K.P. Yohannan's Blog, page 11

Mother’s Day Encouragements

I want you to imagine something with me. Picture in your mind 80,000 children who are getting food and an education and hope for their themselves and their families. And now add to that tens of thousands of people whose lives are changed because they now have clean drinking water. And let’s also think about countless people who have received a mosquito net or a goat or a sewing machine, and who are themselves climbing out of poverty and making a better future for themselves and their communit...

Kyrie-Eleison

Your holy presence
my spirit longs for
but my flesh rebels

Kyrie-Eleison.*

Memories of duties neglected
prompting of your Spirit
ignored and disobeyed

Kyrie-Eleison.

When the poor and needy
knocked at my door
now I know it was You

Kyrie-Eleison.

Thank You for grace
mercy and forgiveness
Here I am on my knees

Kyrie-Eleison.

*Greek: Lord, have mercy.

K.P. Yohannan. “Prayer” Dance Not for Time. GFA Books, 2013, p. 93.

Click here to read more articles by Dr. KP Yohannan Metropolitan, or visi...

Who Qualifies to Stand in the Gap for a World in Need?

In Ezekiel 22, we read God’s description of how spiritually corroded the nation of Israel had become. And then, in verse 26, He tells us how it happened:

“Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean.”

When I read these words, they really spoke to my heart. I want to draw your attention to the part of this verse where God says, “They have not dist...

“What is the Worth of This Street Girl, My Friend?”

You can make a significant difference in the life of a desperate street child in Asia. Click this pic to find out how.

One late afternoon, on Bombay’s street
I walked alone to meet a friend
There was a street I had to cross
I waited for the light, with many like me.

Children crowded all around me
Stretched out their arms begging for help
I have known this scene a million times
I told myself to look angry and mean.

Pathetic cries came from everywhere
I said to myself, “It is all a fake.
Don’...

Fill Your Heart With God’s Word in Order to Keep Moving Forward

Several years ago, on the way to the airport to meet a friend, I stopped at a gas station to fill the empty tank of my car. After watching the indicator pass $15, $18, $20 and $24, I said to myself, “Something is wrong.” So I stopped pumping and looked under the car to see if gas was leaking out, but it wasn’t. The pump finally shut off at $38. When I got home, I complained about the high gas prices to my wife, Gisela. She laughed and said, “Well, you haven’t filled the tank in a long whi...

How Can You Tell if You’re Deceived?

Sometimes, the negative thoughts we have about ourselves are actually thoughts we didn’t come up with ourselves; they were planted in our minds, somewhere along the way, by Satan, meant to deceive us about our true identity.

In The Silver Chair, one of the books in the Chronicles of Narnia series, author C.S. Lewis vividly illustrates what happens when someone falls under deception.

Prince Rilian, the king’s son and heir to the throne of Narnia, is held captive by the enchantments of a wick...

Carried

I saw the cat carrying its kittens
ever so gently
from place to place.

I saw the sparrow sitting in her nest
over her little ones
in spite of the rain.

I saw the hen gathering her chicks
under her wings
at the sighting of the crow.

I saw the monkey leaping from branch to branch
holding her baby
so it won’t fall.

I saw myself
so helpless
and fragile
Held so tightly by an unseen hand.

I looked up into His face—
Jesus, full of love and grace.

K.P. Yohannan. “Carried.” Dance Not for Time. GFA Bo...

We Always Have the Choice: Me or Others?

I am often deeply moved when I get to talk with some of our Sisters of Compassion and hear about their deep walks with the Lord, and see how they are giving up so much to be able to serve “the least of these.”

Many of these sisters serve those affected by leprosy, and I want to tell you about one team of four of them, who are serving in a leprosy colony.

These sisters clean and dress the people’s wounds, and they cut their hair and clip their nails and do so many other things to help our f...

Do Something to Protect a Family from Malaria

I think as humans, we have a natural desire for our lives to count for something. We want to make an impact. We hope that, in the end, what we choose to do with our time and resources is worth it.

But how do we accomplish this? One of the things I’ve learned on my journey is the significance of little things. There’s an old English proverb that says:

For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost.
For want of a horseshoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rid...

Go Find the Hurting and Bring Them to Christ

I heard about a dog
who was hit by a car
driven by a doctor
on his way to work.

Stopping the car,
he got out and saw
the whining dog
with a broken leg.

He took the dog with him
to his clinic nearby
bound up the wound
gave some food.

In a few weeks
the dog was well.

Now it became a custom
for the dog to visit
the doctor at work and
they became friends.

A few months later,
the doctor heard a scratch
from the rear door
of his clinic.

He opened the door
and saw his friend
who brought a dog
with...