Gospel for Asia Plans 2006 'Renewing Your Passion' Conference
by Allie Martin
April 10, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The head of a ministry that trains and equips Christians in India to spread the gospel throughout their native country is bringing a bit of the mission field to believers in the United States this summer. For the second year in a row, Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA) is holding a conference on bringing the gospel to people as yet unreached for Christ around the globe. The event, called "Renewing Your Passion," will be held in Dallas from June 30 through July 2 and will feature missionaries from the ministry sharing about the struggles and triumphs of working in some of the most unreached areas of the world.
Dr. K.P. Yohannan, president and founder of GFA, says if he could, he would take believers from America to the mission field to witness "the amazing miracles and wonders the Lord is doing" there. But barring that, he says the 2006 Renewing Your Passion conference will give participants a sampling of what life is like for the ministry's native mission field leaders as they share their hearts about the realities of bringing the love of God and the good news of Jesus Christ to the lost in unreached regions.
Participants will also hear a message from GFA's founder and have opportunities to meet and talk with members of the ministry's home staff and leadership. A Saturday evening prayer meeting and corporate worship on Sunday are also planned, and throughout the event, those gathered will hear encouraging stories bearing witness to the power of intercession and the Lord's faithfulness in answering prayer on the mission fields of Asia.
This year's Renewing Your Passion conference will be a dramatic time of sharing that will have a lasting impact on the lives of American Christians, Yohannan promises. "The three days people are here," he says, "we'll have a dozen of our significant leaders from all these nations like Bangladesh, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka."
These servants from the mission fields "will be speaking, and there'll be stories and testimonies of people who have been to jail, [telling of their] imprisonment and the scars they have on their bodies," the ministry leader continues. He says the 2006 gathering in Dallas "is an opportunity to really encounter some authentic, radical followers of Christ and be impacted by their presence and their stories."
Yohannan feels members of the church in the U.S. can learn a lot about authentic Christianity from native missionaries who have had to endure many hardships for the sake of the Gospel, even as he himself has learned -- and continues to learn -- a great deal from them.
"What I'm learning, once again," the GFA president observes, "is there's no authentic Christianity one can experience without our willingness to suffer. I don't mean just physical suffering, but accepting the inconveniences that our flesh literally hates."
After the first "Renew Your Passion" conference last year, Yohannan adds, several participants told GFA the experience had changed their lives and revitalized their churches. The ministry's founder feels certain the same will be true for this year's participants as well.
Allie Martin, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
