Is There Any Hope for 115 Million Asian Children Living in Abject Poverty?

Last updated on: January 31, 2023 at 8:55 am By GFA Staff Writer

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing the stories of Bridge of Hope center’s impact on the lives of thousands of children.

Hope. An optimistic state of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes. Hope is a reason to keep on keeping on. It is a reason to keep on living. People without hope live in despair.

No one can reasonably say how many people live in despair. It is fair to say, however, that most people who live in abject poverty eventually lose the hope they once had. It is impossible to know exactly when that hope is lost, but for many, it is sometime during their childhood years when they begin to realize that the obstacles in the way to what they hope for are insurmountable.

As the hopes and joys of early childhood are clouded by the realities of their inability to escape their destitute life, despair creeps into their hearts until every ray of hope is replaced by a dark cloud of doom. They can’t get to where they had hoped to go from where they are.

There are more than 115 million children living in abject poverty in Asia. Multitudes of them have already lost hope as they realize they are locked into their plight by a combination of circumstances beyond their control.

The only hope they have is for someone to rescue them. They need a bridge from where they are to where they can find their lost hope.

Is There Any Hope for 115 Million Asian Children Living in Abject Poverty - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Each GFA-supported Bridge of Hope center builds a bridge to a promising future for tens of thousands of school-age children who may live in abject poverty, and have little or no opportunity for making a better life.

From Abject Poverty to Building a Bridge of Hope

Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope centers build that bridge for tens of thousands of school-age children who have little or no opportunity for making a better life. That requires learning the fundamental skills and habits necessary for building that life. Each day spent at a Bridge of Hope facility is proverbially another plank in the bridge to returning to the hope they thought they had lost.

Children at Bridge of Hope centers receive:

A quality education in which they learn to read and write—keys to a future of hope.
A daily nutritious meal to build and maintain physical strength.
Medical care that includes lessons in good personal hygiene and periodic physical checkups.

Bridge of Hope Staff Help Children Discover Their Potential.

Think about “potential” for a moment. Do you recognize the root of that word? It is “potent” which means “powerful.” When a child realizes they possess the power to change their future, hope is visible again, reachable just across the Bridge of Hope.

Staff members also help the children develop their creative abilities. Can you see the look on a child’s face when they have created something special and realize, “I didn’t know I could do that?”

Staff members lead them in community service projects where they can apply what they have been taught in a practical way. Think of the spark in a child’s mind when they realize, “I can help others to learn and help them to hope!”

Hope Renewed for Ratan

With an alcoholic father, young Ratan struggled with physical weakness and faced challenges socially. He struggled in his studies and spent much of his time at home, too fearful to speak to others or make any friends. At this rate, a bright future seemed unlikely for the scared and sickly little boy.

But then Ratan was enrolled into a Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope center in his village. The Bridge of Hope staff had recognized Ratan’s need for assistance and decided to give him the opportunity to participate in the activities at the center and receive help with his education.

Ratan flourished at the Bridge of Hope center. Through the daily meal and the hygiene items he received, his sicknesses faded away, and he gained the strength of a normal young boy. He also grew stronger academically and improved in his studies.

The Bridge of Hope teachers and staff invested in Ratan’s life, encouraging him to take part in extracurricular activities. The teachers’ caring involvement in his life touched Ratan’s heart.

Ratan—once too shy to talk to strangers—now aspires to serve alongside his countrymen. He admired the love and concern for others that was demonstrated at the Bridge of Hope center and embraced those same values, laying a foundation that can guide him wherever he goes in the years to come.

A Bridge for Bala

When Bala turned 5 years old, her father died from a sudden illness, so her mother began working hard to feed the family. A year later, however, Bala’s mother fell sick and passed away, too.

Bala’s grandmother, Udita, was left to care for the little girl, but she was too old and feeble to work. With no one to help them, she and Bala struggled to get through each day.

When Bala arrived at the Bridge of Hope center, she wore shabby clothes and struggled to read and write, but the staff quickly began working with her. Instead of seeing her as a problem to be fixed, they showed her genuine love, treating her as their own daughter. As a result, Bala was completely transformed.

Today, Bala has been an orphan for six years, but she doesn’t live with the despair usually attached to her status. Instead, she comes to the Bridge of Hope center eager to sing and dance, certain that her life doesn’t lack anything—even parental love.

Beyond Hope

Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Bridge of Hope centers are transforming children’s lives. Hope is being restored. Obstacles that once seemed insurmountable, like abject poverty, are now hurdles that can be overcome. Poverty and despair are losing their power. Children, like Ratan and Bala, now have a bright future ahead of them.

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Sources:

GFA Reports, Timid Boy Now Aspires to Serve His Country
GFA Reports, Regaining Love Lost

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Touched by Tony: A Mission Support Team Story

Last updated on: November 25, 2019 at 11:11 am By GFA Staff Writer

Touched by Tony: A Mission Support Team Story - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Tony and Kelly are partner-supported members of the GFA Mission Support Team.

I remember the first time I met Tony. It was late at night, and I had just arrived at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I was standing at the arrivals curb waiting for someone I had never met to give me a ride to the GFA campus in Wills Point. (I could almost hear my mother’s voice telling me to never accept a ride from a stranger—especially in the dark of night.) Fortunately, the first and only person to offer me a ride was the one GFA had asked to take me to Wills Point.

Turns out that Tony is a member of the GFA Mission Support Team. The drive to GFA provided plenty of time to get to know him. You see, I had thought that Wills Point was a Dallas suburb. But it’s not. I don’t even know for sure how long the ride was or how far we traveled. I’m not saying that the GFA campus is at the end of the world, but in the daytime, you can just about see it from there. I’m almost positive that I saw a sign on the highway that said, “End of the World – 5 miles.”

Back to my story. Tony became my first in-person impression of GFA. He still is. He always will be. From my brief stay at the GFA campus, during which I met many staff members, I learned that Tony is an accurate representation of members of the Mission Support Team. You can read his GFA bio at this link, but the three things I learned about him are far more important than a bio on a website.

He is humble. Those three words will embarrass him if he ever reads them. The first evidence of his humility was his response when I asked him what he does at GFA. I realize that is a common question. I learned many years ago to ask more for personal insight than for information.

The most common response to that question is usually naming a job title—often with a pinch of pride. I still have no more idea what Tony’s job or job title is than what is published in his Mission Support Team bio. He did share some of the various things that he does, including material support and communicating with ministry partners to keep them informed and encouraged. His answer told me less about the specifics of what he does and more about who he is.

He is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. Somewhere out in that dark night, we stopped to eat at a world-famous restaurant. Actually, we didn’t go in. We used the drive-thru. When Tony paid for our meal, he handed the gentleman a Gospel tract, told him it was about Jesus Christ and asked him to read it. It was so natural, it was as though he had done it hundreds of times before, which he likely has.

What did I learn? Tony is not just a supporter of missions nor is he just a part of the Mission Support Team as a job. He is doing the same ministry as national missionaries on the field.

He is willing to do whatever is asked of him. That ride took a good-sized chunk out of Tony’s evening. Two days later, he returned me to the airport, keeping him from doing whatever was on his agenda to accomplish that day.

In fact, Tony left the car with me when he dropped me at the guest house. I offered to drive him to his home, but he would have none of it. He grabbed his backpack, and off he went. Early two mornings later, he was standing outside the door with his backpack waiting to return me to DFW.

He is a man of prayer. I can tell when someone is accustomed to talking with the Lord. You probably can too. We prayed together on at least three occasions, according to my recollection. Clearly, our conversation was with the Lord, not with each other, nor were those times meant to impress each other. We did it because that’s what we do.

That’s what I know about Tony. I don’t need to know much more than that. He loves the Lord, and he and his family have denied themselves of many of the so-called pleasures of life in deference to serving our Savior on the GFA Mission Support Team.

I was touched by Tony. That’s the reason that, once I submit this story for publication, I am going to begin contributing to Tony and Kelly’s support. We need more men like Tony serving the Lord like Tony does. I want to help to ensure that Tony and Kelly and their boys are able to continue their ministry with the GFA Mission Support Team.

Perhaps it is time you prayed about supporting a team member as well.

To learn more about the GFA Mission Support Team, visit this page on the GFA website.

To read more on Patheos on the GFA Missions Support Team, go here.

Image Source: Gospel for Asia, Sponsor Tony and Kelly

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Come Unto Me All Ye Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden

Last updated on: November 30, 2022 at 6:19 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Come Unto Me All Ye Who Labor and Are Heavy Laden - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Bridge of Hope students

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt

Imagine 168 million children. That’s a very difficult thing to do. In perspective, 168 million is about one-half the entire population of the United States.

What’s the point?

More than 168 million children worldwide are deprived of the education they need to succeed because they live in abject poverty and are forced to work to survive. Some turn to begging. Others search garbage dumps for food, shelter or clothing. These underprivileged children are extremely vulnerable to sickness, disease, death or the bondage and exploitation of human trafficking.

Poverty is widely considered as the top reason why children work at inappropriate jobs for their ages. Children work because their parents are poor, and they must supplement the family income or provide unpaid labor until debts are worked off.

Some 62 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 work as child laborers in Asia and the Pacific. More than a third are involved in jobs that are considered hazardous work for anyone of any age, including working in brick kilns, rice mills, mines, firework and match factories, and tanneries. Or worse.

UNICEF has recognized that “combating child labor requires long-term coordinated action which involves many stakeholders and the government. This includes educational institutions, mass media, NGOs and community-based organizations as well as trade unions and employers. It is important that the attitudes and mindsets of people are changed to instead employ adults and allow all children to go to school and have the chance to learn, play and socialize as they should.”

Furthermore, “Education is a key to preventing child labor and has been one of the most successful methods to reduce child laborers … This includes expanding education access to schooling, improving the quality and relevance of education, addressing violence in schools, providing relevant vocational training and using existing systems to ensure child laborers return to school.”

What’s to be done?

One of the primary reasons that poverty keeps underprivileged children from school in developing countries is that parents often must pay for their children’s education. When a family’s need for food, shelter and clothing are not being met, paying for education takes a back seat on a very long bus of needs.

Part of the secret to helping, in South Asia and any other part of the world, can be realized in the quote from Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States:

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

Pointing our collective forefingers at the governments of emerging nations where child labor is still prevalent may provide us with a pontifical sense of self-righteousness, but it does nothing to address the problem other than to project the entire blame on the government. The problem is that there is no singular solution. The problem is too broad and too complex for any singular effort to entirely resolve.

We are certainly not going to eliminate poverty or criminal activity that contravenes child labor laws. The answer is not in eradication but in “providing enough for those who have too little.”

A second secret to helping is to think like Jesus. We are his people and we are called to walk in His way.

Jesus invites us to “Come unto Me all you who are weak and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Our objective should be to make their burden lighter. Bridge of Hope does that in many ways. This program provides a holistic development for children living in severe poverty through value-based teaching and training.

The Gospel for Asia (GFA) Bridge of Hope program provides FREE education, health care, nutritious food and school supplies for the underprivileged children. This holistic development focuses on equipping these children not only to grow into responsible citizens but also to reach their potential.

Bridge of Hope helps more than 70,000 underprivileged children in Asian nations by providing them free education, a nutritious diet, school uniforms, school bags and notebooks. With qualified staff to manage these centers, Bridge of Hope has given these children a new ray of hope for a brighter future.

Bridge of Hope is making a difference because people whom God has prospered have given graciously to “provide enough for those who have too little.”

The results, however, are not only in the numbers. The real results are in the lives affected. We invite you to learn more about some of those lives by reading what God has done in them.

Learn how you can support a child so they may attend Bridge of Hope.

Read more on the impact of Bridge of Hope in the lives of underprivileged children and communities, here.

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It Takes a Village to Change a Mind

Last updated on: November 3, 2019 at 7:26 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing the challenge to change minds on open defecation in Asia.

“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” —Galatians 6:9

If all your friends are doing it, would you jump off a cliff? That sounds like something your mom might have said. But what if the cliff is really just a big rock on a bank, and there’s a beautiful, clear swimming hole down below?

Perspective changes everything, doesn’t it?

Peer pressure can sometimes be great. In parts of Asia where open defecation is still widely practiced, tradition says that’s how things are done. But times are changing. Education is spreading. Nudges from the community to break with tradition and use a latrine can save lives.

It takes a village to change a mind, and that’s happening throughout rural Asia right now.

Proactive Communities Make Open Defecation Less Socially Acceptable

In the hours after dusk and before dawn, a ritual as old as time happens in rural villages throughout Asia. With small containers of water known as dabbas for washing, people set out to find a secluded place and tend to nature’s call.

That’s the signal for villagers to leap into action. It might be rude, and it might be embarrassing. But the way they see it, it’s effective and that’s all that matters.

According to The Guardian, men, women and even children are getting involved with the community-led total sanitation effort. When they spot people carrying a dabba, they know where they’re headed, and it’s not to use a sanitary latrine. These villagers whistle, shout and overturn water containers, all in an effort to meet an ambitious goal: total sanitation by autumn of next year.

October 2, 2019 is the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mahatma Gandhi, who famously championed sanitation and cleaning up polluted waterways.

Yet, not everyone believes that open defecation is bad, even though government-run campaigns have sought to educate the public about the link between water pollution, disease and this age-old practice. But community groups such as the Dabba Dol Gang are committed to stopping open defecation and changing people’s minds, even if they must resort to catching people in the act or nearly so.

Community-Led Total Sanitation Change is Beginning to Work

It takes a village to change a mind. But the target audience isn’t one; it’s hundreds of millions. That’s a mighty ambitious effort.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 63 percent of the world’s population use a latrine or “other improved sanitation facilities.” Only 15 percent of people around the world practice open defecation. The problem is, that number is still more than 1 billion.

With more than $1 billion in grant funding, not to mention missions such as GFA working hard to support people in the field, latrines are being built. Unfortunately, many of them stand vacant and unused. And that circles back to mindset.

If a community doesn’t know why sanitation is important, if it hasn’t been shown a cleaner way, and if it hasn’t seen their babies grow stronger and healthier instead of dying before they begin their formal education, it might very well view latrines as strange.

Unfortunately, that’s what tends to happen. Latrines are considered unclean by many. Tending to one could damage a person’s community standing permanently. In the past, only people in the lowest caste would ever maintain a latrine.

But Community-Led Sanitation, a component of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), is part of that village seeking to change the minds of many. High-level assistance, such as program funding, may come from a central government, says World Bank. At the local level, the message gets tighter and more fine-tuned for the intended audience. What resonates in one village might not resonate in another. That’s why community involvement is so important.

Peer pressure is a very real thing no matter where you live. “What will the neighbors think?” happens in the Western world, too. But it’s especially important in areas where ingrained social standing and expectations matter so much. In generations past, open defecation was the norm. Now, society at even the most personal local level, says that’s just not the case anymore.

Sometimes, the motivation for change is safety. A family may build a latrine to protect the girls and women in the family. Because women traditionally only go out to a field under the cover of darkness to relieve themselves, both for privacy and modesty, they’re more at risk of being attacked by a man or even wild animals. An alarming number of women have been raped, murdered or both while out to relieve themselves.

Sometimes, the motivation is more about fitting in with new community norms. If you know that a group of friends and maybe even family members could spot you walking with a dabba, and if you know they’ll alert the whole village, a latrine could preserve your reputation. Whatever works.

Grass-roots efforts paired with national ones create messaging that matters. GFA is part of that effort.

GFA is built on sharing the wondrous love of Christ. Does it seem like latrines and Christ make an unusual pairing? It shouldn’t. The Bible shows us that Jesus didn’t waste a minute of His time on Earth sitting on a gilded throne. He traveled, He welcomed everyone, and He worked hard—and made the ultimate sacrifice to save the lives of the people He loved (and loves) so much. The very least that we, as God’s children, can do is continue saving lives.

In this same spirit of love, GFA has been actively involved in addressing the problem of open defecation in Asia. In 2017 alone, we installed 6,364 outdoor toilets in needy communities. That was in addition to the 10,512 toilets that we installed in 2016. We also published a special report on the topic called “Saving Lives at Risk from Open Defecation: Using Outdoor Toilets to Improve Sanitation.” In this report, we detailed the various practical ways we are helping to improve sanitation in Asia, and thereby show God’s love to communities still needing to overcome the practical challenges and social stigmas involved in moving away from open defecation.

The open defecation problem isn’t pretty. It’s not something you can shine up like a new penny and make it fun to talk about. But it matters deeply to the people who have no other option and don’t know a safer way.

It takes a village to change a mind.

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Gendercide: The Ultimate Violence Against Women

Last updated on: April 20, 2021 at 6:42 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing the topic of gendercide.

Whoever dreamed up the idea of gender reveals was onto something fun. Have you seen them on social media? Sometimes, they’re baby shower games or scavenger hunts that bring the participants ever closer to finding out the big secret. Sometimes, they’re clever videos. One of the most bittersweet examples was for a military wife whose husband had been killed in action before meeting his new child. His fellow soldiers made a video of the big reveal with a shower of pink tissue paper and confetti descending as they cheered for the new baby girl.

Gender reveals have surprise endings by nature: something pink or something blue. In America, we tend to cheer for girls and boys, alike. In parts of Asia, the happiness scale dips heavily in favor of boys. Many girls never have confetti, applause or even a chance at life beyond the earliest days of protection in their mother’s tummy.

Selective Abortion Accounts for an Untold Number of Missing Girls

Would you say that you’re undecided about whether or not gendercide is okay? Certainly, the answer is, “No!” How about eugenics? More than one notorious, historical figure has proclaimed that culling people they believed were bad for society was a good thing for all. But there is a direct connection between abortion, gendercide and eugenics. No matter where you stand on the vitriolic issue of abortion, one undeniable truth exists: when a child is aborted because of its gender, that abortion is gendercide.

In many parts of Asia, gendercide is real and it’s not uncommon. Along with improved access to prenatal care comes one of the most common procedures that any pregnant woman undergoes. But the ultrasound that so many mothers and fathers eagerly await can quickly turn into a death sentence if it doesn’t reveal a boy.

It’s difficult to separate the issue of choice from that of violence against women when choice is used to exterminate the life of a girl child specifically because she is female. Even worse, if that’s possible, is the fact that the choice is usually not their own. Heartbroken women are forced into abortions by aggressive and abusive family members. What happens in truth is often much different from what should happen on paper.

Sex Selection Continues After Babies are Born

If you have read this far, you might already be in turmoil. There is more. Gendercide isn’t just practiced during pregnancy. Especially in poorer parts of Asia, it continues after birth. An unwanted girl child isn’t inherently safe just because she managed to make it into the world. Some people have no compunction about terminating the life of a precious little girl even after they have seen her face, held her and heard those first sweet baby sounds.

Unimaginably, some girls approaching school age are killed because they are both female and unwanted. The BBC reported in 2011 that there are millions of missing girls. According to The Atlantic, girls 5 years old and under are killed in abusive homes as an extension of gender selection, violence against women, and general contempt for the lives of females of any age.

Infanticide, which specifically is killing a child after birth, isn’t new, and it isn’t unique to South Asia, but it is likely underreported. Societies the world over have expressed a fondness for boys. The most frequently cited reasoning is to carry on the family name.

The World Bank expands on the terrible, regrettable practice in their report, Violence Against Women and Girls: Lessons From South Asia. They found that infanticide is the “most direct postnatal driver of excess female child mortality” throughout South Asia. Sadly, the mindset that girls are less than boys and that violence against girls is tolerable persists from birth until death, oftentimes an early death.

For girls who survive infanthood, laws forbid violence against women. That sounds like a step in the right direction. But the realities lie elsewhere, not within those pages.

In major cities and small villages across Asia, women and girls are often at a very literal, daily risk of being attacked, raped and killed. The law does little to help, even when it does manage to overcome its apathy toward those who harm women. Sometimes, attackers end the lives of their victims. But sometimes, a girl’s family plays an equally heinous role in her untimely end.

It doesn’t take much search time to find news story after news story of girls who were raped by a man or group of men, and then beaten or killed by her parents or extended family for bringing their so-called shame back to their family’s threshold. In some places and in some families, just being a girl must feel like a crime.

Gendercide Has Far-Reaching Effects

If you wonder how anyone could kill a child, regardless of whether or not they’ve been born, you’re in good company. But beyond the most obvious terror of killing girls and girl babies, the longstanding practice has far-reaching, damaging effects to a society.

According to Institut National d’Etudes Démographiques (INED), the proportion of boys born in Asia “is abnormally high because couples practice sex-selective abortion.” These imbalanced birth rates affect marriages and population growth long into the future.

Although many Asian families treasure their little girls as much as they do boys, girls come at a cost. That cost is the most common reasoning behind gendercide.

A boy will grow up, marry, have children of his own, and will always contribute to the welfare of the family that raised him. For girls, it’s different. Girls are married off. The families that raise them, feed them and clothe them will eventually need a dowry just to watch them leave for their husband’s home. Dowries were largely outlawed decades ago, but the traditional practice is still observed.

Girls are expensive and then they leave. Boys are also expensive, but they’re an investment that has the potential to pay off later. It’s a very sad truth that’s difficult to leave in the past.

INED explains that the girl/boy imbalance in Asia also has a practical problem. It affects the way men find the wives who will join their family and bear the next generation.

With so many girl babies killed, fewer and fewer women are available to marry later. Some men must find wives elsewhere, which accounts for a growing female migration trend. And some men wait until they’re older to find a wife and marry, which, in an ironic twist, can exacerbate the so-called problem of having daughters.

Men play the deciding role in the sex of their children. The older a man is when he fathers a child, the greater his chance of fathering a daughter. According to Psychology Today, the likelihood of older men having fewer sons is well-documented. Two-thirds of girls, they explain, are born to parents over the age of 40. Every year, a man’s chance of having a son decreases by 1 percent. And so the cycle grows as it continues.

Gendercide is violence against women. There are no two ways around it. In families where women of all ages are not uniformly treasured as precious children of God, but sometimes merely tolerated, it shouldn’t be a surprise. Killing a girl child who can run and skip and laugh is bound to be more difficult than aborting a female baby who hasn’t taken her first breath. But both practices have equally disastrous and heartbreaking consequences for the child, her family and society.

For girls who are allowed to live, life may become harder than anyone could ever deserve. Some girls are put to work before they’re old enough to enter school. Again, laws may forbid child labor, but that doesn’t mean it’s uncommon. Many surviving girls are underfed and neglected, with boys getting a better share of food, care and education. Marriage for girls may come at an unusually young age. Then she takes on her role as the extremely hopeful mother of precious boys, and probably also girls whose fates lie in someone else’s hands.

Gender reveal games and parties almost seem like a silly decadence when judged alongside the plight and even terror of abused women and girls in Asia. But they’re not. Every child God creates is precious in his sight, just like the nursery song taught to us in Sunday School. Every baby deserves confetti and a celebration just because they exist. Every girl deserves parents who protect and care about her. Every woman deserves a warm, loving family where she is safe from discrimination and abuse.

Someone must help the women and girls in Asia. Gospel for Asia (GFA) supports the devoted workers who are on the job.

Missionaries, pastors and everyday people reach out to their communities with programs that offer the resources they desperately need. Through kindness and generosity of spirit, they educate whole communities. Through earnest compassion, they share the love of God with women who may never have known any life besides one of pain and abuse.

Gospel for Asia (GFA) supports literacy training, health care education, Bridge of Hope programs for children, and tools that help women earn much-needed income, which helps communities learn to value women, and helps women to understand that they are valuable.

Read more articles on Patheos about gendercide: 1 2 3

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Go Tell It on the Mountains

Last updated on: August 31, 2018 at 7:55 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Go Tell It on the Mountains - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Titus literally has to climb mountains like these to minister to people in churches in this area, as well as villages that have never heard the Good News.

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing Titus, who literally has to climb mountains on foot to minister to people.

When Jesus told His disciples that His plan was for them to go into all the world, He meant ALL the world (see Matthew 28:19–20). Starting with the first 11 and Paul, followers of Jesus have been going wherever they need to go to share Christ’s love.

Whether that’s to our neighbors or whether it’s to people living across the globe in a far, distant country, they all have one thing in common: They need to hear about Jesus. The Bible says that whoever chooses to believe in and follow Him shall be saved (see Romans 10:13). But that Scripture verse is followed by several questions that must be answered honestly by every Christian. Not the least of these questions is “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?”

Titus is a GFA-supported pastor who wanted to share Jesus’ love with others since he was just a young boy. Both of his parents had become gravely ill when a pastor visiting people in his village came to Titus’ home, shared about Jesus, and prayed that his mother and father would be healed. When the Lord answered that prayer, the entire family responded positively to the Good News.

Titus pastors a thriving church and has already established two other fellowships in the mountains. He literally has to climb mountains to minister to people. Many homes, like those in the photo above, can be visited by foot. The only access to these mountain people is on footpaths, many of which are extremely steep and difficult to climb.

Some of the people in these homes and villages don’t want to be reached. They covet their isolation. They don’t want to be bothered by anyone from the outside. For many, it may provide a feeling of security. Titus knows that he has the real security these people need and that it can be found only in Jesus. He also knows they will never hear about Jesus unless someone goes to them and tells them.

It doesn’t matter to Titus that he will spend a goodly part of his long day climbing the mountainsides and descending into the valleys when no one has heard . Rejection is difficult for any of us, but imagine how we would feel if we had spent hours trekking up a steep mountainside to visit with people and they refuse to welcome us.

Titus understands that some of us sow the Word of God without seeing any fruit. He knows that our responsibility is to go and tell. In God’s infinite wisdom, He guides our footsteps—a good thing to know when climbing steep mountain trails—and His Holy Spirit convinces the hearts of those who will listen.

He may have to climb that mountain—and the next one, and the one after that—many times before those who hear call upon the name of the Lord. And so he goes. Day after day and mile after mile to tell others about the one person they need to know. His name is Jesus.

The fact that the church he pastors and the fellowships he has started are thriving is evidence that, despite his weary body and his worn-out shoes, the Lord is bringing the increase wherever this ordinary man ventures out to introduce people to the Jesus of whom they have never heard.

Please add Titus and those like him to your prayers. Pray that as they makes their difficult treks, God’s grace would be sufficient and that their feet will become even more beautiful as they shares the Lord’s love with others.

As you pray, ask the Lord where He would have you go to minister His Word. It may be next door. You may not have to climb high mountains to get there, but the Lord will consider your feet to be as beautiful as Titus’.

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How Heroes Work Together to Solve the Global Water Crisis

Last updated on: August 25, 2022 at 1:36 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – Discussing what people can actually do to help resolve the global water crisis.

“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”
— Ecclesiastes 4:9

We learn about the importance of working together when we’re children. As early as kindergarten, careful teachers share lessons about helping others. Moms and dads often start those lessons even younger. If everyone helps out around the house, chores get done more quickly with less of a burden on one person.

The core messages are responsibility and finding strength in numbers. The most daunting and insurmountable obstacles aren’t so intimidating after all, not when everyone shares the load.

For one person reading sad stories about the global water crisis, it might seem impossible to solve. How much of a difference can one person really make? Alone, it would feel like moving a beach, one tiny grain of sand at a time. But together, people can be heroes who move mountains.

A Well Saves Lives, but a Maintained Well Saves Generations

Without a well to tap deep into clean groundwater, villages throughout rural Asia have two difficult options: They can collect contaminated surface water, or they can travel great distances to buy expensive water elsewhere.

According to Global Citizen, parts of Asia are peppered with wells that are in various stages of completion or disrepair. It’s a feeling of abandonment, says a village chief in Cameroon. A well that’s never finished doesn’t help a soul. One that’s broken is nothing but a sad reminder of hope and money that’s been lost. Imagine walking past a non-working well that once poured clean water only to collect stagnant water that’s contaminated.

Some of GFA’s most important work is supporting the installation of water wells knowns as Jesus Wells. One Jesus Well provides a village of hundreds with clean, pure water for decades. A Jesus Well is different than many of the local wells that can be found and does more. Local workers have the manpower, tools and supplies to finish the job while keeping the costs low. Then, instead of leaving the village to its fate, a nearby church that’s committed to sharing God’s love has trained people on hand to maintain and repair the well and keep it working.

Now, the people who rely on Jesus Wells have the comfort of knowing if there’s a problem, it will be solved by someone they know and trust.

Where Wells Aren’t Possible, Water Filters Make Pure Water Accessible

Wells aren’t a universal solution to the clean water crisis. In some areas, there’s enough surface water; it’s just too dangerous to drink. Gospel for Asia (GFA) also supports the distribution of BioSand water filters in Asia, which makes clean water available just a few steps from home.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says contaminants in drinking water fall into four categories: physical, chemical, biological and radiological. The first three are quite common throughout rural Asia’s dangerous water sources.

Contaminants range from discarded trash to dumped waste chemicals to viruses, parasites and human waste solids. The water looks dirty because it is dirty.

One BioSand water filter can remove well over 90 percent of the worst contaminants for a household. It doesn’t need purification chemicals, electricity, moving parts or special inserts to replace. They’re not like the water filter you might have in your fridge at home that needs a new cartridge once a month. Using inexpensive materials and good common sense, local workers build these filters and set them up near the homes of local villagers. As with Jesus Wells, if there’s a problem, someone close to home knows how to fix it.

Using concrete for the housing, a BioSand water filter has fine layers of gravel and sand inside. Once it’s primed, which can take a few days or slightly longer, it naturally destroys some pathogens and traps others, working for years with almost no maintenance. Unhealthy water goes in, clean water comes out.

Global Water Crisis - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Asian women admire the ocean but may not have clean drinking water at home due to the global water crisis.

The Clean Water Crisis Also Needs Community Involvement

When the pastor of a local church commits to helping maintain a well or build water filters, that’s a blessing. When entire villages commit to saving Asia’s precious water, that’s a transformation.

Wells are, indeed, necessary for certain parts of Asia. As in some places in rural America, there’s not always a utility board to pipe in clean, treated water, nor another source to collect it. But a big part of the global water crisis is contamination. And a big part of that is the open defecation problem, which is preventable.

Open Defecation and Its Part in the Global Water Crisis

It’s hard to change habits that have been in place throughout history. Open defecation was once the only option, so of course it seems natural to those who practice it. But as populations grew, pathogen levels increased, and science discovered the connection between disease and exposure to human waste, the need for change became obvious and urgent.

Programs such as UNICEF’s Community Led Total Sanitation engage with the community at different levels to put them in the driver’s seat. Families, clinics, schools and churches working together can end open defecation and normalize the use of toilets in places where it seems strange. And that takes one more layer off the global water crisis.

A change of habit can only happen within; it can’t be brought in and handed over like a present. But without the resources, it can’t happen at all. That’s where Gospel for Asia (GFA) comes in.

Another prong in the effort to save Asia’s water is toilets or latrines. There’s a great deal of resistance because latrines are a foreign concept. But with the funding to install a sanitary latrine, the education to know why it matters, and a network of support throughout the community, change can happen. It’s already happening one latrine at a time.

UNICEF says 100 percent waste containment can solve a number of serious problems for Asia’s poorest people. It can improve diarrhea-related malnutrition. Drinking contaminated water causes diarrhea, especially in children, and claims hundreds of lives each day. Education improves, as fewer illnesses mean better school attendance and better nutrition for brain health.

Women and girls face fewer risks with a latrine near the home. Open defecation means venturing out to a field after dark or before sunrise, where women are at risk of attack. For people with weakened immunities, latrines reduce the likelihood of picking up an additional disease that can kill.

Which brings us full circle.

Latrines contain waste, which means Asia’s water can grow cleaner and healthier with fewer pollutants being added.

Working to End the Global Water Crisis

Not all heroes wear a cape. Some are ordinary people like the workers who install wells, ministers who look after their flock, and folks just like you. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”

One person can create positive change. But imagine how much easier and widespread positive change can be when a family, a village, a country and the whole world pitch in to help. That’s how God intended his children to be.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” Gospel for Asia (GFA) believes in combining efforts to share the love of God with the neediest people in the world. Sometimes, the work isn’t very glamorous. But it’s necessary.

Clean water is the most basic human need. Working together, we move one more step closer to ending the global water crisis.

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The Miracle of the Mosquito Nets

Last updated on: April 14, 2021 at 3:44 am By GFA Staff Writer

The Miracle of the Mosquito Nets - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — During the Christmas gift distribution program of the Gospel for Asia-supported church she attended, Hansini received a sewing machine. She began sewing and selling mosquito nets. That’s when the miracles began to happen in her family. (In 2017, GFA distributed more than 300,000 mosquito nets to people in Asia at risk of getting bit by malaria infected mosquitos).

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – How one Asian daughter used mosquito nets to elevate her family out of poverty and show them the love of God in the process.

We should never underestimate what God can do with something we can hold in our hands. God can use anything to accomplish His purposes, and He uses ordinary people and ordinary things to bring honor and glory to Himself.

Remember the story of Moses in Exodus and how God used a simple stick to reveal His power? Moses had only a walking stick in his hand, but when he dropped it to the ground, as the Lord told him, it turned into a snake. When he picked it up again, it became a walking stick. Later, when Moses raised that walking stick above the Red Sea, the Lord parted the waters and the people were able to walk across on dry land (see Exodus chapters 4 and 14).

Hansini, a 17-year-old girl living in Asia, may not be as famous as Moses, but the Lord has used her in a mighty way to minister His love, grace and forgiveness—available in Jesus Christ—to the people around her in ways that neither she nor anyone else ever expected.

Hansini lives in a remote village where many of the people were so poor they struggled to survive each day.

When Hansini embraced new life in Christ, she not only brought shame on herself but also upon her parents, whom the villagers blamed for allowing her to “run so free that you cannot even make them obey you.”

Though her parents tried many times to convince Hansini to forsake Jesus and return to the old ways of her people, she remained committed and faithful. Eventually, the combination of his frustration and the continual abuse heaped upon him by his former friends got the best of her father. When he could take it no longer, he took his own frustrations on her by beating her brutally. Still, she would not deny her Savior.

Another three years passed. Her family had begun to believe that she would never forsake this Jesus. They were right. She never did.

However, the Lord used believers from halfway around the world to change the lives of her family and many of the villagers forever. During a Christmas gift distribution program by Gospel for Asia, Hansini received a sewing machine. Hansini began sewing and selling mosquito nets. That’s when the miracles began to happen.

Being able to sew and sell mosquito nets—a precious commodity in a country plagued with vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever—created a significant revenue generator for her. However, she did not use her income for personal gain. She used it to pay her family’s debts.

She explained that “Jesus Christ is the giver of all good gifts. It is because of the love and grace of Christ that our family is able to overcome all our financial struggles.”

It was difficult to deny Hansini’s decision to embrace Christ. It was difficult to deny that the sewing machine was a gift from God. It was equally difficult to deny the love of Christ extended through their own daughter, whom they had scorned and abused. Observing the love of Jesus extended through her to them, Hansini’s parents decided to embrace Jesus as well.

The miracle of the mosquito nets did not stop there. Villagers took note of how Hansini had suffered ridicule and rejection for years. Yet, she continued to demonstrate her selfless love to lift her family out of abject poverty by making and selling, of all things, mosquito nets.

They began to see that Jesus had worked miraculously through one faithful young lady. They began to see the beauty and grace that comes only through a relationship with Him. They were witnessing the love of Jesus at work in and through one person making mosquito nets.

The villagers are no longer hostile. Some are even coming to church with Hansini, where they are learning about the amazing love of Jesus.

In the several years that have gone by, Hansini has accepted the invitation of her villagers to teach their daughters how to sew. She teaches sewing classes to young girls six days a week. She also uses those classes to teach her students about the love of Jesus.

Moses is a biblical “giant of faith.” But that’s not because he was mighty and powerful. It’s because he committed to following the Lord regardless of what others thought.

Sometimes we can think that we can never be a Moses. Perhaps in those times, we might consider being a Hansini—a faithful follower with a mosquito net in her hand.

What do you have in your hand that God can use?

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To donate distribute mosquito nets today, go here.

To read more on malaria prevention, go here, or visit these patheos posts:

How Malaria Spreads and Kills and How to Help | Effective Means to Preventing Malaria | Motherhood & Mosquito Nets

Sources:

Gospel for Asia, Girl Brings Scandal to a Village
Money Control, Nadda writes to Kejriwal on actions needed to check spread of dengue, malaria
UCA News, Church helps victims as floods batter India
India TV, 54 malaria, 33 dengue cases reported in Delhi this season

Image Source:

Gospel for Asia

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Cowering in the Corner | One Boy’s Journey from Fear to Hope

Last updated on: June 15, 2021 at 3:09 am By GFA Staff Writer

Cowering in the corner - KP Yohannan - Gospel for Asia — Cowering in the corner … children in Asia like Bijay are often in need of assistance at home and at school, to escape the cycle of poverty that plagues them.

Gospel for Asia (GFA World), Wills Point, Texas – One young child’s journey from cowering in the corner.

Day after day, night after night, the scene was all too familiar. Bijay would withdraw to a corner of his home in an attempt to avoid becoming the object of the venting of his father’s drunken rages. It is a scene that is common in many homes where the family lives in abject poverty, and there seems to be no hope for today or all the tomorrows that will follow.

At his tender age, Bijay could understand the poverty. His family was one of many in the village whose fathers worked in the rice paddies to provide an income upon which they could barely subsist. For Bijay, poverty was ‘normal.’

What Bijay could not understand was the indignity that a life of poverty had heaped upon his father. Kuwar had once been a young boy like Bijay with hopes and dreams of a better future, but his dreams had dissolved into a wearisome morass of hopelessness. All Bijay could understand was that his father was usually drunk and angry.

This habit, too, was common among men in the village as many suffered the cycle of shame that entraps so many fathers trying to raise a family in poverty. Shame drove them to escape from reality in alcohol. Aside from the physical abuse, the expenditure of what little income he earned for drinking continued to exacerbate the family’s poverty.

Cowering in the corner, Bijay was already heading toward the path of despair in which his father was entrapped. In fact, the child was so traumatized that he found it impossible to concentrate on his school work.

That’s the way it was the day some Gospel for Asia-supported Bridge of Hope staff came to visit Bijay’s family.

Understanding the plight of Bijay and his family, the staff did what they could by enrolling him in their Bridge of Hope center, including providing him with new shoes, school uniforms, supplies and a backpack. Attending the center, Bijay gained physical strength from being provided with a nutritious daily meal and regular medical checkups.

Yet, Bijay’s studies were not going so well. The experienced staff understood that there was a greater problem hindering his progress. The love of Jesus moved them to do something about it.

Staff members began to visit Bijay’s home on a regular basis. During those visits, they encouraged Kuwar to understand the problems his alcohol addiction were causing. When Bijay witnessed this care and concern that went far beyond his schooling, he witnessed the love of Christ. He saw that love flowing through them as they prayerfully counseled his father. Bijay, too, began to ask the Lord to help his father break his addiction.

Bit by bit, day by day, things changed. Bijay’s father stopped drinking. The daily fits of rage subsided. Kuwar’s income, once spent on alcohol, was now available to meet the family’s needs. Gradually, the family’s financial situation improved dramatically.

What is more, with the stress at home replaced by love and care, Bijay’s studies improved as he was able to diligently apply himself to his studies without having to worry about another dismal evening cowering in a corner.

When Bijay thanks Jesus for blessing his family, he is also thanking those who have responded to the Lord’s call to support children and Bridge of Hope centers through their gifts to GFA.

We have the privilege of helping others to reach others for Christ. Learn more about how you can help support the Bridge of Hope program.

Source: Gospel for Asia, Dreaming of Food and Schoolbooks
Image Source: Gospel for Asia

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How Malaria Spreads and Kills and How to Help

Last updated on: October 5, 2018 at 3:28 pm By GFA Staff Writer

Is there anything in the world more precious than a baby who’s safe and sound in dreamland? Parents do everything they can to protect their children from harm. Unfortunately, some of the most dangerous risks are unavoidable without help. Many exist just because of where a family happens to live.

Malaria is one such risk, and it has no respect for the age, fragility or innocence of a person.

Malaria is no ordinary disease. You’ve heard of it, almost certainly. You probably have a general idea about how it spreads and in which parts of the world it tends to thrive. But do you know what really happens when a person is infected? And are you aware that the world’s first malaria vaccine has only recently entered testing in the field?

It’s an age-old problem that still needs a definitive solution.

How old? According to the Journal of Infectious Disease, Hippocrates, widely regarded as the father of medicine, discussed a disease that many believe was malaria. Modern scientists have also discovered infected mosquitoes preserved in primitive samples of Baltic amber.

It seems to have nearly always been around. But stopping it has been proven to be an insurmountable task. Malaria-preventive medications exist, but a vaccine has been a long and laborious journey. While mosquito netting seems like an ordinary thing, it has the power to save lives by preventing mosquito bites. Netting isn’t new or fancy, but it’s on the front lines of defense, especially in parts of the world where medical care is more difficult to find.

Galatians 6:2 tells us, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Through the combined efforts of devoted missionaries, the World Health Organization (WHO) and several other globally recognizable organizations and foundations hard at work, we can protect against this terrible disease and cure it when it happens.

Gospel for Asia is involved in the good fight to protect people from malaria. GFA has distributed hundreds of thousands of mosquito nets to people throughout South Asia who could die without them. In 2017 alone, GFA distributed over 300,000 mosquito nets.

What Exactly is Malaria?

Malaria isn’t a bacterial or viral infection; it’s a tiny parasite called plasmodium, which has five known types, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

Plasmodium vivax
malariae
ovale
falciparum
knowlesi

Of these, P. vivax and P. falciparum are the most common. Of the two, P falciparum is the deadliest form. It’s also the most common in sub-Saharan Africa. P. knowlesi often infects primates, but it can also infect humans, specifically people living and traveling in Southeast Asia.

Each type of malaria has its own nature, but all infections have a similar course. First, they travel to the liver of the infected person, where they pause and multiply. Then they infect the red blood cells, where they multiply and spread.

Depending on the age and health of the infected person, symptoms emerge between one and two weeks after being infected with the parasites. The first symptoms, says WHO, are similar to a bout with the flu: fever, chills, headache and vomiting.

Fortunately, malaria is often curable. However, a cure depends on timely diagnosis, the right medication—and enough of it. Caught early, medication eliminates the parasite. Unchecked, a person infected with the parasites can die.

Without treatment, or without the correct medication for the person, malaria advances by destroying red blood cells and blocking capillaries to vital organs, which can end in organ failure and death.

Malaria preventive medications kill the parasites if they enter the body. Several such medications exist, but not every drug is right for every person. For people traveling where malaria is a problem, they offer reliable protection. But for people living where malaria is always a risk, daily medications aren’t a viable solution.

How Does the Malaria Disease Keep Spreading?

The plasmodium parasite is only transmitted by female mosquitoes of the Anopheles genus. Female Anopheles mosquitoes don’t inherently carry the parasite as part of their biological makeup, so not all of them can infect a person. However, WHO explains that all malaria-carrying mosquitoes that transmit the disease to humans are the female Anopheles.

Anyone who welts up and itches practically at the thought of a mosquito knows these insects are nearly always hungry. They bite humans to find a blood meal, which helps them nourish their eggs. When the right mosquito takes a blood meal from a person with malaria, the parasite enters the insect’s body, where it reproduces. The cycle for that mosquito has then begun.

But mosquitoes don’t bite in the truest sense of the word, and they also do more than extract blood. Infection begins with an injection.

The familiar sting comes from the proboscis, which is the scientific name for a mosquito’s long, multi-prong, needle-like nose. The bite is really a stab, which allows the mosquito to withdraw blood and inject its own saliva. Plasmodium parasites thrive in the saliva of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.

Once the mosquito extracts malaria parasites from its victim, the parasites reproduce inside the insect’s body. The next time the mosquito needs a blood meal, the stab injects parasites into its new victim while it extracts blood. The more people it bites, the more people it infects, and the more people who carry the malaria parasite to infect more and more female Anopheles mosquitoes.

It’s a vicious, unrelenting cycle.

What Strides are Being Made Toward Malaria Prevention?

With anti-malaria drugs long in existence, people have had protection against the parasites multiplying and attacking the blood and vital organs. Quinine was the only reliable drug known to cure malaria until the 1930s, according to the Nobel Prize website. Several other drugs, such as Chloroquine and the drug combination known as Malarone, have been developed along the way. Prevention has always been elusive.

A physical barrier is one way to protect against the dreaded stab of the infected mosquito, not to mention the frustrating itch of any mosquito bite as well as other annoying insects. Mosquito netting might seem like a rather primitive method, but it works. Not only that, it carries the one-two punch of being effective and inexpensive. Treated with insecticide, netting becomes a bonafide protective barrier. That’s a boon for parts of the world where millions are at risk.

Mosquito netting is a lightweight mesh material with tiny openings. Air can breeze through, but mosquitoes can’t. Babies can sleep safely and soundly. So can their siblings, parents, grandparents and everyone else who has a net.

God calls us throughout the Bible to lend a helping hand to our brothers and sisters in need. Philippians 2:4 reminds us, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others.” That is the way of the missionary. But missionaries aren’t the only ones who can make a difference. Anyone can play a part.

GFA-supported workers distribute mosquito nets, providing effective barriers in villages where the need is greatest. It’s amazing how something so simple can work so well. We have helped distribute hundreds of thousands of nets to communities in need. The work of this ministry wouldn’t have been possible then, and couldn’t be possible now, without many people working together to make it happen.

Nets have been around for many, many years. An effective vaccination, however, hasn’t.

Malaria is one of the most resilient and persistent parasitic infections in the world. Just when incidence of infection begins to show signs of improvement, it surges once again. It tends to favor climates where mosquitoes thrive, which means it’s not confined to any particular region. People throughout Africa, Asia and South America are at a particularly high risk. Some cases have been noted in North America but have generally been attributed to infected travelers returning from abroad.

Until the disease is eradicated, malaria prevention requires all life-saving methods available and all hands on deck. And that includes mosquito netting. For a thorough look at the disease and how we’re fighting malaria worldwide, see our Special Report on this topic.

GFA believes in helping carry the burden of our brothers and sisters around the world. We’re devoted to sharing God’s boundless mercy and love, sometimes in the simplest and most surprising of ways.

What could be simpler than a length of plain, fine mesh fabric? It’s not sophisticated like medications that take years of research and testing. But in some ways, it’s better because the effect is immediate. While people around the world continue to wait for a medical solution to malaria, mosquito nets shield them in the here and now. They work without any unfortunate side-effects, and one inexpensive net can last for years.

Proverbs 19:17 tells us that God sees and remembers our kindness toward the people in need. ‘Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”

Think about a precious baby living in danger of contracting a life-threatening disease from a mosquito bite. Now imagine protecting the health of that child for about the cost of a fast food meal. If you want, you can do that online by going to this webpage at gfa.org.

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