Gospel for Asia Finds Child Lost in a Sea of Faces

WILLS POINT, TX — Gospel for Asia (GFA World and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) founded by Dr. K.P. Yohannan — Discussing Jishan, like many abandoned children turned to a life of begging in the streets, and the encounter that brought hope through Gospel for Asia-supported children’s home.

Three-year-old Jishan felt his grip on his father’s finger slip as the crowd jostled them in the marketplace. Suddenly, his father was gone. Strangers surrounded him.

Crying helplessly in the midst of the crowd, Jishan had no idea he would never see his father, mother or sister again.

Jishan is only one of many children who have been separated from their families at bustling marketplaces, such as this busy street. Parents can quickly disappear into a crowd, accidentally or intentionally, and never be seen again by their children.

In the years that followed, Jishan spent many days crying at street corners, hoping his family would find him. Instead, he found disappointment day after day.

Train Ride to a Life of Begging

When a kind man saw little Jishan crying in the market, he took Jishan home to care for him as his own son. Even at such a young age, Jishan’s religious beliefs were strong and contradicted those of his new family. The family treated him very well, but their different beliefs bothered Jishan deeply. Eventually, 9-year-old Jishan ran away and boarded a train bound for a major city.

Upon arriving, Jishan didn’t have a friend in the world. He had nothing to eat for the first two days in the city. To survive, he slept in the train station and partially appeased his gnawing hunger by begging.

“I used to miss my home,” Jishan remembers. “I used to think, What happened to my father? Where is he? I used to cry all alone at the station.”

Jishan grieved the loss of his parents, much like this young boy did. Jishan tried to survive street life on his own, but he was helpless against attacks from older boys.

At one point during the two or three weeks he spent on the streets, a group of boys beat Jishan in the middle of the night and stole the few coins he had earned through begging. Wary of everyone after the attack, Jishan isolated himself from others. But he did not go unnoticed — a loving eye spotted him among the multitudes packed into the city.

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