Donate to Christian Missionaries
When you donate to Christian missionaries in Africa and Asia, you make an investment in what God is doing in some of the hardest to reach places in the world. The 10/40 window describes a rectangular area encompassing North Africa, the Middle East and Asia. According to the Joshua Project, it contains more than 50% of the global population and people groups, with a significant 68% of those groups considered not yet reached.[1]
These are the mission fields where the need is greatest and the workers are fewest. Across this vast region, countless communities have never encountered a local church or heard the name of Jesus in their own language. The scale of the need calls for workers who can stay for the long term — not weeks or months, but years of faithful presence.
GFA World has been working in this region since 1979, and by training and sending out national missionaries, great strides have been made to reach the people here. National missionaries have a distinct advantage over foreign missionaries. For example, since national missionaries were born and raised in the regions in which they work, they instinctively know the language, the culture and the religious traditions. They understand how to best to effectively serve and minister to their neighbors and community.
Because national missionaries already live among the people they serve, their missionary work does not depend on a short term visit or a one-time mission trip. They are embedded in the community for life — raising their children there, shopping at the same markets, and walking the same roads as their neighbors. This deep-rooted presence builds the kind of trust that opens genuine opened doors for the Gospel.
When you donate to missionaries through GFA World, you will be sent a packet for a man or woman who is faithfully serving in Africa or Asia, with information on how to pray for your missionary and also periodic updates from the region. What a joy to give to a missionary in this region of the world.
This missionary support model — pairing a donor with a specific worker — transforms giving from an abstract donation into a personal partnership. You receive a name, a face, and specific prayer needs. Rather than funding a distant program, you stand alongside a real person who is faithfully laboring in places where few others will go.
Why National Missionaries Are a Wise Investment
Supporting national missionaries is also remarkably cost-effective. Missions Fest International, a global missions conference, has noted that the annual expense of sending and sustaining one Western missionary family — often exceeding $50,000 — could instead support dozens of national missionaries who already live in the communities they serve.[3] These local workers need no airfare, no language school, and no years of cultural adjustment. They are already home.
Every dollar entrusted to a national missionary stretches further and stays longer. There is no relocation cycle, no furlough that leaves the work paused for a season. The missionary is present year after year — teaching, drilling wells, visiting the sick, and leading worship — building the kind of sustained relationships that produce lasting change in a community.
This is not an argument against sending missionaries from the West. It is a recognition that national workers offer a uniquely efficient path for Gospel advance. When a donor gives to support a national missionary, those funds go directly to someone who is already on the ground, already fluent in the language, already known and trusted by the people — and who can begin or continue the work immediately.
A Widow Restored: The Hands-On Ministry of National Missionaries
One of the ways these national missionaries serve is through widows’ ministry. Saadet,[2] a woman in Asia, felt hopeless and all alone. As a widow, she had lost all her social standing and was an outcast in her community. She suffered through life, with only a weekly rice ration from a welfare agency to eat. At age 65, her body lacked the strength for work, and only eating rice would not help this reality.
But God saw her. He sent a team of missionaries from Sisters of the Cross (GFA women missionaries who’ve received specialized training to serve among the marginalized), to Sadeet’s village. They saw a precious woman who had needs they could meet. They cleaned her home, helped her bathe, trimmed her nails and washed her clothes. They visited frequently and helped her however they could. They demonstrated Christ’s love through their kind acts of service. She began attending worship services and learning about God’s love for her. She discovered the Good News!
“Jesus Christ is with me,” Saadet said. “I thank Him for the life of the Sisters of the Cross … who are still taking care of me by cleaning my house, cooking food, applying oil and combing my hair. I am extremely happy for this, and I thank God and the leadership of [the church].”
Saadet’s story shows what happens when faith in Jesus takes shape as sustained, practical love — not a single event, but weeks and months of showing up. The Sisters of the Cross did not bring a program; they brought themselves. In doing so, they reflected the kind of missionary work that crosses every barrier — cross culturally, across generations, and into the deepest places of human need.
How Your Giving Equips Missionaries for Lasting Impact
GFA pastors and missionaries are tremendous instruments of God! They come into communities and villages with compassion and love, seeking to help those who need it most. When you donate to Christian missionaries, you equip them to show love through gifts such as:
Income-generating gifts, like a pair of chickens or goats: When families receive livestock as a gift, they have a new source of income available to them. Eggs and milk can be sold, and the offspring will bring in additional funds.
A life-changing literacy class: When people learn to read, write and do basic math, their options for employment grow. They can also read contracts, make informed decisions, read street signs and help their children with schoolwork. In addition, they can read God’s Word.
The drilling of a Jesus Well: Clean water makes a tremendous impact on a community. When women and children don’t need to travel for long distances to fetch clean water, they are able to work or stay in school longer.
Skills training in a new profession: Tailoring and candle making are just two of the professions GFA missionaries teach. These skills open up opportunities for additional income.
God’s Word: GFA pastors and missionaries distribute the love of God through pamphlets and Bibles. What a joy for people to hear about the amazing God who loves them—the One who sent His Son to die for their sins so they can be assured of eternity in heaven.
Each gift opens a door that stays open because the missionary stays. The worker who teaches a literacy class also leads worship. Another drills a Jesus Well and visits the sick. Over the long term, trust grows deep. Neighbors become friends who walk together in faith in Jesus.
Every one of these gifts flows through national missionaries who share the Gospel not only in words but through the tangible kindness of clean water, job skills, and the Scriptures in a familiar language. GFA World serves as a mission organization that directs financial support from donors into the hands of local workers — workers who belong to the communities they serve. Unlike mission agencies that bring in outsiders, GFA World’s model puts trust in those already present.
What Happens When You Sponsor a Missionary
When you sponsor a missionary through GFA World, you receive more than a receipt. A packet arrives with a photograph, a personal biography, and specific prayer requests shaped by the realities of the worker’s field. You learn their name, their calling, and the community they serve. Over the months that follow, regional updates arrive — stories of Gospel advance, reports of challenges faced, and fresh ways to pray with understanding.
Behind every gift is a missionary who stayed. When you give, you join in fulfilling the Great Commission — not from a distance, but through a named worker whose daily life you help sustain. Your support reaches the mission fields through someone who was born there, speaks the language, and has devoted a lifetime to serving the people God has placed around them.
These gifts of compassion change lives. Will you join with GFA World by funding for a missionary who is sharing God’s Word in an area of the world that is in desperate need? You can invest in what God is doing! Donate to Christian missionaries today.
Learn more about GFA Bridge Builders![1] “What is the 10/40 Window?” Joshua Project. Accessed November 29, 2024. https://joshuaproject.net/resources/articles/10_40_window.
[2] “Wrapping Love Around a Lonely Widow.” GFA World. January 2023. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/wrapping-love-around-a-lonely-widow-wfr23-01.
[3] McQuilkin, Robertson. “Should We Stop Sending Missionaries?” Missions Fest International. https://missionsfestinternational.org/resources-2/should-we-stop-sending-missionaries/.