To the Streets to Teach Hand-Washing Techniques

From the children to the elderly, hundreds of people across South Asia learned how to stay healthy by keeping their hands clean through the efforts of Gospel for Asia-supported missionaries.

Teachers and students watched an instructional movie on hygiene and hand washing where they discovered the leading cause of infections is inadequate hand hygiene.

Then the missionaries headed to the streets to visit homes, schools and businesses to demonstrate the love of Christ by teaching the people how to keep hands sanitary to prevent diseases.

People living in slums heard for the first time about the health risks of dirty hands.

They were taught when and how often to wash their hands and then given the chance to apply what they learned.

In other areas, missionaries set up stands where passers-by could wash their hands.

One man who washed his hands said, "The church has done a good job. These hand-washing techniques and facts were not known to us. Really, this is something great in regard to health awareness."

The hand-washing events were an effort to promote habitual cleanliness. "The challenge is to transform hand washing with soap from an abstract, good idea to an automatic behavior performed in homes, schools and communities worldwide," said a doctor who attended one of the GFA hand-washing events.

But it also helped strengthen relationships in the communities and opened doors of trust to share the Gospel message.

Now, children and adults can continue to keep their hands clean, their bodies healthy—and their hearts aware of God’s love.