Bridge Builders: Worldwide Connections
GFA World’s Bridge Builders is a community of believers dedicated to monthly support of the ministry of GFA so the people of Africa and Asia can experience God’s boundless love.[1] This community of people make it possible to do the following things:
- Provide clean water in communities without access to this necessity
- Feed the hungry and care for the poor and forgotten
- Help impoverished children access education and break the poverty cycle
- Equip local volunteers to provide essential medical services
- Uplift marginalized women with opportunities to support their families
- Introduce those who have not heard to the Good News of Jesus and His boundless love
GFA has been active in parts of Asia since 1979 and more recently began working in Africa, too. We are committed to serving the “least of these” in areas where the need is great, and our focus is to serve those among the 10/40 window who have never heard the Good News. The four main ways we serve are: sponsoring national missionaries, sponsoring children, investing in community development and helping provide care during disasters. As a Bridge Builder, you are supporting and investing in this vital work in over 18 countries worldwide.
The Bridge Builders community partnership was active in Pima’s life.[2]Pima was lonely, abandoned and rejected. She was born into a poor family and was forced into child marriage at the age of 15. Pima left home to be with her new husband, who was from another country, but no one told her that the man she’d married had cognitive disabilities and couldn’t speak. Pima was abandoned in a strange new world and left to figure things out with her husband without support.
Tahirah Justice Center, a U.S.-based nonprofit, notes that “Marriage before age 18 has devastating, lifelong consequences, including greater vulnerability to sexual and domestic violence, increased medical and mental health problems, higher drop-out rates from high school and college, greater risk of poverty, and up to 80% divorce rates.”[3]
Believing she must remain married and endure, Pima suffered, mistreated by her in-laws and feeling isolated from her family. Did her parents care about her? Why had they sent a child to be alone with a man she did not know? Finally, she escaped and returned home, but the house was empty. She later learned that her parents had passed away. She was now alone. In an attempt to right her situation, Pima became the second wife to one of her coworkers, Roul. Roul did his best to provide for two wives, but his first wife was hostile to Pima, forcing Pima, finally, to move out. Pima was again alone, abandoned and hurt.
When Solana, a Christian woman in the village, learned about Pima’s predicament, she talked with Pima, listening to her story and offering encouragement. “Everyone has problems, but one has to learn to overcome them,” Solana said, attempting to ease Pima’s despair. “Think more before taking a bad step because life … is a precious gift from Someone who always loves people unconditionally and releases [them] from all bad things.”
Pima did not believe she would find relief in this life. But thanks to Solana, her church congregation and GFA pastor Nolen, Pima began to see life differently:
“When I gave my life to the Lord and accepted Him as my Savior, He helped me to get rid of my problems and made my life happy,” Pima says. “Now, I have learned to face the problems and overcome them. No matter what problems and obstacles come in my life, I will never abandon the Lord because He is the true God and Redeemer for all.”
Pima’s church community reconstructed her home and provided school supplies for her daughter. This is an excellent example of faith in action!
Bridge Builders help make this all possible. Solana and Pastor Nolen not only met Pima’s immediate needs, they also made an eternal difference. For less than $1 per day partnering with GFA, you can make an eternal difference by empowering women like Pima to learn about the One who loves them and gain the skills needed to support their families and gain dignity.
The Bridge Builders network thrives because of generous people like you who want to make a difference. GFA Bridge Builders, meaning people who want to help bring hope to a tough situation, help us break entire communities out of the devastating cycle of poverty. Their investment allows tangible help from a national pastor or missionary who is committed to seeing God transform communities.
These national missionaries bring hope into hopeless situations. When a family is stuck in the cycle of poverty, there is little hope. There is no ability to dream beyond one’s present circumstances. When a pastor or missionary brings that family a pair of chickens or goats or seeds to begin a farm, it can change the trajectory of an entire family. There is suddenly hope for the future. There is hope for the present too—hope that puts food on the table.
Bridge Builders help bring physical relief and spiritual nourishment to those in desperate need!
Become a GFA Bridge Builder. Build hope. Transform lives.
Discover more about GFA World’s local missionaries in Africa and Asia[1] “Bridge Builders: Build Hope, Transform Lives.” GFA World. Accessed May 2, 2025. https://www.gfa.org/build/lt2/.
[2] “Finding Someone Who Wouldn’t Abandon Her.” GFA World. May 2024. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/finding-someone-who-wouldnt-abandon-her/.
[3] “Child Marriage Poses Serious Risks to Children.” Tahirih Justice Center. Accessed October 15, 2024. https://www.tahirih.org/pubs/child-marriage-poses-serious-risks-to-children/.