The vision of GFA World has always been to touch lives with the love of Jesus Christ. We have served people in need for more than 45 years, ministering in a dozen Asian nations by sharing God’s love and helping the poor and needy. We provide clean water; support children’s education; and serve people most overlooked by society, such as widows, leprosy patients and slum residents.
Out of obedience to His heart for all peoples, we were led by the Lord to expand our vision to Africa. He opened the door for us first to establish work in Rwanda, and now we are starting work in a second country: Liberia!
If you look at a map of Africa, Liberia lies far away from Rwanda, on the other side of the continent. These countries have different climates and different cultures. Their people speak different languages—Rwandans speak Kinyarwanda and French while Liberians speak English. But one thing these countries have in common? An open door for the Gospel!
Already, the Lord has laid the foundation for a powerful, missional work in this west African nation. He has assembled a team of godly men and women—some Liberian and some Asian—all fully devoted followers of Christ, passionately committed to serving the people of Liberia, as well as a leader who is carrying out the vision of GFA World—and of the Great Commission. The Lord has provided a mission base, donated by someone who had immigrated to America and is eager to be part of this transformational work in his homeland.
Already, 15 laborers are on the ground and carrying out full-time ministry. We are partnering together to provide for the people’s most urgent needs—food, clean water, medical camps, education for children and training for new missionaries.
With our 45-plus years of experience paired with the dedication of the national workers in Liberia, we are eager to see what the Lord has ahead for this land.
1.2 billion
people call Africa their home.
With more than 45 years of experience, GFA World is equipped to meet the expanding needs of Africa. We are well on our way to training and sending out national missionaries to share the love of Christ and make disciples, as well as beginning clean water projects, medical ministry, providing education for the underprivileged, empowering women and implementing other community development projects. Our aim is to help those in desperate need by breaking the cycle of poverty and setting lives free through the transforming power of the Gospel.
“We aim to be servants to everyone, showing them Christ through our lifestyle,” said GFA World founder K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan). “Jesus told His disciples to change the world, and as we expand into Africa, that’s our calling, too.”
We value your donation and are committed to good stewardship of the funds entrusted to us by our friends and donors. All gift options represent GFA’s actual ministry efforts to meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities. Regardless of particular preferences, monies are raised for ministry purposes, and GFA retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves GFA’s charitable objectives.
Geographic obstacles and other challenges mean many Africans are left without access to medical care. In 2015, around 1.6 million Africans died of preventable, treatable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-related illnesses.1
Known as a “dry continent,” Africa is second only to Australia in difficulty to access water. While precipitation and water distribution vary by terrain, more than a quarter of Africa’s population has no access to safe drinking water.2
Where poverty strangles communities, education is often exchanged for the requirements of daily survival—and yet, receiving an education is the most important key to breaking the generational cycle of poverty. In the sub-Saharan region alone, 32 million children—mostly girls—do not go to school.
Africa’s young population means there is a desperate need for church leaders and labourers trained for the rigors of ministry—especially in in areas without the Gospel. Less than 2 percent of North Africa’s population is Christian.
Drawing from more than 45 years of experience in evangelism and humanitarian ministries, GFA World plans to bring our highly effective models to the needs of the destitute throughout Africa.
Our medical ministry is already underway in Rwanda with medical camps for thousands, health insurance for entire communities and a state-of-the-art hospital under construction that will provide medical care to Rwanda and surrounding countries. In each of these activities, every patient will be introduced to the Great Physician.
GFA's projects
impact entire communities.
We have drilled our first Jesus Wells in Rwanda, and we’ll drill more wells to help alleviate the water crisis. We work with local contractors and fund multiple wells at a time, getting the most “bang for our buck” while still building the wells to last. We’ll also work within the local communities to ensure the wells are maintained and cared for, and we use commonly available tools and parts, so they’re easy to repair. Access to clean water is a huge need, particularly in the rural communities of Liberia. Jesus Wells serve an average of 300 people each day and last for 20 years. Learn more about GFA’s clean water projects »
Inspired by Jesus’ love for the poor, we provide hope and help to free impoverished children, families and their communities from the cycle of poverty, all while counseling and discipling in the Gospel.
One way GFA World seeks to give children hope is by enhancing education opportunities in their communities. We look at the roadblocks to education in communities and seek to remove them through development activities, such as school supply distribution, provision of clean water access, malnutrition prevention and more. We have enrolled thousands of children in Rwanda already and are in the process of identifying families in need in Liberia. Learn more about Child Sponsorship »
In Rwanda, we hosted a youth conference to call men and women from Rwanda and neighboring countries to consider serving the Lord as missionaries to bring God’s love to their own people. With their grasp of the local culture and traditions, national workers know the heartbeat of the communities in which they serve and are crucial to help meet both physical and spiritual needs. Learn more about national workers »
Health, water and education are just a few of the needs we are meeting through our ministry in Africa. We plan to begin many other ministry initiatives in Rwanda and Liberia in the coming days, including:
We value your donation and are committed to good stewardship of the funds entrusted to us by our friends and donors. All gift options represent GFA’s actual ministry efforts to meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities. Regardless of particular preferences, monies are raised for ministry purposes, and GFA retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves GFA’s charitable objectives.
In 2018, Metropolitan Yohan (K.P. Yohannan) happened to meet the Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Rwanda at a conference. He saw the incredible potential of partnership, and that is when everything began to come together for GFA World to expand to Africa.
Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, will be the location of our base for the entire ministry across Africa, and we already have a good relationship with the authorities there.
We have started helping needy children and communities in the slums of Kigali.
We will soon launch a training centre to raise up national workers who want to share God’s love.
“But when [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” —Matthew 9:36
What is our vision for ministry in Africa?
It’s simple: The Holy Church, as exemplified in the book of Acts!
Rwanda
is the first country of a new mission field.
As our work in Rwanda began, K.P. Yohannan (Metropolitan Yohan) shared, “We are looking at the whole continent. As we just started working with these children in Rwanda, our goal is hopefully in the days to come we will be able to see thousands of worshipping communities transformed as we care for the poor and needy, in the name of our Lord.”
The Lord has opened the next door for us in Africa in the country of Liberia!
Rwanda is just the beginning of an exciting new mission frontier for GFA World. We plan to expand ministry to six other nations in Africa during the next few years.
Through several divine appointments, it became clear that God was leading us to begin ministry here! You can read more at The God-story about Why We’re Starting in Rwanda »
Rwanda is just the beginning of an exciting new mission frontier. We plan and hope to expand ministry to six other nations in Africa during the next few years, including Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan.
GFA World has started helping children and communities in the slums of Kigali, Rwanda, in March 2021. This is just the first of many ministries! Each will have the same vision we started with: to meet tangible needs of precious people and show God’s love to those who need it most.
We’ll soon start training national workers, educating the underprivileged, empowering women, broadcasting the Good News, drilling water wells and providing health care.
For more than a year GFA leadership and our field partners have been praying, thinking, making visits and researching about starting a community development initiative in Africa.
Will you be part of this exciting expansion?
This is just the beginning of our ministry together in Africa, but we must have strong support to fund it—and to move forward with next steps. Our team estimates that it will take significant resources to start the work in the areas where we see the greatest needs.
Your support of these ministry efforts in Africa will help us provide more safe drinking water, health care, education and so much more for the precious people of Africa—and raise up trained and equipped servants of God to minister in these communities. By God’s grace, we can make an incredible difference for many.
As we read the book of Acts and learn about the history of the church, we see that the disciples constantly care for the soul, the spirit AND the body. They lived as the hands and feet of Jesus, meeting the needs of the suffering and the needy. Then that love—that genuine, authentic compassion—opened the door for the disciples to share about God’s love, develop worshipping communities and help entire areas who longed to follow Jesus.
As we respond to people’s physical needs in the name of Jesus, we pray they will encounter the Good News of God’s love for them.
“We realize this is of huge importance in terms of communicating God’s love and helping the poor and the needy.” —Metropolitan Yohan (KP Yohannan)
We value your donation and are committed to good stewardship of the funds entrusted to us by our friends and donors. All gift options represent GFA’s actual ministry efforts to meet the diverse needs of individuals and communities. Regardless of particular preferences, monies are raised for ministry purposes, and GFA retains discretion to use donated funds in any manner that serves GFA’s charitable objectives.
*The images on this page are representative images of Africa, used with permission from Unsplash.
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