The Beginnings of World Help

World Help begins with the story of our president and founder, Vernon Brewer. After being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1985, Vernon underwent 18 surgeries and 18 months of chemotherapy. In restoring Vernon’s life, God gave him the vision and passion to bring the same restoration to the most desperate people on earth—people who had never heard the name of Jesus Christ.

World Help began sharing the Gospel—the true message of hope—equipped with only a handful of staff members and a healthy dose of God-sized ambition.

We are a Christian nonprofit humanitarian organization, uniquely qualified and strategically positioned to meet the spiritual and physical needs of hurting people around the world. World Help exists to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment through humanitarian aid, child advocacy, Bible distribution, and church planting, especially in the unreached areas of the world.

Russia: The First Campaign

After establishing World Help and investing in Russia, Vernon organized a trip to Eastern Europe. His goal was to help share the need of the Gospel in this country and begin connecting people to the mission and purpose behind World Help. He also hoped to raise awareness of the One Million Bibles for Russia campaign.

Approximately 90 people traveled to Russia with Vernon on this trip, including individuals from Liberty University and members of the World Help Board of Directors. It was during this trip that lasting partnerships were formed through the mission to bring the Gospel to the people of Russia.

Vocal Ministry: MISSION

In the early years of World Help, MISSION was the music voice of World Help’s ministry, traveling alongside our president, Vernon Brewer. Visiting churches, schools, and missions conferences across the United States and overseas, MISSION introduced World Help’s heart and vision to the world.

Composed of young, talented adults whose passion was reaching the world for Christ, their performances featured passionate music, personal testimonies, and a multi-media presentation challenging Christians everywhere to reach out to the ends of the earth and encouraging them to get involved further than their eyesight could take them.

Permission Granted: Bible Distribution in Russia

Before the fall of Communism, Vernon Brewer traveled to Eastern Europe several times, establishing ministry contacts and valued friendships. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, World Help was strategically positioned to distribute Bibles and Christian literature within Russia.

In 1992, World Help obtained the publishing rights to a Russian/English parallel New Testament. At a dinner meeting with the Minister of Defense, several generals, and their wives, Vernon showed them a prototype of the parallel New Testament, and asked permission to distribute the books on Russian military bases. They immediately said yes, and asked for an initial order of 500,000 copies. When the wife of the Minister of Defense opened the Bible and saw it was written in Russian and English, she slipped it into her purse and never gave it back.

The Russian Minister of Education also gave permission for the parallel New Testament to be used as an English textbook in public schools, as years of communism had left many schools in dire need of textbooks. World Help saw firsthand that the Russian people were eager to learn English, but more importantly, they were hungry for the Word of God.

Russian Military Bases Receive Bibles

In 1992, after the Russian Minister of Defense gave World Help permission to distribute Russian/English parallel Bibles on military bases, the team received an interesting greeting at their first stop. The base commander met World Help at the gate and said, “I want you to know—I don’t believe in Jesus Christ.” Though his orders allowed World Help to distribute the New Testaments and share the Gospel both publically and privately, the commander wanted to be clear on his personal beliefs. Vernon Brewer immediately struck up a conversation with him, and was able to share the Gospel. Although he listened respectfully and allowed Vernon to pray with him . . . he was reluctant.

That day, World Help distributed hundreds of copies of God’s Word, many Russian soldiers placed their faith in Jesus Christ, and a Russian commander heard a clear presentation of the Gospel for the very first time.

Moscow for Jesus

During an historic time when the Soviet Union was dissolving and Russia was experiencing religious freedom for the first time in years, a meeting between Vernon Brewer, World Help’s Board of Directors, Russia’s former vice chairman, and the former chairman of the KGB launched Moscow for Jesus, a campaign to reach Russia with the Gospel. The foundation of the initiative was to distribute over 3 million copies of the Gospel presentation booklet To Be a Christian by Alexander Menn to every home in Moscow. The booklet explained the Gospel in the language, history, and context of Russian culture. Our teams also hosted a comprehensive pastoral training conference, distributed Bibles and humanitarian relief, organized preaching engagements, and held an evangelistic rally in Moscow’s Olympic Stadium, which was attended by more than 10,000 people and saw over 5,000 accept Christ.

In just 10 days, World Help had distributed over 200,000 Bibles, provided $60,000 in medical supplies to local healthcare facilities, and saw more than 7,500 individuals give their lives to Christ.

Russian Pastor’s Training Conference

While in Russia for World Help’s Moscow for Jesus campaign, Vernon Brewer and 16 American pastors and church leaders trained 400 Russian pastors from all across the former Soviet Union. This historic conference was the first time many of them had ever met—for over 70 years, it was illegal for Russian pastors to gather together.

World Help paid for travel expenses, meals, and lodging in Moscow for each pastor who attended. These men also received a 186-page notebook with the outlines of each session translated into Russian. During every break, the Russian pastors crowded around the Americans and engaged in spirited question-and-answer sessions—they were eager to learn. The training sessions lasted for five days, and on the final day, World Help was able to supply each pastor with more than 200 books for their own biblical reference library—equipping them with Bibles, concordances, references books, and commentaries they needed for their ministry.

Cancer Hospital #62

In 1993, while the World Help team was in Russia distributing Bibles, Vernon Brewer was asked to speak at Cancer Hospital #62. Only a few years earlier, Vernon was diagnosed with cancer and had survived extensive treatment. The speaking request was an extremely difficult one that he initially wanted to decline.

Deciding to accept the invitation, he shared these simple words, “I’m a cancer survivor. But someday I will die, and so will you. Today, I have come to tell you how you can live forever.” The impact of Vernon’s words moved many patients to tears, as the concept of surviving cancer was practically nonexistent. After Vernon shared his testimony, 50 people accepted Christ as their Savior.

While there, the World Help team discovered the hospital had very few medical supplies or even the most basic of necessities . . . their shelves were empty. After that initial meeting, World Help was able secure the funds to package and ship over 13 containers of donated medical aid to Cancer Hospital #62. When the first container arrived, Dr.Makhson, the chief oncology doctor, told us, “You are the first Americans to keep your promise to us.”

Chernobyl

The nuclear meltdown of April 26, 1986, in Chernobyl, Ukraine, blanketed Eastern Europe in toxic, radioactive debris—leaving many dead and thousands poisoned from fallout-induced illnesses. In 1993, the World Help team visited a sanatorium where hundreds of children were suffering from radiation exposure—many of which would soon die.

World Help shipped half a million dollars worth of medical supplies and vitamins throughout Eastern Europe, but visiting these sick and dying children reminded the team of their equally important spiritual needs. We supplied the children of Chernobyl with humanitarian aid and storybook Bibles in their native language entitled He Walked Among Us.

Humanitarian Aid Department Forms

World Help’s Humanitarian Aid department began in 1993 after a World Help trip to Russia with Joni Eareckson Tada and 66 of her friends. World Help spent the week distributing New Testaments while visiting hospitals, orphanages, and public schools.

A friend of Joni’s told World Help that he knew of a warehouse in Tucson, Arizona, that was full of medical supplies just gathering dust. We agreed to accept the supplies, with the condition they would be distributed to hospitals in Russia—like Cancer Hospital #62. Upon returning to the U.S., World Help enlisted Louanne Guillermin to inventory the supplies, arrange them to be shipped to Virginia, and secure funding for shipping overseas.

Louanne spent hours doing research, making phone calls, traveling, and praying to ensure the medical supplies reached their destination in Moscow, Russia. Soon, medical manufacturers around the country began contacting Louanne to take their excess inventory. Having secured USAID grants, Louanne’s work laid the foundation for our current Humanitarian Aid Department, which supplies life-saving aid to millions every year!

Operation China

In response to urgent pleas from our Chinese partners, World Help took on the task of printing and smuggling 25,000 Bibles into the country of China in 1994.

Once Bibles had been smuggled across the border, Operation China utilized our existing network of underground house churches to distribute the Bibles. In spite of the danger and persecution many Chinese believers faced, they were extremely eager to have their own copies of God’s Word. By the end of the campaign, World Help was able to print and smuggle over 30,000 Bibles into this Communist country.

Meeting Samuel Lamb

On an evening in 1994, the World Help team met one of China’s most prominent leaders in the house church movement, Pastor Samuel Lamb. Armed guards stood at Pastor Lamb’s apartment, where he was under house arrest. In spite of his arrest, more than 1,500 believers packed into Pastor Lamb’s apartment each week for church services.

During that meeting, Pastor Lamb told the team that his greatest need was for Bibles. From that point on, World Help has been able to send thousands of Bibles to Pastor Lamb’s ministry—all under cover of secrecy. Our partnership with Pastor Lamb has placed Bibles in the hands of Chinese who desperately needed the Word of God. In 2013, Samuel Lamb went home to be with the Lord.

Shoe Box Project

An initiative of World Help’s Humanitarian Aid department, the Shoe Box Project challenged individuals, churches, Sunday School classes, service clubs, and other organizations to actively participate in providing humanitarian aid items for Eastern Europe.

We encouraged individuals to fill a shoe box with items such as antibiotic ointments, aspirin, bandages, soap, socks, tape, thermometers, vitamins, and toothpaste and toothbrushes and return the boxes to us. We then distributed these much-needed supplies to hospitals, clinics, and orphanages in Russia and Eastern Europe. In 1999, the Shoe Box Project developed into our Christmas for an Orphan initiative, expanding our request list to include school supplies, small toys and stuffed animals, crayons and coloring books, stickers, and hard candies.

St. Petersburg for Jesus

After the success of Moscow for Jesus, World Help was invited to distribute Christian literature in Russia’s second largest city, St. Petersburg. The foundation of this campaign, as it was in Moscow for Jesus, was the Gospel presentation booklet To Be a Christian by Alexander Menn, which explains the message of Jesus Christ in the language, history, and context of Russian culture.

The booklets were later sent to millions of St. Petersburg residents in September 1996.

Bibles for Russian Youth

For eight days in 1995, World Help conducted a leadership training camp for over 150 Russians and Americans at a former Communist Youth Camp just two hours outside of Moscow. While there, we trained Russian pastors, youth leaders, Sunday school teachers, and youth to be more effective in reaching young people for Christ.

World Help and local Christians also lead evangelistic outreaches at 15 other Russian camps. More than 7,000 Russian young people heard the Gospel for the very first time, and 3,000 prayed to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. MISSION, World Help’s music ministry, sang Christian songs in Russian at these events, and American youth performed an evangelistic drama. Vernon Brewer preached at each camp and was able to give a public invitation for the campers to accept Christ.

While visiting these camps, World Help distributed 30,000 Russian New Testaments, Christian books, Gospel bracelets, and tracts in addition to presenting nearly $10,000 in medical supplies and sports equipment to the camps.

India: Sights and Sounds

In March 1996, World Help visited India for the first time. The team was overwhelmed at the sheer size of India’s massive population—the majority of whom were incredibly poor and without any knowledge of Jesus Christ. The hopelessness that filled almost every face drove Vernon Brewer to his knees in prayer, asking God what World Help could do to reach these desperate people.

The team had many incredible experiences: attending a new church dedication, participating in a pastor’s conference, sitting in on a graduation ceremony, witnessing the baptism of 57 new believers, visiting schools, holding prayer meetings, and touring the Taj Mahal. But through it all, God was speaking to Vernon’s heart in the midst of everything—giving him a vision for church planting in the years ahead.

Vision 1000

“We have one thousand pastors trained and ready right now to plant one thousand new churches . . . all we need is some help.” Those words were the answer to Vernon Brewer’s prayer during his first trip to India. The whole trip, he had asked God how World Help could work in India. Thus, Vision 1000 was formed. World Help made the audacious goal of planting 1,000 churches by the year 2000—just four years.

The Vision 1000 strategy was to equip churches in the U.S. to spread the Gospel to unreached people groups through planting indigenous, self-supporting churches in India, Nepal, and Myanmar (Burma), and equipping national pastors for ministry. These churches were planted where no access to the Gospel existed. World Help facilitated this relationship by providing information and updates, a network of international contacts, and financial and ministry accountability. Vernon Brewer cast the vision everywhere he traveled, and one by one, God brought people and churches into our path that made the vision possible.

Help the Children Program Begins

In 1996, Noel Brewer Yeatts began Help the Children, the precursor to our current Child Sponsorship Program. On Noel’s first trip to India, she visited a children’s home that inspired her to start the program. Although the children were being cared for, they had no shoes, slept on concrete, and had little access to basic healthcare. Determined to find sponsors for each child, she started the program that would provide needy children with medical care, food, clothing, educational opportunities, and Biblical training.

As a teenager, Noel had met a child on the streets of Brazil—a boy named Nildo—who prepared her heart for ministry and taught her an important lesson: She could not change the entire world, but she could care for one child. Although Help the Children was small at the beginning, it was built on one simple concept—changing the world, one child at a time. Since inception, World Help has provided sponsorships for more than 52,000 children.

Cuba: Project Hope

In 1996, the World Help team traveled to Cuba and met with pastors and Christian leaders who told them about Cuba’s revival—new house churches were springing up everywhere, and many churches had doubled their attendance within the past year. These pastors and leaders explained that their greatest need was more Bibles. Although it was illegal to print Bibles in the country and for foreigners to openly distribute them, we learned that Cuban Christians could distribute them freely . . . but there were no Bibles available.

Meeting with these courageous believers inspired World Help to launch our first-ever campaign for the country of Cuba—Project Hope. World Help raised funds to provide 50,000 Spanish Bibles to Christ-followers in the communist country. This project opened the door for the Gospel in Cuba and allowed World Help to be involved in unprecedented evangelistic meetings during May and June of 1999.

Ministry Partnership Begins in Nepal

Until 1951, Nepal was completely closed to all outsiders. Geographically isolated between the borders of India and China, Nepal’s rugged terrain made accessing the country extremely difficult. In 1997, this hard-to-reach nation became one of World Help’s strategic areas of focus. We began training pastors through the Strategic Alliances for Leadership Training (SALT) program, distributing Bibles, and printing Sunday School curriculum for children.

World Help also expanded the Child Sponsorship Program to Nepal in an effort to help needy and orphaned children—providing them with food, shelter, education, and hope for a better future. World Help’s Vision 1000 campaign reached Nepal, India, and Burma, and many churches were planted in the country as a result of our efforts. Our work in Nepal also sparked long-time partnerships with trusted nationals whom we still work with today.

Pastoral Training in Myanmar

In 1997, World Help began partnering with David Yone Mo, director of Myanmar Young Crusaders, to train Burmese pastors at SALT (Strategic Alliances for Leadership Training) conferences frequently attended by several hundred pastors. Most of these pastors had no formal Bible training or biblical resources. World Help realized the most strategic way to reach the Burmese people with the Gospel was to train national pastors.

World Help worked with David through the years, often coordinating with churches in the United States to sponsor these conferences. After David’s death in 2003, World Help began partnering alongside his daughter Sharon to carry on the ministry.

Team India I and Team India II

Team India was launched as a way to provide hands-on support to our ministry partner in India, as well as to provide real-world missions experience for college-aged men and women from the US. Starting in 1997 and extending through 1999, World Help sent two groups of young people to serve for 10-month terms in a children’s home housing more than 1,000 children, a Bible school, and a hospital. Each team member had a different area of responsibility at the ministry, ranging from working in the various offices, helping with the children, facilitating World Help’s child sponsorship and church building programs, helping provide medical care at the hospital, and doing whatever else was necessary.

These teams were a proven asset to this ministry in India, building strong relationships and an undeniable passion for the lost world.

Vision Teams Created

Although World Help facilitated ministry trips since inception, in 1998 we launched Vision Teams—groups of individuals with the desire to share Christ’s love on short-term, 10-day trips to countries around the world. Vision Teams participated in one-on-one ministry, Bible distribution, construction projects, caring for orphans, delivering humanitarian aid supplies, and sharing the Gospel through personal evangelism. Other trips focused on making Christ followers, discipling new Christians, training pastors and church leaders, and encouraging our national partners.

Vision Teams traveled to countries like India, Kosovo, China, Russia, Cuba, Romania, Portugal, and Nepal. These trips allowed believers in the U.S. to have firsthand exposure to the incredible needs of the world and come face to face with the power of the Gospel.

Bibles for the World

In 1998, World Help committed to sending Bibles to some of the hardest-to-reach people groups in the world.

We focused our efforts specifically on Christians in Nepal, India, China, and Myanmar. Many of our partners were heavily persecuted, and they were sometimes forced to distribute the Bibles we provided in secret. For these believers, the priceless gift of a Bible was worth dying for.

During this time, World Help was in the midst of the Vision 1000 campaign—planting 1,000 new churches in Nepal, Myanmar, and India by the year 2000. We had also recently begun ministry partnerships with national leaders in Nepal and Myanmar and Child Sponsorship Programs in India and Nepal. In this critical time of ministry, World Help provided our partners the tool they needed—Bibles—so they could effectively reach the lost with the hope of the Gospel.

Crisis in Kosovo

In 1999, Vernon Brewer and the World Help team traveled to Albania, near the Kosovo border, and saw the devastation firsthand as refugees poured across the border.

In what was deemed the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II, thousands of men, women, and children were fleeing from internal discord—including the ethnic cleansing of Albanians—and NATO air strikes. The team witnessed over 10,000 exhausted, displaced Kosovar refugees crossing the border in just one day. After offering encouragement and distributing food, clothing, and medicine to some of the refugees, the team provided spiritual resources to Christians ministering in the area. World Help also sent five containers of life-saving food, medicine, and clothing for distribution along the borders of Albania and Bosnia.

Cuba: Bibles and Rallies

After his first trip to Cuba in 1996, Vernon Brewer asked God to show him how World Help could provide desperately needed Bibles for Cuban pastors and new believers. In May and June of 1999, Fidel Castro gave permission for Protestant churches to conduct 18 open-air evangelistic celebrations. He also agreed to allow the distribution of Bibles and Christian literature during the celebrations.

In record time, World Help was able to provide more than 50,000 Spanish Bibles. Over 500,000 Cubans attended these historic events, and four of the celebrations were broadcast live on nationwide television and radio. Fidel Castro sat on the front row in Havana’s Revolution Square with members of his Cabinet as thousands of Cubans heard the Good News for the first time.

Vision 1000 Completed

After seeing the physical needs and spiritual void in India with his own eyes, Vernon Brewer began dreaming of a movement that would start a spiritual revolution throughout India and its surrounding countries— building 1,000 new churches before the year 2000. Many did not believe it was possible, but on December 31, 1999, the dream was fulfilled as funding for the 1,000th church building arrived—just hours before the turn of the century.

By the end of Vision 1000, a total of 1,300 churches were planted—and countless lives were changed. Evangelism in India was complex and required individuals with visionary strategy and spiritual endurance. By joining forces with tenacious church planters, the impact of our spiritual development programs continues today. We have initiated an extensive church-planting network in India that God is still using to draw thousands to Him.

Christmas for an Orphan

In 1999, our Shoe Box Project transitioned into the Christmas for an Orphan initiative. Instead of filling shoe boxes with strictly medical supplies and humanitarian aid items, World Help encouraged people to fill shoe boxes with items such as toys, Band-Aids, simple medicines, toothbrushes/toothpaste, coloring books, crayons, and more.

These shoe boxes were then distributed to orphaned children around the world—many of whom had never received any kind of gift before. Each box was a starting point for sharing the Gospel with the children and the community—a message of love, care, and eternal hope.

Children of the World Begins

World Help introduced the Children of the World International Children’s Choir in September 2000, with the goal of inspiring individuals to get involved with World Help’s Child Sponsorship Program. The choir traveled the United States for 10 months, ministering in churches, schools, conferences, and special events.

The inaugural group—comprised of 18 children from several different countries, traveled more than 35,000 miles, performed in 168 concerts, and ministered to 78,000 people. By the end of the tour, sponsorship numbers had increased dramatically, funds were raised to improve the living conditions back home in each child’s respective country, and each child in the choir received a scholarship for their college education at the appropriate time.

Partnership Begins in Vietnam

In 2000, World help traveled to Vietnam for the first time, and saw firsthand the visible reminders of the Vietnam War . . . and the harsh persecution of Christ-followers under the Communist regime.

For three days, the team met with 52 pastors, evangelists, and church planters, who told us that their greatest needs were the resources to reach their people for Christ. Although much of our work had to remain unpublished for security reasons, we provide support and training for pastors, secure child sponsorships, print and distribute Bibles, and construct church buildings for the persecuted church in Vietnam.

Kingdom Partners: The Beginnings

Kingdom Partners began as a small number of businessmen with a collective passion for helping those in need, especially children. Today, this dynamic group of Christian men and women from Southern California are dedicating to reaching the world for Christ by whatever means possible.

What started as a few fundraisers and events in 2000 led to the construction of new churches in Nepal, India, and Cuba, the construction of a new children’s home and dormitories at two of our Child Sponsorship Programs, the completion of a hospital in Guatemala, and thousands of children supported.

Since then, these dedicated advocates have continued to host banquets, races, golf tournaments, and numerous other events to raise in excess of $6.8 million to support various projects and impact the lives of more than 1.4 million people. They have supported clean-water initiatives, medical centers, children’s homes and schools, feeding centers, humanitarian aid, Bible distribution, church planting, and more.

Through their partnership with World Help, they have touched the lives of people all around the world—and continue to do so today.

One Million Bibles for China

On a trip to China in 2001, the World Help team met with several pastors in the underground church movement. While there, a pastor who faced constant persecution asked Vernon Brewer to provide them with one million Chinese Bibles. Prompted by the Holy Spirit, he said yes.

These secret Christ followers told us that it was so difficult to find Bibles, that believers often copied portions of the Word by hand—in spite of the risk of punishment or imprisonment if they were caught. Through partnerships with several printers throughout China, World Help was able to print Bibles in quantities of 20,000 so as not to attract attention. Only three years after Vernon’s promise, World Help provided one million Bibles for God’s Underground Church in 2004.

China Radio Church Project

In 2001, World Help began partnering with Trans World Radio (TWR) to distribute Radio Church Planting Kits throughout the country of China. Each kit included a short-wave radio, several study Bibles, 100 Bible lessons, and discipleship and Bible study materials. Kits were given to Christian workers in China who were trained to develop small radio groups of under 10 people that would gather for fellowship, spiritual growth, and worship as they listened to radio broadcast programs. These radio kits provided discipleship and training to the rapidly growing Christian population in areas of China without churches.

Ministry in Philippines

World Help’s ministry in the Philippines began in 2001 with a focus on providing spiritual aid in the form of pastoral training and Bible distribution.

During one of our team’s first visits to the Philippines, over 1,000 Filipino leaders were trained at a World Congress where Vernon Brewer was the keynote speaker and MISSION, World Help’s vocal team, performed each night. The team also ministered in prisons and slum areas, and saw many Filipinos come to Christ. Inspired by the passion and commitment of our national partner, World Help expanded our Child Sponsorship Program to reach needy children in the Philippines with food, shelter, education, and the hope of a better future.

Vision 1000 . . . And Beyond

As final funding for Vision 1000’s final church arrive minutes before the turn of the century, World Help knew that God wasn’t done with the vision yet. The mandate to take Christ’s Gospel to people of every tribe and tongue was still unfinished—prompting World Help to continue strategically and aggressively planting churches through the Vision 1000 . . . And Beyond campaign.

The goal was plant new within the 10/40 window by training and supporting full time church planters, constructing church buildings, building training centers in China for pastors.

By the end of this campaign in 2003, over 6,200 churches had been planted, and more than 1,150 church buildings were provided. Additionally, over 11,300 house churches were planted and 70 training centers were provided in China.

War Relief in Afghanistan

During the U.S. attacks on Afghanistan following September 11, more than 80,000 refugees fled war and conflict into the surrounding countries, where they were sheltered in camps on the borders of Afghanistan.

World Help reached out to help these refugees by providing them with food, blankets, shelter, and medical attention—meeting their immediate needs for survival in the midst of incredible insecurity and fear.

In spite of national uncertainty and hesitation to help the people many considered “enemies,” World Help saw the crisis as an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Christ in a tangible way, earning the right to be heard. Our national partners were able to purchase the supplies in country, helping local economies and bringing aid swiftly where it was needed most.

Partnership in Iraq Begins

In 2003, World Help began partnering with one of the most effective church-planting leaders in the Middle East, Pastor Ghassan Thomas. Throughout his years of ministry, Ghassan pastored one of the largest churches in Bagdad, trained pastors, and planted churches faithfully, while he and his family faced terrible persecution in their ministry in Iraq and Turkey. There were numerous death threats and hate-filled plots to destroy his ministry. But in spite of the danger, and with God’s protection, he continued to passionately build the Kingdom of God, one former Muslim at a time.

Through the years, World Help has provided critical resources to help Ghassan plant and build new churches, distribute Bibles, train pastors, and initiate the growth of hundreds of new believers who have converted from Islam.

Rebuilding Rwanda

Rwanda, a small country in Central Africa with a population of 11 million people, suffered one of the most shocking genocides in modern history. In 1994, nearly one million Rwandans were massacred within four months during an “ethnic cleansing.” The result was catastrophic for all who survived . . . especially for thousands of orphaned children. In 2003, a World Help team visited Rwanda for the first time and saw firsthand that almost ten years later, the country was still deep in the process of rebuilding.

The team visited churches where Rwandans had been murdered—their bones and remains still locked inside. Met with an overwhelming need, World Help made arrangements to start a child sponsorship program—providing food, clothing, and medical supplies to orphans left behind from the genocide and the rampant spread of AIDS. The team trained and encouraged pastors and church leaders, in addition to making plans for future Bible distribution.

Ends of the Earth Begins

With the belief that church-planting movements are the key to evangelizing the least-reached peoples of the world, World Help launched Ends of the Earth with the strategic goal of planting 100,000 new churches in unreached countries within the 10/40 window.

World Help partnered with churches and individuals in the U.S. to train national church planters, provide support for living expenses and transportation, and ultimately construct church buildings. Today, the vision continues as we plant churches with the help of long-time supporters. Ends of the Earth has no specific end date—we are committed until the last are reached with the Gospel.

Tsunami in Southeast Asia

On December 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake ripped through the floor of the Indian Ocean, sending a tsunami across 14 countries in Southeast Asia and killing more than 230,000.

A few weeks after this devastating storm occurred, the World Help team witnessed the destruction firsthand—walking though debris-littered streets that still reeked of death. The team visited a village where over 700 people had died, and most of the surviving men were fishermen whose boats and livelihoods were destroyed. Many of them were still in shock and were afraid to go near the water. World Help was able to reach out to several communities that lost everything and provide them with $6 million in food, clothing, water, tents, blankets, pillows, and medicine, in addition to medical practitioners and grief counseling. In the midst of devastation, World Help offered physical help and tangible hope.

Zelenograd House of Prayer

Pastor Pavel Kolesnikov, one of World Help’s longest ministry partners, had a vision and passion to reach thousands of Russians with the Gospel. In March of 1995, World Help committed to helping Pastor Pavel build a church. The church would stand within walking distance of 25 high-rise apartment buildings that housed over 100,000 people—most of whom had never heard the Gospel. Due to government restrictions and fundraising delays, the Zelenograd House of Prayer was finally completed in 2004—nine years after dedication—and became one of the largest evangelical churches in Moscow.

Bibles for Iraq

In the chaos of governmental changes after the fall of Saddam Hussein, World Help was strategically positioned to share the light of God’s truth in the war-torn country of Iraq. Together with our partner, World Help facilitated evangelism training, church-planting efforts and, most urgently, Bible distribution. World Help was also able to purchase a building near Baghdad University, converting it into a student center and furnishing it with computers and a satellite dish with a secure internet connection.

In 2004, thousands of Iraqi refugees fled to nearby countries to escape persecution and violence. World Help met with these refugees and provide food, clothing, medicine, heaters, and other aid while strategizing with our partners about Bible distribution.

The Forgotten Children

In the late 1980s, Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a brutal terrorist group, began their reign of terror: abducting thousands of children (some as young as 5 years old), stripping them from their families, forcing them to become child soldiers, and brainwashing them to believe they were fighting for a noble cause.

During the height of Kony’s power, World Help intervened by establishing children’s centers for those traumatized by the LRA—places of restoration and nurturing, where these “Forgotten Children” could receive an education and spiritual healing through counseling and support. World Help also facilitated child sponsorships throughout Central Africa. Additionally, a vocational training school was established where young adults could learn trades such as welding, electrical work, weaving, tailoring, and sewing—providing them a path to begin rebuilding their lives.

Light & Truth in Iraq

In 2005, World Help traveled to Iraq and saw firsthand the spiritual and physical warfare thousands of Iraqis faced on a daily basis. We had been distributing Bibles in Iraq since 2004, but this trip affirmed the need for more Christian resources in the country, especially among educated Muslims who may spend months or years of study and struggle before coming to Christ.

World Help raised funds to print and distribute over 60,000 copies of the Light & Truth Christian Library on CD-ROM, a resource set that included a side-by-side comparisons of the Quran and the Bible, testimonies of former Muslims who converted to Christianity, an entire Bible study course, commentaries on the books of the Bible and a dialogue between a Christian and a Muslim on Jesus Christ. This resource was invaluable to those seeking the true light of Jesus Christ in the midst of spiritual darkness.

Good Samaritan Children’s Home Expands

World Help began partnering with Good Samaritan Children’s Home in 2001, providing Child Sponsorship for the children and participating in the Children of the World choir. In 2004, World Help dedicated a plot of land for a new Good Samaritan Children’s Home in Kampala, Uganda. That same year, funds for the first two floors of the six-story structure were raised through the Children of the World tour, in addition to many other World Help donors.

Our partnership with Good Samaritan leapt ahead in 2005, as the Children of the World tour focused on the Forgotten Children—victims of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. The tour raised awareness on the plight of children impacted by Kony, many of whom were enrolled in Good Samaritan’s programs. In early 2005, the first two floors of the home were ready for occupancy, and 120 children moved in.

Today, all six stories of the home are complete and over 450 children live in the building, which houses dormitories, a school, a cafeteria, and a library.

World Help Gifts

In 2005, World Help Gifts launched, a Christmas catalog that featured a collection of items and projects that bring sustainable help and hope to those suffering in poverty.

World Help Gifts offers exciting opportunities and practical ways to give aid and relief supplies, sustainability and education opportunities, and community development initiatives. The catalog also includes responsibly sourced merchandise—jewelry, coffee, apparel, and more.

With every purchase made, World Help Gifts restore vitality, opportunity, and hope to disadvantaged families and communities worldwide.

Bibles for Iran

In 2006, World Help provided 50,000 Farsi New Testaments to the people of Iran. These New Testaments would be the first new translation in more than 100 years. The Bibles were also created and printed with elegant and distinctive covers so the Muslim people receiving them would be proud to own them. The quality of these translations was acclaimed for being accurate and clear.

World Help was able to distribute 70 percent of these New Testaments within Iran while the remaining 30 percent were distributed to Muslim Iranians living in surrounding areas.

Bibles for North Korea

To say that North Korean Christians face danger would be a gross understatement. Being a Christian means death, and the Word of God is completely forbidden.

In 2006, World Help raised the funds to provide over 20,000 pocket Gospels for our partners in North Korea. A priceless evangelistic tool, these Gospels contained the book of John were disguised inside address books, which allowed North Korean Christians to carry them with less risk of discovery.

In the 50 years since North and South Korea split, the languages of the two nations changed drastically, making it difficult for North Koreans to read traditional Korean Bibles. Our partners labored feverishly for several years to produce a new, up-to-date translation of the New Testament in the North Korean language, and in 2007, World Help was able to print more than 131,200 copies of these much-needed Bibles.

Children of Hope

In 2007, World Help became acutely aware of the AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa—a crisis that left millions of children orphaned. Forced to assume the responsibilities of parenthood, these children were left to fend for themselves after watching their parents die a slow, agonizing death.

Through the help of our supporters, we’ve been able to build dozens of homes and communities specifically for children who have been orphaned by AIDS. These Homes of Hope and Villages of Hope are providing lifesaving help and nurturing love for thousands of children. Through our Child Sponsorship Program, they are receiving food, clean water, educational opportunities, medical care, and the opportunity to grow and develop spiritually. Our Children of the World Choir advocated the cause of AIDS orphans across the country through the 2007-09 Children of Hope tour, raising millions of dollars to restore hope to these desperate children.

Good Samaritan Vocational Center

Millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa have been orphaned by AIDS, raised to adulthood in child-headed households or on the streets. For others, their childhoods were brutally stolen by Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army.

In 2007, World Help began partnering with the Good Samaritan Vocational Center in Gulu, Uganda, which equips these young people with the education and tools they need to lead their own small businesses or participate in cooperatives.

The skills they learn during training will give them an opportunity to make a life for themselves and their families. That first year, World Help raised the funds for 300 graduates to receive sewing machines, welding tools, and hair care implements to help them get started in their adult lives.

World Help believes vocational training is one of the most effective ways to empower the next generation to overcome a childhood colored by poverty, war, and disease.

Partnership in Guatemala Begins

Since 2008, World Help has worked in Guatemala, finding sponsors for thousands of children, drilling 196 clean-water wells and other water projects, and providing more than $75 million in humanitarian aid.

Through the years, World Help has also provided our partners with agricultural equipment and supplies so they could become self-sufficient, and partnered with USAID to start food programs. We facilitated the construction of several larger projects such as a medical clinic and home for children with special needs. Additionally, we have provided medical equipment and supplies to these facilities. One of our donors also funded a home where mothers of rescued babies can stay while their children receive treatment. World Help’s partnership with national partners has made a life-changing difference in the lives of thousands of Guatemalans—truly providing physical help and spiritual hope.

Bibles for Vietnam

After Communism took over Vietnam in 1975, the government sought to stamp out all faith in God. Even thirty years later, Christian Vietnamese still suffered from persecution and inhumane treatment at the hands of the government.

In 2008, World Help visited Vietnam and met with several church leaders and pastors in secret, providing encouragement and learning how they could help provide much-needed Bibles to these courageous believers. Back in the United States, World Help raised the funds to print and distribute Bibles for the Hmong people in Northern Vietnam and the Koho people of south central Vietnam, who would had never received Scripture in their own language.

Clean Water Projects

World Help began focusing on clean-water projects in 2009. The vision was to provide clean water for those in impoverished countries around the world by raising global awareness, involving passionate activists and volunteers, and implementing practical clean-water solutions.

Clean water opens the doors to change, acts as a catalyst for overcoming the cycle of poverty, and creates opportunity for growth and progress. Our strategy is to give communities a sustainable, high quality infrastructure to keep clean water flowing year-round. Since World Help began, we have provided 706 wells and water projects in 15 countries around the world.

Christian Bookstore in Egypt

In 2009, World Help partnered with El-Neel Bookstore, one of the oldest Christian bookstores in Egypt, to provide Christian resources for the people of Cairo, Egypt.

Located on a crowded downtown street, the El-Neel Bookstore had been in operation since 1890. The bookstore was a lifeline for Muslim converts to Christianity—selling Bibles, apologetics literature, DVDs, CDs, and gifts.

The bookstore was well known for its opposition against Islam, for which they endured police attacks and legal allegations. World Help supported El-Neel’s ministry by helping with operating expenses such as rent, utilities, and merchandise, as the bookstore often subsidized their inventory to make it affordable for curious Muslims. Additionally, we helped fund 20,000 Bibles that the bookstore distributed for free to Muslim customers.

World Help also helped with the funding of an underground Christian printing press that published a monthly newspaper.

Haiti Earthquake Relief

On January 11, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck the country of Haiti. World Help immediately responded by sending $22 million in food, water, shelter, and other critical aid. The earthquake left millions homeless, forcing them to live in tent cities without access to basic healthcare, clean water, or any source of stability. Although meeting immediate needs was vital in the first stages of the disaster, we believed providing long-term solutions was necessary to generate sustainability, dignity, and lasting hope.

By God’s perfect timing, World Help had already shipped two containers of $2.5 million in medicine and supplies that arrived in Haiti on Friday, January 8—just two days before the tragedy. A third container of food was also on its way. With millions of dollars in humanitarian aid already on hand, we were in a position to assist the thousands of people facing the most desperate circumstances imaginable. Our partners on the ground worked around the clock to get this critical aid unloaded and delivered to those in need.

Children’s Home and Rescue Center in Haiti

World Help’s partner in Haiti cares for orphaned and disadvantaged boys and girls by providing nutritious meals, medical care, clothing, and a quality education. These children are being empowered through learning, physical wellness, and the emotional stability that comes through an encounter with the love of God. World Help provided a new clean-water system that revolutionized the ongoing effects of water-related illnesses and disease for the children’s program and throughout the surrounding community.

World Help also expanded the Child Sponsorship Program in Haiti to help many of the children affected by the 2010 earthquake, as well as helped build the Hope for Haiti Children’s Medical Center—a state-of-the-art, 17,000-square-foot facility equipped to save the lives of hundreds every year.

Tour of Hope

In 2010, Noel Brewer Yeatts hosted the Tour of Hope—a series of one-day women’s conferences across the country that empowered women to use their gifts and talents to face the issues of the world head on.

Featuring speakers Jo Saxton and Danita Estrella-Watts, worship leader Chrystina Fincher, and music performances by Children of the World, Tour of Hope inspired and challenged women while providing hands-on ways to get involved in combatting poverty around the world.

Strategic Church Planting in Cuba

Cuba has enjoyed continually increasing religious freedom in recent years. In 2010, the harvest was ripe for World Help to support church planting throughout the country of Cuba.

Our strategy focused on training national church planters, and supporting their church plants until they became self-sufficient. Then, the church planter would move on to plant a new church. Today, World Help supports 133 Cuban church planters who are changing their nation with the Good News—courageous men and women who have helped us establish 1,300 house churches throughout Cuba.

Without their faithful commitment, the Gospel would not reach these communities. We have seen firsthand the incredible work these church planters are accomplishing, and today congregations are still growing, more churches are being planted, and ultimately, thousands are coming to know Christ.

Rescue Programs Begin

As Noel Brewer Yeatts held the tiny, malnourished body of a 3-year-old on the brink of death, she realized that thousands of similar children were dying every day from malnutrition, bad water, disease, and poverty. In rural Guatemala alone, one in two infants suffer from malnutrition. In November 2011, World Help began Baby Rescue, an initiative that provides life-saving treatment for children battling the effects of malnutrition.

Originally focused solely in Guatemala, our efforts expanded in 2012 to include programs in the slums of Uganda and earthquake-torn Haiti. The program name changed from Operation Baby Rescue to Baby Rescue, and eventually to Rescue Programs—a name we believe encompasses everything we offer these precious children.

Since we began, we have been able to rescue 1,997 children.

Village Transformation Begins

In 2011, World Help began Village Transformation in Guatemala. With our national partner, Village Transformation operates on the belief that the temporary satisfaction of basic needs alone cannot generate lasting prosperity. When physical, emotional, and spiritual needs are met simultaneously, real transformation can begin. Together, these three elements are the foundation for self-sufficiency and empowerment. We select villages that yield immediate improvement while establishing the groundwork for permanent change and a sustainable way of life.

We assist churches and individuals in the U.S. in implementing improvements in all areas of development including clean-water wells, church and school buildings, healthcare, educational facilities, self-sustaining projects, and small homes.

Village Transformations drastically improve health, education, economics, and spiritual life. Since launching this project, we have impacted 32 villages in rural Guatemala and have several more in progress.

Syrian Crisis Relief Begins

The conflict in Syria began in March 2011 with a series of protests against the government. In a matter of months, the hostility escalated into a full-blown civil war. Healthcare, education systems, and a viable economy became virtually nonexistent as Syria’s infrastructure collapsed.

World Help stepped in to collaborate with our established international partners to provide emergency aid and medical care for thousands in need such as staple food items, clean water, mattresses, medicine, cook stoves, heaters, clothing, and more. We also began helping refugees with opportunities to open small enterprises and mobilizing teams on the ground to run schools, plant churches, and distribute Bibles. However, multitudes remain homeless, jobless, wounded, and starving.

China 2.5

The explosion of the Gospel in China is no secret. In recent years, it has the fastest growing Christian population in the world. In 2011, the rapid growth of this movement produced an overwhelming need for spiritual nurturing and training, but a comparatively slow growth of resources. World Help saw this need, and committed to providing Bibles, churches, and competent Christian leaders to nurture new believers.

China 2.5 began with the goal of touching the lives of 2.5 million Chinese people with the power of the Gospel by giving them the resources they needed for continued growth.

Through China 2.5, we supported church planters and key leaders of the house church movement, while training young leaders in effective and Biblical methodology. We also funded Bible distribution, individual church planters, Bible schools, and leadership training conventions throughout the country. Through the work of faithful supporters, we saw thousands of churches planted, millions of Bibles distributed, the training of visionary leaders, and an inestimable number of people changed by the redemptive power of God.

USB Bibles for China

In 2012, World Help initiated the digital Bible project in China to safely and discreetly deliver Bibles to men, women, and children seeking to know more about Christ. In a country with strict censorship and religious persecutions, many Christians have endured punishment and death for their faith. Yet with the ever-increasing number of Christians in China, the need for the Word of God has grown exponentially.

China is widely considered one of the most technologically advanced places in the world and home to the largest population of computer users. Through the formatting and distribution of thousands of largecapacity USB “thumb drives’ (disguised as keys), we can share Christ in a whole new way. These USB drives contain a full version of the Bible in Mandarin and English, a Gospel presentation, discipleship and Bible study training materials, reference books, and worship music. Each drive has the potential to be shared, increasing the effectiveness of our distribution efforts.

St. Luke’s Hospital

After three years of planning, praying, and building, St. Luke’s Hospital opened its doors to the community of Zacapa, Guatemala, in summer 2012.

The six floor, state-of-the-art facility is located on our national partner’s campus, and was partially funded through the generosity and fundraising of many World Help donors. The hospital has an emergency room that is critically important for children suffering from malnutrition who have been rescued as part of the Rescue Program. Because chronic malnutrition affects thousands of children in the Zacapa area, St. Luke’s also emphasizes preventative care and nutrition, hygiene, and sanitation education, improving public health throughout the area.

Kelly’s House

David and Carol Loveland faced their darkest days when their 38-year-old daughter, Kelly, tragically died of cancer. As they began healing from loss, their hearts were stirred with a vision for helping others.

At that same time, World Help connected them with our national partner in Guatemala. Amazingly, God used the loss of their daughter to change the lives of impoverished Guatemalan children who otherwise may have been forgotten.

The project was Kelly’s House—a facility that currently cares for up to 50 children with severe mental and physical disabilities or other special needs. These children are often brought in by our Rescue Program or parents who are unable to care for them long term. In 2012, the facility was opened for the first time.

Opening Doors for Nari Mata Girls

In communities throughout India, sex slavery is synonymous with tradition. For over 500 years, life for young girls from the Banchada group has been deliberately structured to bear the weight of the family’s financial burden. Since the Banchada caste position severely limits economic opportunities, customs like Nari Mata are a necessary method of survival.

With our national partners, World Help works to provide these communities holistic development and care. Through child sponsorship, several young girls have been allowed to attend school, delaying their entrance into Nari Mata. World Help also offers child daycare programs and builds clean-water wells that help build and strengthen relationships in these communities.

Vocational classes provide marketable trade skills for women who want to escape the industry as well as parents who want a better future for their daughters. As more Banchada people are seeing the benefits of our investment, the more World Help is able to cultivate long-term relationships that light the way for change.

Partnership in Peru Begins

One out of every four Peruvians struggle under the weight of poverty. The rugged geography of the region often makes access to remote villages extremely difficult. As a result, hundreds of villages and tribes have never heard the name of Jesus.

In 2012, World Help began addressing these physical and spiritual needs by harnessing the expertise of our national partners and the generosity of our dedicated donors. We sent church planters up and down the Amazon to share the good news of the Gospel, and saw hundreds commit their lives to Christ. Clean water projects gave entire communities access to clean, safe drinking water for the very first time. We expanded our Child Sponsorship program to meet the needs of children throughout the country, and Peruvians with special needs experienced independence through wheelchairs we provided. Our partnership with Grace Home—the only faith-based rehabilitation facility of its kind in the country—is restoring abuse victims to health and hope.

God is lifting up a people who have suffered a long history of oppression, abuse, and anonymity, raising them to new life in Christ and a future that’s brighter than ever before.

World Help Bloggers Begins

In 2013, we launched the World Help Bloggers program—a community that empowered bloggers to share practical ways to make a difference with their audiences. We provided over 100 bloggers with resources and tools including links, videos, photos, web banners, and a Facebook group to build relationships with other bloggers. Our goal was to create an online group of advocates from all walks of life with one central vision—to change lives.

In January 2016, we broadened our vision by shifting from blogging to sharing World Help’s message across all social media platforms on #WorldHelpWednesday. Each Wednesday, we email our advocates pictures and content that will allow them to share World Help’s message of hope with their audiences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

CHANGE THE WORLD WITH US BY SHARING #WORLDHELPWEDNESDAY

Typhoon Haiyan Crisis Response

Super Typhoon Haiyan, the largest tropical cyclone ever recorded, struck the central Philippines on Nov. 7, 2013, killing over 6,000 and displacing more than 4 million people. The Category 5 super storm harbored winds exceeding 200 mph along with torrential rain, causing massive destruction and destroying over 4 million homes.

World Help stepped in immediately, providing thousands of families with crucial, life-saving provisions such as food, water, shelter, and medical supplies at their greatest hour of need. In spite of the destruction, all 13 of our sponsorship programs were prepared as the storm approached, and all remained unharmed. The storm left hundreds of thousands of Filipinos without any means of economic support, but through the generosity of our donors, tens of thousands of dollars were sent to help rebuild communities and livelihoods, in addition to spreading the eternal hope of the Gospel.

Rescue Homes in Uganda

Approximately 11 million children reside in the streets of the Ugandan slums near Kampala, Uganda. They desperately need the care and protection of a parent, but often have little hope for survival. In a nation dominated by poverty, options for these abandoned children are often nonexistent.

In 2013, World Help raised funds to construct and outfit three rescue homes at our Rescue Center near the slums of Kampala, which provide a safe shelter and life-saving care for an additional 40 abandoned and orphaned children.

The babies that reside in our Rescue Homes are cared for by loving house mothers in a positive environment where they can grow and develop. Each baby is nursed back to health and receives the individual attention they desperately need.

Leprosy Support in India

Many believe that leprosy is a disease of the past, a threat that has been virtually eliminated by modern medicine. But in the nation of India, approximately 130,000 new cases of leprosy are reported every year. The disease eats away the limbs, leaving many permanently disfigured, unable to stand, walk, or care for themselves—and children are even more susceptible to leprosy than adults.

In 2013, World Help began providing critical aid and the healing love of Jesus to Indians living with the disorder. Our national partners offer multi-drug treatment programs, medical care, preventative support, and critical necessities like food, clean water, blankets, and medical supplies needed for survival to these rejected people.

We also work to help save the children of lepers—releasing them from suffering through preventative care. In addition to meeting physical needs, our programs are committed to restoring hope by sharing the good news of the Gospel.

Christ the King Church in Kampala, Uganda

In 2013, World Help visited Christ the King Church in Kampala, Uganda. Only seven weeks old, the church was started by 100 of our sponsored children from Good Samaritan Children’s Home. Some were former child soldiers in the Lord’s Resistance Army.

Former members of World Help’s Children of the World choir, Pascal and Joy, led worship. The team at Good Samaritan had recently challenged these students to begin sharing the Gospel to those living in some of Uganda’s worst slums. In just a few short weeks, many people from the surrounding community have become Christians at Christ the King Church—and it all started with the gift of sponsorship.

ISIS and the Middle East War Relief

Not long after political uprisings began in Syria, ISIS rose from the shadows as the brutal arm of radical Islam. Seizing control of Syrian and Iraqi cities and villages, ISIS has massacred hundreds of thousands and millions have fled for their lives.

Although World Help has worked extensively in Syria since the conflict began in 2011, we expanded our focus in 2014 to the refugee crisis spreading across the Middle East. Since we began working with ISIS victims, we have impacted over 200,000 refugees. In 2015 alone, World Help shipped 11 containers of life-saving aid, including over 30,000 articles of clothing, medical supplies and equipment supporting local hospitals and mobile clinics, and over 1.3 million meals.

Our strategically positioned emergency teams continue to work around the clock to provide crucial supplies such as food, clean water, clothing, and basic medicine to families in desperate need.

Mobile Medical Clinic

World Help launched Northern Iraq’s first-ever mobile medical clinic in 2014. Outfitted to provide professional medical care where none exists, the clinic travels throughout the region and treats up to 100 refugees per day for simple fevers, ailments, or injuries—free of charge.

Staffed with a general doctor, gynecologist, ENT specialist, dentist, lab technician, and pharmacist, the mobile clinic helps prevent untreated conditions from turning deadly. Refugee women especially benefit from the clinics, as many are pregnant or have recently given birth and need regular attention to remain healthy.

Blueprint

In 2014, we introduced the World Help Blueprint—our strategic plan for the next five years providing a framework for future growth. There are three areas of focus: the advancement of our international programs, support and fundraising initiatives, and overall organizational development.

At the end of 2019, World Help is projected to grow by a margin of 100 percent. Our desire is that World Help’s average annual impact will serve a total of 7 million people around the world. In addition to expanding our influence through new programs and improved partnerships, we are building sustainable programs that will allow people and communities to flourish. As always, our primary focus is to meet the needs of the whole person— body, heart, mind, and soul—while using the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the anchor for building lasting relationships.

Church Planting in Turkey

In 2014, World Help visited longtime national partner Ghassan Thomas who was then living in Turkey because of religious persecution in his home country of Iraq. After relocating to Turkey, he continued to passionately build the Kingdom of God, one former Muslim at a time.

Ghassan and World Help developed a strategy to train and equip Syrian Christians who came from Muslim backgrounds, preparing them to carry the hope of Christ into refugee camps and countries throughout the region. World Help supported more than 100 church planters by covering the cost for two weeks of on-site leadership training in Turkey. We also paid for educational materials and training guides, travel expenses, and meals. After a refugee was trained, his ultimate goal was be to share the Gospel with the people of his refugee community. Some refugees remained in Turkey, while others were be relocated to other host nations.

Our vision is that every trained refugee will serve as a strategic ambassador of the Gospel in heavily Muslim areas all over the Middle East and even into Europe.

Safe Motherhood in Ethiopia

In rural communities across the developing world, access to professional maternal healthcare is virtually nonexistent. Complex births are a matter of life and death for both mothers and their babies, and often lead to excruciating, life-long health complications.

One of the most devastating health complications for Ethiopian mothers is obstetric fistula, a condition that develops as a direct result of a prolonged, obstructed labor where, in most cases, the child dies and the mother sustains significant internal damage and demoralizing health complications.

With our national partner, our vision is to provide victims in rural Ethiopia with physical and emotional rehabilitation, economic support, the message of the Gospel, and reintegration into their communities. Our ultimate hope is that each woman will become a leader in her community, educating other mothers in basic preventative practices aimed to curb maternal mortality altogether.

Nepal Earthquake: Relief & Rebuilding

The devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake of April 25, 2015, left the world dumbstruck as widespread, catastrophic destruction ripped through the country of Nepal. With more than 8,000 dead, over 14,000 injured, and hundreds of thousands homeless, the need for immediate and continuous aid was overwhelming.

Through our strong partnerships with trusted nationals, World Help was able to reach further into isolated, mountainous, and largely overlooked areas with food, clothing, tents, and medical aid. Since the first days after the quakes, World Help has impacted more than 50,000 people, and our partners have seen over 900 people come to Christ. We’ve sustained entire villages, provided temporary housing and aid, in addition to reconstructing and repairing children’s homes, schools, and churches. Additionally, we are committed to constructing new wells, 50 new churches, and 50 small homes to restore Nepal’s foundation and build hope for the future.

In the midst of destruction, God is restoring hope in Nepal.

Clean Water for Kirinda, Uganda

In the East African nation of Uganda, nearly one third of the people lack access to a clean water source. On World Water Day 2015, World Help launched a campaign for a comprehensive, multi-faceted clean water system for the people of Kirinda, Uganda.

Our goals went beyond just a single well: we wanted to connect the entire community to multiple clean water sites stationed at key locations across the area: the school, clinic, church, and market, to name a few. We also raised funds to outfit the local farm—which employs many Kirindans—with irrigation to water crops even during the dry season.

This project is currently being completed. Over 2,000 people, including 100 of World Help’s sponsored children, will soon benefit from have access to clean, safe drinking water for the very first time.

Legacy Circle Launches

Many people think that the only way to give more to charity is cutting into personal lifestyle expenses.

In 2015, World Help launched the Legacy Circle—a unique group of people who committed to giving to World Help through noncash assets such as a will, trust, designation, or other planned gift.

The Legacy Circle is a way to honor these individuals’ legacy gifts while encouraging others to make an impact for eternity. By donating noncash assets, Legacy Circle members are impacting more lives through World Help than they may have ever dreamed possible.

Refugee Crisis Continues

World Help has been working extensively with refugees and IPDs (Internally Displaced Persons) in the Middle East since 2011. With no end to the conflict in sight, the long-term effects of the crisis are clear. Emotional and psychological trauma, joblessness, educational gaps, and an extreme lack in spiritual resources have left many refugees with very little hope for the future.

Our response continues to be investing in sustainable support systems such as schools, summer programs, educational assistance, spiritual development and counseling resources, church buildings, and sustainable job opportunities.

The greatest desire expressed by many refugees is simply to return to their homes and begin again. As conflict rages on, we have no way of knowing when this will be possible. Still, our vision and prayer is to work alongside local leaders to assist with the process of providing safety, sustainability, and economic opportunity.

Nath Mohalla sponsorship and clean water project

In India, groups of lower-caste people known as “untouchables” struggle to survive. The Nath Mohalla people in Central India are no exception. For generations, the Nath people’s only source of income came from performing as snake charmers, but new regulations have taken away even that small job opportunity. Many families were forced to become beggars just to survive.

In 2016, World Help added 150  children from the Nath Mohalla community to our Child Sponsorship Program. Sponsorship helps keep these children off of the streets — providing educational opportunities, nutritious meals, medical attention, and the hope of Jesus Christ. World Help supporters also provided a deep bore well for the Nath people, drastically reducing disease in the community.

Refugee relief to Africa

World Help has been delivering refugee relief to people in the Middle East for years. But the refugee crisis is no longer isolated to only one part of the globe. People worldwide have been driven from their homes for a variety of reasons including violence, famine, and severe religious persecution. In 2016, World Help was able to provide emergency relief supplies to refugees in Africa, specifically in Nigeria and Uganda.

With the rise of the Nigerian terrorist group Boko Haram, thousands of Nigerians have been forced to flee for their lives. And in Uganda, refugees from South Sudan are filling refugee camps throughout the country. They are overcrowded and running out of food. But thanks to generous supporters, World Help has provided essentials such as food and clean water that have helped thousands  of  people survive.

A new Freedom Home opens in Pattaya

It’s hard to believe that Pattaya, Thailand, began as a small, quiet fishing village. Today, sex is Pattaya’s main industry. More than 30,000 girls and young women work in the sex industry every night. But the Freedom Home opened in 2017 is giving them another option.

This new home allowed us to reach even more girls with the message of freedom, in addition to those girls already in the homes in Bangkok and India’s Banchara community. Girls at the home are given a chance to escape Thailand’s red-light districts and instead go to school or learn a vocation, opening doors to a brighter future. Our partners in Pattaya are committed to rescuing and empowering women trapped by cultural slavery — giving them a safe place to pursue education, recovery, and the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Hurricane relief: Harvey, Irma, and Maria

On Aug. 25, Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas. The hurricane went on to devastate Houston with record winds and flooding — but it was just the first in a series of three hurricanes that would wreak havoc on places such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

After witnessing the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey, World Help partnered with the organization, God’s Pit Crew, to send “Blessing Buckets” to people in Houston who had lost their homes. These buckets contained hygiene kits and other basic supplies.

Hurricane Irma hit Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the surrounding areas just a few days later, quickly followed by Hurricane Maria. Both were category-five storms and destroyed countless homes. With the help of generous donors, World Help was able to provide emergency food, clean water, and medical supplies to Cuba and Puerto Rico. Los Naranjos, Puerto Rico, was hit particularly hard, but World Help was able to help feed 200 people while bringing emotional and spiritual support to families who had lost everything.