Among Missouri’s Christian Ministries is One of the Country’s Most Unique Christian Colleges

The “Show-Me State” of Missouri comes in ninth on the MinistryWatch list of the top 25 states for Christian ministries by revenue generated. Missouri’s 29 ministries together raised $1.01 billion last year.

Convoy of Hope, a 2019 MinistryWatch Shining Light Award winner, brought in almost $370 million in revenue in 2020. Located in the southwest portion of the state in Springfield, Convoy of Hope’s mission is “to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreach, and disaster response.”

Founded in 1994 by Hal Donaldson, Convoy of Hope is involved in feeding programs in 17 countries around the world. Following the model of “teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime,” the ministry is also active in training local farmers to improve their crops and harvest. In turn, local farmers are often able to donate part of their yield to the Convoy of Hope feeding program.

The discipleship ministry of Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) has been equipping athletes and coaches to “grow in Christ and lead others to do the same” since it was founded in 1954 by Don McLanen. His vision was “to form an organization that would project you as Christian men before the youth and athletes of our nation.”

While headquartered in Kansas City, FCA has over 2,500 staff and leaders in over 100 countries. Its 2020 revenue was over $148 million. Among its 2020 accomplishments were the distribution of over 100,000 Bibles and the release of a new 8-session discipleship study called The CORE.

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One of the more unique colleges in the country is College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout. Founded in 1906 as School of the Ozarks, the college has only an 8-12% acceptance rate. It admits students, primarily from the Ozark region, who wish to obtain a private Christian education but do not have the financial means to do so.

College of the Ozarks students graduate debt-free through a combination of on-campus work opportunities and donor-funded scholarships.

Its vision is “to develop citizens of Christ-like character who are well-educated, hard-working, and patriotic.” The current student body is about 1,500. In 2020, College of the Ozarks received over $97 million in revenue.

Missouri also has various Christian camp ministries, including Kanakuk and Kids Across America. Both are located in Branson. Kanakuk has hosted over 450,000 campers since it began in 1926. Its mission is to equip campers with “leadership skills and Biblical truths to impact their schools and communities as examples of Jesus Christ.” In recent months, Kanakuk has come under some scrutiny due to allegations about a former counselor at the camp.

As the demand for a camp “serving urban youth and adult leaders grew,” Kanakuk opened Kids Across America Kamp in 1991, a second in 1995, and a third in 2001. It also opened a leadership training camp called Higher Ground in 1998.

In 2020, Kanakuk Ministries raised over $31 million in revenue and Kids Across America Foundation took in about $14 million.