Joy 1250 Am Interview — K.P. Yohannan

Well, indeed, it is a pleasure to have a voice that's very familiar on the airwaves, 12 Noon, Road to Reality, every week on Joy 1250, and KP Yohannan, who's not only the host of that program, but also the founder of Gospel for Asia.

And sir, I must say that you are, if you will, a revolutionary, because I remember having you to read and engage your book, Revolution and World Missions, that you wrote back in the late 80s, and it was required reading in our World Missions class, and you basically have changed the whole paradigm of missions, if I might credit you with that.

The Gospel’s Advance Through the Whole Body of Christ

Well, you're very kind. I see these nations are rich with the Gospel, and what the Lord gave me, the understanding, I put that in writing, and I'm so glad the Lord is using it. Somehow, it's not one organization or two, it's the whole body of Christ doing 10 million things at the same time, but the end result always must be somehow people need to hear the Lord and come to know Him, and it gives me such joy to know that I have a small part in it.

Well, it also created, I think, a much more efficient way of World Missions, that is, nationals can deliver the Gospel as efficiently as somebody who we had been sending. I remember the thinking was that we had to send a couple from North America, and they would be engaged in a $40 ,000 a year compound, yet there were nationals, pastors in India and around the world, that were just desperate for just a portion of those resources to do, let's say, much more effective work.

Well, you know, it's a very big thing, but, you know, I don't know how many people realize this, 80 today completely restrict or they close their doors for outsiders to come and do any kind of mission work.

And when you think about India with over a billion people, and the subcontinents, you know, the Roman sub today be sent, there are people need to go from here, but there are nations we cannot get into.

Our job priority number one is just, you know, you're right, you know, a missionary who is trying to go overseas end up raising $50 ,000, $60 ,000, $70 ,000 a year budget, whereas with that kind of money, actually, we can send out, you know, 30, 40 full-time workers in Nepal or Burma or any of these countries, well-trained to go and preach the gospel.

And now it's going to kick off in the near cultures, they're getting a new language group and new food and new look, new people, new religion. And so it makes sense. It's a call of the body of Christ, which Gospel of Asia says to people, you know, let's place the accent on how will they.

Dalits, Caste Oppression, and Human Dignity

You have a new book, No Longer a Slumdog. And I must say it's gripping reading and certainly as compelling as revolution in world missions. You talk about the untouchables, the Dalits. Could you tell our listening audience who the Dalits are?

Well, you know, with the 1 .280, they're coming under the caste system of the Hindu religion. The only simple way to explain this is it is a brilliant brainwashing system created thousands of years ago by a group of invaders known as the Aryans to subject majority of the people as the slaves to the upper caste, the caste system created.

And these are people who live with 90 percent illiteracy. They're abused, raped. And, you know, like in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, when you look at these kids, those who saw the movie, you're talking about the Dalits and the poor people's children that are our desperate need right now is somehow reach out to the 62 million child laborers in India alone and touch the lives of these untouchables who are the most broken, forgotten people of Jesus Christ people.

Anyone who read the book will understand that the crisis of these millions of people and these are the untouchables means that they are not even in the caste system. They are subhuman. Their value is actually less than a dog walking on the street or a cow or an animal.

So badly treated they are by the upper caste.

And indeed, if they should aspire to break free or to want something more, they consider that in their religion to be going against the very will of God.

Exactly. As a matter of fact, this is the reason why this religious brainwashing system has, I mean, these people, they really believe they are worthless. But, you know, think about, you know, the revolution in the United States of America, you know, North and South fighting.

I mean, it had a lot to do with the landlords who wanted to keep the slaves as slaves. They were fighting to keep their economy and their power. And the same thing, only that you multiply that kind of situation by a thousand times you get the tragedy of these Dalits in India at this time.

Now, a number of things have happened in the last number of years. First of all, the Education Act of India, I think, came around in the mid -80s, and it basically compelled or mandated the education of all children, whether they be Dalits or not.

But you said that's easier said than done.

Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact, you know, I mean, like, you know, the caste system basically is illegal by the law. Just in the books, the Dalit children, I mean, I met with one of the Dalit leader in India from the people group called Banjara.

In his clan, there are 62 million people who are the Banjaras, and he said 90 of their children are illiterate. They don't go to school. The government has a law maybe, but when it comes to these villages, rural communities, nobody cares.

They don't have any help. This is where Gospel for Asia went in and started these schools we call Bridge of Hope and established 500-plus centers now with over 60 ,000 children, by the grace of God, that we are able to bring hope.

And, of course, you know, they hear about the Lord Jesus' love and chance to find value and dignity as human beings.

The 2001 Rejection of the Caste System

We're certainly going to talk more about Bridge of Hope. I must say, though, that in 2001, a pivotal moment happened. And, you know, back when it happened, the word was that there was a corporate or they came en masse converting to Christianity, but this wasn't the case.

They basically corporately said, we're rejecting the religion that is putting us in bondage, and that created opportunities.

Well, you know, by the way, I'm amazed how knowledgeable you are about this. I'm surprised. And declared, enough is enough. We are quitting the caste system and embracing another faith. As the primary Christianity and Islamism, the senior most, they knew and they said, we know the only hope for our people is to find dignity through the faith.

And so while they didn't say Christianity we are going to embrace, yet the declaration was, we are quitting Hindu caste system. We are no more Hindus. And we will choose a faith that we are also human beings.

This is where Christian faith came in so significant. That day, and by the way, there was huge opposition that, one million, but maybe more than that, but opposition by the upper caste coming. Even then, huge crowd gathered for the declaration, which was made 10 years ago, November 4th.

Yeah, not only religious resistance, but also economic and business resistance, because this was a cog in the system that the whole state had enjoyed by using religion to compel them to do this. Yeah, I mean, think about it.

You know, the business from the United States, going to India, going to China, going to these nations, and if you really want to look into it, you will find these people like kids in the carpet-making factories, believe it or not, morning till night, 10 -12 hours they work, making 15, 20, 30 cents a day.

Children belonging to the downtrodden, poor, broke. By doing this, basically, these are the people are immensely, and they are always been poor, they always will be, until they are educated.

Education, Bridge of Hope, and the Love of Christ

I can imagine the reaction of a Dalit listening to you when you address the crowd, that they could break free from this lifetime of servitude and bondage of being downtrodden, and exchange that for a position of being joint heir with Jesus Christ according to the will of God through faith.

Yeah, you know, I really believe the living God, you know, for God so loved the world, who cares about these people, just like in the book of Exodus, they are crying out saying, God help us, we have no hope.

And I think God prepared their hearts and circumstances for them to hear the Gospel. Now, as the Gospel is preached to these people, their first time in their life here, you know, God loves me, Jesus died for me, and I am a child of God.

By the way, Dalits, another name that is given to them is Harijan, which they never understood. They can be children of God with all the privileges and blessings and peace, and an assurance that I am somebody.

That is the revolutionary message today when the Dalits hear. They are embracing it left and right everywhere. Now, doors are opening.

In 2001, of course, they started responding actively to the message of the Gospel, and you, K .P. Yohannan, have said that the Holy Spirit is moving into Asia. In practical terms, you did something that was born out of a vision and dream.

Well, you know, when I saw, I mean, I had this encounter with the leaders who represented, you know, 200 plus million people, and spent days and nights talking and hearing from them, and, you know, all of a sudden, my goodness, this is something God is doing, and we need to get into this and do what we can.

And, of course, you know, I have two children, and they are married, and I have three grandchildren, and when I think about the abuse and the loss, I realize that if we can love them and help them, that will be incredible.

For these people to know Jesus cares, and through that they will hear the love of Christ, and they will embrace the faith, and that's exactly what we began to do, and it worked.

Bridge of Hope and the 4/14 Window

It was the Bridge of Hope Centers. You saw that this was a mechanism in which the Word of God could become active and alive, and basically these children were, well, we've heard of the 1040 window, 10 degrees north to 40 degrees north, the unreached area of the world, but you have coined the 414 window.

Yeah, I mean, that's a new phrase coined by the mission world that talks about, you know, over a billion children, 14, and, of course, you know, these are just, you know, numbers that kind of give us a clue as to 2 million child laborers in India alone worldwide, over 69 million child laborers.

Who are these children? These are the children that are lost without education, hope, and they represent families and people in large communities, like in 5 million that live in the slums of Bombay, India.

And when we get to these people and give them hope by education and food or clothes and whatever, with the intention that, you know, this is what Jesus did. When John the Baptist preached, he said, you guys repent or you're going to hell.

And then they said, okay, we'll do that. What does that mean? He said, for the poor, care for the needy. And so sharing our resources and going out to reach the poor and needy, those are doing philanthropic kind deeds.

I'm glad they're doing that. But as followers of Christ, we have a clear command from the Lord in His name and touch the lives of these children and these poor and needy, and they will come to know the Lord through the healing process that they now experience.

Children as Witnesses and the Expansion of the Church

Yeah, the transformational work of the gospel, because what we're seeing here, it's almost apostolic in nature. What's happening in India. There are miracles going on there. The kids are really missionaries.

When they go home to their moms and dads and their families and they themselves bring the word to their parents, and you see the parents coming to Christ.

Yeah, you know, I was just meeting with our Nepali leaders just a while ago, a couple of weeks ago. Amazing enough, you know, they have established 22 centers in one part of Nepal, a country that, you know, claimed to be a Hindu nation.

And some 6 ,000 children that we care for. The amazing thing, 70 churches established in the communities where they went. One of the amazing things was these kids who are in our Bridge of Hope centers, they hear about Jesus healing the sick and, you know, setting people free from demon possession and bringing hope.

And they go home and tell, and they want to know more about it. The amazing thing, which is so hard for these little kids, 5, 6, 9, 10-year-old little kids, pray for the parents, what they learned at the center, and the Lord heals the sick, listening to God, you know.

It is, I mean, the same thing we have in the Book of Acts. That is, it's a lifestyle when people come to know the Lord and they share the faith because of the enthusiasm they have. And then people hear it and the Holy Spirit uses that.

So it is a continuous, a perpetual move that takes place as we, you know, do the preaching of the Gospel and care for the needy and show the love of Christ. But I would say this also, if doing is only to do the social work, meeting the physical needs, I tell you, a priest will go to hell, a poor beggar, a Dalit who died without Jesus, so we cannot forget the fact that we are called to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified with love and passion, but care for the needy and the poor and not neglect them either.

The Great Commission and the Danger of Social Gospel Without Christ

Isn't that the danger of approaching a people group like Hindus or in other countries without preaching the Word of God? We tend to think, let the good works go before us, yet without mentioning the man who compels these good works, basically they're in the same Christless eternity they were headed for beforehand.

It's the greatest danger. I mean, think about it. Thailand, a country, a nation where in the name of missions we invested, multiplied millions and millions and millions. What happened? The missionaries who went there, teaching the languages, building...

I think Satan deceived the mission world to think that meeting the physical need in the name of Jesus is fulfilling the Great Commission. It is not fulfilling the Great Commission. You see, when the apostles went out preaching the Gospel, they had nothing except the clothes.

In India in AD 52, he came as a broken man without anything except the clothes he was wearing. He had nothing to give except where people came to Christ and the church began in India. And so, you know, the mission history, Adonram Judson, who became instrumental to see over a million people come to Christ in Burma, you find the man had nothing to give in terms of material things except he had the passion to preach the Gospel to anyone and all people he met in prison or otherwise.

And thank God, if Judson had a million dollars worth to give away, I'm sure he would have done it. But the problem right now, the horrible imbalance, that I'm afraid that 90 of our personnel, our resources, are going out to meet the physical needs, teaching English or campus ministry, whatever people call it, but really they are not sharing the Gospel, giving out Gospel tracts, sitting down to people and showing the way, maybe using false spiritual laws or Bible verses and inviting people to repent and turn to Christ.

And that reality, I don't know even how many preachers today believe there is a hell.

Yeah, you sort of wonder that the same affliction in the church, not only in North America but around the world, that we really don't quite trust the Gospel of Christ. That we're really afraid to proclaim it, believing that the Word of God will return void.

In other words, we've got to nice our way into that, and if we're nice enough or do enough for them, by golly, how could they resist the Gospel, when in fact we're commanded to proclaim the Gospel and let it do the work.

Yeah, I mean, you see, when Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, those who believe, you baptize them, you know, that's exactly what Peter did and the disciples did, and what we have today is the result of their preaching the Gospel.

And when Paul went to Corinth, you know, I mean, it was not a rich community, and there was a huge amount of crisis and problems, and he said, I came with a determination to preach Jesus and Him crucified.

Then he writes a clear statement to these people saying, I want you to know the one important thing, the only important thing, which I told you, Jesus Christ died for sinners, He was buried next to you, and you believed.

And I think I'm 100 for helping the poor and broken. If we cannot believe that there is a hell, we are missing the mark. By the way, to get the copy of Erasing, held by Francis Chan, and read that book, because it's another gripping book that talks about the reality of the people in eternity without Christ.

Sponsoring Children Through Bridge of Hope

I'm talking with K .P. Yohannan, Gospel for Asia. K .P., let's get down to brass tacks, and that is the Bridge of Hope Centers. How can our listeners, Joy 1250 listeners, get involved with this great work of GFA?

Well, you know, I would say it takes about $28 or something like that, I thought it is, a month to have the education, the clothes. Our goal is to pick up these kids and give them at least high school education, and have a chance for them to know the Lord and many of the mentors.

What we are looking for is actually people to become sponsors of these children, knowing that this will give them hope for this life and the life to come. They can go to our website and pick up the kids from the website, or they can write to us, to Gospel for Asia, or our website is www .gfa .org.

And also a copy of that book is free for the asking road. The No Longer a Slumdog is a gripping read and very informative, as indeed you've written a great many books. But I think it really does capture our attention by laying out some stark truths and realities, well, Road to Reality is your program, that we need to know to get involved.

And K .P. Yohannan and I, I consider it a real privilege to talk to a man who's been so pivotal in changing not only the face and the voice of missions, but also the lives of so many different millions of people through Jesus Christ.

Blessings on you. Thank you so much. Again, as he said, anyone who asks for the book, it's free, postage paid, without any obligation. And I'm sure it will be a blessing to them.