Empower international partners to recover from COVID impact

Benjamin Chan

July 1, 2023

In response to the impact of the COVID pandemic, in 2021,International Ministries (IM) organized the Leadership Development Training to assist more than 600 seminarians, pastors and church leaders in South Asia to understand the issue and share ways to care for their congregations in this challenging time. Five books from the teachers’ presentations were published and distributed. In 2022, IM organized the Christian Social Enterprise Training for more than 300 seminarians, pastors, church and NGO leaders in South Asia to enrich their understanding of wholistic gospel, and learn to include the provision of jobs and the improvement of quality of life as part of the wholistic mission of Shalom and God’s Kingdom. IM has also provided Seed Award Grants to 16 businesses selected from the training graduates through an application process.

In 2023, to continue the momentum of helping our international partners to build their financial capacity, IM has focused on two areas of empowerment: (1) providing OGHS, Palmer, Roblee, Lipphard and other grants to sponsor the recovery and development projects of international partners; (2) Global Servant Katie and Taku Longkumer establishing an Economic and Community Transformation Think Tank in South Asia, starting with ten NGOs and social arms of partner conventions. The first Think Tank Conference will be held in India in the fall of this year.

Here are some of the organizations and projects which received grants administered by IM. Please pray for their hard work.

* The China Christian Council to promote Employment for Drug Addicts Program in Guizhou Province

* The Nanjing Union Theological Seminary in China to develop its doctoral program

* The Amity Foundation in China to provide an ambulance to the Cenggong County Maternal and Child Health Hospital.

* The ABM Swatow Baptist Church Community Service Association to start the Sun Ariseth Project to serve financially struggling families in Hong Kong

* The Hong Kong Christian Council’s Ecumenical Summer School to engage seminary and college students in social service and theological reflection

* The Nepal Baptist Church Council to organize the Teach the Children Program

* The Elijah Counselling and Training Centre in Nepal to organize Psychological and Counseling Training

* LEADS, Sri Lanka to run the Emergency Food Provision Program

* The Real Hope Church, Mongolia, to start a Job Provision and Income-Generating Project

* The Commission on Anti-Human Trafficking in India to strengthen its Prevention, Intervention and Rehabilitation in Human Trafficking Program

* The Commission on Mission in India to organize a Mission Conference on Collaboration to strengthen cooperation and synergy of missional churches

* The Christian Medical College and Hospital in Vellore, India to start the Jawadhi Hills Model Villages Project

* The Eastern Theological College in Jorhat, Assam to construct a graduate students hostel

* The North East Christian University to construct the Centre for Advanced Religious Studies and Capacity Training Centre

*The Council of Baptist Churches in North East India to construct the Jubilee Self Reliance Building.

* The ABFM Legacy Trust, India to establish the Economic and Community Transformation Think Tank to network and empower Christian NGOs in South Asia

Pictures:

Top: The Elijah Counselling and Training Centre in Nepal to organize Psychological and Counseling Training

1^st picture after the text: The Real Hope Church Mongolia Job  Provision and Income-Generating Project;

2^nd picture: Sun Ariseth Project to serve financially struggling families in Hong Kong; 3^rd picture: