GFA World: Helping the Poor

Worldwide, 736 million people live below the poverty line, earning $1.90 a day or less.1 These men, women and children often lack basic necessities such as clean water, sanitation facilities and health care. Frequently entrenched in generational poverty, these families often struggle for survival and have little hope of rising out of their poverty. Fortunately, organizations such as GFA World are helping the poor, meeting practical needs and empowering impoverished families in places such as Asia and Africa to overcome the cycle of poverty.

GFA World has been serving the “least of these” since 1979. Through national missionaries, GFA World ministers in places where no one else is serving. They seek out the forsaken and downtrodden, sharing Christ’s love and serving as His hands and feet to people in need. Their model is Jesus helping the poor.

In many areas where GFA missionaries serve, widows are the outcasts of society with limited options economically. The UN estimates that of the 285 million widows in the world, more than 115 million live in deep poverty.2 Often rejected by even their own families, widows frequently bear a stigma that hinders their ability to earn income.3 As a result, they often struggle to feed themselves and their children. GFA World helps these widows with things such as vocational training and income-generating gifts, which enable these precious women to work from their own homes and earn a sustainable living, as well as with practical items such as blankets and mosquito nets they can’t afford on their own.

GFA missionaries are also involved in community development. Living within the communities they serve, GFA missionaries have unique insight into people’s needs.

They often work with local governments to provide clean water, sanitation, health care and disaster relief. They also pray with people and organize literacy classes, sharing the tangible love of Christ that can also empower them to improve their lives. Here are some help the poor Bible verses.

According to the World Bank, one of the best ways to help the poor is by providing clean water to rural villages.4 Clean water protects local residents from a host of waterborne diseases, such as typhoid, polio, cholera, dysentery and diarrhea, and improves overall health. This health helps people thrive rather than being hindered by frequent sickness that affects adults’ ability to work and children’s ability to study. Clean water can save lives.

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