Bridge Builders
Bridge builders, meaning “people who attempt to connect or reconcile opposing parties,” as defined by Collins Dictionary,[1] are indispensable for bringing the world together. They may be attempting to forge ties across language, culture, religion, personalities, causes and so on. These people have high integrity and a passion for wanting to help others.
At GFA World, we are looking for people who desire to build hope and transform lives across Africa and Asia in some of the most impoverished places in the world. Due to the cycle of poverty, people who are born in destitution tend to stay that way. If your parents are poor, their parents were probably poor before them. This continues year after year and often generation after generation until something interferes with that cycle. Oftentimes, that interference comes from an outside force.
You can be that powerful outside force! For just $19 a month, you can invest in what God is doing in Africa and Asia. You can join a large community of believers around the world who are already building these bridges.
Through our Bridge Builders community partnership program, we provide:
- Clean water – In many areas of the world, women and children walk miles a day to collect clean water because the water closer to home is contaminated and may cause waterborne illness. Donors provide communities with clean water from a well, which is maintained by a local church pastor. This allows clean water to be procured in minutes rather than hours.
- Nutritious Food – In some of the poorest areas of the world, nutritious food is difficult to find. GFA World provides food and nutritional support to children and families who desperately need it.
- Education for Kids – Education is critical to breaking the cycle of poverty. When kids learn and develop skills, the options for employment open wide! It’s essential that education has a high priority because literacy has been listed as a great miracle cure for poverty.[2] UNICEF’s research indicates that each additional year a child remains in school raises their likelihood of escaping poverty by 9 percent.[3]
- Basic Medical Services – GFA World brings basic healthcare into communities with very little medical support. We empower local volunteers to serve their communities.
- Income Opportunities – At GFA World, we help marginalized women develop skills to support their children and families. This helps them regain dignity because they now have purpose and ability.
- Hope – As physical needs are met, the love and hope of Christ fills individuals.
As a Bridge Builder, you’re not just meeting temporary needs.
Minati and her husband live in a community where everyone serves as tea laborers. Minati wanted something new for her community—something that would provide hope and new opportunities. She decided to start a sewing class for women to learn how to become tailors. She hoped that her class would allow her neighbors to meet their basic needs and provide more stable income for their families.
The ladies in the class wanted to learn, but even though they pooled their money, they didn’t have enough to buy a sewing machine for the class. Minati began to pray for God to provide. When Christmas came around, Minati’s pastor secured a sewing machine from GFA World’s Christmas gift program!
Overjoyed, Minati got right to work! She ran from house to house, spreading the word that the class would begin. Four women started learning this new skill, and more quickly joined in. Soon, Minati was teaching multiple classes with just this one machine! When her pastor heard about this, he immediately made arrangements for another sewing machine to be delivered. Her new goal is to teach 30 women each year to sew!
Aditi is one of her students. “I am from a poor family background,” she says, “and my husband is a worker in the tea garden. Whatever he earns he spends for drinking alcohol, and I struggle to provide meals for my children. When I came to know about the free tailoring center, I was happy that I can also do something to earn money and give a good life to my children. Today, I am learning here because of the free teaching. Otherwise, I could not afford it. I would like to put [in] a word for our teacher: She is very kind and loving and [is showing me] the true way and life of the Lord Jesus Christ.” In response to God’s grace toward her, Aditi chose to follow the Lord.[4]
Minati is fulfilling her dreams with the help of our generous Bridge Builders network across the world. Someone donated resources for those two sewing machines to be given to Minati to fulfill her dream of helping those in her community. The outside influence that broke the cycle of poverty in Minati’s community was a sewing machine.
Will you join us as a Bridge Builder? For $19 a month, you can help change a life like Aditi’s. You will be a catalyst for change for a family in Africa or Asia.
Learn more about GFA World’s local missionaries in Africa and Asia[1]. Collins Dictionary. Accessed October 14, 2024. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/bridge-builder.
[2]. Burton Mains, Karen. “Literacy: One of the great miracle cures,” p. 9. September 2019. https://www.gfa.org/special-report/literacy-miracle-cure-illiteracy.
[3]. “The Investment Case for Education and Equity.” UNICEF. January 2015. https://www.unicef.org/media/50936/file/Investment_Case_for_Education_and_Equity-ENG.pdf.
[4]. “Sewing in Due Time.” GFA World Newsletter. May 2014. https://gfanews.org/featured-stories/sewing-machine-gift-transform-lives-through-stitching/.