How Can We Address the Causes of Poverty in Africa?

The causes of poverty in Africa cannot be solved overnight. Many of them are complex issues that governments need to work out. For example, there are ongoing crises in the Central African Republic, Nigeria and South Sudan that raise the number of refugees the UN is concerned about to 18 million, and people in such conflict-filled regions are more likely to experience poverty.[1] That is not something GFA World can easily put a stop to, but in some major ways, we can and do address many of the problems of poverty.

Pastor Kagan, a GFA national missionary, serves in a community in Asia that is plagued year-round by mosquito-borne malaria. The telltale fevers are especially common at the height of summer and right after the rainy season. The villagers who can afford it travel to the nearest private hospital, but about 75 percent of the community cannot afford such care. They have to go to a local medical center, but the free treatments there often do little to treat their sickness. Some people just endure the illness and try to treat the pain with remedies from the surrounding jungle. The disease sometimes takes weeks or even a month to fully run its course, and deaths are not uncommon. Recently, a lady in Pastor Kagan’s church died of malaria, leaving behind a husband and four daughters.

One factor that greatly reduces the incidence of malaria is mosquito nets. The nets protect from many insects and even snakes that may enter people’s houses. Supplying the nets is an easy and cost-effective solution for communities with limited medical care access.[2]

Pastor Kagan prayed that the church would be able to distribute nets, and they soon received the good news that the funds were there. The pastor immediately went to work, finding out who in the community needed the nets most. After compiling a list, the church purchased the nets and distributed them to about 100 families. One of the recipients, Hywel, a father of two, would have never been able to afford a net without saving for three or four months, but thanks to the GFA pastor, he and his family could be protected from the insects and the diseases they carry.[3]

Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs in Gospel for Asia.Com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our Attitude Towards Suffering

Image
In 2 Timothy 2:3, the Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.” Everyone, at some point or another, faces suffering, the soldier especially. However, it is not so much what we suffer, but how we suffer that matters. The way our heart responds to suffering is crucial, because by it we will either advance or become stagnant. To suffer like a good soldier is to willingly endure all for the sake of the call. To suffer like a bad soldier is to grumble when difficult situations and hardship arise. Instead of throwing our lives into what God has called us to, we can try to hold on to our lives, wanting to get away with as little suffering as possible, paying as little price as possible. We have forgotten that we are under the orders of our Master and that we willingly gave up our lives. Christ’s Example of Suffering Christ lived with the expectation of suffering. Throughout the Gospels, He repeatedly referred to ...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

Where Can I Learn How to Break the Cycle of Poverty?

Image
There are many methods for how to break the cycle of poverty which one can learn about. From education assistance to income-generating gifts like sewing machines or farm animals, there is hope for families who have been poor for generations. GFA World works in communities in all these ways through sponsorships and gift distributions, and one by one, we see lives changed as families escape poverty. Raina’s life had been dominated by poverty. She was part of a highly underprivileged people group that faced discrimination and deprivation from others in the region. Despite that, Raina had been able to attend school up until tenth grade, but she discontinued her education when it became too much for her parents to afford. Rather than receiving her certificates of completion, she had to join her parents in the field to earn money to put food on the table. After she married Ander, Raina continued to work in the fields to supplement his income with her own. In search of better job opportunitie...
Read more