Dear Friends,
Ordinarily, our newsletters focus on the work of our South Asian missionary partners.
Harvest Bridge exists to be a bridge between the harvest in South Asia and the church in the West, so we advocate for our South Asian brothers and sisters, sharing how the Lord is working through them. In most cases, these faithful members of our Christian family would not otherwise have a voice on these shores.
However, we would not be able to fulfill this mission without your prayers and support.
By God’s design, Christians have different gifts and roles. Donors and prayer supporters are just as indispensable as front-line missionaries.
As Paul explains, the church is like a body with many parts (1 Cor. 12:12). Just as the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you!” each of us is dependent on the others (1 Cor. 12:21).
Coming alongside our Christian family in South Asia is a two-way street; a win-win on both sides of the bridge.
Your part in Harvest Bridge’s mission not only benefits South Asian Christians and those to whom they minister. In an increasingly interconnected world, we all benefit from this work.
Every unreached people group that gains access to the Gospel, every suffering family that rises out of extreme poverty, every pastor who completes a seminary course, every vulnerable community that receives life-saving aid after a devastating natural disaster, every child from a marginalized group who attends school through a sponsorship program – all these and more are crucial steps toward building a more peaceful, just, flourishing world.
The effects of these ministries reverberate around the globe and positively impact it in numerous ways.
God has called His servants to work to build a flourishing world since the beginning.
When He placed humans in the Garden, He gave them a mandate to “work it and take care of it” (Gen. 2:15).
When He sent the Israelites into exile in Babylon, He instructed them to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city” and “pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jer. 29:7).
He tells us in Isaiah 1:17 to “Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.” In other words, to work toward a flourishing society.
He asks, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly before your God” (Micah 6:8).
These words continue to ring true in the New Testament era, as Christians follow the One who taught us to love even our enemies (Mat. 5:44). Obeying Christ’s command to make disciples of all nations (Mat. 28:19-20) involves not only evangelism, but teaching God’s instructions for His people in every area of life.
“We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
This love of Christ spills over into a hurting a world through His followers, who serve the poor, help the oppressed, nurture the child, protect the widow and orphan, and love the enemy.
Disciple-making requires holistic ministry to whole persons – spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. As God’s teachings are put into practice by His disciples, the condition of our world slowly but surely improves.
“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” (1 Corinthians 12:26).
As the Gospel spreads and its influence betters our world, your partnership with the South Asian church also brings personal benefits.
When we work alongside our brothers and sisters who serve in contexts of severe poverty and persecution virtually unknown in the West, we can learn much from the ways they live out their faith in these difficult contexts.
To learn and grow from our Asian missionary partners, we encourage you to follow our blog, newsletters and social media.
Our Asian partners are deeply grateful for your support, and they pray for you regularly.
In addition, we invite you to send us specific prayer requests. To send requests, please write to [email protected] or mail a note to our post office box, which is listed at the bottom of this page.
We will include these requests in our prayer time during staff meetings.
We can’t thank you enough for the crucial part you play in this work!
In Christ,
Andrew David
Director of International Partnerships