Missions, Poverty and Children - Part 1 — K.P. Yohannan

Gospel for Asia presents The Touch of Love, bringing hope to Asia's untouchable children. We invite you to join Gospel for Asia's President and Founder, K .P. O 'Hannan, as he shares this message with a congregation in New Mexico.

Jesus Welcomes Children into the Kingdom

I want to share a few Bible verses with you from the Gospel of Mark, chapter 9, verse 36. It's talking about Jesus. He took a little child and had him stand among them, taking him in his arms. He said to them, whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me.

And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sends me. And then in chapter 10, verse 13, on that passage where they were bringing little children to Jesus for him to touch them and bless them, and the disciples thought, it's a real bummer.

You know, what a headache. Jesus is too busy, too important to deal with kids. And so they tried to, you know, get this whole thing, you know, to stop. And Jesus said, just leave them alone. Let them come to me for they are very precious.

And the Kingdom of God is very much linked with the children and their heart and attitude. Now three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, all these three Gospels, we have this story mentioned. That means the Holy Spirit is trying to say something very significant and important that if you read it, if I read it one time and I forget it, then I will read it again.

If I forget it, then I'll read it again. And I think it's very, very significant. And my journey in understanding the ways of God regarding this matter, it took little time for me to understand what the Lord is saying.

A Missionary's Changing View of Children

For you see, some of you who read my writings from the early days, all I cared about in all that I do is somehow preach the Gospel, get people repent and baptize them and plant churches. Children, well, I didn't think much about it.

You know some churches, not this church, but there are some churches that look at children and say it's a necessary evil. Let's do something for the kids so we can get the adults come and get their money.

I know it's not about you. But you know, it's so amazing how Jesus think about this thing. And in my world of missions and serving God, this was not very important. And the Lord began to change my heart by knocking continually upon my heart and leading me on a road to encounter events after events where he had changed my heart.

Encountering Poverty in Bombay

And one of those times I remember some time ago in the streets of Bombay, 5 million live in the slums of Bombay, the largest slum of the world. If you walk into those slums, if you simply walk among these people, you have to pinch your nose, otherwise you'll throw up.

You'll find hundreds of little kids, naked little kids, playing in the murky, dirty sewage waters in the open. The suffering, the pain, the anguish, unimaginable. Something that I encountered that stayed with me.

You know, when tourists go to India, they are told when you are on the streets of Bangladesh or India or Kathmandu, wherever, do not give money to the beggars on the streets. If you do, they will mob you.

You cannot get away because too many of them. So this was one of my experience on the Bombay street right there. You know, dozens and dozens of little children, beggar children on the streets with their hands out.

Hearing a Child's Plea for Help

Then mothers carrying little babies, naked little kids with a bloated stomach asking for money. I mean, what do you do? So I didn't want to do anything, but then as I was waiting for the light to turn green so I can cross the street, I hear this voice from behind me in Hindi language, sir, sir, my father died.

And my mother is too ill. She can't beg anymore. I have a little baby brother. He's crying. He's hungry. Would you please give me a few pennies so I can buy some bread and take it to him? The light turned green and all those people, hundreds of them just walked away, but I couldn't move.

I turned around and I looked at this young girl, maybe eight, nine-year-old, a little girl wearing rags, holes all over, dirty fingernails, dust mingled with the sweat running down from her hair, long thick black hair, no shoes, no sandals, nothing, just like that.

And I was so gripped by that, I put my hand in my pocket and took all the money I could find and gave it to her. I began to walk. It was strange. It was as though Christ himself joined me on the walk and simply asked me a question.

The Equal Worth of Every Child

So, what do you think about that beggar girl you just met? Is her life as precious and valuable as your daughter? It so happened I had two children born in the United States. My daughter at that time, around the same age, her German mother takes care of her so well.

Every week, bed sheet, pillow covers changed, her own table, furniture, air-conditioned room, and carpeted room, and go to school, and I never, ever, ever heard my children say, I'm so hungry, I'm dying, give me some food, I'm going to die, give me food.

No. I never saw them hungry. But then, as a minister of the gospel, my answer to Christ was very fast, oh Lord, you know, her life is as precious and valuable as my daughter. But he didn't ask me one more question, left me to walk alone, weeping on the streets of Bombay.

That was one of the many experiences the Lord allowed me to encounter to help me think about what he is thinking about these precious children. I was speaking at a church in Southern California, and somebody came to me and gave me a CD and said, Brother KP, you may want to listen to this song called What Now?

Finding Jesus in the Face of Orphans

The CD was by Stephen Curtis Chapman. You know the guy? Neat brother. I was with his wife Beth on a television show some time ago, very serious people. Anyway, he wrote this song, he sang this song, and I am not going to sing it for you.

But I want to read the words of this song, please listen. I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl. She was standing in the corner on the other side of the world, and I heard the voice of Jesus gently whisper to my heart, didn't you say you wanted to find me?

Well, here I am, here you are. So what will you do now that you have found me? What now? What will you do with this treasure you have found? I know I may not look like what you expected, but if you will remember, this is right where I said I would be.

Responding to the Suffering of Vulnerable Children

You found me. What now? When you look into the eyes of little children, what do we expect to find? Laughter, joy, they want to be hugged, and contentment, and peace. But when those things are replaced with hunger, molestation, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness, you know what, that must arrest me, stop me to say, oh Lord, what are you thinking?

I am so self-centered, so consumed about my own children, my life, my work, and everything. I just don't have time. At least the way he would think about it. And I'm grateful to God for the brokenness he brought into my life over these years to understand this.

If the Lord has touched your heart and is leading you to sponsor one of these precious, untouchable children, you may do so by visiting our website at www .gfa .org. Or in the U .S., call us at 1 -800-WIN-ASIA.

In Canada, call 1 -888-WIN-ASIA. 100 of your donation will go to the mission field to bring hope to India's untouchable children and their families.