Questions You are Probably Asking...

Are you serious about changing the world?

God is, so we are too. Dueteronomy 15:4 says, "There should be no poor among you..." Read A Little More Would Change the World (on the left menu) and you will see that God has commanded us to do it and has given us the resources we need to accomplish the task.

This sounds like a social Gospel. Aren't you concerned with telling people about salvation through Jesus Christ?

Yes. Our mission statement says we will only support ministries that meet the needs of the poor in the context of evangelism and discipleship. 

How do you decide which ministries to support?

First, the ministry has to share the Gospel as part of their service to the poor. Secondly, the ministry has to be in the developing world. Third, it has to use its money wisely. And lastly, it has to have a proven track record of effectiveness. We like low adminstration budgets and sustainable development. We thoroughly research a ministry and visit onsite when possible. See our article, How to Choose a Ministry to Support.

Isn't the goal unrealistic?

If every Christian in America increased their giving to an effective ministry among the poor by just $7 a month, that additional money would be enough to feed every hungry person in the world and educate every child currently not in school. Even if we don't "change the world," we will save lives and give people an opportunity to know Jesus.

Where do you get your statistics?

61.3 % of all statistics are plucked out of the air (that's a joke).  We research diligently.  Statistics about the condition of the world come from sources like Human Rights Watch and The United Nations. Statistics about Christians and Christian ministries come from the World Evangelization Resource Center, The Center for the Study of Global Christianity, The US Center for World Missions and others.  Statistics about how much Americans spend on various items come from trade organizations (such as the American Beverage Association), retailers associations, articles in Money Magazines and similar sources.

All figures concerning amounts Christians spend are probably low. They were calculated by discovering the amount spent by all Americans on a particular item and dividing by three. George Barna and others have determined that there is no discernible difference between Christians and non-Christians in their spending habits. (see Christian Consumerism and debt at http://www.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=28&page=276. I have assumed for the purposes of these figures, that only one third of Americans are actually Christians. Therefore, if Americans spend 30 billion dollars on something, then $10 billion of that is spent by Christians. For example, Americans spend $64 billion on cable TV (www.onetvworld.org/?module= displaystory&story_id=1154&format=html) so one-third of that is $21.3 billion every year.

Don't we have needs in our own communities? Why do you emphasize giving outside the US?

96-98% of all money given by Christians in America stays in America serving only 5% of the world's population.  This seems out of balance, especially when you consider the fact that the needs of the rest of the world are much greater.  In America we have safety nets like food stamps, welfare, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food banks and more.   When someone is really in need in the U.S., help is usually available. When someone is really in need in much of the rest of the world, they die.

In America every child has the chance to go to school, but 121 million children around the world have no such opportunity. In America, government programs ensure that every child can be immunized, but around the world, two million children die each year from lack of immunization.

"According to the USDA, on a typical day, fewer than one American in 200 will experience hunger due to a lack of money to buy food. Nearly all hunger in the United States is short-term and episodic rather than continuous." (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/wm620.cfm)In the rest of the world, one out every six people experiences hunger due to lack of money to buy food, and their hunger is not episodic, it is chronic.

There are needs in the US, and thankfully many are serving faithfully in meeting those needs.  Now we can turn our attention to the rest of the world, where 29,000 children die every day from preventable poverty related causes. Using our discretionary income wisely, we can save countless lives and represent our compassionate Savior.

Don't governments and wars stand in the way of getting resources to those who really need it?

Yes, they do. That's why it's a good idea to directly fund churches and Christian organizations who are already there and have the experience and connections to get the job done. If money is given to a church in Zambia and they go out and buy food and feed the hungry, it doesn't matter how corrupt the government of Zambia is, they have been bypassed.

If we redirect billions of dollars of our discretionary spending to ministries serving the poor in Jesus' name, can the money be put to good use?

There are more than 25,000 Christian ministries in the world.  All of them have one thing in common: they could do more if they had more resources.

 

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