Gospel for Asia

I hear the stories all the time. I work at a missions organization, so, of course, I’m aware of suffering children in Asia. Sometimes I pause and let it break my heart, but other times my mind glides over the words and tucks the story into a pile of “sad things” and moves on with my day. But today I want to hear these stories with Jesus’ heart, to pause and take time to be there with these children, imagining they are my own. Listen to this little girl talk about her sister Lakshmi : “My sister is 10 years old. Every morning at 7 she goes to the bonded labor man, and every night at 9 she comes home. He treats her badly. He hits her if he thinks she is working slowly, or if she talks to the other children, he yells at her. I don’t care about school or playing. All I want is to bring my sister home from the bonded labor man. For 600 rupees I can bring her home—that is our only chance to get her back. We don’t have 600 rupees…we will never have 600 rupees [the equivalent of U.S. $14].” In...

With over 152 million child laborers worldwide, child labor and child slavery are significant problems. 1 However, there are some solutions to child slavery. To combat child slavery and child labor, we need to address the root of poverty. So how can we eliminate poverty and help protect children from slavery? One way to address poverty and child labor is through education assistance. Lack of education often contributes to poverty, especially cyclical poverty. Parents who did not receive an education not only typically earn less, but they are less likely to put their children in school and encourage them in their education. Through education, children learn valuable skills, such as literacy, math and relational skills. These skills are vital to escaping poverty because they enable children to hope. If children can graduate from secondary school, that increases their chances of obtaining jobs with better pay than their parents and even looking for better opportunities. Schools need to ...

Even today, child slavery remains a global issue. Here are some child slavery facts: 152 million children—roughly 1 in 10 children worldwide—between 5-17 years old are victims of child labor. 1 Children 12 years old and younger perform one-quarter of all child labor worldwide. 1 32% of child laborers no longer attend school. 1 Approximately 374 million children laborers get sick or injured while working annually. 1 An estimated 2.78 million children laborers die annually. 1 Child slavery occurs worldwide, but it is the worst in countries like Bangladesh, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Liberia, Myanmar, Nigeria, Pakistan and Somalia. 2 Children are in bondage on cocoa farms, in brick kilns, in cobalt mines and in the fishing industry. 3 Most child labor and child slavery occurs in territories or countries with extremely low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. 4 Thus, countries with extreme poverty often demonstrate high levels of child labor. Communit...

There are 152 million children in child slavery today worldwide. 1 Though every child laborer has a unique story of how their enslavement has affected them and their families, any children engaged in slavery need our help. Why are children enslaved worldwide? The financial strain to feed, educate and care for their children can be too much for many impoverished families. Some families sell their children to farm owners or traffickers with the promise of better provision for their children; others need their children to work alongside them to supplement their income. Some traffickers kidnap children from small villages to sell into slavery or use for their businesses. Regardless of how they came to work, these enslaved children often experience harsh treatment, physical abuse, hazardous working environments and long hours for minimal pay. Children may work up to 14 hours a day only to bring home a meager $0.60 to $1.20 for their families. 2 However, even small amounts of money can he...

Child slavery today is the worst form of child labor. Child labor does not include household chores or tasks to help the child’s family; it is work that interferes with their school attendance and performance and their physical and emotional development. The enslavement of children goes beyond forced child labor; it includes the exploitation and even imprisonment of children for profit. Children are often forcibly employed in agriculture, mining, factories and more. Children can work on tobacco farms, cobalt mines, clothing factories or other workplaces. In such situations, children work long, labor-intensive hours, with no breaks, for minimal pay. Some employers do not pay children at all. These jobs may expose children to hazardous chemicals and materials, crowded workspaces and verbal and physical abuse. In some workplaces, employers regularly beat children workers, and they may also deprive children of food, sleep and even medical care to motivate them to work. Slavery exposes ch...

How many kids does South Asia have? To give you an idea of the magnitude of this number, just one country in South Asia has over 1.40 billion people and is the second most populous country in the world. [1] Moreover, this country is experiencing remarkable growth both in terms of its population and economy, positioning it to shape the future and positively impact the lives of its children. The median age in this South Asian country is quite low, at just 28 years old. [2] It is a young population with many people looking to have secure employment or income options. [3] Good employment starts with good education. According to a UNICEF report, significant advancements have been achieved in education within this nation, yet the preparedness of children for school at the age of 5 remains considerably lower than anticipated. [4] A country’s ability to sustain its growth economically must be centered on a population with access to education and the resources to continue that education. Man...

For kids, South Asia can be a promising place to live and thrive, but it has its challenges. For instance, one South Asian country is highly rural, and agriculture still dominates vast areas of this beautiful country. The culture is beautiful and historically rich. However, there is the susceptibility to natural disasters, such as floods and drought. Poverty rates are improving in this South Asia country. Though poverty still grips 16.4 percent of its population, this is down 55.1 percent 17 years ago, as reported by the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022 from the United Nations. [1] This is an incredible achievement worth celebrating. Yet, there is still work to be done. Like elsewhere in Asia, children in this country sometimes find themselves in a situation where both their parents are working long, difficult hours. Even with all the parents’ hard work, however, the children may not be able to go to school because there just isn’t enough money. That can leave them home alon...

One country in South Asia is working hard to keep kids in school. In this country in South Asia country, underprivileged kids made up some of the 6,545,825 students who dropped out of school, compared with the United States number of 489,065, in the year 2020. [1] Major progress has been made, and there is hope for kids in South Asia. In 1997, there was a worldwide peak of more than 48 million children out of school. In 2020, it dropped to just over 30 million. This is significant progress across all nations. [2] “[One country in South Asia] has made great strides in improving access to quality education, increasing elementary school enrollment and reducing the number of out-of-school children,” reports UNICEF, a non-governmental agency committed to helping children all over the world. “These achievements have been bolstered by key laws, policies and programmes such as the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act (2009), the National Early Childhood Care and Educati...

In 2021, the population in one South Asian country was estimated at 1.39 billion people, nearly one-sixth of the world’s population. [1] More than a quarter of that number represent children ages 0 to 14. [2] This country is second only to China in total population. Worldwide, 30 percent of children living in poverty are in this one country. [3] For the millions of underprivileged kids in South Asia, charity organizations can work together with the government to make a difference in the lives of individuals, families and communities. For poverty-stricken kids, countries in South Asia are working hard to improve their conditions. Much of the poverty in this land can be attributed to the lack of opportunities in the highly rural region, as well as long-standing cultural and social issues that are slowly being addressed. Even with these high numbers and history of cyclical poverty in South Asia, underprivileged kids in this area are getting the help and services they need to break fre...

Giving children hope is how you build resiliency, which is defined by “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to adversity or change.” [1] One study on the impact of hope and resilience reported, “Hopeful individuals possess positive thinking that is reflective of a realistic sense of optimism as well as the belief that they can produce routes to desired goal.” [2] Every person will experience some form of adversity in their lives. It’s how a person is able to deal with those challenges that makes the difference between being able to continue on despite the situation or giving up on themselves and life. The Bible repeatedly talks about hope and its power to sustain us. Psalm 9:18 says, “But the needy will not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.” Again in Psalm 10:17, “Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart; You will cause Your ear to hear.” A powerful passage on hope is in Romans: “And not only that, but w...

Children’s mental health issues are not often thought of when it comes to poverty. However, more and more evidence shows that children living in poverty, dealing with constant hunger or trapped in child labor can develop mental health problems that they bring into adulthood. According to an article in the British Colombia Medical Journal, “…child abuse, trauma, and early adversity can have a significant impact on all aspects of child development and behavior. Early childhood interventions that support the basic needs of children, including access to nutritious food, safe and affordable housing, quality child care, and regular health care, should be our top health priority if we want to ensure the well-being of future generations.” [1] When a child faces daily hunger and constant uncertainty about their environment, they will have a hard time focusing and excelling at school (if they even go), have developmental delays, and spend precious energy worrying about their situation. It’s vita...

Children in crisis need immediate relief from whatever desperate situation they may be facing. People may say that children are resilient, but that does not mean they are indestructible. A child who is in crisis is experiencing a form of trauma. According to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, “Traumatic experiences can initiate strong emotions and physical reactions that can persist long after the event. Children may feel terror, helplessness, or fear, as well as physiological reactions such as heart pounding, vomiting, or loss of bowel or bladder control. Children who experience an inability to protect themselves or who lacked protection from others to avoid the consequences of the traumatic experience may also feel overwhelmed by the intensity of physical and emotional responses.” [1] Kids who face crises like hunger, child labor and poverty are experiencing a kind of trauma, even if they can’t name it as such. The NCTSN says unaddressed trauma can cause children to have ne...

Poverty, hunger, human trafficking, child labor, political upheaval and natural disasters: These are just a few of the difficulties facing children worldwide. Any one of them can significantly endanger a child’s life, and all of them will most certainly prevent a child from growing and thriving. Nevertheless, there is hope for children facing these dangers. No one organization can solve the problems affecting children around the globe. It will take a concerted effort by multiple non-governmental organization in tandem with local authorities and officials to recognize, diagnose and treat the ills of our hurting world. Hope for children begins with seeing and understanding the issues that endanger them. Here are a few of those issues: Poverty – According to the World Bank, 356 million children live in poverty worldwide. Poverty is defined as living at or below $1.90 per day. That’s one is six children in crisis who never have enough of life’s necessities. [1] “1 in 6 children living in...

Child labor has been an aspect of society throughout much of history. However, child labor history started when humans developed farming and extra hands were needed to keep up with farming duties. 1 “The modern history of child labor indicates that the transatlantic slave trade—which lasted three centuries beginning in 1562—was one of the earliest origins of the practice. Industrial revolutions beginning around 1750 in Europe, as well as in the U.S. following the Civil War, also forced children into dangerous work.” 2 Child labor really took off during the industrial revolution. Once industries realized that children wouldn’t organize into unions and would expect less money, they utilized children heavily in several industries. For example, in the fashion industry, children with their small fingers can quickly do detailed jobs where adult fingers would struggle. In agriculture, a child’s small hands are less likely to damage the crops. In 1904, the National Child Labor Committee was f...

In the fight to end child labor, there are some new, cutting-edge child labor solutions. Here are just two such solutions: Supply Chain Enforcements – A number of countries have campaigns that prohibit the importation of products that have used child labor somewhere in the supply chain. Blockchain Enforcement – Blockchain is a promising advancement in the fight against child labor. Through this solution, all assets, locations and employees would be required to be “tagged” so they could be identified as a legitimate part of the supply chain. Children would not be able to work because they are too young to be registered in the block chain. “Blockchain proposes to be a secure and accurate digital ledger for recording assets, how and where they were obtained, and by whom.” 1 These two solutions may seem difficult, but it is clear that many proposed solutions have been ineffective thus far in the fight against child labor. GFA World has seen positive results from several of their programs...

In Target 8.7 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, member nations are obliged to take “immediate and effective measures to … secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labor, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labor in all its forms.” 1 However, there are various obstacles to achieving this goal. Obstacle 1 – Lip Service Some countries and industries just pay lip service to combatting child labor, rather than actually taking appropriate action to stop it. Verisk Maplecroft performed a study that exposed this lip service: “Companies need to be able to differentiate between the states taking appropriate action to stop child labour and those that are just paying lip service. If they don’t, they are likely to find themselves exposed to the reputational, financial and even legal costs of child labour violations in their supply chains.” 2 Obstacle 2 – Intransigence Intransigence is the refusal to change one’s views a...

The Child Labor Coalition estimates 218 million children, some as young as 5 years old, are in child labor with at least 152 million of those in forced child labor. 1 There are many child labor examples in various workforces, including the fishing, fashion and mining industries. Below are a few examples of child labor from these industries: Fishing Industry James Kofi Annan is an escapee of child labor from the fishing industry. 2 His parents had 12 children, none of them educated. As the youngest, James eventually became the last one his father could control. His siblings were already working when his father gave James away to do manual labor on a fishing boat. At the time, he was only 6 years old. James said, “I was first trafficked with five other children. Out of the six of us, three lived, and three did not. I saw many children die from either abuse or the rigorous work they were obliged to do.” James worked long, physically-demanding hours catching fish from 3 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ja...

The main causes of child labor exploitation are linked to poverty. Three billion people worldwide live on less than $2.50 per day. 1 When a family can’t afford to put meals on the table and provide for their basic everyday needs, they look for help wherever they can find it. Many families are promised education for their children, nutritious meals, pay and other benefits by unscrupulous individuals seeking to exploit them. Since most parents want these things for their children, they are enticed to send their child away. In reality, those children often work in dangerous environments, receive little or no pay and have irregular meals. Other children are kidnapped, and parents don’t know where their child has gone or if they will ever return. GFA World provides care for those who are relegated to the lowest positions in life. We care for the “least of these“ and seek “to take the love of Christ to people who have never heard His name before.” Here are some of the ways we do so: Povert...

What exactly is child sexual exploitation? According to the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, “When a child or young person is exploited they’re given things, like gifts, drugs, money, status and affection, in exchange for performing sexual activities.” 1 Often, kids being exploited are misled into thinking they are in a loving and trusting relationship. Here are a few quick facts: “On any given day in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people were victims of modern slavery, 4.8 million of them in ‘forced sexual exploitation.’ Over one million of those in ‘forced sexual exploitation’ are children.” 2 More than 26,500 runaways were reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2020. One in six were likely victims of child sex trafficking. 3 Sex trafficking generates a lot of money. One in five trafficking victims may be sexually exploited, but those equate to two-thirds of global trafficking profits. 4 According to Human Rights First, OSC...

Child exploitation has been defined as “the act of using a minor child for profit, labor, sexual gratification, or some other personal or financial advantage.” 1 There are many forms of child exploitation, including child labor, domestic servitude, forced child marriage, sexual exploitation and using children in war. Each of these forms of exploitation causes trauma and other challenges in the lives of children, including the following: Difficulties in social situations – Children who are exploited often experience attachment disorders that impact their future relationships and friendships. Poor emotional health – Children who experience trauma have a greater risk of depression and anxiety that lasts into adulthood. Childhood trauma also negatively impacts suicide rates in adults. PTSD – Posttraumatic stress often causes irritability, anger, mood swings and more. According to Children’s Bureau, “PTSD in children can lead to depression, suicidal behavior, substance use, and opposition...