Support Christian Missionaries with GFA World

It is not always super clear how believers around the world can best support Christian missionaries, but missions would not be possible without committed and consistent support from people and churches. There are several ways to support missionaries and take part in sharing God’s love with every nation. One example is through prayer. Covering a ministry in prayer helps and encourages the missionaries.

Another way to support Christian missionaries is with regular financial support. One-time donations are helpful, but regular support is a more consistent source of income, which alleviates possible worries about funding. This is a commitment to the missionary and their work for the long term and ensures they are able to keep serving consistently.[1]

Such prayerful and consistent support allows many types of Christian missionary activities to make a massive impact on the world. A few examples of these activities are:

Childhood education ― Children living in poverty have a higher chance of not attending school.[2] Missionaries can teach these kids basic math skills and how to read, inspiring the children to look to the future with hope rather than despair.
Business as missions ― This ministry is all about providing jobs and income to those in poverty. By creating job opportunities, missionaries empower people to support their families.
Medical missions ― People in poverty often lack access to critical medical care, medicines and vaccines. Missionaries can show God’s love through providing these things and helping people heal.

There are many missionaries who exemplify the love and care of God by doing one of the above ministries and more. For example, John Gibson Paton was a Scottish missionary to the New Hebrides Islands of the South Pacific where he shared the knowledge of Christ’s love. His was the epitome of “business as missions” ministry because he founded and developed several small industries—namely, hat making—so the native people could have jobs. Paton’s letters, notes and journal entries continue to influence Christians and modern Christian missionaries alike.[3]

GFA World understands the power of missionaries, specifically national missionaries, to show God’s love and change the lives of the people in Africa and Asia. These national workers have a passion to help their own nations experience Christ’s love in various ways.[4] Our national missionaries fulfill each role of Christian missionaries—childhood education, business as missions, medical missions and more—through our other ministry programs. One example is our Child Sponsorship Program. Through the community development approach of this program, the children receive vital things like food, clean water, hygiene training, healthcare, training for their parents and educational opportunities. The kids feel loved, wanted and hopeful for perhaps the first time in their lives.[5]

Our missionaries also accomplish business as missions by providing income-generating gifts and vocational training to those living in poverty.

Farm animals like goats and chickens produce milk and eggs that can be sold, as well as more animals, which can also be sold.
The gift of a sewing machine and the training to use it allows an impoverished woman to start a productive business and begin meeting her family’s needs.
Missionaries also organize and facilitate vocational classes that equip people for jobs like tailoring or candle-making, creating opportunities for them to provide better lives for their families.[6]
Finally, GFA World’s national missionaries organize free medical camps where needy men, women and children can get checkups from qualified doctors and nurses. The medical teams diagnose sicknesses, treat injuries, hand out medicine, advise parents and assist those who need further treatment.[7]

One of GFA World’s national missionaries is Pastor Shaughan. In his area, five separate villages all had families facing debilitating poverty. The circumstances for each family were different, but the result was the same: seemingly endless poverty with no hope of escape. But Pastor Shaughan had the tools to help. He set up a Christmas gift distribution, and around thirty families from the five villages were invited and given gifts. One family received a pair of pigs, which multiplied to fifteen pigs in just three years. They were able to sell twelve pigs and use the earnings to build a three-bedroom house to rent out, creating an additional source of income. As the pigs continued to reproduce, the family sold more and was able to build a second rental house, enabling them to rise above poverty, meet all their needs and put all their kids in school.[8]

You can support Christian missionaries like Pastor Shaughan by sponsoring one or more national missionaries with GFA World. It takes just $30 a month to help enable a missionary to serve full time and bring hope and God’s love to people who desperately need it.[9]

Learn more about GFA’s ambassadors for Christ!

[1] McIntyre, Jennifer Su. “6 Ways you can support missionaries.” The Gospel Coalition. February 19, 2013. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/ways-you-can-support-missionaries.
[2] Compassion International. “How Poverty Affects Education.” Accessed January 17, 2025. https://www.compassion.com/poverty/poverty-and-education.htm.
[3] Riddle, Caitlin. “Missionary activities that changed the world.” Just Disciple. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://justdisciple.com/missionary-activity.
[4] “National Missionaries: About National Missionaries.” GFA World. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/sponsor/why-national-missionaries.
[5] “Sponsor a Child with GFA World.” GFA World. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/sponsorachild.
[6] “Christmas 2024 Gift Catalog.” GFA World. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/gift.
[7] “Protect People’s Health.” GFA World. Accessed December 2, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/donation/health-bundle.
[8] “Pigs Offer Opportunities for Impoverished Family.” GFA World. December 27, 2021. https://gospelforasia-reports.org/2021/12/pigs-offer-opportunities-for-impoverished-family.
[9] GFA World, “National Missionaries: Sponsor a National Missionary,” accessed December 2, 2024, https://www.gfa.org/sponsor.