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Christ's Call Follow in My Footsteps
K.P. Yohannan

K.P. Yohannan (1950 - 2024). Indian-American missionary, author, and founder of GFA World, born in Niranam, Kerala, to a St. Thomas Syrian Christian family. Converted at eight, he joined Operation Mobilization at 16, serving eight years in India. In 1974, he moved to the U.S., graduating from Criswell College with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and was ordained, pastoring a Native American church near Dallas. In 1979, he and his German-born wife, Gisela, founded Gospel for Asia (now GFA World), emphasizing native missionaries, growing to support thousands in the 10/40 Window. Yohannan authored over 250 books, including Revolution in World Missions, with 4 million copies printed, and broadcast Athmeeya Yathra in 113 Asian languages. In 1993, he founded Believers Eastern Church, becoming Metropolitan Bishop as Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I in 2018. Married with two children, he faced controversies over financial transparency, including a 2015 Evangelical Council expulsion and 2020 Indian tax raids. His ministry impacted millions through Bible colleges, orphanages, and wells.
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of self-denial and sacrificing our own desires for the sake of the cross and Calvary. He shares a personal story of his wife's visit to the largest slum in the world in Bombay, India, highlighting the dire living conditions and the need for Christians to plug into the reality of the world. The preacher urges believers to prioritize their love for God and to give all they have to reach the lost world, particularly in the 1040 window where billions of people have never heard the gospel. He encourages living a simple life and using resources to support missions work, sharing a testimony of a generous donor who gave $235,000 to purchase Jesus films for illiterate and unreached people. The preacher emphasizes the importance of accountability and the impact of sacrificial giving in contrast to the abundance in Western countries. He concludes by recommending a book he wrote about coming home to Jesus in the real world.
Sermon Transcription
Gospel for Asia presents Christ's Call, Follow My Footsteps with K. P. Yohannan, President of Gospel for Asia and author of over 100 books in India and the U.S., including the bestseller Revolution and World Missions. We now join K. P. as he speaks live at a church in Albuquerque, New Mexico. When I first came to America, nobody knew what I said, I didn't know what they said, in Dallas. And then I figured out I spoke English, they spoke Texan. But you know, here, you know, the amazing thing is that the opportunity you have as a fellowship, and I have no illusion, I know you people, some of you drive from the end of the world to get to this church. And the reason you do that is because the Word of God is taught here. When you realize in America, we have one ordained minister for every 200 people. In Northern Bihar, 22 million people without one missionary, one Christian. That many people that never heard the name Jesus. In Afghanistan, 17 million people, the entire nation, not one church in the entire nation of Afghanistan. Turkey, with some 44 million people, maybe less than 200 Christians in the entire country. India, where I come from, we have 1 billion people population. What is the population of America you have? 250 million, that's right. I mean just imagine how many times big the nation of India is, and half of India, about 500 million people still waits to hear the message of salvation for the first time. By the way, unless you listen to me today and think deep, this is going to be, I mean if you're looking for some emotional high and some fantastic experience, forget it, it's not going to come. You've got enough teaching, but I'm here to tell you that the call of Christ is not just to be informed, but do something about it. One year I traveled 200,000 air miles speaking to God's people in America. At the end of my trip I decided I will never again travel and speak, because I saw that Christianity is so filled with shallowness and plastic and lukewarm, it was just feed me, help me, take care of my religion. And information has become a spirituality for more people. Just think about the number of Christian books you have. Think about the number of tapes you purchase. I mean, by the time I finish speaking they will have cooked out 200 audio tapes that you will be getting. I can, you pay for it, I don't know what you do with it. But, I mean the amount of, I mean just look at your church, just one little church here. I mean it's not little, but it's big enough, but the bookstore, the tape, the program, the ladies meeting, men's meeting, kids meeting, all kind of, I mean you are bombarded with information. You get enough spiritual information in one week, that over in China and India people don't get in five years. When I was in mainland China some time ago, the Chinese brothers showed me photographs of baptism service taking place in the middle of the night in the icy waters, because if they are caught publicly, they will go to prison and be killed. And something more shocking they told me was that, Brother KP, we have thousands of churches all over mainland China and those congregations are lucky if they have two Bibles to the name of the entire congregation. I said, repeat that please. They would say the same thing. I said, what do you guys do? Oh, they said, we get a Bible, we are so glad, we tear the pages, ten pages to one family, twenty pages to the next family, twenty pages to the next family, they take it home, they copy it, they bring back, then they swap it. Keep on circling, and they hear the shortwave radio, Bible read, through transfer radio broadcast, they copy the Bible. You realize 1.3 billion people in the entire nation, there is not one Christian bookstore? In Dallas where we are, there are over twelve full-time Christian radio stations every day bombarding the gospel of all kinds, and here you got seven or eight of them, one you got plugged into your church here. What I'm telling you, do you realize that if you came to the church for six months, you are qualified to be a theologian, a Bible school teacher, overseas average Christian here. You know so much. How blessed we are. But let's not fool ourselves, because you got people coming here, large numbers, you got nice building, let's not fool ourselves, that don't mean we are impacting the world. Nearly three billion people live on planet earth that never heard the name Jesus. Yesterday I went through your catalogue of your pastor's teaching, and I was so glad to see in the entire catalogue, there are two, three messages he spoke about hell. That is a change. Average American congregation never hear a message on hell, because we don't believe in it anymore. I tell you what, many years ago I went through a crisis in my life. The crisis was this, I wish I could believe there is no hell. You say, Brother KP, that sounds strange. Why is that? Because I was so getting desperate. If hell is real, I must do something more than what I was doing with my life. And I want to believe there is some other way to heaven than through Jesus. After all, hell is not real. But I tell you what, I went through the Bible, just like you read, and came to the conclusion hell is real. There is a place, and hell is not for a vacation for two years, ten years, like you put prisoners for murdering for ten years, twenty years. No sir, hell is for ever. And after ten billion, trillion years, those in hell will scream, saying, Not even for a drop of water, they just want to die. And the answer comes again, and again, and again. You shall never die, you will never die. That is the fate of multiplied billions on planet earth. And you and I say, Jesus, I love you. And I tell you what, if we can believe what we say we believe with our lips, it will revolutionize our life, it will turn our lives upside down. When I was in Sri Lanka, just a while ago, in Colombo, a man told me, Brother KP, I tell you a story that you may want to remember. I said, I want to hear stories. How many of you heard about the tens of thousands die in Sri Lanka over the Tamil Eelam, or the fight between Single East and Tamil, two people groups, like you had in America long time ago, the civil war, North and South. That is going on, and blood is flowing on the streets. The Tamils, this particular ethnic people, they want freedom for their own. And they train Gurulas, freedom fighters, you know how they do that? They recruit people to strap bombs on them, human bombs. And they go and kill themselves while trying to get more rights for their cause. There is a lady sitting at that time in Colombo government prison. A 28 year old young girl, young woman. She was a medical doctor, trained in England, practicing as a doctor. Her parents were killed by the opposition party, the Single East. She gave up her profession, her job, everything. She went to the jungles and learned to shoot and kill, and she carries around her neck, on a necklace, cyanide capsule. Thousands of these Tamil tigers, they call, killed themselves, suicide. That is a part of their life, when they are caught by the soldiers. Before she could take the cyanide, she was captured and she was in prison. That is the time when I was there. And somebody went to visit her and talk to her. You know, knowing that she is going to be killed the next day, this is what that young doctor said, I am so glad that I am in prison. Even through my death, if our party, our cause can be furthered even one step, I am grateful for that. If that is the commitment for something that is so hopeless, what kind of commitment I have? When I went through this crisis of faith in my life, that is not a joke. And finally I said to myself, this is serious. And then with that, something else happened. I realized, I ain't going to be here for a very long time. That is American talk. Now, so that you would not think this guy is telling stories, he didn't teach or preach, let's look at a Bible verse. Book of Psalms 103, verse 15. And as I read this thing, I want you to look at it closely and seriously. Psalm 103, verse 15. As for man, his days are like grass. He flourished like a flower of the field. And the wind blows over it and it is gone. And its place remembers it no more. That means, your life, he is not talking about some other guys living in England or Germany or India or Dalast. I am talking about you. Your life is like grass that you see out there. It comes up in the morning, your life, and flourished like a flower. You look wonderfully pretty, nice makeup on you, and go to the special place, get your hair cut, cost you $25, $30 or $30,000. And you make your nose big or small. I mean, you are 100 years old, but you look 20. You know, the so-called American mid-life crisis. I don't know what that is. Get a new car, new fashion, all these things, new house, everything. I mean, you are never satisfied with stuff to make you look nice and acceptable and all the stuff. I mean, it all looks nice. But you know what? The wind... And says, it is gone. Well, OK, OK, it is gone. But the sad thing is this, man. And its place remembers it no more. The house you lived in, the car you drive, all the clothes you purchase, all the diamond ring, all the fancy stuff. I mean, the antiques you collect, and the house, the business, and the bank account. And none of that stuff will remember you. You are gone. And life goes on, and the trees still live on, the buildings still be there, but you are not here. But how we need to realize we are headed toward eternity, and that is not thousand miles away from now, it is next minute. And Jesus lived like that. You want proof? In the New Testament, 1 Peter 2, verse 21. I can read it for you, don't turn to that. 1 Peter 2, verse 21. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His footsteps. He left this example, He suffered for you, leaving you an example that we should follow in His footsteps. This I will share with you, very candidly. The reason why we in America, with all the teaching, all the music, all the stuff going on, our lives are shallow, still struggling with sin, and struggle in our private thought life, with things that you know not pleasing God, and the struggle of raising your children in a godly way, and the lack of victory in your life, lack of authority of God in your life, seeking to please men rather than God. Ever so busy, we cannot be quiet. In the car, in the shower, in the room, everywhere we go, we have to be kept busy because we are restless people. Why is it? Why is it? It is simply because we do not want to accept the cross of Christ into our life. Cross means self-denial, giving up our own wishes and dreams for the sake of the cross, for the sake of Calvary, and that's what we are missing here. That's the reason, with all the stuff, we miss so much of reality. But how do we plug into reality? You know, these all what I'm telling you can be just words. But let me tell you, my wife just came back from North India, and I was there, visiting the mission field, and she met with one of our leaders who coordinates the work in North-West of India, and she was telling about the Saridabad slum. The largest slum of the world is in Bombay. In Bombay, 5 million people live there. Slum, how can I explain it? There is no dirty place in America that can be compared with the slum. The water from the sewage flows through this muddied wetland. Millions of people live there. Their house is made of little plastic pieces that stack up on the sticks they collect from the street. They sleep on the damp mud floor. That's their home. And the kids are playing in the sewage. And they die there. Hundred thousand children on the streets of Bombay alone, not knowing who their parents are. And don't alienate that from you. I never forget, when I was coming back from Bombay, looking at the newspaper, on the front page, a black and white picture of a boy, about 4 or 5 years old boy, laying on the sidewalk, beside him a female dog, and you look close, the boy is drinking from this dog, its milk. And the caption reads like this, This dog is his mother. And explain about the hundred thousand children on the Bombay street, not knowing who their parents are. I tell you what, I speak your language. I learned English. I am not a snake, or rat, or elephant, or a donkey, or a monkey. No sir, I am a human being. You are more educated lawyers and doctors from India, and China, America, than you can imagine. But these kids, these people on the Bombay streets, or Calcutta, or Hyderabad, are not animals, they are human beings just like you. It is by the grace of God, you are born in this country. That I was born in a Christian home. You didn't ask to be born here. To those much is given, much shall be required. I am telling you, you are not satisfied with all the beautiful full stereo music coming through the radio from ten stations here. You have to buy that new CD just for yourself. You are not satisfied with the library books, you must get books for yourself. Because it is a private, individualistic society. You are never satisfied with all the teachings, but not realizing half of the world never heard the name Jesus. They have never seen one page of the Bible. Where will we learn? When does it take for us to learn? Call Christ for us is, as the Father has sent me, so send I you. You are my hand, you are my leg, you are my eyes, you are my ears, you are my tears, you are mine. Go into the world and touch the poor, the needy, the lepers, the dying, and the hurting, and the ones going to hell, and grab them, and rescue them. That is the call of Christ. If the pastor keeps on teaching, and the church is only making you a better Christian, a better family man, a better father, a better mother, I am sorry for you, that is only the beginning. The call of Christ is to die, not to live. I can assure you that. This one missionary who was employed by the government of India, making big money, a beautiful wife, two beautiful children, living in Delhi in the capital city. He heard the call of God for the slum people. He took his wife and kids, went to the slum. Our leader said to my wife, Andy, if you just walk on the edge of the slum, you have to close your nose. You cannot breathe. It is so dirty, so stinking, pollution, open sores and bodies. Yet, in that one small slum, over 5000 families live. And the missionary took his wife and kids, and decided he will live among those slum people in that little hut, sleeping there, eating their food, and if need be dying there for the sake of him who left all, and gave his life to reach the lost and this world, including you and me and our children, our family. It was not easy. It was deliberate embracing of the cross, not forced upon him. Within a few months time, he was able to baptize quite a lot of people, and the church was born right in the middle of that slum. People coming half naked, children with a bloated stomach, hungry and dying, but now come and sit on the dirt floor, clapping hands and worshipping Jesus. You know what? They are looking not for a better, healthy future here. They are looking for something far beyond and glorious beyond all this. And that is the call of Christ that He put upon our life. But you know what? This is of a truth. My wife can tell you this, and Braskeet can tell you this too. Having travelled quite a bit, lived in America quite a bit, it's not my choice to come to America. No sir. I come here because I want to obey my Lord. The 2-3 weeks I spend here to travel, like to speak, then I jump back to China or India or some other place and come back again to do the speaking. So this is one of those little hauls I have to be here to speak to you. The reason I come here is this. Soon, very soon. Soon, very soon. Listen to me. Time shall no more be. You ain't going to be here, but you will face the Lord of Glory face to face. A man called me from Houston, Texas some time ago, and said, Brother KP, I read your book. And he started weeping. I thought I told him something terribly bad. Then he would catch himself and keep talking. He said, Brother KP, I am over 60 years old. And I am just so broken hearted. He said, I am a believer. I know Jesus. But soon my life will be over here. And I stand before the throne. And I realize, if only I could invest my life today, millions of people from China, India, Bhutan, Burma, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, all these places, from every tribe, every kindred, from every nation, people that never, never, never heard the name Jesus will be there. And oh, I just thought about that. And I am so grieved that I wasted so much of my life. Finally, he said, KP, sorry for weeping like this. Sorry for being so emotional. But I am just calling to ask you. Is there anything I can do? Anything I can do to become real and touch the lost world? I said, you know, the first thing is, you must, by the grace of God, make a decision that, Lord, I want approval from you and no one else. So much of Christian work originates in the flesh and carnality. Lord, I only want your approval. I said, make the commitment to the Lord. Walk with Him with purity of heart and integrity and holiness and honesty. Even if you do nothing in the world, that is more important. Secondly, I said, if God is speaking to you, take your resources. If you cannot go to India or China, the best thing you can do, live a simple life and give your resources to reach the lost world. And he asked me more questions. Within a couple of weeks time, he sent a check to our office for $235,000. That money was to go to buy the life of Jesus film in 8 different languages for illiterate, the tribal, the poor, the suffering people, the slums and the un-rich areas. Our missionaries took this and began to go and preach the gospel. A year went by. I told my people on the mission field, would you please do a study, because we have very serious accountability system kept up, asked to see what is happening on the mission field. I said, I want to know what is happening with that projector, with that film and what God is doing with that project. They wrote a report back. And I was shocked. The report said, every month, no less than 100,000 people come to the Lord Jesus Christ by watching the life of Jesus. And I said to myself, Man, this guy, what a privilege, what a privilege, the Lord gave him in this side of life. He could have said, the Bible says, you take care of your wife and children and you will be a nice family man and nice guy. So I am going to put my money in a CD, duty, whatever, account and take care of me. That is how Indians talk. No, sir. No, sir. But I am pleading with you, so that demons will not deceive you right now and take your thoughts somewhere else. I am not here after anything from you. A man from Florida called me up a few years ago and said, KP, I want to send a check for the ministry. I said, what are you talking about? He said, one million dollars. I said, can you repeat that? He said, one million. Being so curious, I said, where did he get the money from? Because I am not supposed to ask that, because it is private. Because I know the guy, he lived in a frame house, drive an old pickup. And he said, but KP, nobody knows about this thing. It is inheritance we got through my wife. And we looked all over America to find a mission, preaching the gospel, in a 1040 window, or places where no one ever heard the name Jesus. And we came to the conclusion, after one year of search, that Gospel Fashion is the place to really invest this kind of money. I said, look Chuck, if this is all the money you have, I cannot tell you to send it. You give me three days to pray. I told our office staff to fast and pray. I was in Akron, Ohio, to speak at a mission conference. And I was going up the elevator, and the Lord very clearly, as of I can hear now, clearly He said to me, are you listening? I said, yes Lord. You need to call Chuck today. I said, yes. Tell him, all he can take from him is the money you need for the project you are praying about. And we were praying for a project of a trading center in India, to train workers. It cost about less than $300,000. And I said, Lord, it's not fair. I want that money, and him and his wife, children, everything. No, I didn't argue. I said to my wife, this is funny, we could use $10 million that day. And I went back to the office, and told Chris Davis, our office manager, I said, Chris, I'm sure the Lord spoke to my heart. This is it. He said, fine. So I called him up and said, Chuck, I'm glad for your money, but I can't take all the money. The Lord told us, we can only take this much money from you. And I said, I can give you other mission organizations, name and address, if you want to call and give your money, it's fine. But just for us, this is what we have to do. A lady from another part of America gave me a huge diamond ring. I grabbed that thing. And she said, I want this to be used for printing gospel tracts on the mission field. I take it to Dallas, gave it to Chris, to sell it. She appraised it $20,000. The thing worked. Wow! And that night, I couldn't go to sleep. Somebody troubling me and my conscience. The first step, send the ring back. Send the ring back. And he said, devil, I repeat you. And the boy said, I ain't the devil. It's me. It's me. And I said, Lord, You mean, that money can be used to reach millions of people. Gospel tracts. The Lord said, I understand. Send that back. Next day, when the officer said, Chris, I don't argue with you. I just understand. I'm a spooky maybe. But I have no rest. I'm going to send this ring back. She said, What? She said, Now, you brought this thing in your pocket. Now, I have to insure this thing. I send it back. Send it back. And of course, that night, I said, Lord, what am I going to say to this lady? She's going to think we reject her thing because we don't think it's worth anything. The Lord said, Tell her, I see your sacrifice as Abraham did. It is yours to keep now. I'll tell you what to do with it later. And I wrote the letter with my own hands. A year later, when I was there to speak in a mission conference, I saw this lady. Then, I learned the story. As a young girl, she left the United States with her husband to the mission field in South America somewhere among the tribal people. Her husband died on the mission field. The only thing she ever had was a ring handed down to her from her parents. Alone, living in a one-room house back in America as an older woman now, loving Jesus, serving God. And I said, Lord, I'm grateful that you gave me the heart to listen to you. I'm not after anything from you, but I'm so concerned. I'm so concerned when I see a church like this and the appearance of affluence and the nice things and all the stuff you have. I pray you will not forget a world out there that do not know Jesus and they are going to hell and forever. If one man went to hell and cried out for a drop of water to cool his tongue, it is not one, it is multiplied millions. And the tears will be forever. I want to die, but there's no death. And Jesus, my Lord, died for them and I cannot sit and be at peace. That's how I became a crazy maniac radical. And I have one thing on my mind, to live for Him and challenge you to come along to walk on this narrow road. I've got two children, my Danny and my Sarah, 20-year-old boy and 17-year-old girl. From the day they were born, my prayer was, Lord, please save them and call them to be your workers. When they finished the high school, they both took the flight and went off the mission field now serving God in India. My son is in a place where I was beaten up and stoned and persecuted numerous times. And I said, Lord, if he must be killed and martyred on the mission field, I will be the first one to jump up and down and thank you for the privilege you gave us to give our life for you. American Christians, my brother, my sister, are you godly enough to keep the alarm clock, to wake you up, to weep over the lost world, to fast before the lost world and for God? I know those are strong words. Unless you are sensitive to the Lord, you can easily misunderstand. I am here to put you on a guilt trip or a condemnation trip. We have a problem in America, in our church. We misunderstand obedience for legalism and bondage. I am telling you, I am telling you, a day soon coming, you will regret and repent. Too late it will be over the wasted life we spend for ourselves here. The world out there that do not know Jesus and our priority number one, number one must be, Lord, I love you. As a result of that, I give all to touch the lost world. And where is the lost world? The 1040 window. Nearly 2.7 billion people in India, in Iran, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, part of Africa, in Bhutan, in Bangladesh, that's where people that never heard the gospel and that's where you put your radio broadcast on. That's where you should spend your money on. Many of you are praying for the lost world. Many of you are giving to touch the lost world. May God give you more grace to do more. Conclusion. Some applications. One. I would encourage you to get a world map. People ask me all over the country, KP, where do you buy this map? Oh, we just got one done. This is the first church, first meeting that we are offering. What is new about it? This tells you how to pray for the lost world. Color coordinate, whatever coordination you want to do, put it in your house. NBC, CBS, newspaper, magazine, whatever radio news you hear about Rwanda, Bangladesh, whatever. Hey, listen. Let the news become prayer letter for you. Ask God to break your heart with the things that break His heart. His heart is breaking over the slums. The hundred thousand died in Rwanda. And the blood flowing situation, the cruelty in Sri Lanka or Afghanistan or Bangladesh, that's where His heart is. And you look at the world with you and the children. And if you came to a house in Dallas, you take a shower an hour, shower, the shower curtain is made a world map. When you take a shower, you can go to Burma or Mongolia or Afghanistan. Hey, listen. Be a radical, all out, praise individual for Jesus. You can be. Don't try to keep up with the Jones next door. That Jones is not going to make anywhere. Yes. And so, I'll plead with you. Get a world map. By the way, this map, I don't know, the shops sell them for 15, 20 whatever dollars. We are trying to give all the materials or whatever we can give it. It's about 5 dollars apiece. You can buy your own map and put it in your house. Your children, your husband, wife, you look at the world and say, Lord, I prefer Afghanistan, Bihar, or Pakistan, whatever. So become a world Christian, not worldly Christian. Second. Second, live simple. That means, you know, there was a time, and I say this not out of great pride or joy. I'm broken over this thing when I think about it. There was a time, I was living by the lake, 10 acres of property, 3200 square feet house, A grade lumber I bought from Arkansas just to build a house. Best, most expensive carpet, the most expensive items you can buy in America. Money was sent through my father-in-law and all that Germany so I can buy all this stuff. And clothes from Neiman Marcus. I mean, that's no fun. And I lived like that for 2 years of my life. But finally, when Jesus said to me, Son, how can you live like this with the dry eyes and the stone of heart when the world is going to hell? He didn't condemn me. He didn't beat me upon my head. It was His love. And I said, Lord, stamp eternity on my eyes. My life immediately began to change. Not that selling my property and my house, my cars, my clothes made me any spiritual. Nonsense. If poverty and having no money means you are spiritual, Bangladesh, Africa, India, more spiritual people. I have friends for million years who are living for God and giving all to serve and reach the lost world. It is not... You know, we give here out of abundance. In India, in Burma, in Pakistan, other places, they give. The little rice they have to cook for their children. One meal a day, that's all they may have. They take out one handful of rice and put it aside for mission work. They give out of nothing and sacrifice. Hey, live simple. You don't need another diamond ring, a new car, new house. Hey, listen. How much you need? Trim down your life. Simplify your life. Let no one dictate to you what you should do. Let Jesus tell you and you follow His instructions. If I were to tell you how to do it, I recommend you to read this book, Road to Reality, Coming Home to Jesus, Unreal World. And I wrote this book as a result of that long journey, one year. And thousands write to me, said, Brother K.P., you read the book. We save now thousands of dollars every month that we are wasting. How to simplify your life, you may want to get and read the thing. It's not free. If you don't have any money, you can take one free also. It's about six dollars. But third, take one day of the week to fast and pray. Some of you need to lose half a pound, add one more day. Remember I told you about art of following the Lord, learning to walk in the right direction, following the narrow road, the cross. Hey, the cross is not somebody say, Hey, here is a man take your cross. Nobody dump cross on you. You go after it. You wake you up in the middle of the night to pray for the lost world. You decide to fast, not to lose weight, but for Afghanistan, India, what our Lord and God put upon your heart. You know what? We are trying to save America by marching to Washington instead of fasting and praying for two months. I'm challenging you to find a way to spend one day of the week to fast and pray. Fourth, if God is calling you to go, go somewhere to give your life and serve God. But finally, the most important thing I want to conclude with next two, three minutes is this. Most of you will never make it to India, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, none of those places. But Romans 10 says, All those who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how will they call on Him? They never heard His name. They never heard His name. How will they hear without a preacher or a missionary? How will they preach except they be sent? The skip and linear, when I first met them, began to support several native missionaries. People from India and other countries. They pray for those missionaries in their family prayer time. Every month, they send the money they can send to support those missionaries. And each missionary planned at least one church per year on the mission field. Your greatest investment in this side of life for eternity. And today, I ask you, if the Lord is speaking to you not out of guilt or because any other reason. I tell you, God is not in any trouble. I am not in any trouble either. It is our privilege. There is a card given to you in the bulletin. Would you please pull it out? If you don't have one, you can get it when you go out from the service. Look at this card. I care about the lost and forgotten millions of Asians. I will help native missionaries reach their own people for Jesus. Starting now, I will prayerfully help sponsor one missionary or you can support more than one, $30 a month or whatever money you want to put there and name and address. And in the back of the card, it explains the logic and how it is done. To send an American overseas to a missionary, it takes $70,000-$80,000 per year. It takes less than $1,000 to keep a native missionary full time, a whole year preaching and planning at least one church because they live simple, they live like their people in all these unreached areas. So I would encourage you, like many of you are already doing, would you please, please, today decide, Lord, I want to be a sender of one of those missionaries as a tangible way of living for you and reaching the lost world. All you need to do is fill your name and address and there is a medical doctor that supports 80 missionaries. He and his wife and kids from Fort Wayne, Indiana. And my wife and I support four missionaries. My kids used to go and collect beer cans, Pepsi Cola cans from the streets and sell them, bring the money to us so we can support those missionaries also. Now they are on the mission field. And I ask you, please, do not rush and walk away from this meeting. Ask Jesus. Ask Jesus. Because He said, what you have done to the least of these, my brothers, you have done it for me. We have brought with us hundreds of these missionaries. We have about 2,000 missionaries who are ready to launch out to the mission field to reach the lost. They cannot go unless we help them. When you fill this card out, bring to the foyer outside, here left side, everywhere there are tables. When you bring your card, say, Brother KP, I want to support one or two or ten missionaries. We will give you your missionary to take home with you today. Yeah! Put in the refrigerator, in your Bible, start praying with your family. I tell you, I can't tell you the joy that comes when you look at the four pictures beside our dining table in Dallas and look at their faces and see what God is doing through them. Our life is mixed with them, their life with us. And you can do the same. You will hear from us every month, the envelope that comes, tell you about how you can send your support to the missionary and 100% of all the money you send go to the mission field. Nobody takes one penny out of it for anything. All our people in Dallas, 45 people, they raise their own support. We don't take anything out of this. And you can be sure that go to the mission field. And I wish the Lord, and I pray, would help you to know what He is asking you to do from your heart and He will speak to you. Would you please ask the Lord about helping and praying for these missionaries right now on the field. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the opportunity to share with my brothers and sisters. My feeble words, O Lord, take what is of You. And change us. Jesus, would You please remember Your servants, their wives and children on the field, some of them going hungry, the suffering they go through. Speak to hearts, Lord, that not only we commit our life to You without any reservation, but we will love them, pray for them. We love You so much. If you would like to order any of the books or videos produced by GFA, please call in the U.S. 1-800-WIN-ASIA or in Canada call 1-888-WIN-ASIA or you can visit our website at www.gfa.org
Christ's Call Follow in My Footsteps
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K.P. Yohannan (1950 - 2024). Indian-American missionary, author, and founder of GFA World, born in Niranam, Kerala, to a St. Thomas Syrian Christian family. Converted at eight, he joined Operation Mobilization at 16, serving eight years in India. In 1974, he moved to the U.S., graduating from Criswell College with a B.A. in Biblical Studies, and was ordained, pastoring a Native American church near Dallas. In 1979, he and his German-born wife, Gisela, founded Gospel for Asia (now GFA World), emphasizing native missionaries, growing to support thousands in the 10/40 Window. Yohannan authored over 250 books, including Revolution in World Missions, with 4 million copies printed, and broadcast Athmeeya Yathra in 113 Asian languages. In 1993, he founded Believers Eastern Church, becoming Metropolitan Bishop as Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I in 2018. Married with two children, he faced controversies over financial transparency, including a 2015 Evangelical Council expulsion and 2020 Indian tax raids. His ministry impacted millions through Bible colleges, orphanages, and wells.