Ministries Making a Difference
Hiking ministry, Esther Carson Translation Center, Water Mission, Compassion, and more
Brad Sasser, a U.S. missionary with Assemblies of God Chaplaincy Ministries, ministers to long-distance hikers by setting up picnics along the trail, offering food, prayer, the Gospel and, over time, friendship. Sasser and his wife have an app (Trail Servants) for hikers that includes the Bible, Christian media, and information on the couple’s upcoming stops.
The Esther Carson Translation Center in Peru is celebrating 100 years since its namesake, Esther Carson Winans and her husband Roger Winans, arrived in the Peruvian Amazon to minister to the Aguaruna tribe. Carson learned the language, creating a written version of their spoken language and then translating the Bible into their native tongue. She died in 1928. The newly created center is staffed by four Christians from the Aguaruna tribe who recently finished translating the Local and District Government section of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene into their language.
The St. John the Divine Episcopal Church in Springfield, Oregon, has been opening up its parking lot for the past decade to people who need a place to sleep. Sometimes, people stay overnight in cars or RVs, but more recently, the church has partnered with a local service agency, according to the Episcopal News Service, to add semi-permanent housing. They built three residential huts shaped like “Conestoga wagons that came across the Oregon Trail.”
Water Mission and Compassion International are partnering on a global safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) alliance. Their pilot project will start in Chimwenje, Malawi with the goal of bringing holistic care to children and families in poverty through access to safe water. The project is slated to be completed this year and will provide water to more than 6,000 residents. Water Mission has 4 stars and an “A” transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 100. Compassion International has 2 stars, a “C” transparency grade, and a donor confidence score of 72.
Main photo: Brad Sasser sets up a picnic for long term hikers / Photo via AG News
