WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide – Published a new report for World Water Day saying two-thirds of planet may face crisis shortages by 2025, 30 million in U.S. lack safe water.
The world is on the brink of a devastating water crisis that could be “much more worrying” than the COVID-19 pandemic, says a disturbing report.
Citing global forecasts, the report — published by GFA World (Gospel for Asia) — suggests the toxic mix of poverty, hunger and lack of safe drinking water around the world could be “potentially much more worrying than the virus spreading.”
“Two-thirds of the world’s people could face water shortages by 2025,” said K.P. Yohannan, founder of Gospel for Asia (GFA World) that has clean water projects across Asia. “It’s been described as ‘the biggest crisis no one is talking about.'”
Several megacities are on the verge of “running out of drinking water,” says the report, titled Water Stress: The Unspoken Global Crisis, as World Water Day — an annual awareness event — spotlights the rising global threat.
Global agencies UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) place Mexico and nine African and Asian countries in the “top 10” nations with the “worst drinking water.” In the African country of Uganda, 40 percent of the population has to trek 30 minutes or more to find safe drinking water, says the report.
Two Billion Drink From ‘Feces-Contaminated’ Sources
Organizations like Gospel for Asia (GFA World) and World Vision have made clean water a top priority. Gospel for Asia (GFA World) drills about 4,000 new community wells — called “Jesus Wells” — every year, providing safe drinking water for entire villages. Over the past two decades, we have drilled more than 30,000 wells and distributed more than 58,000 home kits, called BioSand filters, that remove 98 percent of water impurities.
“Our goal is to bring people life-giving clean water,” Yohannan says, “and also to show people that we care about their most vital needs, such as water, because God loves them and values them.”
U.S.: 30 Million ‘Without Safe Water’
Americans are not exempt from the worldwide water crisis, with more than two million people in the U.S. without access to running water, and 30 million Americans lacking “safe” drinking water, according to the report.
School officials in Ohio and Pennsylvania announced last year they had found legionella — the bacteria that can cause Legionnaires’ disease — in their local water supplies. Some Texas residents were scooping water out of swimming pools after their taps ran dry following the state’s “Big Freeze” this past winter.
GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
KP Yohannan has issued two statements about the COVID-19 situation found here and here.
WILLS POINT, TX — A global humanitarian organization is helping combat the world’s “stinkiest” health emergency — people defecating in the open — a new report reveals. Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is installing thousands of toilets in some of the world’s remotest and least developed areas — places where people typically relieve themselves in the bushes, by the local river, or in the street.It’s part of a global effort to curb deadly diseases spread by people practicing open defecation, known as OD, says the agency’s new report Taking the Toilet Challenge.
OD spreads cholera, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid and leads to chronic diarrhea — killing millions of children worldwide every year.
OD is not just a health crisis in the developing world — it’s also a serious issue in the United States, where cities such as San Francisco and Seattle are battling to find solutions among their growing homeless populations.
Up and Running: 32,000 Toilets
So far, GFA World has helped install more than 32,000 toilets in OD-prone locations across Asia.
““For millions around the world, the humble toilet is the best gift they can imagine,” said K.P. Yohannan, founder of the Texas-based organization that helps millions across Asia and has just launched projects in Africa. “Giving people the most basic necessities of life is one way of sharing God’s love with them.”
Global Progress
Citing progress, the organization’s report says OD has been cut in half globally in recent years. In South Asia — home to one quarter of the world’s people — the number of those practicing OD has dropped sharply from two-thirds of the population to one-third.
But, the report says, about one in every 11 people worldwide still doesn’t have access to a toilet.
The report also spotlights efforts to “reinvent the toilet” — designing toilets that process human waste without water, sewer or septic systems.
About GFA World
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this second part of a Special Report update on Malaria making a comeback amid the worldwide impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
Progress Ebbs and Flows in the Fight to Beat Malaria
Recent developments in the fight against Malaria have placed a heightened spotlight on World Malaria Day, observed on April 25. Fortunately, despite the high death toll and other troublesome signs lately, not all the news about malaria treatment is bad. There are gains amid the setbacks.
One positive example is Myanmar, where the annual malaria death toll of 3,800 a decade ago has decreased to approximately 170. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria credits the efforts of 17,000 community volunteers who provide rapid testing and treatment, with serious cases referred to health facilities. Volunteers also educate the public through national antimalaria campaigns.14 Unfortunately, it’s unknown if the recent military coup in Myanmar will adversely impact the recent progress it’s achieved in the prevention of malaria.
News of another positive development appeared last October in Legion. About the same time the United States revealed a COVID-19 vaccine would be ready by the end of 2020, the Canadian magazine reported that a noted medical journal announced a new approach to fighting malaria.
Legion reported a clinical researcher for the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has developed a vaccine for mosquito-borne diseases, based on mosquito spit. It causes the immune system to recognize mosquito saliva proteins and produce antibodies. The antibodies promote immunity by binding to pathogens to prevent them from damaging cells, plus coating pathogens and alerting other immune cells to attack and remove them.
“Those antibodies recognize the proteins the next time they’re encountered, sparking an immune response that goes into action to impair or prevent infection—and not just to malaria, it turns out,” wrote author Sharon Adams. “In animal studies, saliva vaccines impaired development of mosquito-borne Zika virus and sandfly-borne leishmaniasis.”15
In the first human trial of this vaccine in 2017, Adams said a strong immune response was observed among 49 volunteers, with only minor side effects. Next it will be tested on larger groups; if clinical trials continue to prove successful, the first effective malaria vaccine may be just around the corner.
In addition to this promising development, a European magazine carried a report from a healthcare company official saying there are antimalaria positives to be gained from the COVID-19 fight. Hogan Bassey, a Nigerian native who experienced several bouts with malaria as a child, noted that the pandemic highlighted system failings in global healthcare. He said if we are able to address those problems, the world will be better positioned to eradicate malaria and other diseases.
The chief innovation officer and founder of LivFul said his company is working with others—including nonprofits—to develop a repellent that it hopes will prove an efficient control tool. It has been working on a project in Ghana with a pharmaceutical company to improve one of the repellant’s ingredients, using LivFul’s technology to drive access.
“When we developed a revolutionary family-friendly insect repellent to halt the transmission of diseases like malaria and Dengue fever, we knew we could have a significant impact on insect-borne disease,” Bassey wrote in EPM Magazine. “If people in malaria-prone areas can purchase and use our repellent, these diseases can be stopped before they destroy lives, families, communities and industries.”16
Such a product won’t be the first tool developed. National Geographic recently reported hundreds of thousands of children across Kenya, Malawai and Ghana have been receiving the RTS,S vaccine, whose development has taken 35 years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. While some African health professionals have asked if the expense and logistics of multiple vaccinations are worth it, the magazine said some Chinese scientists have been utilizing a new approach: preventing malaria from even occurring.
It goes back to 1972, when the Chinese discovered Artemisinin, a drug used to treat malaria. Now, scientists there believe Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) can be delivered to an entire community simultaneously, through Mass Drug Administrations. The goal is to reduce levels of the malaria parasite in human blood, so mosquitoes won’t contract it and spread it.
“The life cycle for a mosquito is 30 days,” explains Ethan Peng, senior manager in Kenya for the Chinese company New South, which manufactures ACTs. “So by mass medication, we can clear the source from all human beings (so) the mosquitoes cannot pick up on the malaria parasite again with their short lifespan.”17
Mosquito Nets Still the Leading Tool for Protection
When it comes to fighting malaria, the bed net still appears to be the leading tool. When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, WHO malaria scientist Pedro Alonso expected the biggest malaria disaster in 20 years after African countries temporarily suspended bed net campaigns.
That didn’t seem to be happening, the scientist said five months later. He credited lobbying by WHO’s Global Malaria Programme and its partners, which persuaded countries to resume their net distribution campaigns. Despite concerns over continuing COVID-19 problems, Alonso said, “We probably stopped the first big blow.”18
Among the many non-governmental organizations doing their part to distribute mosquito nets is Gospel for Asia (GFA).
Since 2010, GFA has distributed more than 1.3 million nets to at-risk residents in mosquito-prone areas, including 380,000 in 2019 (many are treated with insecticide, with availability depending on local conditions).
These efforts are augmented by distribution of malaria pills at GFA’s medical camps. In 2019 the organization hosted nearly 1,300 camps, which are free to attendees.
The difference net distributions make can be seen in the stories of people like Baharupa, a 55-year-old farmer and father of three who felt pressured to drink alcohol at many village-wide events. Not only did he often wind up drunk, he developed an addiction. That all changed after Satyam, a GFA worker, organized a distribution of 4,000 nets.
“Who can give us mosquito nets without money?” Baharupa wondered. “This shows [the believers’] love towards us.”19This experience so touched Baharupa that it began a transformation in his life.
Another story of relief involves a 71-year-old widow whose husband had died more than a decade prior. With four daughters all married, Bhranti spent evenings alone, worried about the tattered net providing her only protection from mosquitoes. She received a new net through a distribution organized by a GFA worker.
“I am so grateful to the [GFA workers] for their love and care and for providing a mosquito net,” Bhranti says. “Now I do not need to worry about buying a mosquito net as I have been provided a new one.”20
Even amid the problems COVID-19 has caused in poorer parts of the world, GFA’s supporters have been able to help local workers in the field save lives and prevent more tragedies during the pandemic, says Gospel for Asia (GFA) founder, Dr. K.P. Yohannan.
“Without proper prevention or treatment, the consequences of a simple mosquito bite are very serious in many places of the world,” Yohannan says. “But for just $10, we can protect numerous lives, one net at a time.”
One simple way to fight mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, is to consider giving a needy family a simple Mosquito Net. For only $10, Gospel for Asia’s field partners can distribute one of these effective nets to an at-risk family in Asia and provide them with safety from insects during the day and at night.
GFA World (formerly known as Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. In the years ahead, GFA World expects to launch programs in numerous African nations, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this first part of a Special Report update on Malaria making a comeback amid the worldwide impact of the COVID 19 Pandemic.
It’s a back-and-forth battle growing tougher in the face of COVID-19, with mosquitoes responsible for spreading the disease taking on the appearance of brass-helmeted warriors immune to nearly every device aimed in their direction. Malaria, humanity’s most deadly infectious disease, is making a comeback while our primary defense—net distribution—is being handicapped by the disruptions to normal life caused by the worldwide pandemic.
Insecticidal Nets a Mainstay, but Declining to Protect in Some Cases
That news appeared last summer in Nature Communications, which published research showing insecticide-treated mosquito nets—considered a mainstay in combating malaria—are not providing the protection they once did.1
According to another report in ScienceDaily, scientists say that’s cause for concern in tropical and subtropical countries. Long-Lasting Insecticidal Nets (LLINs) were credited with saving 6.8 million lives over a recent 15-year period.2
Dr. Stephen Carl, a malaria researcher in Australia, said LLINs add a community-level protective effect by significantly decreasing the mosquito population, which benefits even people not using nets. In Papua New Guinea, their introduction in 2006 led to a significant decline in cases, but between 2013–14 and 2016–17, the rate of infections rebounded from less than 1 percent to 7.1 percent.3
“[LLINs] are the only tools used at present in the national campaign against the mosquitoes that can carry malaria,” said study co-author Dr. Moses Laman.
“Malaria kills around half a million people worldwide each year, so any suggestion that the nets are not working is cause for grave concern.”4
While conclusions are still being formed on the news reported in Nature Communications, it appears diminished bioefficacy at the manufacturing level may be contributing to the problem of resurgence in malaria incidents.
Debating Treated Nets vs Untreated Nets
But not everyone agrees that treated nets are necessary. Research published just prior to the ScienceDaily report questioned if their cost makes the fight harder. One report in Malaria Journal said although more than 90 percent of the burden occurs in Africa, most prequalified nets approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) are manufactured elsewhere. The publication said many local manufacturers lack the capacity to produce insecticidal nets at a competitive scale and pricing.5
By relaxing conditions, it is conceivable that non-insecticidal but durable—and possibly biodegradable—nets could be readily manufactured locally, wrote author Fredros Okumu. While not aiming to discredit treated nets, he said he wanted to illustrate how a singular focus on insecticides can hinder innovation and sustainability.6
“The public health value of nets is increasingly driven by bite prevention, and decreasingly by lethality to mosquitoes,” Okumu said. “For context-appropriate solutions, it is necessary to acknowledge and evaluate the potential and cost-effectiveness of durable untreated nets across different settings.”
In his lengthy report, he also observed that developers should, instead of overemphasizing the need for new insecticides, ensure that bed nets are accessible, durable and properly used, even if non-insecticidal.
“New insecticides can then be developed for other forms of vector control,” Okumu said. “It has been demonstrated that resistant mosquitoes can survive up to 1,000-times the concentration of insecticides that kill susceptible populations. Such strongly resistant mosquitoes may naturally incur major survival and fitness costs in nature but are unlikely to be killed directly by insecticidal nets.”7
Fighting a Coronavirus that Hampers Bed Net Distribution
However one looks at the necessity of treated nets, distribution of any nets—treated or untreated—has been a cause for concern during the coronavirus outbreak.
Writing in Nature Medicine, researchers forecast the possibility of 779,000 deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over a 12-month period, culminating in the summer of 2021.8 That compares to a WHO worst-case estimate of 769,000 malaria deaths this year, a mortality rate not seen in two decades.9
In the face of COVID-19, Okefu Oyale Okoko, deputy director of the National Malaria Elimination Programme in Nigeria, said it would still be important to ensure continuing deployment of vector control interventions to not only sustain gains in malaria elimination, but ensure against its resurgence.
According to a report in The (London) Telegraph, researchers concluded that treating children with fever as if they have malaria, even if not diagnosed with the disease, could save nearly 200,000 lives. And, of course, prompt distribution of bed nets could prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths.
When final statistics are available, researchers from the Imperial College of London predict if control programs were halted due to COVID-19, the number of cases during 2020 could double compared to 2019. In Nigeria alone, they said cutting treatment and delaying the distribution of bed nets could result in 81,000 additional deaths.
Typically distributed at community meetings, such gatherings to distribute bed nets faced interruptions over the last year because of event cancellations or poor attendance because of coronavirus fears.
Telegraph correspondent Anne Gulland wrote that researchers’ modeling found that provision of bed nets is critical since those treated with long-lasting insecticide have effects that continue for three years. More than half of the 47 countries most badly affected by the disease were due bed net distributions in 2020, with 228 million nets due to be handed out. That would have been the largest number ever.
James Whiting, executive director of Malaria No More UK, told the newspaper: “This important modelling is a reminder that efforts to end malaria sit on a knife edge. Protecting people against COVID-19 cannot be pursued in isolation. Governments must see maintaining efforts against malaria as a core part of pandemic preparedness or risk a catastrophic domino effect.”10
Soon after the Telegraph article, computer magnate turned philanthropist Bill Gates echoed the necessity of not allowing the pandemic to distract attention from the fight against mosquito-borne disease. The pesky insects are out infecting millions with a disease that kills a child every other minute daily, he wrote in his online blog.11
In his lengthy report, [Okumu] observed that developers should, instead of overemphasizing the need for new insecticides, ensure that bed nets are accessible, durable and properly used, even if non-insecticidal.
Gates—head of the Gates Foundation, a key non-governmental organization fighting malaria’s spread—said lockdowns and other regulations made it difficult for health workers to provide prevention and treatment across Africa. He said there were also interruptions to supplies of essential malaria tools like bed nets and anti-malaria medicines. Instrumental in reducing malaria deaths by more than half since 2000, he said interruption of these services could mean mortality levels not seen since the turn of the century.
“There is not a choice between saving lives from COVID-19 versus saving lives from malaria,” Gates wrote. “The world must enable these countries to do both. Health officials urgently need to step up to the challenge of controlling the pandemic while also making sure that malaria, as well as other diseases like HIV and tuberculosis, are not neglected.”12
“The world has changed in ways we could never imagine,” observed Dr. Pedro Alonso, director of the WHO’s Global Malaria Programme, in a letter to malaria partners six months after lockdowns began. “As COVID-19 began its rapid spread earlier this year from China to Italy, and beyond, alarm bells began ringing across the malaria community. After taking such a devastating toll on countries with robust health systems, how would malaria-endemic countries in Africa prevail? Among colleagues at WHO, there was deep concern that the coronavirus had the potential to upend years—perhaps decades—of progress in malaria control.”13
One simple way to fight mosquito-borne diseases like malaria, is to consider giving a needy family a simple Mosquito Net. For only $10, Gospel for Asia’s field partners can distribute one of these effective nets to an at-risk family in Asia and provide them with safety from insects during the day and at night.
GFA World (formerly known as Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. In the years ahead, GFA World expects to launch programs in numerous African nations, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide: Millions around the world are still waiting to get a life-saving vaccine — and it’s not the COVID-19 shot.
Human trials of a new malaria vaccine are underway, with promising initial results, according to a new report by humanitarian agency Gospel for Asia (GFA World) that coincides with World Malaria Day, April 25, an annual event.
The quest to develop an effective malaria vaccine — a shot that could save millions of lives — has proved difficult and is still ongoing.
“Malaria is one of the most rampant child-killers in the world today,” said K.P. Yohannan, founder of Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA World), formerly Gospel for Asia. “For countless millions across Africa, Asia and other parts of the world, an effective vaccine against malaria would be like a dream.”
COVID ‘Stalls Malaria Fight’
But with the world laser-focused on the global COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to wipe out malaria have stalled, the report says.
Lockdowns and other restrictions have essentially halted malaria-fighting efforts in dozens of countries, leading to fears of a sharp increase in malaria deaths in 2021 — likely a death toll of hundreds of thousands in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria — an often-fatal sickness spread by infected mosquitoes — claims nearly half a million lives around the world every year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, and is “humanity’s most deadly infectious disease,” according to GFA World’s report.
A new experimental vaccine developed using mosquito spit has shown promise in early studies, says the just-released report, Malaria Makes Comeback Amid A Pandemic.
The vaccine — a possible breakthrough in the hunt for an effective malaria shot — has triggered a “strong immune response” in volunteers during trials so far, producing “only minor side effects,” the report says.
Until an effective vaccine comes out, the main weapon in the fight against malaria is the insecticide-treated mosquito net.
Recent studies suggest insecticide-treated nets may no longer be as effective in some parts of the world where a new breed of “super mosquito” has built up resistance.
“Over the past decade, we’ve distributed more than 1.3 million nets — costing just $10 each — across Asia, and they’ve proved to be lifesavers,” said Yohannan, whose faith-based organization also stages free medical camps. “It’s one way of being the hands and feet of Christ — and showing God’s love — to those who suffer the most in our world.”
Father-of-three Baharupa couldn’t believe it when Gospel for Asia (GFA World) gave away mosquito nets in his malaria-prone village. “Who (would) give us mosquito nets without (asking for) money?” he said. “I’ve never seen such a kind of love.”
About GFA World
GFA World (formerly known as Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Asia and Africa, and sharing the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and teaching providing hope and encouragement available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. In the years ahead, GFA World expects to launch programs in numerous African nations, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Cleaning up water is only part of the solution to the global water crisis. The main part will be finding additional water sources, which is where advancements in desalination (also known as desalinization) offer encouragement. According to one report, desalination capacity is expected to double between 2016 and 2030.
Last June, Columbia University announced engineering researchers have been refining desalination through a process known as temperature swing solvent extraction (TSSE). The school says TSSE is radically different from conventional methods because it does not use membranes to refine water. In a paper for Environmental Science & Technology, the team reported their method enabled them to attain energy-efficient, zero-liquid discharge (ZLD) of these brines.
“Zero-liquid discharge is the last frontier of desalination,” said Ngai Yin Yip, an assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering who led the study. While evaporating and condensing the water is the current practice for ZLD, it’s very energy intensive and prohibitively costly. The Columbia University team was able to achieve ZLD without boiling the water off—a major advance in desalination technology.
Among other advances is work by a research group at Spain’s University of Alicante, which has developed a stand-alone system for desalination that is powered by solar energy. A second solar-powered system developed by researchers in China and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was announced in February 2020.
Without clean water, youngsters worldwide are susceptible to many waterborne diseases, which prevent them from attending school and can thereby keep them trapped in a persistent cycle of poverty.
There is also commercial potential, as shown by 11 plants operating in California, with 10 more proposed. One in suburban San Diego turns 100 million gallons of seawater into 50 million gallons of fresh water daily, which it pipes to various municipalities. While it costs twice as much as other sources, the water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority says it’s worth it.
“Drought is a recurring condition here in California,” said Jeremy Crutchfield, Water Resources Manager at the San Diego County Water Authority. “We just came out of a five-year drought in 2017. The plant has reduced our reliance on imported supplies, which is challenging at times here in California. So it’s a component for reliability.”
Micro Solutions to the Global Water Stress Crisis
For every macro problem there are also micro solutions. In addition to the United Nations, there are numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and charities fighting for clean water, like water.org, the nonprofit founded by actor Matt Damon and Gary White. Faith-based World Vision is one of the largest NGOs and provides clean water in addition to its child sponsorship and disaster relief work.
Another active NGO is Gospel for Asia (GFA World), which initiated water well drilling projects in 2000 after the Lord put a burden on a donor’s heart about the need for clean water. He contacted the ministry to ask if it would allow wells to be built near churches led by Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastors—and sponsored the first 10, known as Jesus Wells. Drilled 300 feet (91 meters) or deeper into the earth, these wells often provide clean water for 300 or more people per day.
The blessings such help provides can be seen through a number of individual stories. In one of the first villages where a Jesus Well was installed, residents used to drink from a pond also used for bathing, irrigation and cooking. Summer droughts often eva
porated the dirty pond water; a well near the village went from providing clean water to a brownish substance in a matter of months and was later abandoned.
Now, the clean well has become part of the community’s fabric. Says a GFA pastor whose church is next to the well: “I feel very happy to know that this is one of the first Jesus Wells. It’s not easy to have a well maintained for this many years; because anybody can install a well, but maintaining it for almost [20] years, where it still gives clean and good drinking water, it is not easy. That makes me very proud and happy.”
Founder of Gospel for Asia (GFA), K.P. Yohannan, says the faith-based NGO is helping thousands of needy families, especially children. Without clean water, he says youngsters are susceptible to many diseases, which prevent them from attending school and can thereby keep them trapped in a cycle of poverty.
“We attack the water crisis globally by installation of wells in a village or BioSand filters in homes,” Yohannan says. “We did a study in our medical camps and found the No. 1 issue for children in South Asia was either diarrhea or upper respiratory infections. Our ultimate goal to give kids an education so they can get a better job is compromised if they’re sick.”
Waterborne diseases causing stress, sickness, and even death can be addressed and resolved with proper solutions, like BioSand water filters and fresh-water wells.
Or, consider giving toward the $1,400 average cost to install a Jesus Well for an entire community. Jesus Wells can serve 300 or more people with safe, clean drinking water for 10-20 years.
Either solution is a simple and effective way to take part in helping reduce water stress in this world and provide micro solutions to the global water crisis for people in need of clean, safe drinking water.
GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, which inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to assist the poor and deprived worldwide, issued this 1st part of a Special Report update on the unspoken global crisis — Water Stress; where nations worldwide, both rich and poor, are struggling to find safe drinking water for their populations.
Water problems are often big news, whether it’s ongoing crises in American locales like Flint, Michigan or Newark, New Jersey; in 11 cities across the world forecasting as most likely to run out of drinking water; or the widespread concern that two-thirds of the world will face shortages by 2025.
And yet, “water stress is the biggest crisis no one is talking about,” says Andrew Steer, president and CEO of the World Resources Institute. “Its consequences are in plain sight in the form of food insecurity, conflict and migration, and financial instability.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says an estimated 801,000 children younger than 5 perish from diarrhea annually, mostly in developing countries.
Not only is safe, readily available water important for public health, WHO says improved water supply, sanitation and better management of resources “can boost countries’ economic growth and can contribute greatly to poverty reduction.”
Still, nearly 50 years after the U.S. adopted the Clean Water Act (regulating surface water quality standards and discharge of pollutants into water) and close to 30 years after the United Nations started observing World Water Day (Mar. 22), getting clean water to everyone remains a monumental challenge.
Last September, an investigation into a 6-year-old boy’s death led to detection of a brain-eating amoeba in the water supply of Lake Jackson, Texas, an hour south of Houston.
But it isn’t just the U.S. struggling to provide an adequate supply. Two years ago, BBC News chronicled 11 cities most likely to run out of drinking water. Topping the list was Cape Town, South Africa, which the BBC said was “in the unenviable situation of being the first major city in the modern era to face the threat of running out of drinking water.”
Cape Town has thus far avoided that fate by instituting usage restrictions, but that city and 10 others continue to face a water shortage:
In two previous special reports for Gospel for Asia entitled “Dying of Thirst: The Global Water Crisis,” and “Solving the World Water Crisis … for Good,” we unpacked the global quest for access to safe, clean water, and how lasting solutions can defeat this age-old problem. This article highlights continuing water stress problems worldwide, and various solutions that are emerging to deal with a crisis issue that is too often underdiscussed.
Pandemic Problems to Make Global Water Crisis Worse
As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, the pandemic of 2020 exacerbated conditions. In a forecast just prior to last year’s World Water Day, the UN said, “A continuing shortfall in water infrastructure investments from national governments and the private sector has left billions exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Ensuing developments justified the warning. Soon after, grocery stores in central California took to rationing bottled water to deal with the pandemic’s effects that posed serious health risks for residents in rural farmworker communities, where tap water is often fouled by agricultural pollution.
In long-plagued Flint last summer, 55-year-old Cynthia Shepherd told The Detroit News that, coupled with the extended water crisis there, the pandemic was making it “tough.” “I’ve known a few people who have died, and it’s scary,” says Shepherd.
Soon after reopening for the 2020-21 school year, school officials in five Ohio towns announced they had found legionella—the bacteria that can cause a serious type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease—in their water supplies. So did four districts in Pennsylvania. Ironically, precautions taken to prevent infection risks could have added to the problem.
“Stagnant water in unused drinking fountains or sink plumbing could be a good reservoir in which the bacteria could grow,” wrote New York Times reporter Max Horberry. “And shower heads like those found in locker rooms are common places for Legionella to proliferate.”
“It will be an even more daunting task, in both developed and developing countries, to regain the trust of their people that water they are receiving is safe to drink and for personal hygiene because of extensive past mismanagement in most areas of the world,” the publication observed.
In an article for GeoJournal, Professor Albert Boretti noted that technological improvements that helped deal with increased demand for water, food and energy since 1950 were not enough to avoid a water crisis. Not only have worldwide coronavirus cases (as of Aug. 4, 2020) surpassed 18.4 million and fatalities reached almost 700,000, containment measures aimed at limiting infections damaged the world economy, he said.
“This will limit social expenditures in general, and the expenditures for the water issue in particular,” Boretti said. “The water crisis will consequently become worse in the next months, with consequences still difficult to predict. This will be true especially for Africa, where the main problem has always been poverty. … More poverty will translate in a lack of food and water, potentially much more worrying than the virus spreading.”
Singapore Water Crisis Solutions
When it comes to cleaning up water, the Asian city-state of Singapore is a success story. For more than a century after the British settled there in 1819, the Singapore River was the focus of global and regional trade. That also brought pollution associated with commercial activity, such as industries, squatter colonies and food vendors dumping garbage, sewage and industrial waste into the river.
For more than a century, various commissions proposed alternatives for improving navigation and solving pollution, including a 1950s report suggesting improvements costing $30 million. For various reasons, it was never implemented, say the authors of an academic paper on the history of the clean-up.
However, in the 1960s, the prime minister set in motion a plan that included a call for water and drainage engineers in two departments to work together to resolve environmental problems. Polluters were told to move, families relocated to high-rise public housing, and a series of other steps were taken that cost $300 million.
“When the costs of the rivers cleaning programme are compared with the benefits, it is clear that it was an excellent investment,” said lead author Cecilia Tortajada. “The river cleaning programme had numerous direct and indirect benefits, since it unleashed many development- related activities which transformed the face of Singapore and enhanced its image as a model city in terms of urban planning and development. Most important, however, was that the population achieved better quality of life.”
GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA World’s latest yearly report, this included thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide – Discussing the growing community of people who have been touched by God’s love and healing power through the prayers of a Gospel for Asia worker who ministers and cares for them.
Gospel for Asia pastor Kontar recognized he was spending an increasing number of minutes each day with a phone attached to his ear. But he wasn’t catching up with old friends, chatting about the latest news. God was using these phone calls to bring healing to people who had never heard about Jesus.
It all began with a woman named Kessie, who grew up in a community where Pastor Kontar taught a group of believers each week. Though Kessie’s family practiced a traditional religion, she’d heard stories of how Pastor Kontar’s prayers brought healing to the sick in her village.
After she married, Kessie moved to her husband’s neighboring town. One day, Kessie learned that her neighbor, Efia, was afflicted with an unknown illness. For two months, Efia suffered, her body growing weaker and weaker with each passing day. She and her husband wondered where they could turn for treatment as worry heightened into fear and their hope began to dim.
An Important Phone Call
In Kessie’s new community, there was no pastor or fellowship of believers, but she remembered Pastor Kontar from her childhood home.
She gave Efia Pastor Kontar’s phone number, encouraging the ailing woman to call and ask for his help. Based on stories from back home, Kessie knew Pastor Kontar had a compassionate heart and a special way of bringing healing to those for whom he prayed.
Efia’s husband, Ashon, called Pastor Kontar immediately, desperate to try anything that might restore his wife’s health. Pastor Kontar listened carefully as Ashon described his wife’s condition, responding with the Good News about Jesus and His power to heal. Pastor Kontar ended the call with a prayer for Efia’s healing.
Efia’s health began to improve until she was completely free from her illness, the strength of her body fully restored.
Gospel for Asia Pastor Ministers to Those in Need
Efia wasn’t the only neighbor to whom Kessie gave Pastor Kontar’s phone number.
Renny called Pastor Kontar seeking prayer for his body that was racked with severe pains. Pastor Kontar patiently listened to Renny’s story and prayed for his complete healing. Soon the aches in Renny’s body eased and harmony was restored in his joints.
Still another young man, Panyin, suffered from the influence of evil spirits, leading him to abuse his father. The man’s mother decided to call Pastor Kontar, who prayed for Panyin’s freedom. Once again, God answered Pastor Kontar’s prayer, and Panyin was freed from his torment.
Soon, Pastor Kontar was praying with many people in a village where he’d never set foot. Over time, they invited Pastor Kontar to visit.
At long last, Pastor Kontar put faces with the many names over which he’d prayed. There were Renny, Panyin, Efia and Ashon. He greeted them with warmth. Even though he hadn’t known their faces, God certainly did, answering the many prayers Pastor Kontar had offered on their behalf.
The village, once without a fellowship of believers, now has a growing community of people who have been touched by God’s love and healing power and will never be the same.
*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.
Learn more about the GFA World workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
Learn more about the need for Disaster Relief Work, Gospel for Asia’s “Compassion Services” with relief teams who love the Lord who are focused to help victims of natural disasters find a firm foundation.
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WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, issued this Special Report update on the worsening hardships of leprosy patients amid the COVID 19 pandemic.
One of the unanticipated side effects of the seismic COVID-19 pandemic has been how it shed light on a community long consigned to the shadows—the several million people around the world living with leprosy.
This occurred in the news recently when the last county in the United States to get COVID-19 was shown to be located on a remote Hawaiian outpost and former leprosy colony.
The media exposure brought heightened attention to World Leprosy Day on January 24, an annual awareness initiative supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under the “Bust the Myths, Learn the Facts” banner aiming to dispel the misinformation that keeps the disease shrouded in fear.
Leprosy: Bust the Myths, Learn the Facts
Despite the fact that around 95 percent of the world’s population has natural immunity to the disease, leprosy patients continue to face unfounded discrimination. For example, in parts of South Asia, more than 100 laws restrict the rights of people with leprosy, including barring them from running for local office.
Despite the fact that 95% of the world’s population has natural immunity to the disease, leprosy patients continue to face unfounded discrimination.
Nor is leprosy as contagious as is widely believed. A study in Bangladesh found that less than two percent of those who shared a home with someone with leprosy would contract the disease themselves, “which is a reminder that there is no need to isolate people affected by leprosy.”
But that hasn’t curbed the shunning and shaming of leprosy patients, who are often forced to leave their communities and reduced to begging.
Throughout History, People Believed to Have Leprosy Were Among the Most Reviled
Surprising to many is that the United States had its own leprosy colonies until not too long ago. The largest, in Hawaii, closed in 1969 after taking in more than 8,000 patients over its lifetime, while the last, in Louisiana, where patients weren’t allowed to vote or marry, was shuttered in 2015. Around 200 new cases are still reported in the United States each year, most among people who have spent time in parts of the world where the disease is more prevalent.
At one stage, a century back, the assistant surgeon general declared there were “1,200 lepers at large” in America, seeking permission to round them up like criminals, recounts journalist Pam Fessler in her book, Carville’s Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice. It tells the story of the Louisiana leprosy colony and her husband’s grandfather, who ran away when he was diagnosed with the disease to avoid being confined.
“Throughout history, those believed to have leprosy… were among the most reviled members of society, outcasts sometimes believed to be sinners who brought the illness upon themselves,” says Fessler. “Even today, the threat of leprosy is used to demonize immigrants and people living in homeless encampments as potential carriers of the disease—although there’s no evidence that’s true.”
Eliminating Discrimination and False Conceptions Surrounding Leprosy is Key to Eliminating the Disease Itself
As a previous Gospel for Asia (GFA) special report underscored, eliminating discrimination and false conceptions of leprosy is key to eliminating the disease itself. For, while effective drug treatments have been available since the 1980s, ongoing stigma means many sufferers wait too long to be diagnosed, causing irreversible damage. Meanwhile, clinical trials on a vaccineare continuing.
The coronavirus-fueled renewed focus on this largely forgotten disease has been two-edged—revealing how much deep-rooted ignorance and prejudice still has to be overcome while also offering hope for greater compassion, and even possibly a reduction in its incidence.
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
Read the rest of this Gospel for Asia – Transforming Communities (GFA World) Special Report: Pandemic Worsens the Hardships of Leprosy Patients – COVID-19 intensifies two crippling challenges —Part 2
Learn more about the GFA leprosy ministry, or the Reaching Friends Ministry, helping remind people affected by leprosy that, despite the stigma of leprosy, they have dignity and are valued by God.
Learn more about the GFA World workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.
Learn more by reading these Special Reports from Gospel for Asia:
WILLS POINT, TX — Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide –Reporting on GFA World mission agency offering online 40-day lent devotional to help Christians pray, fast for unity, end to pandemic and other crises.
One of the largest humanitarian agencies in the world, has invited Christians to join a new movement during Great Lent to pray and fast for “unity and holiness” in America, and an end to the pandemic and other global crises.
Texas-based Gospel for Asia (GFA World) described this year’s holy season of Lent — beginning on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17 — as “the most important in a generation.”
“With the ongoing pandemic, other global crises and so much divisiveness in our world right now, it’s never been more important for Christians to make a concerted effort to pray and fast for unity and holiness,” said Bishop Danny Punnose, Gospel for Asia (GFA World) vice president. “This Lenten season is the most important in a generation.”
Great Lent is the church season prior to Easter, focusing on fasting, repentance, and charity. Many Christians who observe Lent refrain from eating certain foods such as meat for a period of time, using the cash savings to help others in need. Others voluntarily give up an activity they enjoy, and instead use the time to pray and seek the Lord.
“Our world desperately needs God’s intervention, healing and grace,” said Punnose, whose organization works to alleviate extreme poverty and share God’s love in villages and slums around the world.
Prayer: Turns Mourning To Joy
“The Lenten season is a purposeful opportunity in which we seek God and ask him to give us his heart for the suffering people of the world,” Punnose said. “As many of us face challenges that seem overwhelming, let’s remember God is able to bring dry bones to life and turn mourning into joy. Let’s turn to him and earnestly pray and fast.”
Lent is also an opportunity for people to help make the world a better place, Punnose said.
“Lent is a time when we can choose to make a simple sacrifice to embrace a cause that is close to the heart of God,” he said. “Tangible actions and conscious choices we make during the season of Lent should bring us closer to God and our neighbor, help us to become more like Jesus, and provide us with real opportunity to be Christ’s hands to those who need to know he loves them.”
One Billion Adherents
According to estimates, more than a billion Christians around the world will likely observe Lent, which is growing in popularity in evangelical circles.
“Many Christians are rediscovering the richness of the Lenten tradition, and are growing closer to Jesus through self-denial, sacrificial giving, fasting, and times of fervent prayer,” Punnose said. “Knowing that we have the hope that the world is dying for, shouldn’t we offer it?”
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) is a leading faith-based mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across Asia, especially to those who have yet to hear about the love of God. In GFA’s latest yearly report, this included more than 70,000 sponsored children, free medical camps conducted in more than 1,200 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 260,000 needy families, and spiritual teaching available in 110 languages in 14 nations through radio ministry. For all the latest news, visit our Press Room at https://press.gfa.org/news.
KP Yohannan has issued two statements about the COVID-19 situation found here and here.