a point of visiting these temples, which are their religious centers.  In Russia, the Kalmyks are not Buddhists in lifestyle; nevertheless, the religion is deeply ingrained in their minds.  It is more their identity marker – who they think they are.

They accept and respond to the Gospel and agree with everything the Scripture states, but they fear they will lose their ethnic identity if they abandon Buddhism. Repentance and conversion to Christ could have been massive if it weren’t for this fundamental fear, since they are more monotheistic in their mindset and drawn to the Gospel.  I believe and know that God will break this barrier.

Sociological research has shown that the Eastern Mongols identify with the East. i.e. Japan and Korea; the Kalmyks identify themselves as Western, as they live closer to Western values — having a more open mind, being not as easily blinded by their culture, they are more quickly transformed by the influence of the Gospel.

MY VISIT TO CHINA

included three autonomous districts inhabited by the Kalmyks:  Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia and the Qinghai province.  For several years, I have been traveling to  the Xinjiang province, where I pastor a church of 38 Kalmyk nomadic believers who live and move within a large area. 

Missionary work is most often focused on evangelizing people in the cities, but the countryside is often overlooked.  Since the people I minister to are nomads who roam with their herd across the foothills and high mountains of this province, constantly looking for new pastures, I move with them to these places. They are rarely stationed in the same place for very long.  These are the people I am primarily seeking to reach with the Gospel.  It is a difficult endeavor, as it is necessary to cover long distances, sometimes going to hard-to-reach places.

I was told about a man, 80 years old, who was a hunter and lived by himself, isolated from other people. In order to find him and give him the Word of God, I employed a local guide. We traveled first by car, then on horseback, and then we climbed on foot up steep hillsides, high up into the mountains, where he lived.  He was a wonderful man. Despite his age, he had single-handed taken on a bear with just a knife.  I shared the Gospel with him.  He told me that we Kalmyks used to be Christians, and that we had our own Bible, and our own church called the House of Worship – and that Buddhism is not ours, it is Tibetan with Tibetan words and names. He wanted to receive Jesus Christ into his heart. I asked him if he really wanted to accept Jesus.   He said Yes, so we prayed, and by faith, and he accepted the Lord!

I have translated some of the books of the New Testament into the  Kalmyk language. The senior generation of Kalmyks in China speaks the Kalmyk language verbally, while young people both speak it and prefer to read Christian literature in the language. The Old Testament and many of the books of the New Testament are not yet translated.  When I am not traveling, or have time in between trips, I focus on the  translation work, but it is a slow process that I wish would go faster.

When I left Xinjiang, I placed one of the believers in charge of the church.  He was arrested by the police and kept in prison for a time, but was later released.  The Christians are growing in faith and knowledge.

IN INNER MONGOLIA

the Kalmyks live in an area called Alashan. Basically, it is a nomadic community where families live and wander in desert and semi-desert regions, and in vast nature reserves where many rare animals are protected. Some of the Kalmyks living in Alashan are descendants of a group who, in the 17th century, traveled on a pilgrimage from Russia to Tibet.  On their way, they were detained in Alashan, and ended up settling and live under Chinese authority. They still live in Alashan today.

Although I have not had much time to preach there,  I have talked with  many Mongols and Kalmyks about Jesus.  There are now a fellowship of 14 people who have come to faith in Jesus. 

When I was in the home of the man I left in charge of the church, a picture of the two of us was taken against the background of the national flag of external Mongolia, because the Mongols in China love the flag of the state of Mongolia.  There we are, two Mongols from different parts of the world, united in brotherhood and faith in Jesus Christ!

Another group of Kalmyks live in the province of Qinghai. This group of Kalmyks arrived during the time of the intervention. In the 17th century, they conquered Tibet, and became the military ruling class. They have a very good relationship with their fellow Kalmyks in Russia, as they remember that many of their people migrated to the West.  So, when I visit them, they happily receive me with warm hospitality.  The entire group of about 100,000 people are constantly on the move, roaming with their animals from place to place, from pasture to pasture.  Vast, destructive sandstorms coming from the surrounding deserts are not uncommon.

In Qinghai,  there are seven Christians who have come to faith through my preaching, but they live isolated, separated from one another by large distances.  When circumstances allow, they visit each other’s homes and communicate together.  In order to meet these people individually while on the move, I travel widely to different places. This gives me the opportunity to come across many remote villages where I stop and share the Gospel.  It is a necessity to have the use of a rental car, which adds to my travel costs.  I am looking for partners who will help sponsor my ministry and the cost of reaching the Kalmyk living in these remote parts of the world, that the Great Commission of  Matthew 24:14 may be fulfilled!  Pastor Sarang Badeev.

FROM R.K.’S CORNER

SARANG BADEEV is a native from the Russian Federal Republic of Kalmykia, located between the Black Sea and Caspian Sea — the only Buddhist people in Europe. Sarang, who came to faith during the Soviet era through a the work of a brave American missionary, Andrew Vincent, is pioneering the Gospel in his homeland and among his people who still live in their ancient communities within China and Mongolia. 

The below links to two prior Bridge Reports on Kalmykia gives you the fuller, fascinating story on Andrew, Sarang, and the Kalmyk people – a clear demonstration of God’s love and heart for the ethnos:

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/2015/02/

https://www.bridgeinternational.org/pdf/may2010.pdf

Last year, Sarang visited Kalmyk communities in Mongolia; and mountainous areas of Xinjiang in the north western part of China, where the majority of the Muslim Uighur people live. In an effort to  curb ethnic uprisings against their regime, it is believed that the Chinese government is detaining more than one million Uighurs in detention camps.  Kalmyks living in the region are also among the minority ethnic groups oppressed by the Chinese. Sarang’s message of God’s love and forgiveness through Jesus is a new, powerful message to his people. 

This issue is given to Sarang’s 2018 Travel Letter.  Sarang is again ready to travel back to China and Mongolia.  If you want to partner with him in reaching the Kalmyks with the Gospel, please mark you gift 8156 Kalmyk Worker. Thank You!