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

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.


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.

  • 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!”


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