Faith Community Church supports global initiatives through direct support, or by supporting missionaries within these organizations:
WordPartners │ Joe & Amy Paglia
Around the world, the Church has grown so quickly that the training of pastors hasn’t kept pace. So many pastors feel unequipped and inadequate for the task of leading and caring for their flocks. Most of these pastors will never go to Bible school or seminary. So WordPartners brings it to them—the most essential training that they need. WordPartners trainers seek to humbly bring God’s heart and to see Him develop within each pastor the heart of a shepherd, formed by a biblical understanding of ministry. Throughout Asia, Africa, and the Americas, WordPartners equips small groups of national pastors to teach God’s Word with the heart of a shepherd. WordPartners works closely with the same group of pastors for about 2 weeks per year over 4 years, allowing deep friendships to form.
Accessible Hope International │Phil & Jessica Smith
Accessible Hope International is dedicated to, “Facilitating Gospel-centered transformation for people with disabilities around the world by equipping the global Body of Christ to open wholistic doors of access.” Phil Smith serves as the Director of Global Partnerships with Accessible Hope.
Wycliffe Bible Translators │ Rick & Bobbie Bekius; Dave & Debbie Eernisse; Seung & Amy Kim; Dan & Kathleen Lord
Wycliffe was founded in 1942 by William Cameron Townsend. A missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala, Townsend caught the vision for translation when Cakchiquel-speaking men expressed their concern that the Bible was not available to them in the language they understood clearly. As a result, Townsend resolved that every man, woman and child should be able to read God’s Word in their own language.
Since its inception, Wycliffe has made great progress in Bible translation all around the world. To date, we have played a part in completing more than 700 Scripture translations.Estimates suggest that almost 2,100 languages still need a Bible translation program started. Some speakers of these languages are Christians, struggling to unlock the truths of the Bible in a language not their own. Others live without knowledge of Christ at all.
Each day that passes, people all around the world die without God’s message of hope in their own heart language. Because of the urgency of this situation, Wycliffe has adopted Vision 2025—an initiative to see a Bible translation program in progress in every language still needing one by 2025.
Reaching the last languages with God’s Word requires an enormous amount of resources. In response to these needs, in November 2008 Wycliffe USA launched the Last Languages Campaign—a strategic commitment to raise our share of the resources needed to accomplish Vision 2025. More than $1 billion is needed to reach these last languages with God’s Word.
For many years, FCC has fostered a relationship with this organization through the many faithful Wycliffe missionaries who have become a part of our congregation while home on furlough. These relationships continue when these families return to the field.
Kids Alive International │ Jeff & Ann Van Der Molen
Kids Alive International is a Christian faith mission dedicated to rescuing orphans and vulnerable children – meeting their spiritual, physical, educational and emotional needs.
Millions of children in the developing world live in desperate, life-threatening situations. Orphaned, abused and neglected, they often end up on the streets begging just to survive. Many are victimized by predators and have nowhere to turn and no one to help care for them.
The facts are heartbreaking:
- Over 25,000 children die each day – most from preventable causes
- One fourth of all children live in poverty
- About 150 million children are homeless, vulnerable to exploitation and abuse
- Nearly one third of all children are malnourished
- Nearly one in five children does not have access to clean drinking water
- More than 130 million children – mostly girls – do not attend school; millions more receive very little education
Kids Alive provides children with the love and care every child deserves, and raises them to be contributing members of their society and witnesses to their family and community.
Eleeo Ministries │ Pat Elam
Eleeo Ministries is a supportive ministry of love, healing, help, and discipleship. Their primary concern is for reconciliation and restoration of the individual and family to a state of physical, emotional, and spiritual wholeness. This is possible because of the grace of God, which in His unlimited love and mercy, is expressed in the gift of His Son, our Savior. It is unconditional! Therefore, we do not carry the burden of past failures; we go on in hope and faith, having experienced His healing power. We have the blessed assurance that because of His Son, Jesus Christ, and what He did for us, all that believe in Him are forgiven.
In Eleeo, they place strong emphasis upon the relationship of the 12-Steps of Recovery to the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). The “progressive” nature of the Beatitudes is much the same format as the progressive nature of the 12-Step Program.
Young Life Ministries │ Don & Cathy Ziel
Young Life invites kids to follow Christ, cares for them regardless of their response, and changes lives in the process.