As is common among the poor, life for Aravind and his family was always complicated. His father, Hukka, was unable to find enough work locally to generate an income adequate to meet the most basic of his family’s needs. Because Hukka loved his family, he had to journey to a neighboring state to find employment. His long-distance commute meant he would be away from home for a month or more at a time, returning with wages he hoped would help his wife and son make it through his next absence. Yet, even what he was able to earn was not enough.
“There are countless young boys and girls in Asia who suffer under the crushing burden of generational abject poverty.”
Making matters worse, Aravind had begun to lose the ability to see after sunset. He was suffering from night-blindness. For Hukka and his family, this was just another obstacle in their lives and a foreshadowing of how the curse of generational poverty would be visited upon his son.
Then, something changed.
Because of the generosity of people halfway around the globe, Aravind was able to join a nearby Bridge of Hope center. The Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported center provided him with a new school uniform, shoes, books, winter clothes and personal hygiene products—some of which he had never even see before.
He actually cried the first time he washed his hair with shampoo—and it wasn’t because the shampoo had gotten into his eyes. It was because he was experiencing the love of Jesus Christ.
Wills Point, Texas – Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report Part 3 – Discussing the impact of quality education on the eradication of extreme poverty and illiteracy.
More than 250 million women in Asia are illiterate. The women pictured learned how to read for the first time through Gospel for Asia supported literacy programs.
Gospel for Asia Introduces Quality Education to Families in Poverty
Remember hardworking Dayita and her roaming children? Their story also serves as an example of the powerful gift of education.
One day, some staff members from a local Gospel for Asia-supported Bridge of Hope center met Dayita and her family. Upon hearing of her struggle and seeing the condition of the family, the staff members offered Dayita’s 7-year-old daughter, Kasni, the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to go to school.
That day changed the course of Dayita and Kasni’s family: The cycle of poverty and illiteracy began to break.
Dayita’s 7-year-old daughter Kasni is now enrolled in a GFA-supported Bridge of Hope center and is learning skills that will enable her to leave the cycle of poverty behind.
Dayita had never dreamed she would be able to send her daughter to school, yet now her little Kasni was developing and growing into a bright young student. Kasni’s future would hold more hope than her own had held at age 7, and hopefully Kasni would be spared from many of the trials Dayita had experienced from her illiteracy.
The Bridge of Hope center impacted the family in additional ways, too. Kasni received a nutritious meal every school day, which helped ease the financial burden of the family. She and the other Bridge of Hope students participated in health awareness programs and medical checkups, and all their books and school supplies were provided by the center. In addition, special programs were held regularly to help cultivate students’ social skills and character.
Kasni continued to care for her younger siblings for a portion of the day, and with her new skills of respect and responsibility, she was better equipped in her role as an elder sister.
Many of the things Kasni learned through the center benefited her mother as well. Special programs for the parents helped Dayita grow in knowledge, too.
Kasni is just one among 75,000 children enrolled in GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program. Through Bridge of Hope, these children and their families are finding a new way of life—a life that leads to hope and a door out of poverty.
Teachers at GFA-supported Bridge of Hope centers teach with love and care, which helps the children enjoy class and excel in their studies.
Efforts to Reduce Poverty Through Quality Education
Overwhelming evidence of education’s effectiveness in reducing poverty has prompted massive efforts around the world to make quality education available to everyone—especially to the poor.
An instructor plays with kindergarten children at an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Haiti. (Photo credit UNICEF)
These efforts range from large-scale endeavors like those of UNICEF and Global Partnership for Education, to family-run schools and volunteer-led tutoring. Although the groups are different in size, they have one significant component in common: people who are doing what they can to help the needy children in their sphere.
Gospel for Asia (GFA) is just one of those players, yet God is using this one organization to impact thousands of lives. GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program began in 2004 and was designed to help transform the lives of children who live in poverty.
“These children have learned to dream, and their education equips them to pursue those dreams, contribute to society and raise their children-to-come with the same life-changing values they have embraced.”
Stories abound of the transformations taking place in these little children—children who are growing up to be well-equipped adults who know they have value and potential. Children who were painfully shy or woefully behind in their studies when they started at Bridge of Hope later dream of becoming doctors, engineers or teachers.
Others aspire to design clothing or to help poverty-stricken families climb out of poverty. Some will grow up to hold positions of great influence in their society, others will help their family farms prosper in improved ways, and still others will invest into the lives of their children the way Bridge of Hope teachers invested in their own lives. These children have learned to dream, and their education equips them to pursue those dreams, contribute to society and raise their children-to-come with the same life-changing values they have embraced.
Aayush joined Bridge of Hope at 10 years old. Now a capable young man equipped with a quality education, he is pursuing his goal of becoming a teacher.
As far as which comes first, poverty or lack of education, the answer isn’t clear. But the solution is clear. And when you address one issue, you also address the other. The “magnetic draw” between poverty and education doesn’t only have to pull people down; it can also give the leg up needed to escape both perpetuating cycles.
Despite the magnitude of the task and the global scale at which quality education is needed, we’re talking about individual human lives, each one precious and full of potential. While the statistics of need can be overwhelming, we must stop and celebrate the lives that are being touched and the futures that are being transformed. Just one life changed in a village can multiply to impact hundreds of other lives.
It is good to ask ourselves what our part is in these global efforts. Not everyone is meant to be the leader of a large-scale movement to bring education to the world. Some people need to be teachers; others need to be financial backers for those who are on the frontlines; and others can be advocates for quality education in their own spheres of influence.
What is your part?
Solutions to Poverty Line Problems of the Poor & Impoverished: Part 1 | Part 2
This Special Report article originally appeared on gfa.org
To read more on the need of quality education worldwide on Patheos, go here.
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Wills Point, Texas – Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report Part 2 – Discussing the impact of educational development on the eradication of extreme poverty.
Education’s Holistic Impact on Family Life, Income
God’s creation of the human mind is a marvelous thing. It has the capacity to imagine, dream, create, cherish, remember, deduce, learn and use logic.
When given opportunities through education to learn, cultivate skills and dream, we are capable of accomplishing extraordinary things. To name a few, these include sending human beings into space, discovering medical breakthroughs, crafting new written languages and rebuilding crumbled economies.
This woman works alongside her husband to make bricks, bringing her infant with her. Both men and women work hard in rural villages to try to make ends meet.
We’ve glimpsed snapshots of what happens when mankind lacks the necessary opportunities to cultivate the amazing mind God has granted him.
Underdeveloped minds and absent opportunities steal much of the influence people could make if they only had a chance.
What does it look like when people with little or no opportunity to receive an education are at last given that chance?
An article posted by Schools & Health states,
“Education is fundamental to sustainable development, it is a powerful driver of development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty and improving health; it enables people to be more productive, to earn a better living and enjoy a better quality of life, while also contributing to a country’s overall economic growth.”[1]
Girls study in a UNICEF-supported ‘tent school’ in Afghanistan. Many of their families have been displaced by conflict. (Photo credit UNICEF)
The strong connection between education and income is easy to identify. For every year of primary education received as a child, a worker’s earnings experience a 10 percent increase.[2]
Knowledge of a skill empowers breadwinners to find jobs with better pay and better hours. A literate person in Pakistan earns 23 percent more than an illiterate worker. And in the female workforce, a woman with high literacy skills can earn 95 percent more than an illiterate woman or one who has low literacy skills.[3]
In rural Indonesia, those who finish lower secondary education are twice as likely to escape poverty. In addition, their chances of descending into poverty are reduced by a quarter.[4]
In one study done by an EFA Global Monitoring Report team, findings revealed,
“If all students in low income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty, which would be equivalent to a 12% cut in world poverty.”[5]
Increased education doesn’t only open new job opportunities for breadwinners; it also enables workers to succeed in their inherited family businesses. Farmers who receive an education are more likely to implement the use of fertilizers and be better equipped to understand the needs of their crops and soil.
Equipped with mathematical skills, a parent can wisely make choices on purchases, contracts and family budgets. And in any business, an increased understanding of finances and mathematics helps guard business owners against being taken advantage of.
If a mother can read, her child is 50 percent more likely to live past the age of 5.
Education’s Impact on Health
By learning how to wash his hands, this young student in GFA’s Bridge of Hope Program helps his family to be more healthy.
The increase in pay a literate person receives also increases their chance for a healthier life. The extra income buys food for children who might otherwise suffer from malnutrition; it gives the family the option of visiting a doctor for medical treatment—and even better, it enables them to undergo preventative medical care such as regular checkups or vaccinations.
A healthy breadwinner misses fewer days of work than a sickly one, and medical bills demand less from the family budget. But education’s impact on a family’s health extends beyond their improved financial situation.
Education also empowers parents to make wise, healthy choices for their families.
If a mother can read, her child is 50 percent more likely to live past the age of 5.[6] The mother is able to read warning labels and follow those simple instructions intended to protect her family from diseases or accidents.
In places where education is absent, superstitions abound. Misconceptions on proper health practices endanger grown adults and children alike—especially children in the womb. In the case of one mother in Asia, her lack of education tragically resulted in her child perishing before birth.[7] Sadly, her story is repeated in villages across the globe. Simple health care classes for women who never received education can mean the difference between lost pregnancies and healthy, full-term babies.
One of the most common hygiene practices—hand washing—is virtually unknown in some parts of the world. According to UNICEF,
“Rates of handwashing around the world are low. Observed rates of handwashing with soap at critical moments—i.e., before handling food and after using the toilet—range from zero percent to 34 percent.”
As a result, easily avoided illnesses are claiming millions of lives. Every year, diarrhea claims the lives of more than 1.5 million children under the age of 5; proper handwashing practices can reduce diarrhea by more than 40 percent.[8]
A person’s health impacts their education as well: A study among primary schools in China with active hand-washing promotions and distributions of soap identified that students missed 54 percent fewer days of school compared to students whose schools had no such program.[9]
No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.Nelson Mandela
Education Development and It’s Impact on Society
There is power in education. “No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated,” said Nelson Mandela.[10]
“Education inspires dreams and equips citizens to pursue their goals.”
Education inspires dreams and equips citizens to pursue their goals. The resulting entrepreneurial efforts help boost economies and create jobs, which aids in global efforts to eliminate poverty.
Literacy is also key to being informed about what is taking place around the world. It builds global awareness into a person’s heart and enables them to engage with others in ways that are impossible without literacy.
The UN states that “quality early education provides children with basic cognitive and language skills and fosters emotional development.”[11] Alternatively, an estimated US$129 billion is lost each year due to the 250 million children globally who are not learning basic skills (and thus have less potential).[12] The importance of quality education on society is revealed by its inclusion in the UN’s global Sustainable Development Goals.[13]
Ashima once faced punishment at school and scolding at home because her family could not afford the school supplies she needed. After she enrolled in Bridge of Hope, which provided for all of her school needs, plus many other gifts to support Ashima’s development, she shares, “My future ambition is that I want to become a medical doctor. Especially I want to serve the poor from our society.”
Beyond influencing the economy of a society, education also touches the fibers of morals and lifestyles in a region.
According to Professor W. Steven Barnett, author of Preschool Education and Its Lasting Effects: Research and Policy Implications, a child’s academic success can be impacted by early childhood education, which can also reduce incidences of crime and delinquency.[14]
“Beyond influencing the economy of a society, education also touches the fibers of morals and lifestyles in a region.”
The National Scientific Council on the Developing Child confirms that a person’s childhood heavily influences their mental, physical and emotional development, with children raised in secure, loving environments thriving more than children who have experienced trauma even one time.[15]
Do you remember the joy you felt as a child when you did something well in school? The sense of accomplishment and the praise from a teacher or parent give courage and confidence to approach other challenges in life. In the same way, the shame felt when encountering failure can hinder children in life. If a child grows up with a constant sense of failure and insufficiency, that can result in low self-esteem and lack of confidence.
Training children at an early age to pursue their goals and giving them the tools they need to succeed prepare them to thrive in the future challenges they will face as adults.
Solutions to Poverty Line Problems of the Poor & Impoverished: Part 1 | Part 3
This Special Report article originally appeared on gfa.org
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
literWills Point, Texas – Gospel for Asia (GFA) Special Report Part 1 – Discussing the impact of education on the eradication of extreme poverty and illiteracy.When considering the issues of poverty and lack of education, an old saying comes to mind: “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”
Poverty and low education are each self-perpetuating: Those born into poverty (or illiterate households) often live the remainder of their lives in that same condition and have nothing more to offer their children.[1] What’s more, it is as if poverty and low education have a magnetic attraction, relentlessly pulling those who are caught in one cycle deep into the other too.
Why is that?
Kristina Birdsong, a writer for Scientific Learning, sums up the relationship between poverty and education by saying,
“Today more than ever, education remains the key to escaping poverty, while poverty remains the biggest obstacle to education.”[2]
Let’s look at one example:
With her husband out of the picture, illiterate Dayita was forced to become the sole provider for her four children.
Dayita is a mother in Asia living with four children. Poverty and illiteracy permeated her village and her life. Dayita’s husband had consumed so much alcohol that he became too sick to work or even get out of bed, which meant Dayita had no choice but to be the family’s sole breadwinner.
But she was illiterate.
What job opportunities did she have? Manual labor. She and many other illiterate women in her area collected firewood from nearby forests and sold it to provide for their families. It was physically taxing work that kept her from being with her children and still paid very little. But it was all she could do.
Education remains the key to escaping poverty, while poverty remains the biggest obstacle to education.
Dayita’s illiteracy and poverty set the trajectory of her children’s lives, too. The fight to obtain morsels of bread for their hungry tummies consumed all her strength; sending her children to school was not even something to dream about. And Dayita couldn’t teach her children anything of the alphabet or of mathematics, knowing none herself. Instead of going to school, her four kids roamed around the village, “cared for” by the eldest child, 7-year-old Kasni.
The cycles of poverty and illiteracy were continuing in Dayita’s family, and there was nothing she could do to arrest them.
These women are working on road construction project in Asia. Around the world, women are more likely to be paid less than men and to face unemployment.
Poverty and It’s Pervasive Stranglehold
Dayita was not alone in her plight.
An estimated 767 million people lived below the poverty line of $1.90 per day in 2013, according to the UN.[3] In 2014, some 263 million children and youth were not attending school, and more than 70 percent of the out-of-school children who should have been in primary or secondary education lived in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.[4] In the United States, a report revealed that in 2014, “approximately 15 million children under the age of 18 were in families living in poverty.”[5]
Living hand to mouth
KILLS DREAMS.
Many impoverished families know education is the long-term solution to their financial troubles, but it is out of reach. A family’s financial position influences more than you might think upon initial consideration.
The father who works from sunup to sundown seven days a week will have little time to mentor his children. The same could be said of the mother who labors in the fields all day.
During their most formative and vulnerable years, millions of children are left alone during the day to wander in their villages. Many will adopt poor social habits and learn nothing of respect or self-discipline. School is out of the picture for them; all the family’s energy must be focused on providing food and shelter.
Often, a family’s financial plight is so desperate that even young children must contribute to the family income. For the roughly 150 million child laborers in the world,[6] there is no school, no delving into their nation’s history, and no adventuring to museums to learn about science and art.
No money means no food, which means malnutrition and increased health problems. No money means no doctor visits, and in the case of a medical emergency, no money may mean indenturing a child to work off the incurred debt after receiving critical treatment.
“Living hand to mouth kills dreams. For many, ambition becomes unrealistic amid the ever-present fight against starvation.”
Living hand to mouth kills dreams. For many, ambition becomes unrealistic amid the ever-present fight against starvation. How many of us have asked a young child what they want to be when they grow up? In many poverty-stricken areas, however, a child might respond to that question with a look of confusion. The only future they can see is following their parents in becoming a farmer, a daily laborer or, if they’re lucky, maybe a skilled tradesman.
For the majority of children raised in poverty-stricken communities, the fruit of their harsh childhood is more of the same. When they become parents, they will raise their children as they themselves were raised—unless they can manage to find a way out, into a new way of life.
This woman works alongside her husband to make bricks, bringing her infant with her. Both men and women work hard in rural villages to try to make ends meet.
Solutions to Poverty Line Problems of the Poor & Impoverished: Part 2 | Part 3
This Special Report article originally appeared on gfa.org
To read more on the ongoing worldwide problem of Poverty on Patheos, go here.
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing the stories of Bridge of Hope center’s impact on the lives of thousands of children.
Hope. An optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes. Hope is a reason to keep on keeping on. It is a reason to keep on living. People without hope live in despair.
No one can reasonably say how many people live in despair. It is fair to say, however, that most people who live in abject poverty eventually lose the hope they once had. It is impossible to know exactly when that hope is lost, but for many, it is sometime during their childhood years when they begin to realize that the obstacles in the way to what they hope for are insurmountable.
As the hopes and joys of early childhood are clouded by the realities of their inability to escape their destitute life, despair creeps into their hearts until every ray of hope is replaced by a dark cloud of doom. They can’t get to where they had hoped to go from where they are.
Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope centers build that bridge for tens of thousands of school-age children who have little or no opportunity for making a better life. That requires learning the fundamental skills and habits necessary for building that life. Each day spent at a Bridge of Hope facility is proverbially another plank in the bridge to returning to the hope they thought they had lost.
Staff members lead them in community service projects where they can apply what they have been taught in a practical way. Think of the spark in a child’s mind when they realize, “I can help others to learn and help them to hope!”
Hope Renewed for Ratan
With an alcoholic father, young Ratan struggled with physical weakness and faced challenges socially. He struggled in his studies and spent much of his time at home, too fearful to speak to others or make any friends. At this rate, a bright future seemed unlikely for the scared and sickly little boy.
But then Ratan was enrolled into a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope center in his village. The Bridge of Hope staff had recognized Ratan’s need for assistance and decided to give him the opportunity to participate in the activities at the center and receive help with his education.
Ratan flourished at the Bridge of Hope center. Through the daily meal and the hygiene items he received, his sicknesses faded away, and he gained the strength of a normal young boy. He also grew stronger academically and improved in his studies.
The Bridge of Hope teachers and staff invested in Ratan’s life, encouraging him to take part in extracurricular activities. The teachers’ caring involvement in his life touched Ratan’s heart.
Ratan—once too shy to talk to strangers—now aspires to serve alongside his countrymen. He admired the love and concern for others that was demonstrated at the Bridge of Hope center and embraced those same values, laying a foundation that can guide him wherever he goes in the years to come.
Bala’s grandmother, Udita, was left to care for the little girl, but she was too old and feeble to work. With no one to help them, she and Bala struggled to get through each day.
When Bala arrived at the Bridge of Hope center, she wore shabby clothes and struggled to read and write, but the staff quickly began working with her. Instead of seeing her as a problem to be fixed, they showed her genuine love, treating her as their own daughter. As a result, Bala was completely transformed.
Today, Bala has been an orphan for six years, but she doesn’t live with the despair usually attached to her status. Instead, she comes to the Bridge of Hope center eager to sing and dance, certain that her life doesn’t lack anything—even parental love.
Somedev was lonely because his father was never at home. In fact, his father had deserted Somedev and his mother. Somedev was lonely and his mother, Jerusha, was heartbroken as she had lost her husband to another woman and now faced the prospect of having to raise her son on her own.
Jerusha and Somedev found help from their local Bridge of Hope center.
The staff not only fed and trained Somdev, they also visited and prayed with his mother on a regular basis. They encouraged her with the Word of God and prayed that the Lord would bring her husband back home.
Once again, the Lord answered prayer. Somdev and his mother are no longer lonely because they know that Jesus cares. His father not only returned but also came to trust Jesus as well.
Dinar and his mother Lalita suffered from loneliness and heartbreak after the premature death of his father. This put them in a dangerous position as Asian widows are typically scorned and virtually helpless.
A close relative graciously opened his home to Lalita, Dinar and his sister. The relative had already become a Christian, so he used the otherwise sad situation to introduce them to “the Man of Sorrows,” who is acquainted with our grief and is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. He explained to her that “Our God is living, and in Him everything is possible.”
Many people trapped in the tragedy of loneliness want help but don’t want to hear about Jesus. Lalita was one of those people who was caught in the downward spiral of loneliness.
Lalita, a widow in Asia with two small children, felt alone and hopeless, until Bridge of Hope was able to enroll her son, and provide God’s loving care for them both.
But God was speaking to her. She later shared that she had clearly heard a voice repeating to her, “My daughter, I am with you always. Cast your burdens on Me, as I care for you.” Through all of her challenges, she kept hearing that voice.
Things began to change as she saw God’s grace demonstrated through GFA-supported workers. The continual outflow of grace and mercy, the love of others in the name of Christ, and that still, small voice eventually broke through the loneliness until she could resist no longer. She became a child of God who would never be lonely again.
These lives were touched by God because of the Christ-like care that can conquer loneliness forever. These families now rejoice in their relationship with Jesus who promised that He is always with us and that He will never leave us or forsake us.
It’s Throwback Thursday! We’re going back to 2005 to a group meeting in Gospel for Asia’s old office in Carrollton, Texas, where people are discussing potential opportunities to help meet more needs on the field. A question is raised, “What if we made a catalog with high-impact gifts donors could give to families in Asia at Christmastime?”
The project was something new for the leaders at Gospel for Asia (GFA). Providing farm animals and sewing machines was so different from what the ministry was doing at the time—supporting and equipping national missionaries, educating underprivileged children, drilling water wells—but helping impoverished families in Jesus’ name truly complimented the ministry’s vision.
“The next year, we worked with the field with the idea of animals and other gifts,” said John, a Gospel for Asia (GFA) staff member since 1992. “It was exciting because it would give donors a whole new and completely different opportunity to minister to the poor while still sharing the love of Christ.”
In 2006, Gospel for Asia’s first Christmas Gift Catalog was printed. It’s aim? Encouraging believers in the West to celebrate Christmas by giving life-changing gifts to families in Asia that break the cycle of poverty and provide hope. As John says, “The gift of hope, I believe, is one of the greatest gifts we can give, as it comes directly from the Father.”
Gospel for Asia mailed out its first Christmas Gift Catalog in 2006! Here’s an array of the catalogs we’ve designed and mailed since then.
What People Thought of the Catalog
When the catalog started landing in mailboxes, Gospel for Asia (GFA) friends had the opportunity to give toward dozens of items, such as chickens, goats, water filters, rickshaws, winter clothing and church buildings.
“We were not totally sure what to expect, but our donors totally grabbed the vision and ran with it,” John recalls. “It was amazing to see the huge number of gifts that came in. We had to reorganize the work load just to manage it all.”
Heather, another Gospel for Asia (GFA) staff member, remembers the flood of donations received through the catalog.
“I didn’t anticipate such an overwhelming response! It was so exhilarating to watch the Body of Christ all come together for this endeavor. …
“That first year, I talked with someone who had given a Jesus Well. It was his first gift to the ministry, so I was curious how he’d heard about it. As it turned out, he was a postman and had been delivering catalogs all week. He was waiting for one to be undeliverable so he could look at it himself (standard procedure for catalogs and magazines), and when he finally got to see the inside of a catalog, he was so impacted that he responded by providing a well. I think that’s when I really realized this was something special.”
By God’s grace, the response to the catalog has continued to increase—with more than 1.7 million families in Asia receiving life-changing gifts over the years.
Christ-centered Celebrations
We’ve all been there. On Christmas morning, the toys and the presents are so exciting! And then one day the new toy monster trucks loses a wheel. Or the mechanical puppy starts to wheeze as its battery dies.
At a Christmas gift distribution in 2010, this man received a cow that would help him and his family overcome poverty.
Hope, who now serves on staff with Gospel for Asia (GFA), remembers how her family incorporated the Christmas catalog in their celebrations during her childhood.
“Every year when I received the catalog growing up, my favorite thing to give towards was the Widows and Abandoned Children’s fund. My family would save money in a mason jar, and we would fill it up throughout the year with our change. And then the day we had been waiting for came…the catalog arrived! Down from the shelf came the now quite-heavy mason jar, and we would dump out the coins and count them excitedly to see what we could buy that year! My family really loved to give Bibles, and I think one year we gave a sewing machine and chickens…always chickens.”
Seeing the Impact Firsthand
After years of donating toward the catalog, Hope and some other Gospel for Asia (GFA) staff members made the long journey to Asia. There, she saw a glimpse of the impact her family and thousands of other families are making through the Christmas Gift Catalog.
“When I was able to travel to Asia and see things like blankets and sewing machines [being used], it was like a light bulb flashed on,” she says. “I could see the benefit of these gifts in a new way. Through that experience, it has made the catalog and the prayers and the hard work everyone puts into it so much more exciting and beautiful.”
The gifts in this catalog are simple—yet their impact far exceeds their cost. Even a blanket or a pair of rabbits can make a lasting difference for a struggling family.
“I was staggered to learn about the impact of blankets,” Heather shares. “Such a simple and humble gift, but one that seems to have an overwhelming response. I remember hearing about GFA-supported workers going out on wintery nights and laying blankets down on those who were sleeping unprotected on the street. The workers said simply, ‘These people went to sleep never expecting to wake up. Instead, they’ll wake up and know that someone has seen them.’ What an incredible way to communicate that the overlooked and neglected are noticed and cared for by the Heavenly Father.”
In places where the poorly clothed, the malnourished, the bedraggled and the hopeless are extended little kindness, giving income-generating gifts or gifts that improve people’s quality of life carries a powerful message: You are valuable.
“I think that’s the thing I love about the catalog gifts: restoring dignity,” Heather explains. “Reinforcing innate human worth. Demonstrating to everyone in sight that this individual is so highly valued, so cherished and so very special in God’s eyes.”
This man and his family experienced the joy of giving after receiving a pig through Gospel for Asia’s Christmas Gift Catalog. Read his story.
Gifts Help Givers to Celebrate Christmas in Missional Way
A beautiful thing about this ministry project is how we’ve learned these gifts not only change the circumstances of the gift recipients, but they also impact the givers.
GFA’s gift catalog doesn’t simply provide opportunities for families in Asia to receive practical help, it also gives families in the U.S. and around the globe the chance to celebrate Christmas in a missional way.
“These gifts can be so much fun to give,” Heather says, “and the gifts each year are the result of many ‘cheerful givers.’ But what’s really amazing is that many of these gifts will actually position the recipients to be givers themselves, perhaps for the very first time.”
As you anticipate this Christmas and the many joys of the season, may you remember the amazing love God has shown toward you and know His will in how to show that love to others.
We hope you’ve enjoyed going back with us to the origins of our Christmas Gift Catalog and the impact it’s made over the years!
To see our current Christmas Gift Catalog, go here:
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Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
What was on your mind when you were 6 years old? Maybe your thoughts were taken up by bicycles, stuffed animals and your next snack.
That was not the case for young Pria, a little girl from a poor family in Asia. Her perky pigtails held no big hair bows, and special treats were few and far between. But something more important was missing: a hopeful future.
An Unpromising Beginning
From the first moment of her existence, Pria’s life could have taken many tragic turns.
When her mother, Gala, discovered she was pregnant with Pria, her partner refused to take responsibility for their child and abandoned Gala. Unmarried and now an expectant mother, Gala was crushed by this betrayal.
Despite her abandonment and the looming possibility of abortion, Gala saved her baby. But as her pregnancy progressed, Gala sunk into a depression that slowly clutched hold of her reasoning. Eventually, her depression gave way to mental illness.
Gala’s grandparents stepped in to care for the child, helping any way they could. But as time passed, old age began taking its toll. And as Pria grew older, more needs arose: clothing to cover the pretty child, who was growing taller every day; greater quantities of nutritious food for her increasing appetite; education to train the curious mind developing within her. How could her aged grandparents and mentally ill mother meet all these needs?
Now a lovely ninth grader, Pria is on her way to an adulthood filled with promise and opportunity. She is equipped with knowledge and positive values, and the love she has received from her Bridge of Hope teachers is ready to flow into others.
But Pria’s story could have taken a completely different turn. Instead of finding love and care through Bridge of Hope, Pria could have grown up malnourished and illiterate, only able to do manual labor to earn an income. She could have become one of the 10.3 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 who are engaged in child labor in South Asia. Or she could have fallen prey to traffickers who look for women and children who could disappear without anyone noticing or insisting on an investigation.
Because God sees and loves each and every child in the world, we rejoice in the opportunity we have to be part of extending that love to the children of Asia. By meeting practical needs in partnership with the Body of Christ around the globe, we can help empower boys and girls to be more valuable citizens in their nations, wiser parents for their future families and happier children in their youth. Together, we can give these children a future beyond the walls of poverty.
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With our headlines screaming about one disaster after another—fires in the California hills, hurricanes, flooding, drought and warming seas rising—and with the increasing incidents of gun violence here in the States and of terrorism activating itself in the Middle East, the near East and in Europe, it is easy to forget there is good news happening beyond this barrage of warnings, distress signals and red flags flying.
One of the great news notices a majority of people have missed is that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced in March 2016 that in the last 30 years, extreme poverty around the world has been reduced by half. This information was based on a United Nations assessment following its goal-setting at the dawn of the new millennium: to eradicate poverty by 2030.
This initiative was included in what was titled The Millennium Development Goals, which included eight international goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations 2000. Among the goals were:
To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
To achieve universal primary education
To promote gender equality and empower women
To reduce child mortality, etc.
Some critics have complained of a lack of thorough scientific analysis behind the millennial sustainable goals and its recently announced outcomes. Questions have risen about the justification for some of the analysis behind chosen objectives. Even deciding what comprises a poverty level baseline is difficult (right now it is those who earn less than the equivalent of $1.90 U.S. per day).
All experts on the topic know that whatever true success has been achieved (the World Bank, according to its studies, feels that the statistical results are even better than those announced by the United Nations), the situation of the marginally poor, those rising out of extreme poverty, is still fragile. War lords can tip one country, such as South Sudan, into starvation. Climate change, for instance, is thought to be able to plunge those with marginal economic achievements back into dire need.
The point of this good news, however, despite these considerations, is that the war on world poverty has succeeded beyond any one of the expert’s dreams. The big question for those of faith is: How do faith-based organizations (FBOs) fit into helping decrease the levels of poverty around the world? The presence of mission organizations and Christian relief and development NGOs literally span the world and can be found on every continent and in the majority of developing countries. Or perhaps, the question should be: Do they even count in this grand scheme of eradicating world poverty?
While attending the Global Missions Health Conference that convenes yearly in Nashville, Tennessee, I bumped into a gentleman, a medical doctor, who has vast experience in world health efforts. We talked about the Millennial Goals and I asked him my question: How do faith-based organizations contribute to the amazing statistics that are developing out of these worldwide initiatives? Do they? And if they do, what measurements show their contributions?
He smiled, took out a business card and wrote some notes on the back, directing me to a section of the World Health Organization’s website. “When you get time, look at this,” he told me. “Several years back, WHO did a study of faith-based organizations during the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa. Their conclusions were amazing.”
On arriving home, I went web-searching and found a 33-page report based on extensive research observation, followed by another three pages of resources (some 113 in all), which gave strong evidence that faith-based organizations in relationship to health endeavors were invaluable and should be included in the overall joint partnership efforts that were outlined in the Millennial Goals. Included are just a few quotable assessments out of the broad study:
FBOs are significant health care providers in the developing world.
FBO health projects are often independently funded and do not, in general, receive an adequate proportion of public funds distribution.
Compassion is the primary value underlying major religious systems.
Many religious traditions are characterized by a focus on healing: “A primary focus of religious expectations in the 21st century is the multidimensional longing for healing of body and mind, of soul and spirit, of personal and social relations, of political and ecological dimensions in this broken world.”
The extensive evaluation offers suggestions for improvement—mostly in outcomes reporting, data collection, and the opening of dialogues between the public sector and faith-supported initiatives. One concluding section, however, begins with the statement, “Evidence suggests that FBOs already offer tangible value by:
Delivering services that supplement government offerings
Bringing external resources from a range of donors
Arising within religious and cultural loyalties of the local communities they serve
Being numerous and, on the whole, more integrated with the communities they serve
Connecting into associated services that are considered valuable within primary health care strategies.”
The end result of this extensive study was the recommendation by the World Health Organization that religious entities already on the ground and substantively rooted in their communities are ideally placed, perhaps even more so than many in the international aid systems, to bring a holistic (or some would call it an integral) approach to humans who suffer from the effects of dire and marginal poverty. After all, how many aid organizations are truly equipped to serve the whole person—body and mind, soul and spirit? Which of them show a multi-dimensional longing for the healing of personal and social relations, of political and ecological dimensions in this broken world?
This blog is dedicated to the exceptional work being done by one of those faith-based organizations, Gospel for Asia, which specializes in bringing the awareness of God’s love through an emphasis that is community grounded, understands the religious and cultural loyalties of the places and people they serve, and literally employs tens of thousands of financially underwritten or volunteer workers to help eradicate poverty, but in a way that ministers to the whole person, body and mind and soul and spirit.
Here are a couple ways GFA-supported workers are helping eradicate poverty:
Romila’s Story
This is Romila with her husband and child.
A plumber by trade, Romila’s husband, Taraswin, worked faithfully to provide for his wife and little baby girl. However, no matter how hard he tried, he struggled to find work. Day by day they were sinking financially. A friend directed Taraswin to a job opportunity in another village. Believing this would help change things, they moved to start afresh.
But work was inconsistent, and this new job soon proved to be of no help to their financial state. As monthly rent drained their income, things did not look bright.
Then, one day, they were chatting with their neighbor, and he introduced Taraswin and Romila to his friend, a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor named Rochan. As Pastor Rochan struck up a conversation with the couple, they began to open up about their struggles. When Pastor Rochan walked away, he felt compelled to do everything he could to help this family.
Three weeks later, he invited Taraswin and Romila to a Christmas gift distribution program. Romila could hardly believe her eyes when she received her sewing machine.
“I was really longing for a machine,” Romila recalls. “I have no words to express my feelings and thanks to the church.”
Now Romila can help provide for her family by sewing clothes from her home. The hopelessness which hung over Romila and Taraswin lifted, as they now can easily pay for their rent with plenty left over for additional expenses.
Dhansukh’s Story
Daily life was a struggle for Dhansukh and his family. Because Dhansukh had difficulty walking, he couldn’t work as a daily wage laborer, which is a common job for many people in Asia. Instead, Dhansukh provided for his family by selling vegetables.
But after some time, Dhansukh’s business began running into the ground. Fewer people made purchases, and the vegetables that remained started to rot. Dhansukh tried all he could to save money and make up for the lack. He took his children out of the private school they were attending and sent them to a public school instead. He asked his brothers and his sister for hand-me-downs for his children.
But even as he cut down on expenses left and right, eventually the vegetable-seller could no longer afford to buy fresh vegetables to feed his family. The meals they would eat in one day became fewer and fewer.
In the middle of the family’s crisis, Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Vismay came to buy vegetables one day. Dhansukh told Pastor Vismay about his business troubles and asked him to pray for him.
Pastor Vismay kept Dhansukh’s prayer request in mind, and God eventually provided an opportunity for him to help Dhansukh’s family practically by giving him two female goats at a Christmas gift distribution.
These gifts impacted Dhansukh in a special way: As he witnessed firsthand the Lord’s power to answer prayers, he realized God loved him and Jesus’ followers cared about him. And now, with the income these goats will provide, Dhansukh will be able to take care of his family.
This is Dhansukh with his goat that was given to him by a Gospel for Asia-supported pastor. The goat ended up multiplying!
The help this faith-based organization provided went beyond just material provision, as you can see from Romila’s and Dhansukh’s testimonies. It ministered to their soul and spirit as they understood how much they were loved by God and His people.
Often secular skeptics involved in international development look askance at those who work in faith-based missions around the world. The evidence being gathered, however, by objective outside observers seems to be producing a body of proof that some of the front-line participants in the change that is occurring in the eradication of poverty is being carried out by the unsung, unrecognized, diligent, altruistic people who love God and whose lives are driven by that love manifested as it is in concern and care for the downtrodden and the forgotten, for the abused and the neglected of the earth. Of this, those of us in faith-based communities have nothing to be ashamed.
I personally stand in awe of many of my brothers and sisters worldwide, some close friends, many of whom put their lives on the line every day, who have little thought of personal success or notoriety, who have shunned financial security and through a dogged kind of compassion serve God. One day in time, we will know what all they have done toward this remarkable goal of eradicating extreme poverty worldwide.
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Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Manjira’s face lit up when she saw the Gospel for Asia-supported pastor. It had been only a few days since their last meeting where he had given her—and many others like her—a gift she couldn’t afford: a blanket.
“I don’t have enough blankets to keep my children warm in winter,” the 32-year-old woman expressed. “But your church has given me a beautiful and large size blanket that helps us sleep peacefully. I am very much thankful to your church.”
Like many women in Asia, Manjira lives alone with her four children. Some women are widowed and rejected by their relatives, while other families are torn apart by drug and alcohol addictions, gambling and affairs.
Manjira is one of the abandoned. Her husband, a heavy addict, left them to fend for themselves.
That was more than two years ago.
Manjira doesn’t know where her husband is, or even if he’s still alive.
Since he left, Manjira has found it difficult to provide for all her children’s needs. It’s hard to imagine one woman laboring to provide food, clothing, medicine, school supplies, housing and so much more, all while caring for children who are too young to be left alone. Help is difficult to come by, and Manjira is not the only person who has struggled under poverty’s oppressive yoke.
The blanket Manjira received through a Gospel for Asia-supported Christmas gift distribution late last year changed the course of her life.
The thing is, most of us don’t like to be cold if we can help it. Even those who love the frigid outdoors can’t stay out there indefinitely. Widows and young men alike don’t want to freeze. They don’t want to get sick. They don’t want to die or see their loved ones shivering through the night, either.
So they try to stay warm.
Staying warm. It doesn’t sound so difficult for most people in the U.S., who might even open the windows on a cool night to let some fresh air in, but the story is different for those who don’t even have windows to open. Scanty walls made of tarp or bamboo don’t work the best at keeping out the evening chill. Frigid air creeps through every entrance, seeking to sap warmth from everyone and everything inside.
So we turn on the heater. We pile on the blankets. We wear fuzzy slippers and we go on with life.
Meanwhile, in Asia, poor families build fires—but only if they can afford it. The long task of collecting firewood every day, every week, can be quite taxing. Those who don’t have wood may buy kerosene, but supplies must be rationed. Others make flammable patties from cow dung just to heat their cooking fires and boil a small cup of tea.
Poverty is endemic, especially when money is wasted on drugs instead of fruitful endeavors, as was the case in Manjira’s family.
The blankets Gospel for Asia-supported workers give away are large, thick and cozy.
Why so poor?
Though Manjira has struggled greatly since her husband left, it’s hard to imagine the family was financially much better off when he was around.
We know Manjira’s husband was a drug addict, and though addictions are not always the cause of a family’s poverty, they regularly perpetuate it.
Thing is, sometimes people start taking drugs or drinking alcohol to hide the pain they feel from hunger and cold—two common problems plaguing the poor. Few things warm your body quite as quickly as a glass of alcohol, and that temporary salve is much cheaper, in the short run, than trying to save for a blanket or build a better home. Sadly, what may start as a desire to numb the pain easily becomes an irresistible and expensive part of many people’s lives.
When families are poor to begin with, addictions can easily lead to hungry bellies and naked bodies.
We don’t know how or why Manjira’s husband first turned to drugs, but we know it eventually tore his family apart.
This man and his wife had to wake up several times throughout the night to light the kitchen fire so his home would be warm in the winter, and they could sleep. After receiving this blanket from a Gospel for Asia-supported worker, he and his wife are free from such trouble.
How Could a Blanket Help?
Now, we know that giving someone a blanket isn’t a cure-all for every poverty and woe. Blankets don’t turn irresponsible drug addicts into compassionate parents; they don’t help children understand their arithmetic; and they don’t make fields produce grain.
But a blanket can go a long way toward showing someone they are loved and cared for, and we think they’re worth it. For Manjira, the free gift of a blanket showed her an even greater gift—the love of Jesus. Now she knows that in Christ, she has a husband who will never leave her or forsake her. We praise the Lord for that.
At Gospel for Asia, we are thankful we’ve seen so many hearts impacted through these simple gifts. As we snuggle into our warm beds at night, we know there are hundreds of thousands of other people enjoying the warmth of a soft, plush blanket given to them in the name of Jesus by our field partners.
In 2016 alone, God enabled us to give out more than 170,000 blankets to needy individuals like Manjira. That’s 170,000 people sleeping better at night; 170,000 people getting sick less often, 170,000 people finding comfort; and 170,000 people who, perhaps for the first time, will experience a free gift from the One who gave us the greatest Gift of all.
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Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
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