World Help

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Prior MinistryWatch.com Shining Light ?Top 30? Exemplary Ministry. Previously listed from 2005 - 2007.

MinistryWatch.com desires to see overall giving to Biblical Christian values increase and as such we developed this format to highlight those ministries which are exemplary. The list is a sampling of the ?best ministries? and outstanding examples when we consider Philippians 4:8 and weigh and take account of those ministries that are excellent and worthy of praise.

These ministries are called ?Shining Lights? because they are indeed models of letting their Christian light shine before men so that the Gospel may be proclaimed and God be glorified. Consequently, we are shining a figurative light on them so that donors may be aware of their good works and other ministries may learn from their examples.

While identifying the best ministries is challenging given the selfless work that so many do for the cause of Christ, MinistryWatch.com believes that the list of 30 excellent ministries will be helpful to many. Each of the ministries has the following important features in common:

• Legitimate nonprofit ministry and purpose.
• Have shown a willingness to treat donors fairly via a Transparency Grade of ?A?.
• Are unashamed of being identified as an evangelical Christian ministry.
• MinistryWatch.com researchers knows of no significant issues that would be of concern to donors.

A high MinistryWatch.com Financial Efficiency Rating was not a requirement for inclusion on this list although most do have good ratings. Many factors were reviewed and strengths in other areas can offset weakness in financial efficiency when determining whether a ministry should be of interest to donors seeking to be good stewards of their giving. Only you can decide for yourself with confidence if a ministry shares your values and with your giving plan.

This is just another step in our mission of encouraging Christians to give more of their talents and resources to Kingdom-building efforts. In short, we wish to help spread the Gospel of Christ by helping Christians give more and more effectively to the works of the Lord. If the Lord uses our list as part of that process, we will have been a blessing to both those ministries who have been ?good and faithful servants? with the Lord?s resources and to Christian donors who are seeking to be good stewards of their giving.
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MinistryWatch.com?s Take
October, 2004
By Michael Barrick

Introduction
World Help is an evangelistic Christian ministry committed to speaking the Gospel to nations through evangelism, discipleship, church planting, humanitarian aid, child sponsorship, leadership training and Bible distribution. With a board and president committed to ?always doing what is right,? the relief and development ministry serves as a model of financial efficiency, program effectiveness, financial transparency and theological orthodoxy.

World Help was formed in 1991 when two central Virginia businessmen teamed with the ministry?s first and only president, Vernon Brewer, to distribute Bibles to former Soviet bloc nations. One of the founder?s ancestral homes was in the region. Seeing Bibles used as textbooks by children in Russian classrooms, World Help was emboldened to expand the ministry, and by 1996 was distributing Bibles in India, Nepal and other regions of Asia, Cuba and elsewhere. Consequently, ?We soon realized the extreme and desperate humanitarian needs as well,? explained Mr. Brewer. ?World Help made a commitment to alleviate human suffering, and to do it in such a way that we could earn a hearing for the Gospel of our Lord. We believe that it is our responsibility to address the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of the poor, destitute, oppressed and forgotten throughout the world.?

Core Values
To ensure that it is effective in fulfilling the Great Commission, World Help has adopted five Core Values:

• Authentic Relationship and Teamwork
• Fanatical Attention to Quality and Detail
• Working with Passion and Enthusiasm
• Always Doing What is Right
• Accomplishing God-Sized Tasks that Last for Eternity
  
  

A closer examination of the ways in which the ministry implements its core values offers insight into why it succeeds in fulfilling its mission.

Authentic Relationship and Teamwork: The people that World Help serves are not the ministry?s only partners; so also are the donors. Whether through detailed descriptions of program activities on the ministry?s Website, http://www.worldhelp.net/home/default.asp, through informational brochures and pamphlets, or through VHS, CD-ROMS or DVDs, donors are kept informed ? often personally ? by Mr. Brewer. In one such video, supplied on DVD, Mr. Brewer, speaking from in front of a pyramid in Egypt, begins a 12-minute video, informing donors, ?God is at work here in the Middle East.? Acknowledging that headlines and evening TV news programs are dominated with bad news from the world?s hot spot, Mr. Brewer counters, ?The truth is, Iraq is now open to the Gospel?.In fact, God is moving in an amazing way across the entire Arabic-Muslim world.? Similar videos are made in many of the places that Mr. Brewer and other World Help staff visit, so that donors can be kept abreast of ministry activities. Operating with about $14.5 million in revenues, World Help is determined to create a sense of ownership among its donors. Mr. Brewer explains, ?The complexity and vastness of the task demands an interdependency.?

Fanatical Attention to Quality and Detail: With 88 percent of funds being spent on ministry purposes, nine percent on administration and only three percent on fundraising, World Help commits to a number of standards which ensure transparency and effective financial controls so that they can effectively help those so desperately wanting ? and needing ? to hear the Gospel. It is evident in the quality of brochures and pamphlets produced; the professional production of videos, CDs and DVDs; and, the ministry?s financial transparency and its efficient management of resources.

The ministry first affirms a commitment to evangelism. A member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA), the ministry also holds to a number of standards, including:

• An independent board
• An annual independent audit
• An independent audit review committee
• Providing audited financial statements upon request
• Avoiding conflicts of interest with a clearly stated policy regarding related party transactions
• Fundraising appeals that clearly identify the purposes and programs
• Assurance that donations are used for the purposes for which they are raised
  
  

Additionally, the ministry?s compliance with provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley law that apply to nonprofits ? Whistleblower protection and a detailed document destruction policy ? also helps donors have confidence that the ministry has systematically installed internal safeguards to help it maintain its commitment to integrity; and, serve as a model for other ministries.

Working with Passion and Enthusiasm: One way that World Help shares the Gospel and then reports back to churches, donors and other interested folks is through the ministry of two vocal musical groups, Mission and envision. A recent visit to the ministry?s headquarters provided an opportunity to hear envision practicing. Their intensity and joy was evident, as was their attention to detail. As focused as if ministering to a crowd of hundreds or thousands ? as they often do ? the three young ladies radiated enthusiasm and revealed a passion for their calling. A World Help brochure notes about both vocal groups, ?These dedicated young people have committed themselves to challenge Christians everywhere to a deeper commitment to world evangelization and encourage them to get actively involved in taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth through planting churches and providing Bibles for the least-reached peoples of the world.?

Always Doing What is Right: Visible examples of the ministry?s commitment to this value include the outstanding MinistryWatch.com rankings, the ECFA membership, and the comprehensive response to all initial and follow-up questions. Notably, the ministry also alerts donors of its own errors. In one instance, the ministry learned that $40,000 earmarked for a church building had been misspent. ?It was a crushing blow,? admitted Mr. Brewer. ?We asked, ?What is the right thing to do?? We knew we had to tell our donors. Nobody asked for any money back, but one donor said, ?I don?t think another Christian ministry would have told me.? It caused us to grow up real quick and wise up real quick. We learned we needed to ask better questions on the front end. Good did come out of that. It made us be wise and smarter in the partners we choose.?

Accomplishing God-Sized Tasks that Last for Eternity: It is the first four core values that lead to the success of this last ? and arguably most important ? of World Help?s five Core Values. A telling example of this is one of the pictures hanging in the ministry?s hallway. There, among the photos of those from every tribe and tongue, is a picture of Cuba?s President Fidel Castro, along with his cabinet and staff. World Help staff took the photo at an evangelistic outreach in which they participated. That day, noted Mr. Brewer, the world?s most famous communist heard a clear presentation of the Gospel message. Mr. Brewer, if he chose to, could make the same claim for millions of other, thanks to World Help?s many projects, including church building and Bible distribution in China, India and dozens of other nations; humanitarian aid; child sponsorship; and other ministry outreaches. The ministry is so active, says Mr. Brewer, because he and its leadership are what he calls ?vision casters.? He explains, ?Vision is seeing the invisible and making it visible.? It is this vision that led to the establishment of the ministry in 1991 to distribute Bibles for the former Soviet bloc countries. It is that vision that led to a decision to distribute one million Bibles in China. As he explained to potential donors about the decision, ?I realize World Help has never done anything of this magnitude before, but I also believe God can use us to meet this great need.? Insists Mr. Brewer, ?Donors want to give something that will last for eternity.?

Programs
A brief review of some of the ministry?s global efforts suggests that donors? wishes are being fulfilled.

Church Planting: A World Help brochure states, ?It is the vision and passion of World Help to help plant indigenous, reproducing churches where no churches exist.? World Help is responding by committing to partners in India, in particular in the northern regions of the nation, to plant one million new house churches over the next seven years to reach the tens of millions of people there that have never heard the Gospel. In accomplishing this mission, World Help follows a proven strategy. They train national church leaders, supply support for church-planting teams, and provide an ?organized church? in which folks can worship. The approach of the church-planting teams includes prayer, evangelism, house-church planting, discipleship and on-going training.

Bible Distribution: Since its founding, the ministry has distributed more than eight million Bibles, New Testaments and other Christian literature in the least-reached areas of the world. In China, where it is estimated that there are more than 100 million Christ-followers, most of them in underground churches, World Help partners closely with nationals that risk their lives daily to see the Church grow. Mr. Brewer notes, ?Many of the top leaders of the underground church movement have been arrested and face years of imprisonment.? Yet, one of the movement?s top leaders, despite his own ongoing persecution and arrest, continued to challenge World Help to distribute one million Bible in China. To this point, the One Million Bibles for China Project has raised all the funds necessary for just over one million Bibles. To date, 800,000 have been distributed. Other disbursements will be made in the months ahead to prevent partners from being inundated with funds, and Bibles will continue to be distributed ??as funds are received from donors with a heart and burden for China.?

Child Sponsorship: World Help is not the first ministry to have donors sponsor children. Indeed, MinistryWatch.com has reported that many relief and development organizations utilize child sponsorship as nothing more than a fundraising tactic. Generally, though a donor may give money with a specific child in mind, sponsorship funds are, for many organizations, unrestricted assets. Such is not the case with World Help. The ministry, because of its unique role with national partners, finds that each situation is somewhat different, but essentially adheres to a model that ensures the money is used to benefit the child directly. In some instances, child sponsorship funds go directly to the ministry partner that cares for the sponsored children. These funds are used to feed, clothe, as well as educate and provide medical care for the children. In countries where the children are cared for in a group children?s home, the funds are used to meet the overall needs of the children in the program at that home. In other countries, where the sponsored children are living at home with extremely poor parents, the funds are administered by partner ministries to provide the family with the additional income so that the sponsored child can be fed and clothed properly and be able to go to school.

Mission and envision: Two vocal groups, Mission and envision, represent the ministry around the world. These young adults use their God-given talents to share the Gospel and then return with first-hand experiences of the trips for churches, donors and other interested folks. In addition to these activities, the young singers record CDs for purchase to help fund the ministry?s costs and also are featured in videos promoting the work of the ministry.

Children of the World: One of the newest ? and perhaps most visible aspect of World Help?s ministries ? is the Children of the World International Children?s Choir. Introduced in September of 2000, this special group of orphaned and disadvantaged children from nations around the world travels the U.S., ministering to churches, schools, conferences and special events. These children are not available for adoption, because World Help signed agreements with the respective governments that they would not pursue the adoption process, a condition necessary to get the children the proper passports and visas. The children benefit tremendously from the traveling, are given Bible instruction, and World Help intends to establish a College Education Fund for the youngsters.

Cross Culture: This is the latest aspect of World Help?s ministry. A six-member band with two worship leaders with experience in worship, mission and cross-cultural partnerships, it exists to provide an authentic worship experience; expand a community?s mission by challenging it; to journey to the unreached and share what they learn; to build bridges and develop relationships among Christ-followers; and, to focus on the areas in the world in the most need of hearing the Gospel. To accomplish this end, it has just released a CD, which can be heard on the ministry?s website.