Gospel for Asia vs. terrorism

It's now one week since five armed terrorists kidnapped Pastor Ponnachan George from a Bible school campus in Assam, India, operated by Gospel for Asia (GFA). George is reportedly being held in a forest hideout, and his captors have issued death threats along with demands for a "a very large" ransom, according to GFA officials.

George has overseen 26 Bridge of Hope centers that educate children, three radio broadcasts, a Bible college, and some 200 churches plus 300 missionaries. GFA says it is maintaining a policy of non-negotiation with terrorists for money, and is asking for prayer for the release of George and the sustaining of his wife and two teenage children.

I interviewed earlier this year K.P. Yohannan, GFA's founder and international director: The Q-and-A has been in WORLD's queue for publication later this year, but given the latest news this may be the time to familiarize readers with Yohannan and GFA.

American Christians sometime speak of suffering persecution in the U.S., but I suspect we should call it "harassment," and save the word "persecution" for what happens in Asia and elsewhere …

In America, persecution is someone says some bad words. In Orissa [an Indian state] 50,000 believers have to flee into the jungles for their lives. Right now we have a dear brother in prison in Bhutan for the next three years.

What's his "crime"?

Preaching the gospel, baptizing people, seeing a church planted. A brother in Nepal was ten years in prison for seeing the work of God established. Just now he got released. I ran into brothers and sisters with scars on their foreheads and wounds. When they remove their shirts you can see healed wounds they received from beating and abuse. A brother saw them kill his own sister in front of his eyes for she wouldn't deny her faith.

GFA is well-known for supporting indigenous missionaries in Asia instead of importing them…

Eighty percent of the world's countries are completely restricted for others to come in and be missionaries, preach the gospel, baptize, and plant churches. Also, it takes $70-80,000 to send an American family to one of these countries. For that amount we can have 30-40 brothers or lady missionaries helping to plant a church and have it become self-supporting.

Periodically we hear predictions that millions of Dalits-those in India's "untouchable" sub-caste - will turn to Christ, and then it doesn't occur. Is something taking place under the media radar?

Many of them are making their journey to Buddhism, some to Islam, but the majority are opting for the freedom and the hope that is in Christ. Responsible organizations will not give you all the information of what's going on because Americans are insatiable with information: They put it all over the world, and then people get murdered and rudely abused. My answer to you is God is working.

One of the ways Americans learn about things happening elsewhere in the world is through short-term mission trips. Are those valuable?

Please take the word "mission" out of this thing. It is wrong for a pastor or a church or a denomination to say we have a tremendous mission program of fifty young people going to China. Having said that, I would say to the same church, please spend your money to send these kids overseas for two weeks or three weeks. Let them walk through the 5-million-people slums in Mumbai. Let them go to Kathmandu. Let them find out what's going on.

What effect do you think a trip like that would have?

They will come back as an 18-year-old, their lives impacted forever so they will not end up living like their parents: Earn the new car, earn the new house, earn the degree, earn the new gadgets. Life-changing trips: Would the church rather spend money on that or buy another chandelier?