I recently had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines with one of our clients, an international child sponsorship organization that has been working through the local church for over 60 years.
Our team visited project sites in both urban Manila and in remote villages on an outlying island.
I saw firsthand how donors are working through the local church to help meet the needs of the poor and the marginalized in the urban slums of Manila, Philippines.
One thing I found these communities all have in common:
The local church is a vibrant center of life and a beacon of help and hope.
I saw for myself how the international clients we work with come alongside the local church, empowering them to meet the needs of the poor and the marginalized in their own communities. After all, who is best positioned to understand and identify these needs?
The local church is uniquely poised to meet the needs of the poor and marginalized
Whether it’s providing education, food, health care or clean water, the local church is there, on the ground. Essentially, an extension of the hands and feet of the generous donors back home.
Last month, megachurch pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren had the opportunity to address Congress on a topic many of the international relief clients that Masterworks serves would find interesting: charity, the church and global aid.
In his opening statement at the Senate Hearing on Global Health Problems, Warren shared,
There are voices today who sincerely believe that we should either cut back or eliminate all foreign assistance…But Proverbs 3:27 in the Bible tells us it’s morally wrong to withhold assistance from those who need it when we have in our power to help them.
According to Warren:
If you want to talk about [aid] distribution, you have to use faith communities. I could take you to 10 million villages around the world and the only thing in it is a church. In much of the world, the local church is the only social sector outside of the capital.
Could the church be the answer — the distribution model — for meeting the needs of the poor, the sick, the hungry and the hopeless?
According to Warren, the answer is no…
“It already is. It has been for 2,000 years.”
International relief and child sponsorship organizations make a huge difference in the lives of children and families around the world.
At Masterworks, we come alongside faith-based organizations, helping them to inspire generosity in their donors through innovative and effective fundraising and marketing strategies that grow their ministries — and to reach out to more people with help and hope.
Interested in getting involved with a ministry that works internationally? Check out our list of clients and the great work their donors make possible all around the world. If you’re a ministry and would like to learn more about inspiring generosity in your donors, I’d love to chat with you. Email me at btakata@masterworks.agency.