In this sermon, the speaker shares a personal story about his mother's sacrificial love for God and others. Despite being tired and worn out, his mother had a radiant glow on her face because of her love for Jesus. She secretly supported young people studying in Bible school and those already on the mission field by sending them money every month without telling anyone. The speaker reflects on his initial misunderstanding of his mother's actions and realizes the depth of her love and commitment to Jesus.

Welcome to Road to Reality, the radio ministry of Gospel for Asia. Today, Brother K.P. Yohannan asks, what does it mean to be like Christ? With powerful stories from his own life and from the mission field, Brother K.P. exposes the reason why so many of us struggle with sin and miss the abundant life Jesus promises. Let's join Brother K.P. as he shares the second half of this important message. To live is Christ. People ask me, Brother K.P., where do you come from? I said, can't you see on my face? India. But where in India? Oh, you want to know where in India? I come from the extreme southern part of India, in the state of Kerala. That is where Christ's disciple Thomas came in AD 52, believe it or not, it's true. I gave my life to the Lord when I was eight years old through my mother's influence. The place I come from, you want to know? Go and find the oldest Tarzan movie you can find, oh, black and white. That's the kind of place I grew up. You know, these clothes you see I'm wearing, this is not mine. We don't wear these kind of things. We have a wraparound, you know, barefooted, and my wraparound clothes and all this stuff. I do it for you. And I have five brothers, I'm the youngest in our family. And my mother, a devout follower of Christ, my father died in 74, he knew the Lord just before he died, but my mother all her life, I remember, she followed him very close. The memory of my mother, every morning about four o'clock she would get up and read her Bible and pray for a couple of hours, then she'd wake up the whole family for family prayer. I didn't want to wake up, but I had to. And after she finished the cooking and washing and everything, she would take her Bible and go from house to house and tell people about Jesus in my village. When I was just after 16 years of age, I felt the Lord was calling me to give my life for mission work. So, I came home one afternoon and told my mother and father, if you allow me, I want to be a missionary. Before I could finish my sentence, my mother said, you please go. I said, uh-oh, now I know she never liked me. So I took off. Went to North India for two years, working with Operation Mobilization, and came back to see my parents, skin and bones, tired, worn out. The first time she saw me, she began to weep. The following day, nobody in the house, she was cooking in the kitchen with the firewood, you know, the typical, the old way we do things. She said, son, come and sit here, and I want to tell you something that you did not know about. And I sat beside her, this five feet, two inches tall, skin and bones, little fragile village woman, with a glow on her face, the love of Jesus. In her own native language, she began to tell me the story, said, son, I have six boys and you are the youngest. I said, mother, obviously that is true. She said, all my life, my dream was one of my sons to become a missionary. And I prayed for all my sons, but one by one, they went to business and farming and all these different things, and when you were born and growing up, I lost all my hope. You were shy and timid, and I thought God would never answer my prayer. But then I decided as a last attempt, I would fast and pray. And my son, for three and a half years, every Friday, I only drank water and fasted all three meals, crying out to God, Jesus, call one of my sons to become a missionary. And the day you came and said you want to go as a missionary, I knew God answered my prayer. In 1990, I was flying from the United States to South Korea to speak in a mission conference, and when I reached Bombay, India, I got the message my mother was sick. At the age of 84, she had never been sick like that, with a heart problem, taken to the hospital. I canceled my trip, went to the hospital, spent a week with her. That weekend, my mother died. Funeral took place. Now I must go back to America. My oldest brother called the younger brothers, including me, to talk about our mother. One of my brothers had a question. How much money did our mother leave in the bank? All her sons would give her money every month to do whatever she wanted to do, and so we imagined she must have a huge amount of money sitting somewhere in the bank. Answering the question, my brother pulled out his old, worn out little booklet or piece of papers, and he said, there's nothing in the bank. He said, what happened to all the money? He said, I found this under the pillow of our mother's bed. In it, she had scribblings of names of dozens of young people, some studying in the Bible school to go to the mission field, some already on the mission field, and against their names, 200 rupees, 500 rupees, and all the different money she was sending every month without telling one human being on earth. I began to weep. The reason being, I remember one time when I was back home visiting my people and I saw my mother wearing a blouse with stitches from here to here, you know, the needle stitch, and I was so angry. I said, mother, what is wrong with you? What happened to your head? Don't you have any feeling for your sons? The whole world will think that we don't take care of you. You are putting cow dung on our face. You put shame upon our head. Mother, don't you have any feelings about us? You can buy a new dress every month if you want. Why you do this to us? She smiled and said, you little fellow don't understand nothing. Someday you will understand. And now I sit in the room as though my mother speaking to me again. My son, all my life I lived for the eternal purposes of God. Yes, I could have purchased a new dress every month, but I chose to wear old clothes and stitch it when it's torn. I never told anyone what I was doing. But son, now you understand. The house, the dreams, the dresses, approval of men, opinions of other people. My son, it means all nothing. It's nothing. Now you understand. How many times did I hear my mother just during the day saying that Bible verse again and again and again and again. Her favorite Bible verse, Psalm 73 verse 25. Whom have I in heaven but you and on earth I desire no one beside you. After having spent a little time in Europe before coming to America, I picked up a habit using a certain brand name deodorant soap from England that I love. You can buy it in America. $1.50 per bar. And that I did for the first several years of my life in America. A bookworm, any book that you find on any subject, if I could buy it, I would buy it. It was impressive. Somebody came to my house and saw all the translations and books I had. And I didn't read half of them, but kind of made a good impression. After a few years of living like that, one day the Lord said to me, Son, half of the world have never seen one page of the Bible. What are you doing with your life? And I cried out to God on my knees and said, Lord, take eternity and stamp on my eyes for I cannot change myself. I'm so self-centered. In His mercy and grace and compassion and love, He began to change my heart. Next time we went to the store, I didn't buy the $1.50 deodorant soap. I switched to ivory, $0.35. And I don't like ivory either. I'm not promoting that soap. Some of our brothers are working in northwest of India on the street, preaching the gospel. A Hindu Brahmin, a landlord came by and got a gospel tract in Hindi language. He was running away from his home to commit suicide, having cancer in his body. First time in his life, in the late 50s, an older man read with his own eyes, God came to this world for you. Jesus died on the cross to save you from sin and hell. And He wants to save you if you call upon Him. And there's a prayer he can pray to Jesus on the street. That afternoon, this man knelt down in his own native language, crying out to God he never prayed to ever in his life, asking Him to come into his life and forgive his sin and save him. He got up. Something happened. Peace came into his heart. And he didn't commit suicide. He ran home and went to the same hospital and told the doctors, Doctor, I feel so good. Can you check me? What we can do? You are sick. We did everything we can. No, no, no, doctor, please one more time. So he persisted. They checked him up, down, everywhere, inside out. What did you take? There's no trace of cancer in your body. You are completely cured. And the man pulled out the booklet in his pocket that he was reading and said, Doctor, this healed me. They thought he went cuckoos. With the address on the booklet, he went to a mission station, told our brothers what happened to him. They began to explain to him the gospel more about Jesus. The man began to weep out loud and said, Oh, now I know this Jesus is my God. Then he said, you know what? I'm a landlord. Can you come and make all my people Christians? How literally understand how this thing work. Two of our brothers went with him, began to preach the gospel. And to date, they got at least 150 or more people saved and baptized. And the man gave the land, the money, the whole thing, to build the first church in the community. But the question, how did that all happen? One gospel tract that costs less money than what I pay for chewing gum. And I like chewing gum. I'm not saying don't chew gum. If you want, no problem. But I'm telling you, I was crazy enough to think in those terms saying, Lord, everything I do now in my life, I want to evaluate in the light of eternity. Or call us 1-866-WIN-ASIA. And now back to Brother KP. I must conclude with some applications. Those who claim to be followers of Christ must live like him. And I am convinced the saddest thing Christ feels, he weeps over, saying, look upon the land of India, Bhutan, Burma, the Muslim countries, people that do not know the gospel, don't know his name. They're dying in darkness like the woman at River Ganges. And I want him to break my heart with the things that break his heart. So what do I do? I recommend that if the Lord give you the grace, take one day of the week to fast and pray for people that never heard the gospel. Ask God to give you the countries, the name of the people groups, information. We can help you with tremendous information to pray for just one day of the week. And if you're trying to lose few more pounds, add one more day. My second recommendation to you is that you will ask the Lord, Jesus, how do you want me to live my life? In the light of the fact that half of the world never heard this gospel and they are hungry and destitute. Ask him to give you understanding how to live your life. I cannot tell you the car, the house and what you should do. That's none of my business. Nobody's business as a matter of fact. But let him tell you how you can simplify your life, so that others can hear the gospel. And you know my sister, you don't need another diamond ring. He loves you anyway. You see my brother this tie here? Kind of broad, huh? If you got one like this, you keep it. And it will go narrow and it will come back again. That is the world of fashion. You can hold the car, lay your hand on it in Jesus name, it will run again. But let the Lord guide you. I wrote the whole book about it by the way. Thirdly, most of you, 99% of you will not go to India, China, Bhutan, Burma, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan. You will not go there to live. Please go if you can. But tonight I want to ask you something. My mother, she never left my village in her entire life. But she had missionaries all over India. Winning people to Christ. People that she will never meet in her lifetime on earth. Never touched them. But she knew someday she will meet them in heaven. Would you please, I fold my hand before you tonight. And ask, would you ask the Lord what you will do as he guides you. To link your life with missionaries on the field. We got 11,000 missionaries in India and China and Bhutan and Burma and Bangladesh, all these places. Native missionaries living like the people, talking their language, suffering and paying the price of preaching the gospel. We got thousands now in the schools, getting ready to go to the mission field. But they cannot go. No one to help them to go. You say brother KP, why not? The sad thing is, they have no one to help them. Even with the train ticket. It takes about as little as $30 a month. You can help one of those missionaries get to the place where no one ever went before. And preach the gospel and plant a church. When they plant a church and begin self-supporting, you don't need to help them anymore. They can keep on preaching and doing the work of the Lord and expand the work. My wife and I with our two children began to support four native missionaries when they were going to school in Dallas. My kids used to go to the streets and pick up beer cans and Coca-Cola cans, aluminum cans and sell them and bring the money. So we can support four missionaries $30 a month. And all those four missionaries began to plant local churches in India and Bhutan, India, Bangladesh, all those places. And today my kids are in India serving God. Would you and your family, if the Lord is speaking in your heart, decide to do that? You say, Brother KP, how do I do that? The answer is this. On the tables back there, we have a card with a blue stripe on the top. In this card, there is a place for you to say, starting now, I will help prayerfully sponsor. Help sponsor one missionary or two, whatever number of missionaries you want to support, $30 a month. Then you write your name and address. And you give it to the people manning the table. And they will give you your missionary to take home with you today. If you support five missionaries, you will get five of these folders. Their testimony, where they work for the Lord, where they're going. And it's an authentic, real thing. Every penny you give, go to the mission field. No one take nothing out of it. 100% go to the mission field. And you will hear from the missionary what God is doing through their life and how they plant the churches. Every day, we see nearly six churches planted on the mission field. Through these missionaries that are on the mission field. And if the Lord is leading you, would you please don't rush home tonight, but go to those tables. Take these cards and fill it out and get your missionary and take it home with you tonight. You know, sometimes, some TV preachers, I don't watch it anymore anyway. They say, please send your money, if not I have to go off there. And usually I talk back to them, please go off there, don't bug me. It is as though God is in some big trouble and he made some commitment he cannot keep. That we have to pester people, tell stories and emotionally stare them up and put them in a corner. And listen, tonight you are free to go home without doing one thing. But you know what, now since I am 50 years old, I remember my 84 year old mother. What she said, more often than I want to hear it. And my son, someday he will understand it. And I say to you my wonderful brothers and sisters that know Jesus, this world is not our home. Nothing we have we brought with us and we will not take nothing with us. And every day I wake up and say Jesus, today I seek your honor, your approval. I don't seek no one's approval, I don't care for anything. When I go to bed every night, I say Lord, I walk through this day, I love you more than mission work. The whole world, please help me walk with you. And one more word I say Jesus, I have one desire to see you face to face. Please help me remain faithful. And tonight I say to you all the Bible knowledge, all the studies, all the knowledge in the world will not help you unless you choose him above knowledge. And do what he asks you to do, the way he asks you to do it. And that's all I ask. Shall we pray? Jesus, if only you can open our naked eyes. We will see you standing somewhere in the corner here or sitting on one of the stairs. And Lord, I don't know where you are standing, but I'm sure if you open our eyes we will see you. And Lord, you look upon us not with condemnation or hate or dislikeness. And Lord, none of us can say we did everything well. We are a bunch of failures. And Lord, if these people know the way I know myself, it will be horrible. Yet Lord, you love me so much. You love us not because we give you this or that or do this or that. It's so unconditional, Lord. That's the reason we can fall at thy feet and embrace you and say, Jesus, you mean to us more than life itself. But Lord, let it not be so that our confession of knowledge will be spirituality. But Lord, let it lead us to obedience, embracing the cross, paying the price, and walking away from our own self-desired Lord agendas, our own egos that we long for Lord to fulfill. Please, Jesus, set us free from our own self-centeredness. We think about India tonight, China tonight, Bhutan tonight, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan. Oh God, millions that never heard your name. Cause our hearts to break, to stand in the gap, that someday we will meet them also in heaven and dance forever. Thank you tonight for everything, Lord. May you take these commitments that are made tonight quietly in the hearts and make it authentic. In Jesus' name, amen. It's called Revolution in World Missions. Now, this is the story of Brother KP as a young evangelist in India in his calling to launch a worldwide organization, Gospel for Asia. Now, in it you'll find stories of God's amazing work in the lives of people here in the West and on the Indian subcontinent. Thousands have written to us over the years with the same testimony. This book is life-changing. For your free copy, simply go to our website, gospelforasia.org. Or call us at 1-866-WIN-ASIA. And request Brother KP's book, Revolution in World Missions. Thank you for listening to Road to Reality, the radio ministry of Gospel for Asia.