Teaching Kids Hygiene Opens Doors For Gospel In Southeast Asia

August 31, 2022285 views0

Teaching Kids Hygiene Opens Doors For Gospel In Southeast Asia

2022-08-31T13:29:52+01:00

By Marie

International Mission Board missionary and nurse practitioner Rachel’s ministry in a rural area of Southeast Asia is educating elementary school girls on their health.Rachel and her IMB colleague Anna, missionary and public health specialist, know they only get to interact with these girls for a short time before they enter the workforce at 12 years old.In the rural area of Southeast Asia where Anna and Rachel serve, they see physical, emotional and spiritual needs as an avenue for ministry and find open doors to get the gospel to the unreached through a community health outreach based in rural primary schools.These two medical missionaries, alongside their team of national believers, have built relationships with the government, allowing them to enter schools, teach basic hygiene and supply hygiene needs.This most often takes the form of a program equipped with catchy tunes and hand motions teaching kids in the schools how to correctly brush their teeth and wash their hands. Often, they’ll supply proper handwashing stations, and sometimes, they’ll facilitate building suitable bathrooms to help with poor sanitation.These missionaries have even started building mini-libraries for the schools, encouraging the kids to fall in love with reading and have partnered with a Christian book publisher in the country.These programs also opened doors for them to distribute overtly gospel materials, such as Creation-to-Christ books coinciding with their annual Christmas presentation.The medical duo said there is no better way to “pass time” while taking blood pressure, listening to a heart or lungs, or doing a finger stick to monitor blood sugar than to share the gospel.Anna thinks this is the most exciting part of what they do. “It really makes a difference in their long-term health,” Anna shared.She added, “It’s a wonderful way to go back and visit people for ministry, so every time you get to meet with people, you have a great chance to share about the great God that we serve and love and His Son, Jesus.”Last names are omitted for security reasons.ALSO READ Christians Welcome Zambia’s Plan To End Death Penalty