GFA World Does Christmas ‘Chickens & Goats’ to Fight Poverty

December 6, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

WILLS POINT, TX — Can a chicken really change someone’s life? It’s happening all around the globe, according to mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org).

The Texas-based organization has launched its annual Christmas “Chickens & Goats” campaign on WAY-FM Radio — an opportunity for people to buy life-changing gifts, such as chickens and goats, for families living in extreme poverty in Africa and Asia this festive season.

The campaign includes a “Chicken Challenge” to donate a pair of chickens every month for a year, for the cost of two lattes per month. Chickens multiply quickly and produce fresh eggs almost every day, a life-changer for families battling hunger, the mission agency says.

GFA World Launches Christmas Chickens & Goats to Fight Poverty — **HATCHING HOPE: ‘CHRISTMAS CRITTER’ CAMPAIGN BACKED BY TOP CHRISTIAN BAND:** Hit-making Christian band We Are Messengers is supporting mission agency GFA World’s annual “Chickens & Goats” Christmas campaign — an opportunity for people to buy life-changing gifts, including chickens and goats, for families in Africa and Asia living in extreme poverty. (Photo Courtesy of We Are Messengers)

The Christmas campaign is being supported by top Christian band We Are Messengers and its lead singer Darren Mulligan. The award-winning band has had 11 Top-10 radio hits, including the multi-week/multi-chart #1 radio single “Come What May” and the Gold-Certified “Maybe It’s OK.” You can find out more info and tour dates from the band at www.wearemessengersmusic.com.

Hatching Hope

“We see time and time again how the simple gift of a pair of chickens completely transforms the life of someone living in deepest poverty and gives them hope,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan).

Mayra, a widow who received two chickens that helped her out of hunger, told the organization’s workers, “I’m so happy because of your love and concern for me.”

“Our aim is not only to help people like Mayra and their communities escape hunger and poverty, but also to show them the love of Christ — the one who’s able to give them hope for eternity,” Yohannan said.

Other livestock gifts include pigs and water buffalo. Alternative gifts include mosquito nets that prevent malaria and other diseases, income-generating sewing machines, clean water, blankets, and Bibles.

Challenge to Impact Eternity

GFA World national missionaries share with people who’ve never heard about Jesus that they’re “created in the image of God.” They often trek many miles on foot or bicycle to some of the remotest places on earth to provide practical help and “show God’s love to the forgotten and abandoned,” such as outcast widows and those living with leprosy.

“This is the challenge to us all — where will we be in 100 years’ time?” Yohannan said. “The only thing that will matter is what we did to impact eternity.”

About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)

GFA World is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in hundreds of villages and remote communities, over 40,000 clean water wells drilled since 2007, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 150,000 needy families, and teaching to provide hope and encouragement in 110 languages in 14 nations through broadcast ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news.

Media interested in interviews with GFA World should contact Gregg Wooding at InChrist Communications @ 972-567-7660 or gwooding@inchristcommuications.com

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World Launches Christmas ‘Chickens & Goats’ to Fight Poverty

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GFA World Responds to Devastating Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake in Nepal

November 8, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX — A U.S.-based global mission agency says several of its partner churches were left “broken” by a devastating earthquake that struck remote Western Nepal Nov. 3, killing more than 150 people.

“We have also lost cherished members of our church family in this heart-wrenching tragedy,” said K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan), founder of Texas-based GFA World (www.gfa.org). “Our prayers are with all the affected families, and we share in their grief during this most challenging time.”

GFA World says several of its partner churches were left "broken" by a devastating earthquake that struck remote Western Nepal Nov. 3 — **GFA WORLD, LOCAL CHURCHES RUSH TO AID NEPAL QUAKE SURVIVORS:** Local church teams in remote Western Nepal are desperately trying to reach villages flattened by a magnitude 6.4 earthquake last Friday night that killed more than 150 people and left thousands without shelter. GFA World (www.gfa.org) is asking for prayer and support.

According to news reports, the magnitude 6.4 quake flattened mud-and-brick homes in the rugged Jajarkot and West Rukum districts, about 300 miles west of the capital, Kathmandu. It hit just before midnight local time when most people were in bed. Tremors were felt as far away as Delhi.

GFA World reported three churches were badly affected, and in one village three church members were killed.

One Nepalese church leader told the mission organization that local Christians were “broken” by the loss of life and many severe injuries.

Local Church Members Rush to Aid Survivors

“Just like when a quake rocked Nepal in 2015, our teams immediately mobilized. Local church members are actively involved in rescue and relief efforts in the region, with thousands of people in need of food, blankets and tents after their homes were destroyed,” said Yohannan.

Because many affected villages are in remote areas impassable by vehicles, church workers have to use motorbikes to reach them, a local church leader told GFA World. The organization supports national missionaries and helps millions of the poorest people in Africa and Asia.

Within hours, one church team reached a devastated village and began distributing food.

It’s estimated in some areas up to 90% of the simple mud-and-brick dwellings collapsed.

Yohannan urged Christians to pray for those suffering and those who’ve lost loved ones in Nepal. “Let our faith guide us in extending God’s love, aid, and hope to the people of Nepal,” he said. “Together, we can help them heal.”

About GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia)

Media interested in interviews with GFA World should contact Gregg Wooding at InChrist Communications @ 972-567-7660 or gwooding@inchristcommuications.com

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World Responds to Devastating Nepal Earthquake

GFA World’s Compassion Services is bringing Christ’s love to the suffering and needy in very practical ways. GFA-supported missionaries and volunteers assist survivors of natural disasters by providing food, water, medical care, clothing and even shelter. Teams also minister to slum dwellers and leprosy patients in some of Asia’s major cities. And all is done with a clear Gospel witness.

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GFA World Launches Appeal As ‘Ostracized Widows’ Face Life of Begging

October 6, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) has launched an appeal to help thousands of “ostracized widows” around the globe at risk of starvation and abuse after being abandoned by their family and neighbors.

“Millions of widows live in societies where they are blamed for their husband’s death, regardless of the illness, accident or circumstances,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan (also known as Metropolitan Yohan). “They are considered a curse and are socially shunned, abused, neglected and often abandoned, along with their children.

**GFA WORLD LAUNCHES APPEAL ON BEHALF OF ‘OSTRACIZED WIDOWS’:** Mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) has launched an appeal to help thousands of “ostracized widows” at risk of starvation and abuse.

“For those married at a young age, they may carry the stigma of ‘widow’ for decades, even their entire adult life.”

For many of the estimated 258 million widows worldwide, especially those in Africa and Asia, the only way to survive is to scavenge and beg, said Yohannan.

“Their homelessness and hunger make them easy targets for exploitation, slave labor and the sex trade,” he said.

Alarming examples of the extreme mistreatment widows often face include:

Nigerian widows were locked in a room with their husbands’ corpses and forced to shave their own heads — a ritual of shame.
In Afghanistan, outcast widows had to establish their own “colony” on a hillside above a cemetery, excluded from mainstream life.
In Kenya, during the pandemic, there were reports of widows being driven out of their homes by in-laws who considered them to be an “excess burden.”
In many countries, city streets are the only place left for widows who’ve been abandoned by their families.

In some countries in Africa and Asia, new widows may have barely buried or cremated their husbands before someone tries to take their home, land or possessions, citing loss of property rights after the husband dies.

“Though their families and society have turned their backs on these precious women, God loves them dearly,” Yohannan said. “As the Bible says, we must ‘… care for orphans and widows in their distress’.”

‘God Answers Widow’s Cry’

GFA World and its network of national missionaries provide medical care, literacy classes, vocational training for young widows, and income-generating farm animals, such as cows and goats.

Kacia lives in a remote village where the homes are made out of bamboo poles and the walls are covered with mud. When her husband died, Kacia cried out to God in desperation. Her prayers were answered when local Christians came to comfort her and pray with her.

Supported by GFA World, they were able to give Kacia a goat so she could raise a small herd, sell milk, and have a steady income. “I was very much pleased because that gave me hope and dignity that I can somehow carry my life forward,” she said. “I am really grateful in my heart.”

For more information about supporting widows like Kacia, go to http://www.gfa.org.

About GFA World (Gospel for Asia)

GFA World (formerly Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national workers bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 880 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 163,000 needy families, and teaching to provide hope and encouragement in 110 languages in 14 nations through broadcast ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news/.

Media interested in interviews with GFA World should contact Gregg Wooding at InChrist Communications @ 972-567-7660 or gwooding@inchristcommuications.com

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World Launches Appeal As ‘Ostracized Widows’ Face Life of Begging

Learn more by reading this GFA World special report: Coronavirus Intensifies Hardships for Widows

Learn more about the GFA World’s Widows Ministry. For over more than 40 million widows in South Asia, life is a desperate struggle for survival. Blamed for their husbands’ deaths, many are forsaken by their families, shunned by their friends and despised by their communities. You can help lift widows out of destitution and restore their dignity.

Read more on Widows on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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GFA World Spotlights Global ‘Crisis’ of Adults Who Can’t Read or Write

September 4, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX — A shocking number of adults around the world can’t read or write even a simple sentence, says mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) as it marks International Literacy Day, Sept. 8.

According to the United Nations’ education agency UNESCO, approximately 773 million adults worldwide — equal to more than twice the population of the U.S. — lack basic literacy skills.

Most of them are women, reports Texas-based Christian organization GFA World.

A shocking number of adults around the world can't read or write, says mission agency GFA World as it marks International Literacy Day — **LITERAL CRISIS:** Around 773 million adults worldwide — equal to more than twice the population of the U.S. — can’t read or write. The magnitude of the crisis is difficult to grasp, says GFA World (*www.gfa.org) on International Literacy Day, Sept. 8.*

“The magnitude of this crisis is difficult for us to grasp in developed countries where free literacy education is readily available,” said K.P. Yohannan, also known as Metropolitan Yohan, founder of GFA World. “Yet the reality is that millions of adults around the world can’t read or write, magnifying the struggles of almost every aspect of life.”

The organization provides literacy classes for thousands of the world’s poorest adults and children.

Writing First Letters

In some of the most remote places on earth, GFA World is giving men and women who had no chance to go to school the opportunity to learn to read and write, and for many students, their slates in hand, these are the first letters they’ve ever written.

“Due to lack of money, I could not study in my childhood,” said one woman who is learning to read and write at a GFA-supported church-based literacy center in Asia. “I’m thankful to the leaders of the church for starting (classes) here,” she said.

Learning to read and write builds a sense of self-worth and achievement, and prepares adults for better employment opportunities in the future so they’re not resigned to menial labor and a hand-to-mouth existence. It also provides safeguards against financial exploitation and safety hazards, allowing them to help their family navigate daily life and ultimately thrive.

“This is a way we can show the world’s most marginalized people that they’re of tremendous value to God, that he loves them dearly and cares about their future,” Yohannan said.

“International Literacy Day puts the focus on the crisis of adult illiteracy and calls us to take action now,” he added.

About GFA World (Gospel for Asia)

Media interested in interviews with GFA World should contact Gregg Wooding at InChrist Communications @ 972-567-7660 or gwooding@inchristcommuications.com

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World Spotlights Global ‘Crisis’ of Adults Who Can’t Read or Write

Learn more by reading this GFA World special report: Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures – Resolving the Limitations Illiteracy Places on the Human Spirit

Learn more about the GFA Women’s Literacy Program. There are over 250 million women in Asia who are illiterate. Even if they want to read, there is no way to learn . . . until now. With your help, women in Asia can learn to read and will be equipped to tackle life’s hurdles.

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GFA World Helps Families ‘Sew Their Way Out of Poverty’

May 24, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX — A new three-month campaign aims to help some of the poorest families in Africa and Asia “sew their way out of poverty” — one stitch at a time.

GFA World (Gospel for Asia) Mission agency launches sewing machine campaign, empowers families in Africa and Asia to escape grinding poverty — **‘SEW’ AMAZING:** Texas-based mission GFA World’s “Sewing Their Way Out of Poverty” campaign aims to provide 500 new sewing machines and vocational training for 500 desperately poor families in Africa and Asia struggling to survive day-to-day. For more information, go to www.gfa.org/press/sew.

Texas-based mission GFA World’s “Sewing Their Way Out of Poverty” campaign aims to provide 500 new sewing machines and vocational training for 500 desperately poor families struggling to survive day-to-day.

“Countless people trapped in grinding poverty literally live from hand to mouth,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan, also known as Metropolitan Yohan. “It breaks my heart each time I see an ocean of slum dwellings in major cities, or when I watch children digging in garbage heaps for food scraps.”

A Stitch In Time Changes Everything

A sewing machine costing $100 — way beyond the reach of most families living in Africa and Asia — can change everything, giving parents the chance to earn a consistent income sewing and mending clothes.

Subia, a young mom in Asia, was increasingly anxious about how she’d manage to feed and clothe her young daughter. She and her husband — both casual day laborers like millions of others across Africa and Asia — often went days without finding any work.

“No work means nothing to eat,” Yohannan said.

Subia tearfully shared her struggles with her local pastor. “The pastor encouraged her and told her that God has a solution for every problem we face,” Yohannan said.

Sewing A Strong Community Fabric

When the local church took part in a program distributing income-generating gifts in her community, Subia couldn’t contain her excitement when she received a sewing machine — a real, practical answer to her prayers.

“The sewing machine has changed this family’s life,” Yohannan said. “Subia no longer has to go out in search of a day-labor job. She can stay home with her daughter while she sews clothes for the people in her neighborhood.”

Each year, GFA World supporters provide life-changing, income-generating gifts — including livestock, tools, and sewing machines — for thousands of families like Subia’s. GFA World workers run tailoring classes in local communities to teach men and women sewing skills they can turn into income.

“The need is great, but so is the opportunity to rescue one family at a time from poverty through showing them the love of God and giving them the gift of a sewing machine,” said Yohannan.

For more information, go to www.gfa.org/press/sew.

About GFA World (Gospel for Asia)

GFA World (Gospel for Asia) is a leading faith-based global mission agency, helping national missionaries bring vital assistance and spiritual hope to millions across the world, especially in Africa and Asia, and sharing the love of God. In a typical year, this includes thousands of community development projects that benefit downtrodden families and their children, free medical camps conducted in more than 880 villages and remote communities, over 4,800 clean water wells drilled, over 12,000 water filters installed, income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 163,000 needy families, and teaching that provides hope and encouragement in 110 languages in 14 nations through broadcast ministry. GFA World has launched programs in Africa, starting with compassion projects in Rwanda. For all the latest news, visit the Press Room at https://gfanews.org/news/.

Media interested in interviews with GFA World should contact Gregg Wooding at InChrist Communications @ 972-567-7660 or gwooding@inchristcommuications.com

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World Helps Families ‘Sew Their Way Out of Poverty’

Learn more by reading this GFA World special report: Poverty: Public Enemy #1 – Eliminating Extreme Poverty Worldwide is Possible, But Not Inevitable

Help families sew their way out of poverty! — Let’s join together to show people the compassion of Christ by providing them with a simple tool to escape poverty and exploitation: a sewing machine.

Notable News about Gospel for Asia: FoxNews, ChristianPost, NYPost, MissionsBox

GFA World (Gospel for Asia) Spotlights ‘Hidden Epidemic’ of Missing Women

May 1, 2023 By Dr. David R. Mains

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WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) is challenging people to “pray tenaciously for the world’s vulnerable women like never before” — including the more than 250,000 women and girls who’ve disappeared without a trace in the U.S.

GFA World (also known as Gospel for Asia) spotlights hidden epidemic of missing women and girls on International Women’s Day — **WOMEN FACE DANGER FROM ‘WOMB TO WIDOWHOOD’:** To mark International Women’s Day in March, GFA World (http://gospelforasia.net/) is challenging people to “tenaciously pray for the world’s vulnerable women like never before” — including the more than 250,000 women and girls who’ve disappeared without a trace in the U.S.

As the annual International Women’s Day takes place in March, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported 257,000 women and girls were missing across America in 2021, the most recent year for statistics.

For most of us, it’s a distant thought, but across America and around the world today, millions of parents, spouses and children live with the daily, brutal reality of not even knowing if their daughter, wife or mother is still alive.

Danger From ‘Womb to Widowhood’

Globally, it’s estimated up to 100 million women and girls are “missing and unaccounted for” — the victims of gender-selective abortions, female infanticide, slavery, human trafficking, and abandonment.

“Around the world, women’s lives are threatened from the womb to widowhood, and millions of precious girls won’t survive to become mothers,” Yohannan said. “It’s vital we combat the culture of violence against women and girls — and shower this broken world with God’s love.”

The mission pioneer — who inspired a wave of national missionaries across Asia — said: “The hurdles faced by women around the world seem insurmountable. But if the global Body of Christ is committed in prayer and action, we can see change in our lifetime.”

World Day of Prayer

The annual World Day of Prayer in March mobilizes Christians worldwide to pray for women in mission work — and GFA World’s Texas-based workers will participate with special prayers for the courageous women missionaries serving women and girls in crisis around the world.

Across Asia, GFA World-supports tens of thousands of girls at risk of abandonment, exploitation, trafficking, and the threat of vanishing without a trace. Projects also provide vocational training and sewing machines for thousands of women at risk.

The ministry’s Sisters of Compassion — specially trained teams of women missionaries — have a burden for serving vulnerable women, including widows and those with leprosy who are shunned by their wider community. By cleaning and bandaging their open wounds, the Sisters show women scarred by leprosy “they’re loved and have priceless value in God’s eyes.”

“Our Christian compassion should drive us to prayer and action,” said Yohannan, whose organization has “shown God’s love” to the extreme poor in Asia for more than four decades.

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World (also known as Gospel for Asia) Spotlights ‘Hidden Epidemic’ of Missing Women On International Women’s Day

Learn more by reading this GFA World special report: An Imaginative Exercise in Empathetic Fear — Think About Living in a Community with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Learn more how to help alleviate the many struggles widows face through the GFA World Widows Ministry.

Notable News about Gospel for Asia: FoxNews, ChristianPost, NYPost, MissionsBox

GFA World Jesus Well Provides Easy Access to Clean Water

April 24, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World) founded by K.P. Yohannan, has been the model for numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to help the poor and deprived worldwide, discussing Kylan and his village’s struggle with unclean water, and the access to clean water through newly installed GFA World Jesus Wells.

Ten times each day, 20 minutes each way—Kylan and his wife, Esmai, spent cumulative hours on one task. Back and forth, the parents of two performed the same errand. They had to keep doing it for their survival.

Needing Water Every Day

Every day, Kylan and Esmae made the 20-minute journey to their village’s nearest water source. Nearly 10 times a day, depending on how much water they needed, the husband and wife trekked to the waterhole. There, they filled up their water cans as full as they could. Unfortunately, the road to the waterhole curved downhill. Trekking uphill with full jugs several times a day was taxing for Kylan and Esmae and it was even worse during the rainy seasons.

The rain made the roads difficult to traverse, and both husband and wife had fallen multiple times due to the slippery, muddy trails. Sometimes, the rain fell so hard that the road itself flooded, cutting off access to the waterhole. Adding to their misery, during the rainy season the quality of the water was even worse than normal.

“When the water level rises,” Kylan said, “the water from outside actually gets into the well … and the water becomes dirty … but we didn’t have any choice, we had to collect that water and bring it home.”

The water they gathered already was already dirty and untreated on a good day. The family tried to filter the water as best they could, but they could not remove all the pathogens.

“Because of consuming water from that well … we had problems like upset stomachs and even fevers,” Kylan said. “And also, we had skin diseases because of bathing in that water.”

Easily Drawing Clean Water

Discussing Kylan & his village's struggle with unclean water, the access to clean water through newly installed Gospel for Asia Jesus Wells — Thanks, the new Jesus Well, like the one pictured, Kylan’s village now has easy access to clean, pure water.

But then, the Gospel for Asia (GFA World) pastor of Kylan and Esmae’s church broke the news to their congregation: A Jesus Well was going to be installed! They would finally have easy access to the clean water they needed. Upon the well’s completion, the entire community felt the benefits almost immediately.

“We don’t have to go and fetch water from that [old] water source which is time consuming,” Kylan said. “Moreover, the water from the open source was not clean … it was very unhygienic and impure to drink.”

However, the water from the newly installed Jesus Well was clean and pure.

“We didn’t have to filter the water,” Kylan remarked on the Jesus Well, “because the well was dug very deep.”

Nearly everybody in the community uses the Jesus Well now. Kylan said, “The Jesus Well water is more [than] enough for all the villagers here in this village.”

See how you can help more villages in need get access to pure, clean water.

*Names of people and places may have been changed for privacy and security reasons. Images are Gospel for Asia World stock photos used for representation purposes and are not the actual person/location, unless otherwise noted.

Source: Gospel for Asia Field Reports & Updates, Jesus Well Provides Easy Access to Clean Water

Provide a Village with Access to Clean Water. GFA’s clean water program is supplying safe, disease-free water to families across Asia through Jesus Wells. Each Jesus Well offers clean drinking water to roughly 300 people at a cost of less than $5 per person.

Learn more about the GFA World national missionary workers who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.

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GFA World Fighting Waterborne Diseases with Water Filters

April 17, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX – GFA World (previously Gospel for Asia) founded by K.P. Yohannan, whose heart to love and help the poor has inspired numerous charities like Gospel for Asia Canada, to serve the deprived and downcast worldwide, discussing GFA World missionaries meet the need for pure water, fighting waterborne diseases, with BioSand Water Filters.

Water shouldn’t have a distinct red color when pulled from a well—but that’s exactly what thousands of impoverished families see when they go to draw water. Water shouldn’t make you sick—but that’s exactly the threat thousands of poverty-stricken people face from their only available source of drinking water.

A Global Water Crisis

Access to clean, pure water remains a major issue for destitute communities in Africa and Asia. Close to 785 million people collect water from contaminated sources, and around 144 million draw their water directly from ponds, rivers, lakes and streams.[1] Those same water sources can harbor numerous contaminants and are among the causes of 485,000 diarrheal related deaths every year.[2]

That is why Gospel for Asia (GFA World) missionaries make it a point to identify communities in need of pure water and help meet that need. Whether it is to raise awareness of the importance of clean water on World Water Day or provide solutions to water crises, Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastors and missionaries will provide Jesus Wells or BioSand water filters to villages and individuals who need them most.

The Fight Against Unclean Water

Discussing Gospel for Asia (GFA World) missionaries meeting the need for pure water, fighting waterborne diseases, with BioSand Water Filters — Kaigan and his children, pictured, are now able to drink pure water thanks to their new BioSand water filter.

In their respective areas, Gospel for Asia (GFA) pastors Gaige and Rainart discovered many people struggling with dirty water.

For those in Pastor Gaige’s region, the water was red—a color water should never be. Apparently, their water was highly contaminated with iron. Unfiltered, it was unfit for drinking. Most of the villagers had no filters they could use; farmers and daily laborers, they more than likely could not afford them. So, Pastor Gaige distributed 30 BioSand water filters. With the filters, the villagers no longer needed to fear drinking the red-colored water; they now had pure, clean water instead.

Families in Pastor Rainart’s area, including Kaigan’s, faced a similar situation. There was a pump well near Kaigan’s house, but it was improperly drilled. As a result, mud entered the well during the rainy seasons, contaminating the water and drastically increasing the risk of infection from disease. Kaigan noted his children would fall ill almost every week, complaining of stomach pains, a tell-tale symptom of dysentery.

The well wasn’t safe to drink from, period. But it was the only source of water available to them.

After hearing of Kaigan’s children constantly falling ill, and of similar reports from other families in the village, Pastor Rainart stepped in and distributed 42 BioSand water filters to Kaigan and other families in need. After that, Kaigan’s children didn’t fall ill every week. Their new BioSand water filter helped keep them safe from waterborne diseases, including dysentery.

Within the communities they serve, GFA missionaries like Pastors Gaige and Rainart step up to identify the most pressing needs. But it’s because of gifts from our donors that GFA missionaries can meet these critical needs and demonstrate Christ’s tangible love to men and women in deprivation.

See how you can join GFA missionaries in helping provide families with pure, clean water.

[1] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
[2] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

Source: Gospel for Asia Field Reports & Updates, Fighting Waterborne Diseases with Water Filters

Learn more about how to provide pure, clean water to families and villages through GFA World Jesus Wells and BioSand Water Filters.

Learn more about the GFA World national missionaries who carry a burning desire for people to know the love of God. Through their prayers, dedication and sacrificial love, thousands of men and women have found new life in Christ.

Learn more by reading these Special Reports:

Solving the World Water Crisis for Good — Lasting Solutions Can Defeat an Age-old Problem.
The Global Clean Water Crisis — Finding Solutions to Humanity’s Need for Pure, Safe Water.

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Nepal: GFA World ‘Jesus Well’ Project Ends Villagers’ ‘Water Woes’

April 13, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX — Mission agency GFA World (Gospel for Asia) now provides a water lifeline to nearly 40 million desperate people – a number roughly equal to the entire population of California.

Globally, 663 million people lack clean water. Every year, around 500,000 people — including 360,000 children under the age of five — die from waterborne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery and typhoid.

“These are overwhelming numbers,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan, also known as Metropolitan Yohan. “The good news is we can help save many precious lives, one community at a time.”

Texas-based GFA World has installed more than 40,000 wells — called “Jesus Wells” — and 95,000 BioSand water filters, providing safe drinking water to more than 39 million highly vulnerable people in Asia.

Texas-based mission Gospel for Asia water project provides clean drinking water to nearly 40 million desperate people across Asia — **‘JESUS WELL’ PROJECT ENDS VILLAGE ‘WATER WOES’:** Texas-based mission agency GFA World (http://www.gospelforasia.net) teamed up with a village church in Nepal to dig a “Jesus Well.” The resulting “miracle” means villagers no longer have to drink from contaminated ponds. Across Asia, GFA World’s water projects serve nearly 40 million people.

Altercations Over Water

In one village in Nepal, quarrels and fights sometimes erupted as villagers waited in line for up to two hours to fill their jars at a community water pipe, reduced to a trickle by months of drought.

Aware of their plight, GFA World came alongside the local church to help make a new well a reality. At first, the believers in this mountainside village began digging by hand, but – when they hit solid rock – their task seemed hopeless. A crew with drilling machines arrived to help, but even they soon gave up.

“The pastor had been praying for two years for God to solve the water problem in the community,” Yohannan said. “[The church members] continued to dig manually, and God did a miracle. Breaking through rock at 33-feet deep, they reached a spring.”

Astonished village leaders said, “This is a great service the church has done… you have become a blessing for us.”

Speaking of the community impact, Yohannan said, “Children won’t miss school anymore because of water-hauling duties, and people no longer get sick from drinking contaminated water from dirty ponds and mudholes.”

“Jesus Wells transform entire communities, Yohannan said, showing people “God really cares about them and answers their prayers.”

Source: GFA World Digital Media Room, GFA World (Gospel for Asia) Jesus Wells Project Ends Water Woes

Learn more by reading this GFA World special report: Fresh Water: An Increasingly Scarce Resource More Vital than Oil or Gold

Give Clean Water, Fresh Hope! — You can help change tragic outcomes caused by water scarcity and waterborne disease. Help provide villages and families with clean, safe drinking water and give them fresh hope.

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Gospel for Asia: Solving the World Water Crisis for Good: Lasting Solutions Can Defeat an Age-old Problem | Part #1

February 2, 2023 By GFA Staff Writer

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WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA World), founded by KP Yohannan issued the first part of a Special Report update authored by Palmer Holt of InChrist Communications on solving the world water crisis, including major initiatives to defeat the age-old problem.

For millions of people around the world, finding clean water is a daily struggle. Like all of us, they need water to drink, to wash in and to grow their crops. When they can’t find it, terrible things happen: Farmers lose their livelihoods; people suffer the slow, insidious effects of chronic dehydration; entire families contract dysentery or arsenic poisoning; and too often, people die.

The issue is really twofold: 1) In many places, there simply isn’t enough water available; and 2) Often, the water that people do have is contaminated. Remedies exist for both problems, ranging from complex and costly to astonishingly simple. But sadly, most of the people who desperately need these solutions don’t have access to them—yet.

In my previous special report for Gospel for Asia (GFA) entitled “Dying of Thirst: The Global Water Crisis,” I unpacked the global quest for access to safe, clean water. This article highlights three major initiatives that are addressing the world water crisis and one practical way you can personally get involved.

Woman carrying water — Globally, women and girls spend 200 million hours a day collecting water. This would be the equivalent to building 28 Empire State Buildings every single day!

Wells Find Water Where There Is None

Roughly 40 percent of the world’s land mass is arid or semi-arid, receiving little rainfall. About 2 billion people live in these dry areas, 90 percent of them in developing countries where water infrastructure is limited or nonexistent. Yet they all need water to survive. How do they find it?

Drilling a Jesus Well — This drilling rig is used to create a Jesus Well. Machines like this one will drill bore wells more than 600 feet deep, allowing up to 300 families a day to draw good, clean water even in the driest seasons.

For many of them, each day begins with a trek to the nearest waterhole, which may be miles away. Life becomes a dreary quest for survival as they spend precious hours seeking the day’s supply of water. That leaves little time or energy for more productive activities. It’s no surprise that so many remain mired in abject poverty.

Yet, even in these dry areas, there is often water underground. Government agencies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have devoted vast resources to installing wells for needy populations in Africa, Asia and Latin America. These efforts, though earnest and well-motivated, often fail in the long term for a number of reasons.

• In arid regions, there may be ample water during the rainy season, but then the water table recedes during the dry months. Wells are often too shallow to reach this deeper water, so they become inactive.

The solution: drill deeper.

This is the strategy now being employed by city authorities in urban areas like Bangalore, India, where an exploding population has strained water resources to the limit. The older wells in the city were typically 300 feet deep. Now, newer wells reach depths of up to 1,500 feet to tap the hidden reserves. And for the time being, they’re meeting the city’s burgeoning needs.

This approach is also being used effectively by private relief agencies, such as Gospel for Asia (GFA World). Through Jesus Wells installed by its field partners, Gospel for Asia (GFA) has helped bring year-round water to many villages in South Asia, each well serving an average of 300 people. By drilling wells more than 600 feet down, villagers can access the deep water that was unreachable before. And Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported Jesus Wells are built to last up to two decades.

In one Asian village, 15 families were relying on water from a polluted pond, convinced that a well would be impossible in their rocky hillside terrain. But through the intervention of a local Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported pastor, workers drilled through the solid rock and found water. Most importantly, the workers didn’t stop there. They kept drilling to reach the deeper parts of the water table. That well now provides consistent water for the villagers even through the dry seasons.

• Another common problem has to do with well maintenance. Many well-intentioned organizations come into undeveloped areas and spend their time and money installing wells. But then they leave. The villagers often don’t know how to maintain the wells, so these valuable resources become useless. As a result, in Africa alone, an estimated 50,000 such projects now lie abandoned.

The remedy is to bring local people into the projects from the start

so they feel an ownership stake, and then show them how to maintain the wells for the long term. In an effort to provide lasting solutions, Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported field partners use local workers who use locally produced components to install the wells, and then they help train the villagers themselves to maintain the wells. As a result, those wells have stood the test of time. Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers recently revisited one of their earliest well installations and were pleasantly surprised to find it still operational—20 years later. Because of that well, life in the village has changed dramatically.

As Saamel, one of the villagers, observes, “Now people don’t have to go to distant places to fetch water.”

Furthermore, the impact of a clean water well on Arnab and his family in Asia can be watched online.
We also have a growing list of Clean Water FAQs that address various clean water concerns around the globe.

Of course, that well has needed periodic maintenance during its 20 years of service. And when it did, the local villagers stepped up.

Saamel notes, “Whenever this Jesus Well breaks down or needs some maintenance or repair, people in this village contribute money and they actually get it fixed.” As a result, “There has been no time that this Jesus Well is not in use … people been using it ever since that was installed.”

That marks a stark contrast to other wells in the area that provided foul-tasting water and eventually broke down. Now, Saamel observes, people from three nearby villages come to use the Jesus Well for its clean, reliable water.

“The water is very good and tasty and safe to drink,” he says. “So people don’t have to go to other water source, and they used this water for drinking and domestic chores, for giving to the cattle or whatever need they have, cleaning and washing; they used this water almost for everything. So, this well has been great help and great use for the entire villagers.”

As this story makes clear, encouraging people to invest in their own infrastructure is one key to making these lifesaving improvements sustainable.

Read the rest of Gospel for Asia’s Special Report on Solving the World Water Crisis … For Good: Lasting Solutions Can Defeat an Age-old Problem: Part 2

This Special Report originally appeared on gfa.org.

Read another Special Report from Gospel for Asia on Dying of Thirst: The Global Water Crisis.

Read the Global Clean Water Crisis Report: Finding Solutions to Humanity’s Need for Pure, Safe Water.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

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[1] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water [2] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water

Altercations Over Water

Wells Find Water Where There Is None

The solution: drill deeper.

The remedy is to bring local people into the projects from the start

[1] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water
[2] “Drinking Water.” World Health Organization. 14 June 2019. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water