I first heard of the Bridge of Hope program when I became a blogger for the Gospel of Asia Ministry. I have read stories of children whose lives seemed hopeless until they were enrolled in this program where they were given a chance for a better future. They were provided with daily meals, regular medical check-ups and a quality education so that one day they would be able to get good jobs and provide for themselves and their families. And most importantly, they learned about Jesus.
One day an illiterate man went to the Bridge of Hope centre with a strange request. Would the staff there send the “medical doctor named Jesus” to help his sick wife? how did this man know that Jesus could heal the sick? He learned this from a little boy named Nibun, a first-grader. Nibun listened as his teachers talked about Jesus healing the sick, delivering people from evil spirits and feeding the hungry. It was Nibun’s father who came with the strange request. It was Nibun’s mother who was sick.
The family was poor. They lived in a mud hut and couldn’t afford to go to a hospital. Most of the doctors were miles away. It was too long of a trek on a dirt path through the woods, especially for a sick person. Nibun’s mother was very ill. His father tried to do everything he could. He cried out to his gods to help her but she got worse until she became critical. It was then that Nibun told his father about Jesus, but the man thought that there was a doctor with that name working at the Bridge of Hope centre.
The staff at the centre responded to the father’s desperate request and went with him to his home. They talked to the family about Jesus and His love, sacrifice and power to heal. Then, they laid hands on the woman and prayed to God to heal her. And He did. The news soon spread throughout the small village and several people came to know the Lord that week and the following week more families placed their faith in Jesus. Families are attending a local church where they are growing in God’s grace and increasing their knowledge of Jesus.
Many lives were changed because of a little boy who learned about Jesus at the Bridge of Hope centre and believed that He could heal his mother. This program not only brings hope to children like Nibun but it transforms communities. It brings the light of God’s love and the hope found only in Jesus Christ to many people.
