Ministries Making a Difference

Hot showers, feeding programs, and evangelism support

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.

Here’s this week’s roundup of ministries making a difference:

Photo via AG News

Most Saturdays, Urban Outreach drives a bright red trailer into rough parts of Indianapolis, Indiana, so homeless men and women can take a hot shower. The two-shower trailer can provide 25 10-minute showers with its 125-gallon water tank and tankless water heater. When it parks near a water spigot, it can provide unlimited showers. The ministry team also hands out ‘blessing bags’—bags with hygiene and food items—and shares the gospel and offers to pray with each person who lines up for a shower. Though the causes of homelessness are complex and run deep, Urban Outreach focuses on faithfulness in planting gospel seeds, and has seen glimmers of hope as four men recently took showers prior to job interviews and each ended up getting hired.

Photo via Life360

Life360 All Nations Church hosts a Saturday night service for immigrants and refugees living in Springfield, Missouri. The church’s pastor also runs All Nations Welcome Center, a nonprofit that helps refugees and immigrants navigate a new culture. Together, they provide food and clothes, English classes, and resources for navigating everything from large grocery stores to visa processes. The church hosts people from all over, including Syria, Jordan, Myanmar, and Venezuela.

Photo via WMP from recent shipment to Nigeria

On October 2, World Missionary Press sent out the first shipment of its new fiscal year—a 40-foot container filled with Scripture booklets and Bible studies—to Democratic Republic of the Congo. It also shipped containers to Guinea Bissau (the country’s first shipment since 2011), Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. Local pastors request resources in their own language from WMP, and use the shipped materials as evangelism tools and to disciple new believers. WMP has 1 star and an A transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 75.

Photo via Church of the Nazarene

A member of a small Church of the Nazarene congregation in Johannesburg, South Africa, started a feeding program in 2018 using her own pension money. Her church soon partnered with her through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries and now provides about 80 meals each Wednesday night to people in the community. Since it began, Albertville Church of the Nazarene has provided over 2,400 meals. It is partnering with local agencies to help people struggling with addictions and to connect people with documentation, aid resources, and job opportunities. Nazarene Compassionate Ministries has 5 stars and an A transparency grade in the MinistryWatch database, and a donor confidence score of 100.