Bridge of Hope Discussion, Part Two — K.P. Yohannan

It is said that when a child comes to Christ, someone is redeemed from a life of sin. More about this, next, on The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. Ohanian. Welcome to The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. Ohanian, president of Gospel for Asia.

When Brother K .P. founded Gospel for Asia, he envisioned thousands of native missionaries traveling throughout India, sharing the gospel. But then K .P. encountered a small child barely existing on the streets of Bombay.

Today, we bring you the second half of a special in-studio discussion about the new aspects of Gospel for Asia called Bridge of Hope. In India, there's a huge group of untouchables. They're called Dalits, and there is a wonderful door for the gospel that has begun as a result of helping and caring for the children of these people.

Our host today is Brother K .P. Ohanian, and we'll join him now as he speaks with Heidi Chupp, the managing editor of Send magazine, and John Beers, the chief development officer of Gospel for Asia. Brother K .P. begins by sharing the current status of Bridge of Hope.

Bridge of Hope and the Expansion of Gospel Ministry

We are not walking away from our original vision. That's right. No, we are not. It was rather God is saying, now there's a world of opportunity before you, but don't be so stubborn. This is my way. Right.

And if you do that, I will see people come to know me. And the proof today, as we began to start these Bridge of Hope centers, we call it 282 of them right now, with some 35 ,000 children, and it's growing every month.

What I'm hearing, which you are hearing, and I think our people are reading about it, literally thousands and thousands of adults are coming to know the Lord. You know why? We bring the parents together.

I mean, Heidi, you got two children, and John got four children, I got two children. I remember when my kids were going to school, they have a parents meeting. PTA. Yeah, you don't want to miss it. So when the parents come the weekend, in a center, we will have maybe four or 500 people there, adults.

And that weekend, two, three hours, what they're hearing, how to raise your children, how to talk to them, how to be kind to them, hygiene, and how to teach them. And then also they're hearing about Jesus, how to be a godly family.

And then you know what we do? We just started adult literacy project. That is a lot of these Dalit parents, they have no clue, they have no ability to write or read nothing. And we are teaching them also.

And we use the scripture as a means to teach them reading. And so I mean, just to give a background information, how we began the journey, and we are right in the midst of it. And the proof is now that, you know, when we send a missionary out, and this is important, I say this, when we send a missionary out, if it took him three, four, five years to see 100 people baptized that have come to Christ, now, you know, he can do that within six or seven months.

Just think about that. Praise God. Yeah. And I remember a conversation we had talking about the reality of all these children giving their lives to Christ. And one of our leaders went to India, if you recall, talking, I think it was David, talking to some of the Bridge of Hope leaders.

And I think he thought, you know, I'm going to ask kind of a real intelligent question here, you know, and asking them, what percentage of these children do you think will give their lives to Christ? And the leaders kind of scratched their head like he was an idiot and said, all of them.

Most of their families and many of their villages, and we're seeing that happen in so many cases. Obviously not 100%, but so many, they're just blank slates, aren't they? We don't have to relearn anything.

We tell them that Jesus is God, and they just believe us. Kind of a unique kind of concept.

Yeah. I mean, I think, John, all your four kids, they have given their life to the Lord. I know your two daughters went to India for summer, and Heidi, you know, and your both children, they gave their heart to the Lord.

And my kids, you know, at the age of seven or four, they gave their life to the Lord. I gave my life to Jesus when I was eight years old. And I tell you, I just can't imagine how we missed it for 24 years.

Gospel Ministry Alongside Physical Care

That's what I, in some ways, you know, I think the Lord allowed us to develop this fantastic foundation of evangelism and conservative thinking and preaching the gospel to have a foundation upon which we can launch this so that it will not be just physical needs we are meeting, but rather this is while we're doing that, but something more significant like Jesus healed the people.

He fed the poor and the needy and the hungry, but also they heard God's word. We are not doing it at the expense of preaching the gospel. Rather, it is giving us such impetus and much more energy and a large field, you know, to see more people come to know the Lord.

I think that's what makes, to me, what makes Bridge of Hope stand out is because these children are not only getting cared for physically, but they are getting ministered to spiritually. And it's extending beyond just the children, but it's going to the parents and to the communities.

I mean, I have heard so many reports of parents being impressed with the changes in their children's behavior, how they learn to take care of themselves and keep themselves clean and how they respect their elders.

And the children are coming home, like you said, like little Nibun and telling the Bible story they heard that day and singing the gospel songs that they learned. So the light is just going out in all directions from one little child.

And if it's just one little child, imagine what 35 ,000 and more can do.

The amazing thing is we've been talking forever about raising up 100 ,000 native missionaries to send out. I remember thinking, how is this ever going to happen? I mean, after 25 years now, we have 14 ,500, which praise the Lord for that.

We have a long ways to go. And now it's like we're raising up tens of thousands of young missionaries through the Lord. Terry, in a few years, all these kids are going to go up because they have the foundation.

John Nibun actually is a missionary when you think about it. Absolutely. You know, he goes home and tell his parents about Jesus. And, you know, I don't know if if anybody will have ever a question about why your North Gospel Faith is doing it.

You know, if they do, you know, I would say the same thing. You know, when I met beggar children on the streets of India, absolute desperate. And I remember the Lord speaking to my heart. Do you believe these children's lives are precious and valuable as your children?

You know, my kids growing up in the States, you know, their German mother takes care of them so well, their own private room and bed sheet and pillow covers changed every week and they go to school. And, you know, I remember those days how well they are cared for, how careful we were to send them to a school that they all had only Christian teachers.

And, you know, it is a sad thing. We as believers so easily become so self-centered and we don't realize that Jesus cares about these kids like Mina, John talked about. And I think for us, it's the most marvelous opportunity the Lord gave us.

And my only sorrow right now, you know, honestly, Heidi, thirty five thousand children. What is it when you think about one hundred and fifty million child laborers in India alone? Where on earth are we going to begin to address the issue and how we can do it?

And my prayer and hope is that, you know, we'll be able to see at least 100, 200 ,000 children. That's a small number compared to the need. Right. Yeah.

Welcoming Suffering Children as Christ’s Own

I think one of the key moments in my life, I know John talked about when the light went on for him regarding Bridge of Hope. But you personally challenged me once, Brother KP, to look at these children as if they were my own.

And same similarly to John's story. And I remember reading Nibun's story and just realizing that just taking him into my heart. And and I think that to me is that that is the key to for all of us to be able to even begin to comprehend the need that is out there when we can begin to take these children into our heart and and treat them as if we were receiving Jesus into our homes.

Yeah. That's that to me is the beginning.

Yeah. And I remember just recently one of the stories that kind of brings this whole thing for me full circle is in the northeast of India, there was a little beggar girl at one of her end of her school day, three o 'clock in the day.

The teacher is giving the students all the final instructions and in walks this little beggar girl, six or seven years old, and she's just half naked. And she stood in a classroom just weeping. And as the teacher went and comforted her, all she could say was, you know, my brother, he also died.

And as the teacher composer, she found that the story that, you know, the parents had starved to death because, you know, they were so desperately poor. And she said, my brother and I have been living next to the railroad station, next to the railroad tracks.

But now my brother.

There are thousands and thousands live. People know our railway stations in India. This is there. That's where they live. Yeah. And she wanted to see my brother.

Now he also died. She's six years old. She has no idea what to do. She's absolute desperation. And then she said, I remember that one of my friends comes to your school. So I came here to say, would you please also take me in?

And of course they did. And, you know, the teacher practically adopted her into her family. And, you know, now this little little beggar girl is such desperate straights. Now she has a hope and she has a future.

She's going to grow up knowing the Lord. And I just thought when I heard that story, I thought back to little Mina. See, nobody was there to help Mina and she perished. But now we have hundreds upon hundreds of places and thousands of missionaries that will take these children in, not only help them, but we're going to teach them about Jesus.

They're going to be raised in a nurturing admonition of the Lord and then be sent out to reach the wrong people with the gospel.

Reaching Dalit Communities Through Schools and Missions

And again, you know, so that people will not get confused or misunderstand, we are not talking about orphanages. We are not talking about social work. We are talking about nearly 300 million Dalits, the untouchables.

And by the way, then there are some 400 million backward caste. They are no better than the Dalits. Now, these are the people in many places, 90 percent or more illiteracy. Can you imagine? There's no hope for them.

And this is where I think the church missions like us come in very strong. That is, we come into the community, not outside, but we go inside the community and say, look, we are here for you. We care about you and your future.

And we do it because of Jesus. And as the schools are set up, children are taught about Jesus and they get a good education. I'm telling you what, in the future, you'll be amazed how many of them will become people who will serve the Lord and individuals, people who will make a huge change in this generation.

So basically, instead of having a horse and buggy like the Amish people have, you know, I see in Canada, you know, just slowly, you know, going along, we are actually kind of getting a jet in terms of accomplishment.

You know, instead of fishing in a river with hardly a few fish now, it's a fishing pond with millions of fish kind of situation. So the invitation the Dalits gave was God orchestrated for us to see them come to know the Lord.

And the children are so precious to God. And it's a gift the Lord gave us. And my prayer and hope is this, that our friends, Gospel Fascia friends scattered throughout North America and Europe and wherever they are, that they will see this is not something we did because it was an interesting thing to do, because there was a need for us to do something, because somebody told us to do this.

Rather, God directed our hearts and orchestrated circumstances and for the critical times such as this. And I pray that not one person will say, you know, this is a stupid thing to do. If anyone should say that, it's me because I'm the one who wrote all these books.

Oh, by the way, after God changed my heart, remember, Heidi, we added a new chapter in the book Revolutionary World Missions, Chapter 13. Yes, we did. And the name of the chapter is Hope Has Many Names.

Yeah, Hope Has Many Names. Yeah. You remember that? I basically just dictated that in one sitting. And you are the one who edited that. I remember that. I worked on it. Yes. And and I even when I was doing that chapter, I could sense the Lord's hand saying, I am I'm with you.

This is what I want you to do. And and one more thing, I think this is true. Anyone who will join with us in embracing a few of these children in the name of Jesus so that they will come to know him and their family, I honestly believe God will go after them with his blessings and his grace and his mercy, because he loves his kids and these people so much.

And this is very significant. I know for all of us in the ministry, it's been just a total joy to see how God has directed us and just jump in with all of our hearts.

Sponsorship as a Practical Ministry of Hope

For me, I think I drug my feet at the beginning. Now I'm seeing that the Bridge of Hope is probably the single most effective way that will touch the multitudes, you know, the hundreds of millions of Dalits and other backward castes.

It's simply the most effective thing we maybe have ever done.

Yeah. And, you know, I mean, this is an extreme statement. Even if nobody or somebody never care about God or spiritual things as human beings, I think we should be so eager to help these people because they are human beings without education, without giving them hope.

Their future is bleak and it's sad and they will continue to die on the streets. And I think now with the understanding that we come to them in Jesus name to give them hope. I mean, how much more not only for life on earth, but for eternity.

Exactly. Yes. You know, Heidi, right after I spoke about the Bridge of Hope, you know, sponsoring children of the Dalits, the first time I spoke in this large congregation in Southern California, a man came up to me and said, Brother KP, you may want to listen to this song.

And he gave me a CD and the CD happened to be by Stephen Curtis Chapman. And, you know, it's a neat brother. I was with his wife, Beth, for a television interview. That's how I learned about the family.

Interesting. And the song was called What Now? The words are so powerful. I saw the face of Jesus in a little orphan girl. She was standing in a 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 now? 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 remember, this is right where I said I would be. You found me. What now? I think those words very well describe the attitude, the heart of our Lord toward these precious, precious children and the suffering people.

And I think God has given us the most amazing opportunity as a mission to embrace them. And Jesus said, whatever you do for these, you have done it for me. And the amazing thing, Heidi, when my kids were growing up like your kids are growing up now here.

How much money we had to spend to keep them alive in America, you know? Amen. Amen. And we realized it takes about twenty eight dollars to help one of these children. You know, their food and their uniform and books and the tuition and whatever it takes to help them to find hope and life.

And that's each month? Each month. And my wife and I, I think we took two children or more. I know she's the one to keep track of all this. And so we got two children. So we took two more. So I tell people in my meetings, even if you are not married, you're dreaming about a whole bunch of kids.

You take these kids now and the Lord will bless you. And I said, grandparents, you know, if you have three grandkids, hey, listen, take three children, just twenty dollars a month. And, you know, and if they can support them for many years, it'll be wonderful.

But we said to people, I'm sure John does that in all our meetings. We say, listen, help them as long as you can. And when you can't, you let us know. We'll find someone else because you'll be the only person supporting that child.

I'm sure Heidi, you must be supporting, you know, 10, 15, 20 ,000. Oh, would that I could. But this is very significant. It's so little money in terms of, you know, a cup of coffee a day or a piece of cake or as a matter of fact, you won't believe.

I read a report. One of the largest disposable income in the United States of America and North America generally are in the hands of the teenagers. It's in billions. You know, the CDs and chewing gum and all kind of stuff.

And anyone easily can do this. And when they do that, what do we do, John? We send them the.

They get a package of information with a picture of their child, the child's testimonies, information about their family. And I encourage people to just make this child a member of your family. Yeah. Yeah.

And pray for them. Yeah. And know that their life, you know, their support of that child is going to change that child's life forever.

And John, that one child is sponsored or helped only by one family, one individual. Exactly. Yeah. No one else. Yeah. So, I mean, that's a beautiful thing to tell the kids in the home. You know, this is my new brother.

This is your new sister.

You know, and pray for that. I have a number of people lately. They're saying we have four children, so we're going to take four Bridge of Hope children because I want each one of my children to know, you know, to look away from their own life.

There's a child out there that's dependent on them that they can be praying for. And what a great vision for children.

One of the neatest things that I saw at one of your meetings, Brother KP, was afterward when people were choosing to sponsor the children, they took their own children with them to the table and had them each pick out the child profile that they wanted.

I thought that was really neat.

And we are right now, you know, working on systems. For example, one of our, you know, brothers in the U .S. office, Chris, is right now in India working with our leaders and Nepal, other places setting up systems.

So there'll be at least once or twice letters will be coming from the children to their sponsor. So, you know, the real thing. And they can write, you know, once or twice to the kids. So it is a relationship.

I know for our missionary setup, letter writing is not possible because of the mission field they are in. You know, we have no control over the opposition, all those things. It's too dangerous. But children, this is a beautiful thing.

There's a relationship also. And if people travel to the field to any of these countries, you know, we have children in Sri Lanka, you know, some three thousand children, the tsunami victims that we are caring for.

And Bangladesh or, you know, Nepal, India, they can go to the schools and you know, centers and see the kids also. Yeah, it is. It's a beautiful thing. Yeah. And one more thing I like to ask you, not only that you decide to sponsor some of these precious children, but also I kind of think it'd be wonderful if you can find a few other people to watch the DVD that explains about the Bridge of Hope Children's Project and get them to join you in sponsoring these children.

And we have plenty of information that we can give you so that you can share this with others. And my hope is this, that the Lord will use you to find others to pray and help these children.

Well, this is The Road to Reality with Brother K .P. Yohanan, the president of Gospel for Asia. We've been listening to a special in-studio discussion with Heidi Chupp, the managing editor of Send Magazine, and John Beers, the chief development officer of Gospel for Asia, as well as Brother K .P. Yohanan.

We'll be back in a moment with some final thoughts. The topic today was the new outreach arm of Gospel for Asia called Bridge of Hope. It's a child sponsorship program that gives children food, education and hope.

But Bridge of Hope is unique. First, 100 percent of your sponsorship is sent to the mission field. Nothing is taken out for administration or fundraising. Second, your child, his family and community will hear the gospel.

Often churches are planted in unreached villages this way. And third, your child will learn English, the language that will open the doors of opportunity and help them break the cycle of poverty. Please, would you consider this work that brings so much hope to children otherwise left to the factory work or worse, life on the street?

And as we suggested, to make one of these children a part of your family, that your children can consider their siblings in India to sponsor a child or learn more about Bridge of Hope or Gospel for Asia, stop by our website.

The address is gospelforasia .org. That's gospelforasia .org. Or call us toll free at 800 WIN ASIA. That's 800 WIN ASIA. And now here's Brother KP Yochanan with some final thoughts about Bridge of Hope.

A Ministry Guided by Faith Rather Than Manipulation

Well, my friend, I hope this has been as interesting and exciting for you as it is for Heidi and John and myself. Of course, you know, Tone sitting on the other side of the glass in the studio. They are taping all these things for you.

And this is our request. You know, we as a ministry, we never believed in, you know, manipulation or forcing people to do anything or playing tricks on people's emotions. We don't. Anything the Lord asked us to do, he always went before us.

And it's a beautiful testimony we have. And for you, I say if the Lord speak to your heart, would you please make a decision to help some of those children, one or two or three or whatever? And you can go to our website and pick the children and write to us or send us an email, whatever.

And again, I want you to know this is an opportunity the Lord has given to us. This is an opportunity the Lord is giving to us. And it's up to us if we respond correctly. And I hope you will. Again, I want to thank you with all my heart.

And on the behalf of John and Heidi and Tom and all our staff here and around the world and our brothers and sisters, thank you for your friendship, your faithfulness, your prayers. And it is God given privilege for us to work together to see this generation come to know the Lord.

And when the time is over, we will see the Lord face to face and multitudes that no man can number these precious children, the Dalit community and so many more. And that's the day we can look forward to.

Meanwhile, the Lord bless you and watch over you. And I very much looking forward to hear from you and we'll be praying for you. Amen.

Thanks, Brother KP. And friend, to find out more about Bridge of Hope, again, stop by the website Gospel for Asia dot org. That's Gospel for Asia dot org. Or call us toll free 800 WIN ASIA. That's 800 WIN ASIA.

The Road to Reality is sponsored by Gospel for Asia. Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you.