WILLS POINT, TX — A shocking number of adults around the world can’t read or write even a simple sentence, says mission agency GFA World (www.gfa.org) as it marks International Literacy Day, September 8. According to the United Nations’ education agency UNESCO, approximately 773 million adults worldwide — equal to more than twice the population…
CÚCUTA, COLOMBIA — Samaritan’s Purse is in Colombia helping Venezuelan migrants living in areas where there are limited resources. In these neighborhoods, they are teaching children how to read and write, and sowing seeds of the Gospel into their hearts. Tom Ovington – Samaritan’s Purse: Venezuela started to have extreme economic issues. And a lot…
LAOS —Khamsay* and his wife Mali* were attacked by their family and community in rural Laos, who follow local traditions and beliefs. Khamsay has taken part in literacy training run by Open Doors – now that he can read the Bible, he has been strengthened in his faith which he is keen to share with…
LAOS — World Vision’s iREAD project in Laos, which is funded by the Japanese government, is making a positive impact despite the pandemic-related educational challenges faced during 2021. According to World Vision, children supported by the project “are showing outstanding progress in reading skills, an encouraging sign for 2022.”[1] Before the pandemic, many children in…
GHANA — While many rural pastors in remote villages across Ghana have no access to training resources, many also face the challenges of not being able to read and write. In response Theovision International has partnered with the Moody Bible Institute to provide a unique oral Bible training school. During their latest graduation many of…
SPRINGFIELD, MO – Rainbows. They draw our attention to the glory of God and of His loving promise to never destroy sinful humanity with a worldwide flood as He did in Noah’s day. We can be thankful for that promise every day, but we are especially so when we gaze in awe and wonder at…
RANCHO SANTA FE, CA — The Britfield Institute’s mission is to transform education throughout America, inspire literacy, equip children with the tools to succeed, and bring creativity back into classrooms. America is engulfed in an educational crisis, with more than 30% of enrolled students did not return to school this fall. National literacy scores have…
GARLAND, TX – Odds are that you have never heard of Twelve21 Global. That’s because it was founded by Yusuph Emmanuel only two years ago in 2018. Yusuph knows first-hand what life on the streets is like in a developing country. He grew up as a street kid in the African country of Tanzania. Life…
RALEIGH, NC – Refugee Hope Partners’ (RHP) name pretty well explains why the organization exists. RHP is a relatively small ministry, but its services are a big deal for refugees from around the globe who have settled in Raleigh, North Carolina. More than 60 million people have been displaced worldwide. Unfortunately, these people often become…
“Literacy Teaching and Learning in the COVID-19 Crisis and Beyond” was the theme for this years’ International Literacy Day on September 8, 2020. UNICEF introduced the initiative in 1996 to encourage governments, businesses, and non-governmental agencies to promote and participate in programs to advance literacy for men, women, and children around the world. The gap…
DALLAS, TX – International Literacy Day is September 8, 2020. Pioneer Bible Translators’ approach to reducing illiteracy is unique. Their name implies that their work is limited to Bible translation. While Bible translation is a key component of their work, Pioneer Bible Translators’ mission and vision are much broader. The PBT team includes translators who…
WILLS POINT, TX — Marking more than four decades of life-changing ministry on July 3, leading mission agency Gospel for Asia (GFA World, and affiliates like Gospel for Asia Canada) today spotlighted recent achievements — and anticipates the next 40 years will extend its lifeline of God’s love across Asia and beyond. In the shadow…
WINNIPEG, MANITOBA – TeachBeyond is all about transformation. In the early years following World War 2, Youth for Christ invited the Janz Brother Quartet to travel from their homes in Manitoba to participate in crusades in Germany. Those crusades envisioned sharing the hope found in Jesus Christ to transform a languishing, war-weary nation. In 1954,…
TULSA, OK – Gospel for Asia released a special report written by Karen Burton Mains in September 2019. “Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures” discussed resolving the limitations that illiteracy places on the human spirit.Mrs. Mains explained that because we read and write, we “often take for granted the treacherous limitations illiteracy places on…
BAYANA, Philippines – Hunger and lack of education appear on nearly every list of obstacles faced by the poor, disenfranchised, displaced, and underserved. It doesn’t matter where they live, hunger and lack of education are as common as the lack of clean water, sanitation. An increasing abundance of plastic waste pollution is also on many,…
NEW YORK – As we head into the fourth and final quarter of 2019 and begin the third decade of the 21st century, it seems like a good time to review the progress of South Asian countries toward reaching the United Nations’ sustainable development goals for 2030. This information originally appeared in the “United Nations’…
Some of us are old enough to remember grandparents, aunts and uncles who could not read or write. Yes, right here in the United States. Those we may recall were the children of parents who had been prevented from learning these essential skills because their survival was existential. Their progenitors had to work the family…
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia (GFA) has released a new special report entitled “Literacy: One of the Great Miracle Cures.” Subtitled, “Resolving the Limitations Illiteracy Places on the Human Spirit,” noted author Karen Mains explains that illiteracy is a multi-faceted . . . problem that results in [fewer] job opportunities and low income,…
WILLS POINT, TX — With more than 250 million women in Asia unable to read or write, faith-based mission agency Gospel for Asia (GFA) cites literacy as a “miracle cure” to release women from generational poverty. To mark International Literacy Day, Sunday, Sept. 8, the humanitarian organization located in Texas announced it was publishing a…
PARIS – Just days ago, UNESCO revealed that the world is “off track” in reaching yet another of the 2030 deadlines for sustainable development. With 2020 less than six months away, we are nearly one-third of the way on the timeline to meet those goals. On July 7, UNESCO admitted that the education goal (SDG…
LA MIRADA, CA — Radio broadcaster FEBC (Far East Broadcasting Company) has opened up the airwaves for millions of people in unreached regions to hear the gospel in their own language for the first time – now broadcasting in 124 languages, with more than 2.2 million individuals responding annually to the “good news.” “In many…
My 2-year-old nephew, Emerson, loves books … and he can’t even read yet. He’ll tote around his favorite board books, flip through them upside-down, and jabber a story he’s making up in his head. You can tell he can’t wait to read on his own. He already knows his alphabet!The brains of children his age…
“The devil doesn’t want people to read because God wrote a book.” TULSA – You may never have heard of Literacy & Evangelism International, but the calling and vision the Lord gave to Dr. Robert F. Rice over 50 years ago are still prospering today. During several years of service ministering in South Korea, Bob…
ASIA — Gospel for Asia (GFA)-supported workers observed International Women’s Day across Asia on March 8 by providing women with opportunities that will help them thrive in every aspect of life. National workers inaugurated new tailoring classes to provide vocational skills for underprivileged women. The classes will teach women how to successfully operate a business…
Poverty. You know it when you see it – but, can you define it? A World Perspective Dictionary.com defines poverty as “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; the condition of being poor.” It defines “poor” as “having little or no money, goods, or other means of…
JHARKHAND – An Anganwadi[1] worker in Jharkhand recently praised a team from World Vision for its work with Jharkhand health officials to help reduce acute malnutrition in the state. Although the State of Jharkhand contains about 40% of India’s entire mineral reserves, nearly 80% of the people who live there are farmers. It is India’s…
Contrary to popular belief among many Americans, radio is not a relic of the past. Once again, we are victims of our own isolation and our preoccupation with the ever-emerging technologies that seem to have relegated radio to the recollection of retirees. Then, there is the virtual demise of the once ubiquitous Radio Shack. The…
It has been said that Americans think everyone in the world has access to a copy of the Bible. It would be nice if everyone did. The truth is that millions of people have no access to Bibles—the most important thing they need. One of the first lessons that the Lord taught the children of…
Nueva Version International translation in partnership with Streetlights to feature in creative presentation of God’s Word for contemporary audience COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Biblica, the International Bible Society (www.biblica.com), is partnering with a multi-media urban ministry team to share the Bible’s unchanging, relevant truth in an innovative way. Biblica is pleased to bring its Spanish-language…
INDIA – September 8th was International Literacy Day. With so many days set aside to draw attention to causes, we rarely take a look back to recognize what we have done to meet the needs of the cause beyond memorializing the day. Illiteracy is a significant issue in South Asia and other areas of the…
International Literacy Day underscores how, in helping people learn to read, GFA brings practical help and spiritual hope to many on the fringes of society WILLS POINT, Texas — In many parts of the world, being unable to read isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a potentially deadly handicap that Gospel for Asia (GFA) is working hard to…
‘Learn the Bible in a Year’ radio program offers response to Barna Group study showing downward trend in Bible literacy COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Bibles For The World (BFTW), a global ministry focused on reaching unreached peoples with the gospel in developing countries, is tackling a disturbing and growing trend — Bible illiteracy in the…
HAVANA – Reports indicate that people are coming to Christ in Cuba in numbers rarely seen before. Lest we think that this is happening because of improved relationships between Cuba and the United States, we must remember that ministries from other countries have been working in Cuba for many years. The awakening that is happening…
One of thousands of women taught to read and write tells how GFA-supported initiative ‘made my dream come true’ WILLS POINT, Texas—It was a dream come true for a 50-year-old woman living in a village in northern India when she wrote her own name for the first time—a milestone made possible by GFA (Gospel for Asia)…
KENYA – DOOR International and its partners will hold a Sign Language Scripture Celebration on June 9th to commemorate the rendering of Bible passages into four different African national sign languages This is not the first celebration of this kind that DOOR has been able to hold. In 2014, DOOR partners and pastors gathered to…
HOLLAND, Michigan – Audio Scripture Ministries (ASM) records and distributes audio Bibles to indigenous people in oral cultures. Because many of these people don’t or can’t read, ASM records the Scriptures in their native languages so they may hear the message of God’s love. In India alone, where 60 percent of the 1.2 billion people…
GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan – A visit to India in 1971 led John DeVries to pray, “God, I will serve you anywhere you want. Just, please, don’t send me back here again.” At the time, DeVries did not realize that what he was seeing was the Lord’s way of opening John’s eyes and heart to the…
Photo by archer10 (Dennis) The new Thai King endorsed the 20th Constitution of Thailand in early April. Per Fox News, “King Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun endorsed the document in an elaborate ceremony at the Ananta Samakhom Throne Hall attended by senior members of the country’s military government as well as foreign diplomats.” The military had seized control…
KAMPALA, Uganda – Uganda’s ministry of education is looking toward low-cost private schools to counter the failure of the public school system caused by teacher absenteeism, poor facilities and high dropout rates. According to the BBC, 68 percent of Ugandan students do not complete elementary school. Teachers are ill-prepared for their careers, with 78 percent…
WILLS POINT, TX – Gospel for Asia’s Bridge of Hope Program has opened a new center in Mumbai, where sponsored children receive education, school supplies, a daily meal, medical checkups and more. “Many families often struggle to earn enough money to provide food for their table each day, let alone earn enough to send their…
The recent violent death of a 16-year-old rape victim again brings focus to India’s crisis of sexual assault against women. The assailant, who also set the teenager aflame before fleeing, was allegedly her 20-year-old boyfriend. Cultural norms in India make the reporting of sexual assault taboo. However, more rape victims are reporting their assaults and…
“O God! Old and feeble and unworthy as I am, help me to win them.” – Mary Slessor Early Life Mary Slessor was born in Scotland in 1848. Her mother was a Christian. She knew God worked through prayer, so she spent hours praying. Mary’s mother was praying her son, Robert would become a missionary….
