Audio： Caring For The Lost — K.P. Yohannan

How's everybody doing today? Good, good morning. Today we have a very special guest with us. Have you heard, has anyone heard that we have K .P .O. Henninger? How many people were here by a show of hands the last time he spoke here?

Yeah, look around. That's awesome. Well, we're very privileged. Man, what a, just an awesome man of the Lord, is what I get to say. He shared with me in the lobby that someone asked him once what's one of the biggest blessings that you have?

And his response was that my kids love the Lord and that they serve the Lord. He has two children, a son and daughter, both in the mission field. His wife helps him out with Gospel for Asia as well. He's the founder of Gospel for Asia and that's an organization that trains missionaries to go out in their own countries and to reach out and make a big difference in the world for the Lord.

Why don't you come up, K .P.? And we're very privileged to have him and I want to pray for him as we start. Join me in a word of prayer, if you would. Father God, as K .P. shares with us, I pray that it's your words that go forward.

God, I thank you for his ministry. I thank you for his faithfulness. And Lord, I thank you for how you use him. And may you use him in a powerful way this morning for your kingdom, for your glory, for your purposes.

And God, may we be open to hear what he has to share. And may your Holy Spirit do what it will in our lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Good morning. I love.

California. I came here in 2006, I believe. And it's such a joy to be back here. And one of the reasons I look forward to my coming to California is I'm telling them to hire me to promote them. And the good news for us, I just heard they are coming to Dallas, Texas.

Yes. So, what a blessing. You know, brothers and sisters, there's a sense for us from our ministry, John Beers, David Carroll, a couple of our senior leaders here with me, that we are part of the family here.

You know, we have lots of people here that pray for us and support the work overseas. And also several families from here did travel to the mission field to be with us. And now, of course, you saw the school or discipleship, which we hope that you will have quite a few young people you will send for a year of incredible life-changing experience.

And if you have kids that you want to get rid of, keep that in mind. They need to be 18 years or older, I believe. But I'd like to take these few minutes and share with you some things that I hope are quite practical, that you can apply to your life, decisions you make, and how you can be involved in touching the lives of people around the world.

Christ’s Compassion for the Afflicted

My English coming, you can understand it? That makes me happy. If you will look with me a couple of these verses. In the Gospel of Matthew chapter 9, we have this passage here. Beginning with verse 35.

Gospel of Matthew chapter 9, verse 35. But before we read that, you know, chapter 5, 6, and 7, known as what? The Sermon on the Mount. Although Jesus didn't climb on the top of the mountain and he was basically talking to his disciples.

But then, beginning with chapter 8, if you've got subtitles, you will see the man with the leprosy. It's someone with leprosy coming to Jesus, kneeling before him, and said, Lord, if you are willing, please make me well.

Then Jesus said, I am willing, and touched him. We have several teams working in the leper colonies in India. You should see the pictures of these people that have come to know the Lord. Many of them don't have their fingers, their ears, their nose, all gone.

They've been treated and they're able to survive. But when you baptize some of these people, you don't see any fingers. They hold their hands like this. They love the Lord and churches are planted. We have a significant amount of work going on.

But just to see the plight of these people. Obviously, Jesus felt so much for them. He would reach out and touch them. Whereas you and I, when you go to the leper colony, you see blood and pus oozing out of somebody's hand or face or nose.

I don't know how quick we are to say, I love you, and touch them. The difference between Christ and us sometimes shows up when we see the man Jesus in the Bible. Then the centurion coming, pleading for help.

And again, then in verse 14 on, Jesus heals many people. Sick people come into him. And so desperate. Then you find in verse 28 on chapter 8, the demon possess people. Here in America you don't see that many people going absolutely berserk.

But in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, and some of these nations where our missionaries work, they go into a community and they preach the gospel. All of a sudden, people start manifesting demons. And what do you do?

You can't say, I'm going to keep on preaching because the noise is too much. Then you start praying for them and the demons leave and you keep preaching. And I never forget the story about one of our missionaries.

He was distributing gospel tracts and booklets on the marketplace. And he felt somebody tagging on his shirt on the back and keep pulling him. And he turned around and he saw a little boy, 6 or 7 year old boy look deeply sad and there's a pain on his face.

And he keep pulling him. And then he said, please come with me. Help my daddy. Help my daddy. And of course, you know, the boy didn't say anything else. So the missionary kept walking with him. The outskirts of the market into a tiny village where there are mud houses.

And then he took him to the house where he lived. It's a little mud house. And then right in front of the house sits this woman skin and bones tied and worn out with another child beside her. And next to the little hut was a tree on which a man is chained up, tied up like you tie up an animal.

And what happened? This happened with the father of this little boy who was demon possessed and they tied him up for years because he became uncontrollable. And then he said, please help my father. What happened?

The boy was going around hearing our missionary telling people about Jesus. How he can save sinners and heal the sick and set captives free and reading bible verses, things like that. And the boy somehow thought maybe this is the way to help his father.

And of course our missionary said, Lord, please help me and you do what needs to be done to help this man. And nobody dared to go near this man who was tied up on the tree, the demon possessed man. But our missionary went to him and said, I'll pray for you and laid a hand on him and prayed for him.

Of course the Lord was right there to do the miracle and immediately the man actually became normal. And people started rushing to see what's going on. And instead of being violent and uncontrollable, the man became normal just like we read in the gospels.

And then he was led to the Lord, his wife and the whole family and the neighbors of course you can just imagine the shock wave that goes through the whole community that something happened like this. And a lot of people came to know the Lord and they were baptized and the first church was founded in the community.

And it's an incredible thing what the Lord is doing today on the mission field like that. But you see, this is the ministry Jesus began and he continues to do that in my own life journey. Eight years in North India, I was called upon several times along with other missionaries to pray for people.

And you know, I don't have what you call charismatic gifts, you know, healing and casting out demons. I'm just a normal disciple reading the Bible and seeking to follow the Lord. But when people call you to do things like that, what do you do?

You say, well, I think about it and pray for you later. They want you to pray for them right there. And what do you expect? There are times I prayed for things like that thinking that I don't know if it's going to work or not.

Because what I was looking was impossible situation. But God in spite of my lack of faith or understanding he was terribly concerned about saving those souls and having a church planted. And this is what we see Jesus is doing today throughout these nations as the native missionaries continue to preach the gospel.

Matthew 9 and the Urgency of the Harvest

Then chapter 9, the man was paralyzed. You know, again, a helpless situation is laying on the mat and when Jesus saw and said, take heart son, your sins are forgiven. You know, sometimes we don't realize nations like India or Nepal or some of these countries we deal with the tremendous poverty and the hopelessness and the sickness has a lot to do with the darkness and the curse under which they live.

And when the gospel comes and they hear the gospel and they believe in Jesus the whole community changes. People are set free. And again, as you move on you will find in chapter 9 again in verse 18 a dead girl and sick woman gets healed.

I mean, it is absolutely amazing. 12 years she was sick and dying, hopeless and she said, I can touch Jesus and his clothes and I can be healed. And again, the amazing thing takes place. Jesus heals the blind and the mute.

Verse 27 on. Well, now you come to verse 35. You see the journey? If you've been walking with him, just imagine in your mind when verse 35, read this, Jesus went through all the towns and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

When notice that verse, he saw the crowds or multitudes he had compassion on them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send the workers into his harvest field. Then chapter 10 he is sending them out. Notice that verse where Jesus says in verse 16 chapter 10 I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.

You know what? I wish he said I am sending you as wolves among sheep. That makes me bold. But sending you as sheep among wolves, helpless just don't know what to do, getting devoured and destroyed and torn apart, intense suffering pain and anguish and agony for what?

To change the wolves to become little lambs. When I was barely 17 the Lord in his mercy called me to serve him and I went off to North India, 2000 miles away from my home in South to serve with this international missionary movement.

For me having had the opportunity to be born in a community where my mother was a devout follower of Christ my father knew the Lord, my brothers and I never knew honestly in India multiplied millions of people live that never ever heard Christ name.

So it was a revelation to me to begin with. But this was a normal thing. But then we found out places you go to preach you will face some persecution which I did not know as a youngster in my community.

Persevering Through Persecution

And there's a place in northwest of India where it was known at that time kind of the graveyard of missions. That means you go there, you get beaten up and killed by the anti-Christian fanatics. And a few young people before my time went to this particular region to do preaching and open preaching and distributing gospels and witness they all got beaten up every time they went there.

My team happened to be one of the 7th team that actually got there. I remember as of today we start talking to people about Christ and try to give gospel tracts before we knew it. We had a mob, a crowd around us and they began to beat us up.

And one of the brother on my team, blood was oozing down from the side of his head. And I was there on the ground and they were kicking me around and they were merciless. In the end the leader said you dogs get out of this place.

Don't ever come back. Of course we left the place. Proof, I'm here. Some time goes by this 19 year old young man who finishes Bible school said to the leadership I want to go to Undi. That's the name of the mission field.

They said what? You are too skinny, tiny before you get there they will kill you. That's not where you want to go. He said but I've been praying for this and I sure like to go there and see if I can plant a church.

And they prayed for him and he went. After a few days as he was sleeping in his tiny room that he rented for about $5 a month a group of men came and busted the door open and the tall man, the Rajput with the turban on his head pulled this brother up by his leg like you hold up a chicken.

And he said young fellow, we don't need your God. We got plenty of Gods and Goddesses. Don't ever stay here. First thing in the morning you leave this place. Otherwise we'll have to kill you. And the man said tonight we can tear you apart like we do with the chicken.

But we will not do that. And they left. He got scared. I would too. And he went back to the mission station from where he was sent and told the stories. They said well, we kind of told you this may happen.

They are tough, difficult people. And the senior elder said son, I want to ask you one question. Did Jesus ask you to go to Boondi? That place to plant a church? He said I know he did. I prayed the whole year.

And he said son, go back. When you get there they will come back to you again. They may give you some troubles, some problems and difficulties. Yeah, there is a tiny possibility they may kill you. But son, if that is where you must lay down your life for his sake, remember heaven is a much better place than Boondi.

Go back and we will come and see you later when you get to heaven. He knelt down. They laid their hand on him, prayed and he wept. And said goodbye to them knowing that he will never see them again. That's what he believed.

He went back there. Oh yeah, they came back and said why on earth you are here? Now you are going to make us murderers. Didn't we tell you not to come back? After they finished their mighty speech and the threats, this young brother simply said, you know what?

The sooner you do your job, it is better for me. There is no way I am going to leave this place. I am already dead. Jesus sent me here and he loves you. Do whatever you want. But what do you do with someone who responds like that?

Yeah, he faced some problems and difficulties. Couple of years goes by and I get a telephone call here in the United States. He said, hello. I said, yeah, it's me. Brother, we want you to come to Boondi.

I said, what? That's the last place I want to go in my life. He said, no, no, no, no, we just finished constructing our first church here. We want you to come. Praise the Lord. We want you to come and inaugurate our church.

Next month I flew out to Delhi and then took a train and of course went on to the mission field and some 120 plus adults, children, wives, worshipping the Lord. You want to see people's face glow almost with a view of other world and then the grace of God.

You should see the faces of this first generation people who just came out of darkness. That love God, love Jesus. And I went through the whole service, taught the Bible. When the service was over, this missionary said, this is a man who said he'll tear me apart like a chicken.

The Cost of Following Christ

And then his friends and families. You see, this is what I want to communicate with you. Whether it is about raising your children or impacting your friends at your workplace, your family members, or reaching people in Bhutan or Burma or Pakistan or China or Afghanistan.

The possibility to change our generation, it will happen. Not just by saying, I will give more money although that is important. Or have new agendas and programs although they're important. But rather, our willingness to come to the place where Jesus said, become true for us.

That is, unless you love me more than father, mother, son, daughter, even your own very life, you cannot be mine. See, this is the call of Christ to come, die, and live. And I say this to you my brothers and sisters because when we send these missionaries out, one of the last things we tell them now, some average 2 ,000 young people graduate from 60 to Bible colleges in these nearly dozen nations.

And when we send them out, we say to them the same statement we simply just borrowed from the young brother. Saying, you know, there will be persecution. You are being sent out as sheep among wolves. There will be difficulties.

Like in Orissa, if you heard just in the last two years, over 1 ,000 homes of born-again Christians, our people, it was destroyed by anti-Christian fanatics. Over 500 believers lost their lives. And we are just rebuilding those houses and repairing those places.

Can you imagine you come home after the service and find out your house, your car, everything completely burned down and a pinch of ash left. And you say, what happened? Who did it? And a bunch of people say, we did it.

Why? Because you love Christ? And next we are going to kill you. Literally, that's what happens. During the persecution time, one of our pastors, his wife was just about to deliver the baby, almost eight months plus.

And he said to his wife, please escape into the forest with a few others. I have to stay back. I cannot abandon these believers who cannot run away. And he said, my wife, I love you. I love our child that I am not able to see now.

Deliver the baby in the forest and you raise the child to take my place because they are coming after me. Thank God the story didn't end as he expected. God intervened. And she delivered the baby in the forest.

And they as a family continue to serve God. But please understand, this gospel I'm telling you is not a strange gospel for Orissa or Nepal or China or Afghanistan today. This is what Jesus said. But you say, Brother KP, it sounds interesting and wonderful, but how do I apply it to my life?

Well, you know it's interesting, this diary, Matthew, the disciple of Christ writes, he didn't do it after this happened. He said, I'm going to write this down. I'm going to write my journal. Where is my iPhone?

I'm going to dictate on this. You know, I mean, it's an amazing creature this thing here. I mean, I don't know how you live without it. Anywhere in the world I can dictate my stuff and send it off to my secretary and she types it out and send it away.

So if you write my email, you'll get something from me too. But you know, Matthew, after decades, some 30 plus years later, he's sitting down, writing this information. What happened during the three and a half years?

Now, there's no way you can write all that happened because too many things it says in the gospel or John. So there are highlights, events that happened. For example, if you're driving along, if you have a major car accident or some significant thing happened or some crisis, you will not forget that until the end of your life.

I can tell you, this is true of us. So Matthew, as he recalls what happened during the time of Christ's life and him walking with him, a few things jumped out and he simply can't shake it off. And one of those incidents, I remember, I saw him weeping.

I saw him just falling on his knees and shaking his head saying, I can't deal with it. I saw the pain on his face etched. And Matthew says, Oh, I remember when he saw the multitudes harassed, bruised, abused, helpless, sick and wounded and the dying and perishing, Satan destroying their lives.

Jesus was heartbroken. Something that Matthew saw physically on Christ that he could not forget. But have you ever thought about it when you read the scripture? Why did Matthew say, Yeah, we were traveling with Jesus and we ran into this bunch of demon possessed people and lepers and people weeping and this woman and all those.

Man, I tell you, we all just brought down, we wept and we couldn't handle the pain. No, he was moved with compassion. It will take a while before the disciples understand their lives, they were called to be Christ-like and become like him.

Their heart will break like his heart break. Their eyes will weep like his eyes will weep. Give up their nights to pray as he would. Say no to things that they want, they wish for the sake of the father.

That's what Christ did. He would walk 50 kilometers just to minister to one woman and then walk back. But he would weep for the suffering and preach the kingdom message from village to village. Of course, you know, Jesus said, The harvest is plenty, laborers of you, the application part.

Prayer, Sacrifice, and the Harvest

He's teaching his disciples. You know, I grew up in a family where my people are rice farmers. Southern part of India. Rice farmers. Harvest time come, I saw my people, like America you say, chicken with the head cut off.

There's no vacation, no taking off. As a matter of fact, I don't know, even they take a shower. Why? Because two weeks we have before the rain starts, the monsoon starts, and we must bring in the harvest or all be destroyed.

80 ,000 people die in that part of the world every single day, having never heard the name Jesus. They don't wait for tomorrow or next month. What is the urgency with which Christ calling us, the harvest is now.

There's a painful verse in the Old Testament, which when I first read it, I just couldn't believe this is there. In the book of Jeremiah, I believe, chapter 8, verse 20, it says, the harvest is past and the summer has come to an end, but we saved.

The cry, the plight of multitudes in our generation that never heard. Jesus died for them on the cross. He was buried. He rose again. Just did believe and you'd be saved. And my brothers and sisters, we do have this assignment from our master, our Lord, who died on the cross and blood was the price he paid to purchase you and me.

And he says, would you be mine to continue the journey and touch the lost world? And I pray that your response will be, Lord, whatever you ask me to do, I am willing to do it, but that involves the inconveniences, the suffering.

Yes, you are not in Orissa. You are not in Bhutan. One of our brothers right now is in Bhutan, in prison for the last five months. He's crying, preaching the gospel. His wife and kids outside. You are not in India.

You are not in Bangladesh or China, but I'm telling you, you can embrace the suffering inconveniences for the sake of touching the lost world. Like what? Commit yourself for extended time or serious time of prayer.

We have a world map which you can get there, you know, on the table there. Become a world Christian, not a worldly Christian. By an alarm clock, to wake you up not to go to work in the morning, wake you up maybe two in the morning.

So everybody's quiet and silent and then you get up and wash your face and then go to the living room or wherever and spread the map and kneel by the map or the bed or chair and spend an hour or two before the Lord and ask him, Jesus give me your passion oh Lord that I may pray for the lost world.

And he will tell you what to pray for. I did that some years ago and he said, would you pray specifically for Bhutan? And he will give you ten names of people that you should be praying for or whatever.

Stewardship of Wealth and Material Possessions

Grow in the life of prayer which involves sacrifice. Just add one day of the week for fasting and prayer you will not die if you fast one day. If you die, please let me know. The second thing I encourage you think about having Christ to just walk with you on a tour.

Tour of what? Tour of the stuff you live with or want to have. Like the catalog you have now coming to your house every day, mountains of them, you sit in the toilet looking through all that, spend three hours and lusting over that.

Or somebody's car in the parking lot says, wow I was dreaming about that. Someday I will. And now you say, Lord just walk with me. Tell me what I must do. He is not going to condemn anyone or put you on a guilt trip because you are a millionaire or you got a BMW or Rolls Royce.

That's not the issue here. The issue is when half of the world go to bed with empty stomach and naked bodies, I ask you how much more stuff you need for this fragile short journey of yours on earth. Hundred years from now you will not be living in that house and driving the car and having all the fantastic impressions you try to make up on other people.

It's so dumb. Nobody cares. And I challenge you to live to meet your needs and exchange all to change this generation because you will meet them in heaven. The harvest is now. I have friends who are extremely rich people.

Millionaires many times over. But I tell you some of these people I know they are devout followers of Christ. Being poor and have no money is to be spiritual than people in Africa, Bangladesh are more spiritual than you or anybody else.

That's an issue here. The issue is how do you handle these resources? I can tell you horrible stories about people I knew that wasted their life and ended up in trouble because that's all they think about living here and now and the luxuries.

Answering God’s Call to Go

I mean think about that. The third thing I recommend to you in the light of this is Lord calling you to go somewhere. This morning I was so delighted to hear about this couple in Indonesia. I went there several times in my life's journey and if God calling you to go somewhere, please do obey.

We are looking for people to come to Dallas. We got about 160 some people serving God with us. Like David Carroll who was a CPA in California with his own business. The Lord called him and he read one of my books wrote reality.

He said that destroyed his life. I am glad. And he left all and came to serve God with us. We are looking for people and young people especially. We are looking that you come and spend that year and we change and go back to your church university or anywhere in the world and please seek the Lord.

Supporting Native Missionaries

Number four. The last one. You know 99 of people here. You will not go to other countries to live there. Especially India and the subcontinent where they will not allow you to be there as full time missionaries or things like that.

But you can today by linking your life with one or two or three or ten native missionaries like we have right now some 15 ,000 scattered throughout our destinations and hundreds and hundreds of these missionaries are trained and ready to go to the mission field like the brothers have talked about to preach and plant a church.

Usually within a year or two when we send a missionary out they plant a church. And within a few years they become self-supporting. And you are saying so what are you trying to say brother KP? Well it's one of those simple things you can do if the Lord is leading you to do.

There is a little card you will find in your bulletin. This is the bulletin you got that brown maroon color thing. It's inside there is a card like this. It simply says, wow look at that! Yeah! That's a blue stripe but this one has the same thing by the way.

Yes I want to help. See by giving about 30 dollars a month you can support one of these native missionaries on the field. By the way that brother standing I knew him for years. He was from a non-Christian family.

When he became a Christian his parents literally threw him out of the house. He came to a Bible college, finished his studies. Today he has planted five churches in the Punjab. It's absolutely amazing.

Can you imagine you happen to be that brother or sister the Lord gave the privilege to support him. Think about when you go to heaven what a reward, what a joy it will be. And we have hundreds of native missionaries that need to go to the mission field and waiting to go but we need someone to pray for them and help them to go.

And if the Lord is asking you to do that, would you please take this card and fill out 1 or 2 or 10 or 15 or 20 missionaries. There is a medical doctor I heard about supporting 50 missionaries. He has more money than I have.

My wife and I help out 4 of them. And if you can decide with whatever sacrifice it takes support some of these missionaries. They will go to the mission field. Every penny you give actually go to the missionary and their work.

You can do it on the back of the card, with the credit card or whatever else you want to do. And when you bring the card you actually get the missionary's profile. The real story, the life of the missionary.

And several times a year you will hear from the mission field as to what the Lord is doing through your missionary and the people who work with him on the mission field. And it will be one of the greatest privilege.

And you don't have to give any money today for you to get your missionary either. But you know, this is what I think about. When I first came to America I, you know, I remember hearing, watching this old man on television George Burns.

Anybody remember his name? Yeah, you know, some of the young people have no clue what I'm talking about. You know, he had a cigar in his mouth and then usually when he sign off he sing this song I wish I was 16 again.

Anybody remember that? You know, it was like yesterday I was hardly 17 when I left my home. I just can't believe it. I'm 60 now. Whatever happened, it's just like a second. Amy Carmichael said this, we have seconds to work, to serve him, but eternity to rejoice.

Please, don't waste your life. Don't waste your sorrows. Don't waste your inconveniences. Don't waste your unemployment. Don't waste your time. A few more years I'm not here, but I have this incredible excitement that I will see him face to face.

And I don't have very many regrets in my life, but I pray that the remaining years of my life, I will continue to journey with the pain with the tears of my Lord. And that's my prayer for you also. And may the Lord speak to us.

Amen. Hi, my name is Joshua Walker, and I'm the president of Eternity Bible College and an elder here at Cornerstone. Back in 2003, Francis Chan and a group of guys, including myself, started a Bible college in order to train the next generation of church leaders.

So, why start another Bible college? Well, first, we're passionate about interacting with the people around us instead of isolating ourselves. Second, our faculty has a genuine love for God, and they actually live God-centered lives that are worthy of imitation by our students.

Third, our teaching style emphasizes teaching students how to think instead of just what to think. We give our students the tools and training to think biblically through all of life's issues. Fourth, we offer a high-quality Bible education at a very affordable price.

Students who come to EBC can expect excellence in the classroom with the peace of mind that they aren't going into debt for it. Finally, we are absolutely committed to partnering with local churches to help them accomplish the task Jesus commanded us to do—make disciples of all nations.

A new and exciting way we are doing this is through our online classes. Now students from around the world will be able to get the same excellent Bible education without having to leave their local church.

Eternity Bible College is not for everyone, but for those who decide to commit themselves to a rigorous, biblical education, your faith will be challenged. If you'd like more information, please visit eternitybiblecollege .com.