GFA World Rescuing Communities in Crisis Through Pandemic Aid

In providing solutions and addressing the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, aid must not stop with food. In one area of Madhya Pradesh, a congregation made 220 facemasks for those who could only work two hours a day because of lockdown restrictions. They also traveled to a nearby village to offer masks and health safety tips. In other towns and villages, Gospel for Asia (GFA World) national missionaries who were unable to hold services regularly called and checked in on families.

But addressing this multi-faceted problem of the COVID-19 pandemic calls for more aid. For the past 15 years, GFA World has aided 138,000 children through it’s Child Sponsorship Program, a network of educational centers that provide children a chance to learn and dream of a better day as a doctor, teacher, government worker, or computer specialist.

When Parmar Nagraj Provinbhai and three siblings came to a Child Sponsorship school, they had few skills for surviving in a modern world. Today, Parmar is working in a college while studying for his Ph.D., and one brother has graduated from an arts college.

“Before joining the [Child Sponsorship Program] we were hopeless because of a lack of finances,” Parmar said. “We did not have any idea about the future, but after their guidance we all have desire and ambitions in our life. I have achieved so many things in life.”

This kind of assistance extends to adults, including literacy and vocational training. Last year GFA World taught nearly 60,000 women to read and write and provided vocational training for more than 12,000 women. It also distributed more than 6,500 sewing machines. To date, GFA World has helped empower more than 35,000 women with vocational skills.

Free medical care and the availability of clean drinking water—which reduces the onset of numerous diseases linked to polluted sources—are also part of GFA World’s outreach. Last year the ministry drilled more than 4,000 clean water wells and installed more than 11,000 water filters. Other aid featured sponsoring more than 70,000 children, providing income-generating Christmas gifts for more than 200,000 needy families, and through its radio programs offering spiritual teachings in 110 languages in 14 nations.[1]

Such help has become even more crucial as the world grapples to meet the long-lasting challenges posed by COVID-19.


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