If you work for Gospel for Asia, you really understand what winning the birth lottery means. It is through no personal merit of our own that we've managed to secure ourselves a place in a country with running toilets, with ample food and good transport. It is just the luck of the draw.
Gospel for Asia is reaching those who haven't had such fortune. One such person has been Nachni, who after years of devotion to the gods and goddesses worshiped in her village, she found herself wondering why she was not blessed by them. Life was tough and it was fairly obvious that these gods and goddesses had little compassion on Nanchi.
Her husband was desperately ill, and her sons had gone off into the world leaving Nachni to pay the finances. Things got so bad that she tried multiple times to commit suicide but was stopped by her husband each time. She had to face this miserable life head-on, without the help of her many gods.
A light in the darkness
But then a Gospel for Asia pastor came into their village. Pastor Iham explained that he was a servant of God. "I comfort people by sharing God's word," he explained, "so that people who live with sorrow and pain may keep their hope in Him."
Nachni knew all about sorrow and pain. But through the power of prayer, her husband was healed and both of them felt peace in the Lord. The Lord sends his servants to places where the need for God's peace and love is so real.
All depends on where you're born
In a country where the inhabitants have won the 'Birth Lottery', people don't feel the need for God. They're self-sufficient, they can do it all themselves without God. But what they don't realize is that they're blessed. It was not through their own merit that they were born here. People take God for granted in a country such as Australia.
But for someone like Nachni, the peace and love of God is not something that can be taken for granted. It is everything in a village with limited resources and widespread poverty. Gospel for Asia sees lives changed for the long term. That's what it's all about. Giving people hope where there is none.
That's the power of the gospel.
For more information on Gospel for Asia - http://www.gospelforasia.org.au/
Bridget Brenton has been researching apologetics, philosophy and the paranormal for years. You can check her apologetic effort out at 101arguments.com
Bridget Brenton's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html