Ministries Making a Difference

International ministries partnering with boots on the ground to help communities

At MinistryWatch, our mission is to help Christians become more faithful, generous, and effective stewards of the resources God has entrusted to them. It’s why we advocate for the transparency, accountability and efficiency of Christian ministries.

Because of that, we cover a lot of stories we’d rather not have to—stories of waste, fraud, and abuse. We do it unapologetically, because aside from exposing evil, we also believe these stories offer lessons and examples for ministries and donors to learn from.

But we also seek to amplify stories of ministries doing excellent work. That’s what this column is for—to spotlight ministries making a difference in their own communities and around the world. We pray it is a blessing to see the many creative ways God’s people are working for His glory and for their neighbors’ good.

This week, we’re looking at international ministries with boots on the ground who are faithfully providing care to those around them—one of them is even for the missionary kids who grew up in international contexts.

Photo via Mission Network News

Christian World Outreach, through its program Single Moms Raising Sons, has begun hosting meetings with grandmothers in South Africa who are raising their grandchildren. CWO encourages the “grannies,” providing them with community, parenting help, and the Gospel. It also connects them with partner organizations for material help, like food and clothing, as well as items they need to run successful businesses.

Photo via AG News

Africa Oasis is partnering with churches throughout Africa to provide clean water filters to villages most in danger of water-based diseases. At the General Council for Assemblies of God World Mission Africa in August, Africa Oasis sold handcrafted Kenyan baskets to raise money for enough water filters to supply 300 households in Cameroon with clean water. Within two weeks of training villagers to use the filters, according to AG News, the Cameroonian pastor charged with distributing them saw cases of digestive illness plummet. He plans to return four more times throughout the year to make sure the filters are property cleaned and to minister to the families.

Photo via Church of the Nazarene

Missionary kids (MKs) face unique challenges as they grow up, especially as they transition into adulthood. In August, the Church of the Nazarene hosted its annual retreat for MKs between the ages of 17-26 called Rendezvous Plus. This year focused on emotional restoration as participants worked with tools to face various areas of pain and grief from their time on the mission field. They also hiked through trails around Boulder Creek Ranch and rode in canoes in Northern Idaho where they were staying.

Photo courtesy of SGA

Slavic Gospel Association, a U.S.-based mission agency that works in 13 countries across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, partners with churches throughout Ukraine to provide food, shelter, and community to abandoned and widowed mothers whose greatest fear is being forgotten. SGA has zero stars and a C transparency grade (both because the organization does not file a Form 990 with the IRS) in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 53.

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