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Family’s Christmas spirit helps Asians in dire need
Consider the gift of animals this holiday season.
LISBON — Nothing says Christmas like a pair of chickens.
That’s not the Christmas meal, but a gift of two live chickens at the bargain price of $11.
Two rabbits are available for the same cost, while a pair of pigs are available for $55. A big spender may splurge on a water buffalo for $460.
While Americans may be cutting back for the holidays this year because of high prices and financial upheaval, Cindy Morrissey of Lisbon, her husband, Matt, and their five children are Christians who are promoting help to dalits in Asia.
Dalits are the so-called untouchables of the caste system found in some Asian countries who live at the rock bottom of the economic scale.
There are several religious and secular political organizations working for religious freedom, social justice and human rights in Asia.
The Morrissey family is working with Gospel for Asia based near Dallas that is headed by founder Dr. Y.P. Yohannan.
The ministry operates in a number of countries, but spends about 75 percent of its time in India.
The gift catalog is just one way of recruiting funds for the needy, said Sean Carter, a spokesman for the ministry.
Mrs. Morrissey said she recently filled in at an expo in Pittsburgh. No one contributed to the program, but she said several people took informational material.
The idea is to breed the animals to provide food and income. A water buffalo would provide years of work.
“In modern civilization, we spend money on fast food and things we don’t need,” said Mrs. Morrissey. “God has blessed us with a tremendous amount of money, not so we could hoard it, but share it.”
Much of the work is in the country’s remote areas.
“These people have never heard of Jesus. They have never heard of Coca-Cola,” she said.
Receiving an animal or animals is not based on a person’s being a Christian, Carter said.
The gifts are strictly an outreach program, he explained.
Yohannan is in contact with local district leaders and pastors in towns and villages who know the needs of residents, Carter said.
People can also directly sponsor a youth through its Bridge of Hope program for $28 a month. A missionary can be sponsored for $30 a month.
Other gifts are a blanket for $5, or a tool kit to plant a food garden for $80.
Mrs. Morrissey said her experience with the ministry was life-changing. She said it showed her how many people think about how much they have versus how little others have.
“That is not biblical,” she said.
For more information, visit: www.gfa.org/
wilkinson@vindy.com