Monthly Prayer Focus

In many of the areas where GFA World serves, transportation options are limited. These rural places, in which many of the world’s poor people live, are isolated by distance and by challenging terrain. GFA workers may trek miles, often by foot, just to visit a remote village. The isolation also affects the people within those communities, hampering adults from reaching their workplaces and children from obtaining a proper education.

A rugged bicycle can expand the horizons of individuals without transportation, enabling GFA workers to visit more communities, labourers to provide for their families, and students to go to school. But in impoverished areas such as those where GFA workers serve, bicycles can be relatively expensive compared to a common labourer’s income. This lack of reliable, efficient transportation can be a huge barrier for people trying to escape poverty and build a better life. It also handicaps national workers dedicated to spreading hope and love to surrounding communities. In 2019, GFA workers distributed 4,030 bicycles to national workers and others in the communities we serve, but many remain in need.

Please join us in praying this month for those in need of bicycles.

GFA workers are dedicated to transforming lives and communities with Christ’s love. They are willing to walk miles a day to remote areas to minister to people in need and encourage believers, and they often do. But walking far distances between villages presents an unnecessary burden and wastes valuable time that could be spent ministering. The simple gift of a bicycle can double the number of villages GFA workers can visit, helping equip them for success.

Please pray for the provision of bicycles, that national missionaries who need bicycles will receive one so their impact can be multiplied.

Children like those in GFA World’s child sponsorship program often live in remote areas and struggle to attend school. A three-hour walk to school in each direction is not uncommon,¹ while some students in Africa may even walk 10 miles.² This hardship takes a toll on students’ physical and mental capacity to learn. Arriving exhausted and hungry, these students frequently have trouble focusing on their schooling, which leads many to drop out. If they owned a bicycle, these students could arrive at school with more energy for their studies—ensuring a brighter future—and return home in time for chores and homework. GFA World wants to provide more bicycles for students whose families cannot afford one.

Please pray that children who must walk far distances in order to go to school will have the necessary energy and focus for their schoolwork. Pray for their safety along the way. Pray GFA workers have the resources to provide bicycles to children who need them so they can excel in school.

1 Rueckert, Phineas “10 Barriers to Education that Children Living in Poverty Face.” Global Citizen. Aug. 13, 2019 .https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/10-barriers-to-education-around-the-world-2/

2 “What’s So Bad About a 10-Mile Walk to School? Two views of educational challenges in South Africa.” Harvard Law Today. April 20, 2015 . https://today.law.harvard.edu/whats-so-bad-about-a-10-mile-walk-to-school-two-views-of-educational-challenges-in-south-africa/

For the poor living in rural areas, lack of transportation limits job opportunities and can be physically draining, as men and women must walk miles just to reach their job. A bicycle can help them overcome these obstacles, whether by helping them reach their existing workplace, enabling them to find employment in neighbouring areas or offering a source of income as they provide transportation for others.

Please pray God will sustain individuals who walk long distances to provide for their families. Pray GFA workers will have the resources to give bicycles to every person in need of one.

Bicycles enable national missionaries to touch lives that were previously out of reach by expanding the radius of their ministry into neighbouring or remote communities. GFA workers also distribute bicycles to those in need. The gift of a bicycle can be life-changing as it eases the burden of much-needed transportation. While bicycles meet practical needs, they can also be a vehicle to display God’s love, showing recipients God cares about their suffering and their hearts’ desires.

Please pray bicycle recipients will experience God’s love every time they use their bicycle. Pray for lives to be changed as GFA national workers visit communities via bicycle.

Roads, or paths, in the areas where GFA workers serve are frequently unpaved. Traveling in remote areas, along difficult terrain, takes its toll on mechanical objects such as bicycles, even if they are ruggedly built, like those GFA World supplies. For that bicycle to continue aiding GFA workers in visiting communities and helping recipients in achieving a better future, it needs to last for many years to come.

Please pray bicycles, both received and given by GFA workers, will not break down but will last a long time—in good working order—so they can continue to fulfill their purpose.

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