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  THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR
  by K.P. Yohannan
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Summary: The Gospel to the poor is a powerful way to touch the masses of
Asia, and it requires a spiritual approach to address the root causes of
poverty.

Topics: "Evangelism", "Ministry to the Poor"
Scripture References: Psalm 34:6, Proverbs 19:17, Isaiah 61:1, Matthew 11:5, Matthew 25:40, Mark 14:7, Luke 4:18, Luke 6:20, James 2:5, 1 John 3:17

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DESCRIPTION
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K.P. Yohannan shares his transformative experience of preaching the
Gospel to the poor, emphasizing the divine empowerment he felt as he
spoke words of love and hope. He reflects on his seven years of
evangelistic work in North India, where his passion for the village
people deepened, earning him the nickname 'Gandhi Man.' Yohannan
highlights Jesus' focus on the poor and laboring class, illustrating
that true outreach must come from those who genuinely love and
understand the struggles of the marginalized. He asserts that the fight
against hunger and poverty is fundamentally a spiritual battle,
challenging secular views that separate social issues from spiritual
truths.

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CONTENT
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I began by singing a simple children's chorus. It was all I knew. By the
time I finished, a crowd stood at the foot of the rock. I had not
prepared myself to speak, but all at once God took over and filled my
mouth with words of His love. I preached the Gospel to the poor as Jesus
commanded His disciples to do. As the authority and power of God flowed
through me, I had superhuman boldness. Words came out I never knew I had
--and with a power clearly from above.

Others from the Gospel teams stopped to listen. The question of my age
and calling never came up again. That was 1966, and I continued moving
with mobile evangelistic teams for the next seven years. We traveled all
over North India, never staying very long in any one village. Everywhere
we went I preached in the streets while others distributed books and
tracts. Occasionally, in smaller villages, we witnessed from house to
house.

My urgent, overpowering love for the village people of India and the
poor masses grew with the years. People even began to nickname me
"Gandhi Man" after the father of modern India, Mahatma Gandhi. Like him,
I realized without being told that if the village people of India were
ever to be won, it would have to be by brown-skinned nationals who loved
them.

As I studied the Gospels, it became clear to me that Jesus understood
well the principle of reaching the poor. He avoided the major cities,
the rich, the famous and the powerful, concentrating His ministry on the
poor laboring class. If we reach the poor, we have touched the masses of
Asia.

The battle against hunger and poverty is really a spiritual battle, not
a physical or social one as secularists would have us believe.

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/kp-yohannan/the-gospel-to-the-poor/
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