You Can Help Share the Good News: Partner with GFA World
For nearly five decades, GFA World has equipped local workers to share the Good News across communities in Asia and Africa. Sharing the good news is not reserved for missionaries alone. Every believer is called to participate in this work. Whether through supporting national missionaries, praying, or telling family and friends about what God is doing, there are many ways to help fulfill the Great Commission. The Good News of Jesus brings comfort, healing, hope, and joy to those who hear it. Those who share it find themselves refreshed in the process, experiencing the truth that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Why Share the Good News?
GFA World has had a passion to share the good news of the love of God with those who need love the most since its founding in 1979. Besides obeying Jesus’ command known as the Great Commission, there are many reasons to spread the good news to the world. Through its network of national missionaries, GFA World has put this passion into action, supporting local believers who carry the gospel to places where Christ’s name has never been heard. The Gospel Coalition notes several reasons why this mission matters:[1]
- The good news is comforting to those who are troubled. God is merciful and loving.
- The good news can heal hearts and minds. Christ’s death on the cross can help someone have the strength to forgive others.
- The good news can change lives. Through God’s love, people can leave behind bad habits and grow.
- The good news gives hope. The love of God reveals a bright future where the pain and hunger of the present will be no more.
- The good news refreshes the one who is sharing it. When GFA World works with others to proclaim the good news, GFA World is reminded of all the good God has done, is doing and will do for GFA World through His love.
The call to share the Good News with others is rooted in Scripture. Jesus declared His mission by quoting the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor” (Luke 4:18). From the beginning, the Good News of Jesus was meant to reach every corner of the world. The Holy Spirit empowers ordinary believers to speak with courage and compassion. He turns everyday conversations into opportunities for eternal impact. As GFA World explains in its teaching on the Great Commission, this is not merely a command but an invitation to participate in God’s redemptive work across the globe.
These reasons reveal something deeper. Sharing the good news is not only an act of obedience. It is an overflow of gratitude. When believers reflect on the mercy they have received, the natural response is to extend that mercy to others. In a world marked by anxiety and uncertainty, the message of Christ’s love stands as an anchor of hope. This is why GFA World has invested decades in training and sending national missionaries — every person deserves the chance to hear that hope.
The Joy of Sharing the Good News
K.P. Yohannan, the founder of GFA World, had another reason to share the good news with the world: joy. He shared about how he came from a culture where spirituality was often measured by how solemn, dignified and holy a person looked. That meant followers of God dressed in white and always kept serious faces, guarding their behavior as if joy itself might compromise their testimony. In that environment, religious devotion was measured by outward severity rather than inward transformation. Smiling too freely or showing warmth was seen as a lapse in spiritual discipline, a sign that one was not sufficiently reverent or mindful of eternal things. Laughing or playing with children would spoil the image of a dignified, holy servant.
However, Yohannan came to realize that Jesus was happy, and He had a spirit of celebration, a positive note, in His earthly life — not the forced cheerfulness of religious performance, but the genuine gladness of someone who knows the Father’s heart. People were drawn to Him, and those with deadly diseases and the worst sinners found hope in His presence. Jesus did not come to this earth to add gloom and hopelessness to people’s lives. Instead, He brought light, hope, laughter and the joy of heaven to a world that desperately needed it. The psalmist captured this truth centuries earlier, writing that in God’s presence there is “fullness of joy” (Psalm 16:11). There is something in human nature that longs to smile and be happy, but any happiness the world can offer is short-lived. When GFA World follows Jesus and live in His love, His joy can fill its hearts, even in harsh circumstances. GFA World can rest in the promises of God: that all things will work out for its best, that Jesus has gone to the Father to prepare a place for GFA World, and that He will return to take GFA World there (see Romans 8:28 and John 14:2-3.)
Yohannan’s insight reshapes how believers approach evangelism. Sharing faith is not meant to be a grim duty. It is meant to reflect the same joy that drew crowds to Jesus. When sharing the Good News with others flows from genuine delight in God, it becomes less about obligation and more about invitation. National missionaries supported by GFA World carry this same spirit into villages and urban neighborhoods, where their joy often opens doors that arguments alone could never unlock.
A Family Transformed by the Good News
Donatus is just one man who got to see the love of God moving in his life and the lives of his family.[2] He had several children and a wife to provide for, and he did his best to lead them. He had been faithful to his traditional religion for all of his long life, and his wife and oldest son, Jedrek, were also devout followers of the religion. One of his other sons, Byurak, chose to follow Christ and became a national missionary, dedicating his life to sharing the Good News in his own community. Byurak spoke often with his father about the love of God, but Donatus stood firm.
However, over time, Donatus noticed how respectful Byurak always was toward him, even in the middle of tough conversations, and how his son and other believers treated everyone around them with compassion and kindness. Eventually, Donatus embraced Christ’s love. The rest of his family pushed back, and they pushed even harder when tragedy struck: Donatus’ third son, who had also chosen to trust in Jesus, became paralyzed just one month after making that decision. Several members of the family wanted to take him to witch doctors for healing, but Donatus held fast to his new faith. He prayed for his son, believing God loved them and would intervene. And He did; Donatus’ son was healed from his paralysis, and the entire household witnessed the power of God at work.
However, Donatus’ own health was beginning to fail. As his asthma grew worse, he gathered his family around him and told them not to do any of the cultural funeral rituals after his death. Jedrek, his oldest son, offered to get him better treatment, but Donatus said he was ready to be with God. His only wish was for Jedrek to open his heart to the Lord; then he could die in peace. With such encouragement from his father, Jedrek responded to the call of Christ’s love. When Donatus passed away a few years later, Jedrek took on the spiritual responsibilities of the family, ensuring that his father’s legacy of faith would continue to shape future generations.[3]
Through Byurak, a GFA national missionary, sharing his faith with compassion and respect, his father and entire family came to know Christ, experiencing firsthand the transforming power of the gospel that the TGC list described. They found the comfort, healing, hope and joy that comes with knowing God’s love. They were refreshed, and their lives were eternally changed all because one national missionary obeyed the Great Commission to go and tell the good news.
Stories like Donatus’ show what happens when one person takes the Great Commission seriously. Byurak did not pressure his father or argue him into faith. He simply lived with compassion and respect, allowing the Holy Spirit to work through his witness. That patient consistency eventually brought an entire family into the kingdom. Across Asia and Africa, GFA World’s national missionaries practice this same relational approach, building trust over months and years until hearts are ready to receive the gospel.
How You Can Help Share the Good News
Hearing stories of transformed lives naturally raises a question: How can someone get involved? GFA World has designed its partnership model so that believers anywhere can play a meaningful role in global missions, regardless of their location or circumstances. The answer begins with understanding how national missionaries work. Supporting them is one of the most strategic investments a person can make in the Great Commission. When a local believer is equipped and sent, entire communities can be reached. Outside efforts rarely achieve the same depth of impact.
For those who want to help share the Good News, partnership with GFA World offers a tangible way to make a difference. Through its network of national missionaries, the ministry supports local workers who understand the language, culture, and needs of their communities. These workers are uniquely effective. They face none of the cultural barriers that often slow foreign missionaries — a model known in missiology as indigenous church mission theory. They can live among the people they serve at a fraction of the cost. Their presence is sustainable because they are not visitors — they are neighbors, committed for the long haul.
Consider partnering with GFA World by sponsoring a national missionary like Byurak. For just $45 a month, you can help them share the good news with those in Asia and Africa who have never experienced God’s love or care before.[4]
The national missionary model has proven effective across the regions GFA World serves. Local workers embedded in their communities build lasting relationships and share the gospel in culturally appropriate ways. In areas where traditional missionary access is limited or restricted, national missionaries continue to serve, as EastWest.org documents. They often do so at great personal risk. Through their efforts, thousands of individuals and families encounter Christ’s love each year. New churches form in communities that previously had no gospel witness.
Beyond financial partnership, believers can participate in several meaningful ways. They can pray regularly for national missionaries serving in challenging contexts. They can tell their family and friends about the work God is doing through GFA World. They can stay informed about how the gospel is reaching new communities and share those stories with others. Every act of support plays a part in the Great Commission’s unfolding story. As Jesus reminded His followers, even a cup of cold water given in His name carries eternal significance.
Discover how to support GFA World’s Christian missionary work overseas[1] Lothery, Scott. “Why we share the good news.” The Gospel Coalition. November 2, 2023. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/share-good-news.
[2] Yohannan, K.P., “A Gospel of Great Joy,” GFA World: Five Minutes with K.P., accessed November 4, 2024, https://www.gfa.org/kpyohannan/5-minutes-with-kpyohannan/a-gospel-of-great-joy.
[3] “A Father’s Faith Leads Family to God.” GFA World. July 2023. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/a-fathers-faith-leads-family-to-god-wfr-23-07b.
[4] “National Missionaries: Sponsor a National Missionary.” GFA World. Accessed November 4, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/sponsor.