WILLS POINT, TX – The United Nations has designated November 19 as the annual observation of World Toilet Day. The point of the day is to draw attention to the global sanitation crisis. Sanitation crisis? How bad is it? Some 4.2 billion people – over half of the world’s population – do not have access…
GENEVA – Despite the overwhelmingly good news from the World Health Organization (WHO) that two of the three wild polio virus strains have been eradicated, healthcare workers have been unable to eliminate the disease in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Recent outbreaks of polio in the Philippines is also under investigation. However, the continuing presence of the…
NEW YORK – On my first trip to a big city (several decades ago), I saw a sign in the front window of a home. The sign had two lines of large print. The first line said, “Rooms.” The second said, “to let.” In the naivety of my youth, I thought someone had either forgotten…
toiletNEW DELHI – The widespread practice of open defecation in the developing countries in Asia and Africa has long been a focus of Missions Box News, numerous FBOs, NGOs, and the United Nations. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030 include bringing the entire world to that status of being Open Defecation Free (ODF)….
KIBERA, KENYA – With a fluctuating population of nearly a million people, Kibera is the largest slum in Kenya and one of the largest in the world. It is home to one of the most unusual churches in the world. The Unhealthy Conditions in Kibera Most families in Kibera live in rented 12’ x 12’…
KUMBH MELA – The Swacch Bharat Abhiyan or Clean India Mission was launched on October 2nd, 2014 as a major government initiative with the goal of making India ‘clean’ by the same date in 2019. When Prime Minister Modi initiated the campaign, he declared that, “A clean India would be the best tribute India could…
MANAGUA – Chosen Children Ministries is a faith-based, non-profit organization focused on reaching families and communities in Nicaragua. Its methodology is unique in that the organization has field staff in two locations within the country through which it utilizes teams of volunteers from evangelical churches, schools, universities, and businesses to expand its outreach. Because Nicaragua…
NAIROBI – A joint report released last year by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United National Children’s Fund (UNICEF) indicated that the sub-Saharan nation of Kenya is one of the countries facing an urgent need to overcome the problem of open defecation. Nearly 30% of the people in Kenya defecate in the open,…
WILLS POINT, TEXAS – World Toilet Day was November 19, and the chances that you celebrated the day are probably quite slim. Neither is it likely that you even discussed the matter at the dinner table that day or three days later on Thanksgiving—even though having functioning toilets is something that the Western world should…
The first step in any advance in any realm of our human experience begins with an awakened awareness. Psychologists tell us that we can’t help someone until they realize that they need help. That is why it is difficult to help an addict who says, “I don’t have a problem.” They have yet to come…
Global focus brings attention to Gospel for Asia’s efforts to improve health and well-being by helping provide simple essentials, sanitation facilitiesWILLS POINT, Texas — Ribbon-cutting ceremonies typically mark the opening of a grand new building, but in Asia they can even celebrate a more modest, but life-changing construction—of a simple outhouse. The enthusiastically attended formal…
NEW DELHI – The Swachh Bharat Mission has been receiving kudos from media outlets for being “The world’s biggest toilet-building spree” in the UN-affiliated global effort to eliminate open defecation. There is little debate over the progress that has been made in India. More than 80 million household toilets have been constructed since 2014 as…
JAIPUR – According to a report by IndiaSpend, “Anemia . . . impacts half of Indian women of reproductive age, increases the risk of maternal mortality, infection, preterm delivery, poor fetal and infant health, and puts children at lifelong risk of issues involving cognitive development and physical growth.” The report summarized the results of a…
In 2017, Gospel for Asia (GFA) and its worldwide affiliates working in 18 Asian nations addressed women’s issues by empowering more than 350,000 women through various ministry efforts and installed 4,673 clean-water wells. Wills Point, Texas, Discussing Women’s Issues in Asia — This month, 39 years ago, Dr. KP Yohannan founded the organization Gospel for…
MUMBAI – India Spend recently inteview Naina Lal Kidwai. Kidwai was the former head of HSBC in India, the first woman in India to become the head of a foreign bank in the country. She is the current vice-chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Water. She was instrumental in founding the…
NEW DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Modi launched the Swachh Bharat Mission in 2014 to overcome “the poor sanitation and related health concerns [that] have remained a major problem in India since the country’s independence 70 years ago.” and move India toward sustainable ODF. One of the essential and fundamental elements of the Swachh Bharat…
NEW DELHI – The Press Information Bureau of the Government of India issued separate press releases today concerning the status of the nation’s water supply and its continuing efforts and progress in its campaign for clean water, to provide and maintain clean water nationwide in India. In a nation the size of India, achieving the…
Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Special Report on the Open Defecation Sanitation Crisis Written By Karen Burton Mains For much of my adult life, it has been my privilege to hang out with the “renegades” of Christian missions, that relief-and-development crowd that rushes to help during natural disasters, struggles to alleviate the suffering and abasement…
Texas-based nonprofit GFA (Gospel for Asia) constructs more than 10,000 toilets and sanitation facilities throughout Asia. Open defecation, though rarely addressed, is still a pressing issue for those living below the poverty line in Asia. According to the World Health Organization, over 650 million people in India alone do not have access to a toilet….
For more than 11 years, Gospel for Asia has published a Christmas Gift Catalog filled with opportunities for people in the West to be involved in helping transform the lives of families in Asia who live in poverty. Since that time, more than 1 million families have been helped and many reports about how Gospel…
Mon Nov. 13, 2017 – Gospel for Asia Thrilled to be part of Boo on the Bricks in Wills Point, Texas, Gospel for Asia makes a good impression on the community it knows and loves. Creating a reason to enjoy the season together, community members in Wills Point, Texas gathered on Saturday, October 28th for…
With an estimated 3 million people facing starvation in Malawi following floods and droughts, the world’s poorest nation now faces an additional challenge — cholera. Not since 2006, when an estimated 1,000 people died, has Malawi faced this level of cholera threat. “People living along the lakeshore areas seem to have forgotten the dangers of the…
