This truly is an inspiring thought. But it is much more than a thought or word to keep us going—it is truth. Truth many impoverished people are getting the chance to witness in their own lives. Truth that was made evident in 33-year-old Pramesh’s life.
Pramesh’s family life was troubled. For 13 years he was possessed by an evil spirit, and his behavior changed. He couldn’t work to provide for his children and wife, which also meant they didn’t have enough money to pay for sacrifices so their god would heal him.
But “there is nothing too hard for the Lord Jesus.”
These very words of hope spoken by Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Haatim— words found in the nature of God, the worker of the impossible—gave Pramesh courage.
After seven months of prayer offered up by Pastor Haatim and the local believers, Pramesh was set free from the demonic powers. This miracle brought his entire family into the loving arms of Jesus.
The impossible did not stop here. Because of his healing, faith grew deep in Prameh’s heart, and he believed God could and would hear his prayers.
So Pramesh prayed for a fishing boat. Why not? If God could heal and deliver him, surely he could provide what he couldn’t. And a fishing boat would keep him from having to travel about 21 miles to find work as a daily laborer.
Pramesh prayed for a fishing boat, and the Lord answered when He provided this fishing boat as part of a Gospel for Asia-supported Christmas gift distribution.
Pramesh knew God could perform miracles, and the Lord did not fail him. Pastor Haatim, through the help of people all across the glove, was able to provide Pramesh with a boat! This was the direct answer to Pramesh’s hopeful prayers. It is amazing how Pramesh’s livelihood was impacted through this gift. The fish he caught from fishing, he sold at the market, and whatever was leftover, he used to feed his family for the day.
With a grateful heart, Pramesh did not forget God’s faithfulness toward him and his family. From the very first profits he gained from his new boat, he offered a tithe to the Lord. He now testifies of God’s blessings, and all can plainly see the Lord’s glory revealed through his redeemed son.
Pramesh is able to fish with the boat he received and earn a profit.
God is the God of the impossible. He is the one who parted the Red Sea and raised Jesus from the dead. He is the One who spoke by the prophets and came as a humble baby. He is the One who lifted Pramesh from his desperate place and changed his poverty into abundance.
This Christmas, God is using men and women like you and me to uplift the lowly with our plenty. Being the hands and feet of Christ could mean something as simple as saying “yes.” Saying “yes” to provide someone on the other side of the world with a chance to know they are loved by God.
No Christmas gift is a mistake or a random-chance blessing. It is all orchestrated by the hands God. The Lord of love. The King of compassion and mercy.
So may we all cling to the God of the impossible and align ourselves with the heart and mind of Christ. May we have faith like Pramesh, believing God to do miracles. May we be open to being the hands and feet of the very One who died for the sake of mankind. The One who loves Pramesh and loves you.
=====
For more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia, go here.
Last updated on: November 4, 2019 at 12:02 am By GFA Staff Writer
Gospel for Asia (GFA) News, Wills Point, Texas
World Toilet Day, established for November 19th by the UN in 2013, coincides with the 2001 creation of the World Toilet Organization, an organization aimed at raising awareness about and addressing the need for toilets all around the world.
On Oct. 2, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Swachh Bharat (Clean India), an initiative to clean India in multiple ways, including the goal of eliminating open defecation in the nation by Oct. 2, 2019—the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday.
We are proud to be a small part of impacting families, transforming communities and enabling education (more on that later) through toilets.
Gospel for Asia’s field partners regularly inaugurate new toilets, like they did for Mae and her family. Here’s her story.
The Testimony of a Toilet
Like many others in their village, Reuel, Mae and their family had no toilet facility and had to use the open field early in the morning. They especially struggled during the rain. Mae often felt unsafe and uneasy having to go out in the open, visible to any prying eye, but she had no other choice. Although Reuel and Mae made plans to construct a toilet of their own, they couldn’t come up with the funds to start the project.
Mae and her family [pictured] were overjoyed when their church constructed a toilet for them. Now they have a private and safe place to use the restroom. But they weren’t alone. Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor Vikranta was Mae’s pastor. He had the joy of nurturing and watching the family grow in the Lord and learn to love Him more. As he cared for their spiritual needs, Pastor Vikranta also saw this family struggle in poverty. Pastor Vikranta aimed to change this, and he requested a toilet to be built for them outside their home. During construction, excitement unfolded among the villagers, and many asked Pastor Vikranta to build them a toilet, too. As the walls of the toilet went up, their desire increased to hear more about Jesus and His love. Encouraging those who lived nearby to use the helpful gift whenever it was needed, Mae told her neighbors, “Our church has built the sanitation [toilet] for us.”After the long-awaited toilet was completed, Reuel and his family were overjoyed and deeply grateful. God fulfilled their hope and need of safe sanitation through the prayer and resources of the Gospel for Asia (GFA) community and its partners worldwide. Not only does this family have a safe place to use the restroom, but the toilet stands as a testimony of God’s faithfulness to those in their sphere of influence. It is setting a pathway for many to find the true hope of Jesus and His cleansing love.
2.4 billion Still Have No Toilet
Did you know that to this day, some 2.4 billion people worldwide—about one-third of the planet—still don’t have access to adequate sanitation facilities? Bringing that number to zero by 2030 is one of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
But seriously—2.4 billion people?
When I was a kid, I enjoyed our rustic camping trips. There were places we went where we had to use a trowel because there were no toilets for miles. That was an interesting novelty, part of the experience.
This is the only sanitation facility (or restroom) in this village.
But I never had to worry about men coming and attacking me. I wasn’t concerned about finding someone else’s mess. My biggest concern was usually avoiding bug bites in awkward places and making sure I kept my clothes clean in the process.
I could handle it for a few days, but I was always thankful to have a porcelain seat once we got back home. I can’t imagine having to go outside every single day. Rain or shine, snow or wind, mosquito swarms and prickly grass.
A toilet is a lot more than dignity. It means safety from diseases, from attacks, from bugs and harsh weather. But toilets also impact education in ways not many people may realize.
Toilets and Education
Did you know that toilets directly impact education, especially for girls?
Think about it.
People all over the world have picked up a practice that may be detrimental for their health: holding it.
Without convenient access to a bathroom, countless women deliberately drink insufficient water just so they won’t have to urinate later in some public place. There is this powerful video produced by WaterAid about a woman living in a slum who, among other things, has trained her body to only go once per day so she won’t have to do it more often.
Gospel for Asia-supported workers are providing toilets for many communities all across Asia.
Our bodies are meant to go several times a day! When we don’t drink enough water, we become dehydrated, which means headaches, difficulty concentrating, and decreased performance in school.
Dehydrated children cannot focus as well. They struggle. They fall behind. They should be drinking, but many don’t want to because of inadequate toilets.
And then girls hit puberty.
Every month comes a few days when young women need easy access to a safe place. But if they don’t get it, many stay home until the way of women has passed. That means teenage girls might start missing out on a quarter of their schooling. It’s no wonder so many in toilet-deprived areas fall behind and eventually drop out.
Now, amazingly, global drop-out rates between boys and girls are leveling out on the whole, but they still remain skewed in regions without proper sanitation. This is tragic when you consider the tremendous global push for education and empowering women. Awareness of the need for toilets in this equation has been increasing through the years, and we praise God for that. In fact, it seems that will be one of the topics at this year’s World Toilet Summit.
Toilets provide dignity, safety, health, enable education and empower communities.
I remember the excited buzz around the office when GFA’s Christmas Gift Catalog first featured toilets, and we have been proud to feature them every year since. We’re grateful to be part of bringing sanitary joy to tens of thousands of people in Asia.
=====
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Last updated on: November 26, 2019 at 11:40 am By GFA Staff Writer
Do you ever stop to consider how many blankets you have in your home? What kind of stockpile do you have stored up in case the heating goes out for two weeks during a severe winter storm?
It’s no stretch to guess you have at least one blanket for each person in your family. If you’re like most of us, you probably have light summer blankets in addition to heavier, winter quilts. There might even be some cozy throws on your sofa and the recliner, and the afghan your grandmother made for you. Don’t forget to count the extra blankets in the guestroom, the ones in the cars, and the picnic blanket in the garage. And what about the sleeping bags you keep with your camping gear?
With all the warm clothes and blankets you can find in your home, you and your family could probably survive a long winter emergency in an unheated home.
But how would you fare if your home was only a makeshift hut, your family had hardly any winter clothing or blankets, and you could barely feed them with your meager earnings as a day laborer, beggar or scavenger?
This is the cruel reality for tens of thousands of the poorest people who live in the cold regions of Asia. Hetaksh, his wife and three little daughters, were among them.
Gospel for Asia-supported workers to distribute blankets to needy families in Asia.
Despite Hetaksh’s efforts, he and his wife couldn’t afford anything besides a meager meal and basic education for their children. Even simple tasks like buying a new outfit for a growing child was a serious financial challenge.
Winter would only bring even more suffering for this dear family, as it still does for thousands of others who have little to nothing to protect them from the freezing temperatures and icy winds.
But for Hetaksh, the story doesn’t end there—something wonderful happened.
Life Changes at a Prayer Meeting
It all began when someone Hetaksh knew invited him to a prayer meeting. Hetaksh learned things about Jesus he had never understood before. At the end of the meeting, Hetaksh talked to the Gospel for Asia-supported pastor who led the meeting. He told Pastor Mrithun about the economic struggles he was facing and asked him to pray for his family.
And this is how miracles happen. Most of the reports you read in our reports from the field website, in Gospel for AsiaWorld magazine or anywhere else that have testimonies of lives changed share a common thread: prayer.
Jesus said this in Matthew 7:7–8: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
It is through prayer that God gently stoops down to change the course of human affairs, something we have seen Him do again and again over the years. If people don’t pray, lives won’t change. (By the way, if you want to learn more about prayer, check out this booklet by Dr. KP Yohannan.)
The gifts our field partners give are answers to prayer and are given with prayer. Just as families in the West and around the world pray about what items to give through GFA’s Christmas Gift Catalog every year, our partners in Asia pray about whom to give them to.
And that is why the gift of a blanket can be so much more than a few yards of warm fabric—it can play a part in changing eternities, as it did for Hetaksh’s family.
Many people from poor, mountain villages in Asia, like this man, cannot afford blankets on their own. The blankets they receive through GFA are a tremendous blessing for them!
A Blanket Surprise
To Hetaksh’s surprise, God answered his prayer for financial breakthrough in a very practical way—and just before winter started, too: He and his family received a thick, warm blanket!
This blanket came as a gift through Pastor Mrithun’s church during a blanket distribution to the poor—a distribution sponsored by our dear Gospel for Asia friends around the world. The blanket was big enough to keep the whole family warm at night, night after night, throughout the entire cold season.
This visible sign of God’s love and care greatly encouraged Hetaksh. No doubt the Lord will continue to care for this precious family and make them a powerful witness to others.
Urged to Give
Every winter, our partners in Asia feel the urgency of those around them, and we do, too. They pray for means and opportunity to distribute thousands of blankets and articles of winter clothing among those who lack adequate shelter and clothing to survive the freezing cold temperatures. They know that one blanket, like the one Hetaksh received, can make the difference between life and death for a family, especially for small children and the elderly.
It’s crazy to realize what a blanket can do. They are so small, but they work. For those who don’t have extra blankets for every family member, like we may, one blanket can mean a whole lot.
Blanket distributions occur in squalid slums, remote villages and, like above, in leprosy colonies, where they give help to those who can no longer care for themselves.
As we join with Gospel for Asia friends around the world to extend warmth to those in need, we know we are making a difference—often an eternal one. And that knowledge helps us keep pressing on when we face difficulties of our own.
We know the poor and needy have no means to pay any of us back for our kindness. They probably don’t even know we exist. We just pray that they, like Hetaksh, will desire to know Jesus cares for them through our lives, efforts and prayers. That way, someday, we will all be able to worship our Jesus together with them around the throne.
=====
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 3:21 am By GFA Staff Writer
After a long day’s work, you are probably ready for a hearty dinner, a refreshing drink and maybe even a hot shower. Perhaps you have a book propped open on your table to enjoy before you curl up on your comfortable bed for a good night’s sleep.
Since its formation 25 years ago, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty calls for global awareness of the unacceptably high number of people living in poverty—and for action to remedy the situation.
Although they laborer from sun up to sun down, millions of families in Asia still live in extreme poverty.
What is Poverty?
The World Bank sets the extreme poverty line at living on $1.90 per day or less. Poverty is a lack of money, but it is so much more than that. Poverty means children grow up malnourished; it means parents can’t give their children new clothes when they outgrow their old ones; poverty means illiteracy will likely pass from one generation to the next, as children work in fields instead of studying in classrooms.
In an interview originally published in The Christian Century, Ana Revenga, the Deputy Chief Economist for The World Bank Group, explains how the needs of those living in extreme poverty go beyond what can be described in simple monetary terms like $1.90 per day.
“We can monetize a lot of the aspects of poverty,” she states, “but there is a legitimate debate about the multidimensional aspects of poverty. When you talk to the poor, they will talk about a sense of dignity and about having a job, not just receiving money. How do you monetize that?”
Poverty can sometimes cause “poverty of spirit,” as discouragement, shame and crushed hopes wear down the hearts of parents who are trying everything they can to earn enough for their families.
Gifts that Change Everything
We at Gospel for Asia see firsthand the poverty and struggle experienced by families in the nations we serve, and we’re committed to empowering these families to improve their circumstances.
Every year, we launch a ministry-wide campaign through our Christmas Gift Catalog to help provide income-generating gifts for families in need. Since beginning this Christmas gift campaign, we’ve seen thousands of times how simple, inexpensive gifts like rickshaws, sewing machines and goats radically transform the life of a family.
In 2016 alone, 600,989 families in Asia received life-changing gifts like the ones found in our gift catalog. Many of those gifts are income-generating and will continue to perpetuate hope and new opportunities for families, as one gift did for Prabhal’s family.
Rickshaws are a common mode of transportation in many Asian nations. Some carry cargo while others are designed for transporting passengers.
Hardworking Father Struggles to Provide
Prabhal strove to care for the family God entrusted to him, yet even with the hours of hard work he put in every day, he barely earned enough money to feed his wife and two children. He owned no land, so he toiled in others’ fields, earning just enough to buy rice and vegetables. The meager meal, split between four people, hardly satisfied the hearty appetite Prabhal developed after laboring in the sun all day, but there was nothing else he could do. As hard as he tried, his family’s situation didn’t improve. The high cost of living swallowed up everything Prabhal earned and locked his family into a pattern of living from hand to mouth.
The lack of income affected more than their mealtimes—clothing was hard to come by, too. Purchasing inexpensive clothes just once a year for his wife, son and daughter was problematic. Even worse, Prabhal’s son had to drop out of school, caught in the same cycle of poverty that grips millions of people in Asia. Without receiving an education, obtaining a well-paying job is unlikely, so financial struggles continue from generation to generation.
Extending a Helping Hand
Prabhal and his family are part of a congregation led by Gospel for Asia-supported pastor Nand. Pastor Nand observed the poverty Prabhal’s family endured, and his heart went out to them. His opportunity to help the needy family came through the generosity of believers who had never even met Prabhal.
Some gifts like those in GFA’s Christmas Gift Catalog were directed toward Pastor Nand’s area. While helping organize the distribution, Pastor Nand suggested Prabhal be selected as one of the recipients.
His Rickshaw: An Unassuming Treasure
Overjoyed and filled with gratitude, Prabhal received a new rickshaw at the gift distribution. Rickshaws are a common mode of transportation in many Asian nations, and they provide a steady profit for those who own them. After years of financial difficulty, this simple gift brought new hope for Prabhal’s family!
He quickly redirected his diligence from his field labor jobs to driving his rickshaw. Soon, the income he earned was more than enough to provide for his family’s needs.
Although Prabhal’s son had dropped out of school because of poverty, this new source of income meant Prabhal’s daughter could receive an education. Even after meeting his family’s needs and sending his daughter to school, Prabhal was able to start setting aside savings—yet another thing that had been impossible for him to do before receiving the rickshaw.
“After getting the rickshaw, it is easier for me to earn money,” Prabhal shared. “Now I do not have to go in search of labor work. Moreover, I can easily maintain my family, and we do not worry about what to eat in the morning and in the evening.”
Prabhal’s bicycle rickshaw will probably never be called “sporty.” There’s nothing exotic about it—no shiny chrome, no eye-catching leather interior. But this functional vehicle means the world to Prabhal because he no longer worries about how to feed his family.
“I am so blessed by this rickshaw,” Prabhal continued, “and thankful to the Lord for His blessings and to all the church leaders for thinking about my family.”
Through Gospel for Asia’s Christmas Gift Catalog, thousands of families have received income-generating gifts that will help halt the cycle of poverty in their lives.
‘The Love of God Compels Us’
Now, Prabhal’s family lives above the poverty line, in stark contrast to their situation just a few years ago. Recognizing God’s provision in his life, Prabhal rejoices in the care his faithful Provider demonstrated toward his family.
That’s why we do what we do. We love God, and God loves the farmers, fishermen, daily wage laborers, housewives, child laborers and grandparents who are hungry, cold and wondering if anyone sees them. Through these gifts, we can meet their pressing needs and give them dignity, and in so doing, show them that people see their needs, and Someone cares.
That’s what this day is about.
=====
Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.
Last updated on: November 26, 2022 at 7:03 pm By GFA Staff Writer
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 final part of a Special Report on the world’s greatest ‘badge of shame’: Children in Crisis.
Each of their children were suffering and it was all preventable…if only they had clean water. But their nearest source was a contaminated pond and it wasn’t always possible to walk the 3-6 miles to reach safer water, so they drank what was poisoning them. One day though, everything changed.
Kids at Risk of Sexual Exploitation
For millions of children around the world, hunger, thirst and disease are just three of life’s cruel injustices. They are, however, not the vilest or the most horrific.
These three children are safe for now in a loving family in the state of Haryana, India, but millions of other kids around the globe ages 10-17 are at risk of sexual exploitation or enforced prostitution.
A report on child trafficking by UNICEF, the U.N. children’s agency, says:
“Sexual activity is often seen as a private matter, making communities reluctant to act and intervene in cases of sexual exploitation. These attitudes make children more vulnerable to sexual exploitation. Myths, such as the belief that HIV/AIDS can be cured through sex with a virgin, technological advances such as the internet [that] has facilitated child pornography, and sex tourism targeting children, all add to their vulnerability.”[32]
UNICEF’s report highlights the following highly disturbing facts:
Mexico’s social service agency reports more than 16,000 children engage in prostitution, with most of them active in tourist destinations.
In Lithuania, 20-50 percent of prostitutes are believed to be children, some as young as 11. Kids from orphanages and children’s homes are especially at-risk, and 10-12 year-olds have been used to make pornographic movies.
National Geographic tells the harrowing story of “S” in Asia (name withheld) who left home at the age of 12 with a family acquaintance who promised to find her a job in the city. She was sold to a brothel where she was kept as a sex slave for two years before the police freed her and sent her to a shelter. Six months later, “S” met a woman who promised to take her back home to her family—but sold her to another brothel instead.[34]
The young and unprotected are easy targets for those who would carry out unspeakable atrocities against them.
The shameful catalog of sexual abuse against unprotected girls is a global disgrace.[35]
According to the Korea Future Initiative (KFI), North Korean girls who escape across the border to China are forced to stay “invisible” and often end up in brothels and the cybersex trade. “Girls as young as 9 are forced to perform graphic sex acts and are sexually assaulted in front of webcams, which are live-streamed to a paying global audience,” says KFI.[36]
In Haiti, many young girls enter into “survival prostitution” because they have no other way to feed themselves.
A church leader in Haiti explained to me: “Let’s say that a girl does not eat for a day. She’s hungry but she will survive. However, the next day, she has nothing to eat. Now, she has gone two days without food. A married man asks her, ‘Can I take you to a restaurant?’ She will not say ‘no.’ The next day, he offers to buy her clothes… a nice dress. Do you think she will say ‘no’? Before long, she is his mistress. She has become dependent on him for food and clothing. This happens all the time in Haiti.
“Many girls practice prostitution in our cities and even in our churches. Their parents encourage them because they are desperate for food, so they encourage their 15-year-old daughters to have sex to bring in money. It’s a desperation trade: ‘You help me, and I will have sex with you.’”
In Haiti, these child sex workers are known as “Degaje.“ In the local Creole language, the term refers to sex workers in survival mode. Their families are known as “Brase,” also a reference to being in a state of survival. Hence, Haitians talk about “Degaje” from “Brase” families.
In nations around the globe, poverty also leads to child marriages, with men frequently marrying girls under the age of 13. According to a report by Gospel for Asia (GFA World), there are as many as 650 million “child brides” in the world today, including adult women who married in childhood.[37]In 2020, a startling report by CBS News stated that one in every five children in the world is married.[38]
“Globally, millions of girls—a number so vast as to defy comprehension—are trapped in a web of exploitation,” said Yohannan. “Girls living in areas of political instability, conflict, or oppression are especially vulnerable to forced marriage and sex slavery.”
In 2014, the kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria by Boko Haram terrorists grabbed the news headlines, but globally the ongoing, rampant abuse of girls continues largely under the radar:
In Bangladesh, a survey of 375 sex workers revealed nearly half of them were child brides, married as young as 11, and trafficked into prostitution.
In China, sex-selective abortions resulted in a national shortage of women, fueling demand for child brides and sex workers.[39]
In the U.S., more than 200,000 minors were married between 2000 and 2015. Most were girls and more than 80 percent were married to an adult, CBS News reported.[40]
In Southeast Asia, 13-year-old Min Min searches for precious stones at a quarry. In 2020, at least 160 people were killed by a mudslide at a jade mine in the region where he lives. “We risk our lives for these stones,” Min Min said. “A man died last night … I saw it with my own eyes.”[42]
Facing neglect and physical abuse, these children are known as “rest avek,” translated “stay with,” and are treated essentially as slaves, expected to rise early each day to do the most menial chores.
Real-life Cinderellas
These real-life Cinderellas don’t have the opportunity to attend school, so they have virtually no chance of escaping their situation.
Bhil boy works in the brick making factory alongside other adults and children.
“Haitians dream of escape,” one Haitian man in the capital Port-au-Prince told me. “If you look at Haitian paintings, many of them depict the ocean. The ocean represents escape… liberty. For Haitians, the outside world is paradise; Haiti is hell.”
But for Haiti’s “rest avek” children and millions more trapped in exploitive labor around the world, there is no escape.
In Asia, nine-year-old Lakshmi worked in a factory as a cigarette roller. But it’s her 10-year-old sister she’s most worried about.
“Every morning at 7 a.m. she goes to the bonded labor man, and every night at 9 p.m. she comes home,” Lakshmi said. “He treats her badly. He hits her if he thinks she’s working slowly, or, if she talks to the other children, he yells at her. He comes looking for her if she’s sick and can’t go to work.”
“I don’t care about school or playing. I don’t care about any of that. All I want is to bring my sister home. For 600 rupees [about $8] I can bring her home—that is our only chance to get her back. We don’t have 600 rupees … we will never have 600 rupees.”[43]
A better life seems like a far-fetched dream to children like Lakshmi and her sister in Asia. At the root of their despair is grinding poverty.
Working with community leaders, solutions like basic health care, food, clean water and educational and community service opportunities help break the cycle of generational poverty.
Two young impoverished children in Karnataka, India convey the wonderful beauty found in every child, no matter their station in life.
Our world bears a great “badge of shame” for its appalling neglect of and cruel injustice toward children in every nation, on every continent. But there’s an opportunity for redemption—and each of us can do our part.
In Kampala’s Kisenyi slum, one lonely street boy about 10 years old caught my attention as he sat in the dirt, wearing only torn rags. His leg was badly injured, split open, and flies had gathered on the gaping wound. He was inhaling fuel from a plastic bottle to dull the pain. As I crouched beside him, he told me he’d been run over by a car. The driver hadn’t bothered to stop. Maybe God put me on this earth for this very moment? It was, perhaps, the first time someone had actually cared about this boy, the first time he’d experienced God’s love through another human being. It was an honor to clean and bandage his wound. At that moment, God broke my heart for the suffering children of this world. But He did more than that—He showed me that every child reveals His beauty, even when they’re dressed in filthy rags and lying in the gutter.
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://gfanews.org/news.
Read the rest of Gospel for Asia’s Special Report: Children in Crisis — World’s Greatest ‘Badge of Shame’ —Part 1, Part 2
Learn more about the GFA World Bridge of Hope program and how you can make an incredible difference in the lives of children, bringing hope to their lives and their families, transforming communities.
Learn how to provide a chance for children without sponsors. When you give to help unsponsored children, you help supplement the lack of resources when children in Asia don’t have the sponsors they need to stay in a Bridge of Hope center.
Last updated on: December 4, 2021 at 6:34 am By GFA Staff Writer
WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like GFA World Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, issued this second part of a Special Report update on Taking the Toilet Challenge, where resolving Open Defecation continues to confound the world.
In West Bengal, a local Gospel for Asia (GFA World) pastor who identified needs of people in his community, including this woman and her child, was able to facilitate the construction of low-cost outdoor toilet to provide a safe, sanitary facility for her family. Gospel for Asia (GFA World) has helped to construct over 32,000 toilets to date in remote, impoverished communities throughout South Asia.
Open Defecation Still Persists Worldwide, Even in America
While places like South Asia, Nigeria and Indonesia are noted for problems with open defecation, this poor health habit exists worldwide. In late 2019, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said 15.5 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean are forced to practice open defecation. Calling it an “unhealthy practice,” PAHO official Marco Espinal said, “Improving access to water and sanitation through multisectoral policies and actions is critical to prevent disease and save lives.”8
After attending the toilet expo in China, NPR reporter Katrina Yu noted that toilet innovations may be a hard sell in other countries.
Katrina Yu, NPR reporter Photo by Katrina Yu, Facebook
“Sanitation just isn’t sexy,” Yu wrote. “In fact, it stinks. According to the World Health Organization, governments, including many of those in Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, often neglect to consider safe sanitation when drawing up budgets and policies. ‘To have any hope of solving sanitation problems,’ said [Jim Yong] Kim of the World Bank, ‘we have to break taboos and get over our discomfort in talking about poop.’”9
The public declarations against open defecation stretch back for two decades. The Singapore-based World Toilet Association established its special day in 2001, with the United Nations General Assembly officially declaring November 19 as World Toilet Day in 2013. The observance aims to inform, engage and inspire people to achieve the goal of ensuring the availability of clean water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Yet as the UN and numerous governments, non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work to eliminate the problem, it even exists on the streets of prosperous America. An October 2019 report by Environmental Justice said without sanitation when and where it is needed, the human right to sanitation for the homeless population has not been realized, leaving valid concerns about the risks of infectious disease transmission.
“The experience of Street Medicine physicians has yielded significant insight into how and why people experiencing homelessness resort to open defecation: the lack of public resources, perceptions about public toilets and the feelings of being unwelcome at them, concerns about safety, and physical and mental illness—including addiction—are all factors that contribute to OD,” the report said.10
A family in Maharashtra received this low-cost outdoor toilet as recipients of GFA World’s Christmas Catalog campaign to supply safe, private sanitation facilities to impoverished communities through South Asia.
The concerns raised by lack of access to sustainable sanitation and proper handwashing facilities have taken on new importance during the COVID-19 outbreak that engulfed the world in 2020. A report late last year from the World Bank placed the global costs of inadequate sanitation at an estimated $260 billion.
“Even before the COVID outbreak, our research conducted in 18 countries around the world showed that it’s poor children who suffer the most from inadequate sanitation,” said a summary issued on last November’s World Toilet Day. “Intestinal diseases related to poor sanitation, along with malnutrition and infections, contribute to stunting—one of the most serious and irreversible developmental problems facing children and impacting their future livelihoods as productive adults. In many countries, poor sanitation catalyzes a vicious cycle of poverty.”11
Children in India supported by Gospel for Asia (GFA World) sponsors also participated in India’s five-year-long Swachh Barat Abhiyan (“Clean India”) campaign by drawing images like these to emphasize the basic message.
Long-term Progress is Producing Slow but Steady Results
In addition to 128 comfort stations, Seattle Public Utilities has deployed 14 toilets and handwashing stations around Seattle to help the most vulnerable in their community stay healthy through these shelter and hygiene centers. Photo by SEA Mayor’s Office, Twitter
Yet, in spite of such gloomy realities, there has been long-term progress in the battle. Between 2000 and 2017, the number of people practicing OD was reduced from 1.3 billion to around 670 million, or 9 percent of the world’s population.12 The UNICEF South Asia Progress Report for 2018–2021 said the proportion of people practicing OD fell from 65 percent to 34 percent in the region as a whole, with India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan all achieving more than 30 percent reductions since 1990.13 There is a financial advantage to toilet installation: the World Health Organization estimates a return of $5.50 for every dollar spent on sanitation.14
Improvements have been steadily moving in the right direction, says one report: “The global population using safely managed sanitation services increased from 28 percent in 2000 to 45 percent in 2017, with the greatest increases occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean, sub-Saharan Africa, and East and South-East Asia. In the period from 2000-2017, 2.1 billion people across the globe gained access to at least basic services and the population lacking basic services decreased from 2.7 billion to 2 billion.”15
More Direct Aid Needed to Sustain Progress
Ms Hing, 31, and her 4-year-old daughter, Than, stand outside their new latrine installed by UNICEF and partners in Namdeau village, Bolikhamxay province, Laos, where 38 percent of households have no sanitation facilities at all. Photo by UNICEF USA, Saving Lives, One Toilet at a Time
Amid these encouraging developments, though, a reality remains: As of 2020 only one in five countries with greater than 1 percent OD reported being on track to achieve near elimination of it among the poorest fifth of rural populations by 2030.16 That and the still-high numbers of OD mean direct aid is still vital in many regions of the world.
Last year, UNICEF helped nearly 19 million people gain access to safe drinking water and 10.8 million with basic sanitation. Among them were residents of Cote d’Ivoire on the western coast of Africa, where less than 10 percent of people living in rural areas have access to clean, functional toilets. One woman who—along with her neighbors—used to defecate outdoors said that it was not only dangerous but not hygienic. While sharing her toilet with those nearby, she adds, “When they’re done, they have to clean it. I want to keep my toilet nice and clean.”17
Another woman in a village in Laos – Ms Hing – said, “I have a new toilet, and I don’t need to go to the bush anymore.”18
GFA World is another NGO working to eliminate open defecation. In 2019, GFA installed more than 5,200 toilets in needy communities. That boosted its cumulative total to more than 32,000 toilets installed, built in some of the world’s most underdeveloped areas.
While going to the bathroom is a privilege those in affluent societies often take for granted, for those living in out-of-the-way places, a toilet is one of the best gifts they can receive.
One example is a man named Laal and his wife, who live with four of their five children and their daughter-in-law. They are one of only three families still living in their village; many have moved away because of isolation and the lack of basic facilities, including a sanitary outhouse. The construction of a sanitation facility, facilitated by two Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers from a nearby community, literally changed their lives. Not only did they benefit from the health advantages of their new toilet, but they also established a new circle of friendships in the neighboring community.19
The installation of an outdoor sanitation facility, like this toilet from GFA World, proved to be, in numerous ways, a life-changing blessing for Laal’s family in South Asia.
In another, more densely, populated area with 1,600 families spread over eight villages, the majority of families still live in poverty. With most of their money going for survival, it leaves little for anything else, including hygiene or basic sanitation facilities. Gospel for Asia (GFA) workers came to their aid, collecting supplies and manpower needed to install facilities. More than 250 of the families received not only a toilet but instruction in their proper use and cleaning to keep people safe from disease.
“All the beneficiaries were ecstatic at the gift,” reported a Gospel for Asia (GFA) worker. “The women were especially happy; they no longer needed to put themselves in danger every time they needed to use the toilet. They finally had a safe place to privately relieve themselves. No more would they need to venture out into the fields to do so.”20
Hopefully, many more such reports will surface in the months and years to come.
If you’d like to assist in providing outdoor toilets for underserved communities around the world, connect with GFA World to make a donation. Your contribution can be a life-changing one for many families that live in a community without proper sanitation, by providing them with safety from disease and dignity through privacy. And you will feel good to have made a contribution that helps families in developing nations without access to things we can take for granted.
Safe, sanitary outdoor toilets typically cost around $540, to build in Asia, and benefit multiple families in remote, impoverished communities. You can help provide one for a needy village, by donating a portion of the construction costs through 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 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.
“Many girls practice prostitution in our cities and even in our churches. Their parents encourage them because they are desperate for food, so they encourage their 15-year-old daughters to have sex to bring in money. It’s a desperation trade: ‘You help me, and I will have sex with you.’”
Yet as the UN and numerous governments, non-profits and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) work to eliminate the problem, it even exists on the streets of prosperous America. An October 2019 report by Environmental Justice said without sanitation when and where it is needed, the human right to sanitation for the homeless population has not been realized, leaving valid concerns about the risks of infectious disease transmission.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In