GFA World: Helping Alleviate Poverty in Asia
With 17,139,445 square miles and a population of 4,406,273,633, Asia is the largest continent in the world, and it presents some of the greatest needs.1 Poverty in Asia is widespread, affecting many of the people within its borders.
According to The Borgen Project,
“Despite widespread economic success, Asia remains the worst continent for global hunger and contains more than half of the world’s poorest people.”2
Approximately 400 million people in Asia-Pacific live in extreme poverty, earning $1.90 a day or less, while 1.2 billion people—a quarter of the region’s total population—earn under $3.20 a day.3
A complex problem, poverty exhibits itself in diverse ways.
Those struggling to make ends meet financially may also suffer from conditions such as lack of access to basic infrastructure, clean water, health care, education and other essentials.4 While there are various methods of measuring poverty, the Asian Development Bank says, “In practice, the most broadly used standard for measuring poverty will continue to be the adequate consumption of food and other essentials.”5 However, this standard can vary from country to country.
Specific circumstances and needs can even vary from village to village within a country, as pockets of extreme poverty can exist within sub-regions or even sub-groups of a general population.6
For example, slums sometimes exist on the outskirts of thriving cities, and rural populations frequently face their own set of challenges, including limited access to health care and education.
To address these complex issues of poverty in Asia, the various causes of poverty and the unique needs within a given community must be addressed.
GFA World has been serving the “least of these” in Asia since 1979 and does just that, taking on a multi-faceted approach as they address each community’s specific needs. GFA missionaries are part of the communities they serve and have unique insight into the needs of those communities and the people who live there. Though the solutions and community development programs GFA missionaries establish will vary according to specific needs, they may include child sponsorship programs, literacy classes, clean water initiatives or income-generating gifts. Whatever GFA missionaries do in a specific community, they do so in in the name of Christ, sharing His love in practical, tangible ways.
Through GFA World’s Child Sponsorship Program, GFA workers meet the needs of children, their families and their communities.
Approximately 70 percent of the world’s malnourished children live in Asia.7 As a result, nearly one-third of Asia’s youth are stunted.8 Sometimes, desperate families keep their children out of school so they can earn income and help feed the family. Child labor, which subjects children to long hours and sometimes dangerous work, is common in Asia.9 Most of these children will not receive an education, which severely limits their future economic opportunities.10
By providing essentials such as nutritious food, educational assistance and clean water, GFA World’s Child Sponsorship Program not only alleviates families’ financial burdens but gives children a solid foundation from which to build a successful future. The program equips children with tools to break the cycle of poverty so many have been entrenched in for generations.
Women in Asia are another group who have great needs.
Lack of education and ensuing poverty disproportionately affects this group. Approximately two-thirds of impoverished people in the region are women.11 Largely a result of “gender disparities in education, health care, economic participation and incomes,” this gap especially affects those living in rural areas.12 The literacy rate for women in Asia is just 63 percent, the second lowest in the world.13 This illiteracy affects women’s everyday lives as well as their employment opportunities.
GFA World offers literacy classes to help women learn how to read and write.
Thousands of women have been impacted. Women who previously struggled to navigate to another city or pay bills because they couldn’t read have become entrepreneurs.14 Shame caused by illiteracy has given way to confidence.15 Lives have been changed.
One of the most desperate needs in South Asia is drinking water.
Access to clean water is a common struggle since water supplies are frequently contaminated with feces, arsenic or other pollutants.16 The poor, who are unable to purchase bottled water, are commonly forced to drink this polluted water, which can lead to a host of waterborne diseases, including cholera, typhoid, polio, diarrhea and dysentery. In much of East Asia, diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death among children under the age of 5.17
GFA World addresses this need through its clean water initiatives, including Jesus Wells and BioSand water filters.
On average, Jesus Wells can provide clean water for approximately 300 people per day for two decades or more. These wells help improve the health and lives of entire communities. BioSand water filters remove 98 percent of biological impurities, providing clean drinking water that helps protect families from disease. With improved health, parents are better able to provide for their families and children are better able to thrive and gain an education. More than 38 million men, women and children have been helped through these initiatives.
To further help families rise out of destitution, GFA World also distributes income-generating gifts such as goats, cows, chickens, sewing machines and fishing nets.
These gifts empower men and women to earn sustainable incomes and break out of the cycle of poverty. With their improved income, they can provide nourishing food for their families and send their children to school.
These are just a few ways GFA missionaries meet needs in the communities they serve. They are ever watchful for opportunities to compassionately demonstrate Christ’s love for people in need and help alleviate poverty in Asia.
Learn more about GFA missionaries and how they are helping communities in need.
1 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.
2 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.
3 Banerjee, Shuvojit and Poh Lynn Ng. “Why can’t dynamic Asia-Pacific beat poverty?” ESCAP. https://www.unescap.org/blog/why-cant-dynamic-asia-pacific-beat-poverty. July 5, 2019.
4 Yang, Judy. “A broader view of poverty in East Asia and Pacific.” World Bank. https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/broader-view-poverty-east-asia-and-pacific. April 30, 2019.
5 “Fighting Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: The Poverty Reduction Strategy.” Asian Development Bank. https://think-asia.org/bitstream/handle/11540/4876/Fighting%20poverty%20in%20Asia%20%26%20the%20Pacific%20-%20The%20poverty%20reduction%20strategy%20Nov99.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed December 14, 2021.
6 Yang, Judy. “A broader view of poverty in East Asia and Pacific.” World Bank. https://blogs.worldbank.org/eastasiapacific/broader-view-poverty-east-asia-and-pacific. April 30, 2019.
7 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.
8 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.
9 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.
10 GPE Secretariat. “Child Labor Hinders Children’s Education.” https://www.globalpartnership.org/blog/child-labor-hinders-childrens-education. June 12, 2016.
11 “Fighting Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: The Poverty Reduction Strategy.” Asian Development Bank. https://think-asia.org/bitstream/handle/11540/4876/Fighting%20poverty%20in%20Asia%20%26%20the%20Pacific%20-%20The%20poverty%20reduction%20strategy%20Nov99.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed December 14, 2021.
12 “Fighting Poverty in Asia and the Pacific: The Poverty Reduction Strategy.” Asian Development Bank. https://think-asia.org/bitstream/handle/11540/4876/Fighting%20poverty%20in%20Asia%20%26%20the%20Pacific%20-%20The%20poverty%20reduction%20strategy%20Nov99.pdf?sequence=1. Accessed December 14, 2021.
13 “Literacy Rates Continue to Rise from One Generation to the Next.” UNESCO Institute for Statistics. http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs45-literacy-rates-continue-rise-generation-to-next-en-2017_0.pdf. September 2017.
14 “Literacy Opens Business Opportunities for Woman.” GFA World. https://gospelforasia-reports.org/2020/08/literacy-opens-business-opportunities-woman/. August 13, 2020.
15 “Literacy Class Builds Woman’s Confidence, Faith.” GFA World. https://gospelforasia-reports.org/2021/07/literacy-class-builds-womans-confidence-faith/. July 29, 2021.
16 Luby, Stephen. “Water Quality in South Asia.” Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2740663/ . June 2008.
17 Jackson, Tara. “13 Shocking and Important Facts about Poverty in Asia.” The Borgen Project. https://borgenproject.org/facts-about-poverty-in-asia/. January 22, 2018.