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Message World ReliefA STORY OF GOD AT WORK

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin…” − Zechariah 4:10a NLT

“NATION-WIDE CALL FOR CLOTHING AS N.A.E. OPENS WAR RELIEF CAMPAIGN.” The September 1944 issue of United Evangelical Action magazine had hit mailboxes — the bold headline called for donations with an urgency fit for the worst displacement crisis in recorded history. World War II was entering its sixth and final year. When it was all over, an estimated 65 million people would be displaced across Europe.Five months prior, in the spring of 1944, members of Park Street Church in Boston, MA fasted throughout the Lenten season. They saved their extra funds in glass jars, which were collected on Easter and donated as a special oering to help those displaced by war. Over time, their eort was replicated and grew into a nationwide, cross-denominational partnership among churches in the U.S.By 1945, 15,000 pounds of clothing had been shipped to Bel-gium, and a warehouse was opened in Manhattan to store and ship additional donations. In the 1950s, the response had expanded so far beyond the initial campaign, that the “War Relief Campaign” was ocially renamed “World Relief” — the organization you know today.

“ere are thousands of ragged and hungry men, women and children in Europe at this time ... ey are undernourished, their homes in ruins and they have no means for earning a living. Our brethren are still too poor to buy, too proud to beg and too honest to steal. How else can they get the bare necessities of life unless we, who have so much, share God’s plenty with them?” − Frank Lombar, ExEcutivE SEcrEtary War rELiEF commiSSion, 1948

A STORY OF GOD AT WORKOur world is full of stories. At World Relief, the very fabric of our being has been knit together by an abundance of stories just like this one — stories of God at work, of solidarity with the suering and the marginalized, of people saying “yes” to God’s call and co-authoring this story along with us.For 80 years, World Relief has sought to discern the movement of God and respond to it. Our character molded by our dependence on God and our identity formed by the countless individuals and communities who have followed God’s call and allowed their lives and experiences to be used to shape who we are and what we do.What started as a small ministry of a single church in Boston has grown to include a myriad of stories from individuals, churches, part-ner organizations and even governments — many of whom are still walking alongside us today.

MOVING THROUGH THE 1950sStep back to the 1950s, just five years after World War II ended when South Korea was experiencing war and upheaval. Churches and indi-viduals in the U.S. were shocked to find themselves embroiled in the war and equally appalled at the suering of innocent civilians living in Korea. Together, they responded through World Relief, setting up tuberculosis clinics, supporting orphanages, planting churches and sending surplus food to hungry families. In all, World Relief created 140 feeding centers and provided 31,000 hot meals a day.In the 1960s, another thread of our story began to emerge when Dong Han and Jung Ja Kim left Korea and immigrated to the U.S. When they arrived, they found a country in upheaval dealing with social and political unrest. It was quite a time to learn how to be an American. And yet, it was people of faith who welcomed them with hope and hospitality. It was the Lutheran pastor who provided them with guidance as they settled into a new country, and the Irish Catholic family in whose basement they lived with their children for a few years.Today, Don Han and Jung Ja’s son, Walter Kim serves as President and CEO of the National Association of Evangelicals, World Relief’s

parent organization. It is a position and a story that Walter could not have written for himself. It’s a story that has deeply intertwined his work with his family story as he partners with World Relief to extend hope and hospitality to refugees and other immigrants in the U.S., and to people in need all across the globe.UNITING U.S. CHURCHES IN THE 1960s & 70sA decade after Walter’s family arrived in the U.S., Evelyn and Grady Mangham picked up the pen to coauthor their chapter of the World Relief story.The couple had spent 20 years serving as missionaries in Vietnam through the Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA). They built a life amidst war and political upheaval, forming friendships and raising their four children in Vietnam. They returned to the U.S. in 1967, settling in Nyack, New York where Grady worked at the CMA headquarters. Meanwhile, the Vietnam War had divided Americans. Yet, World Relief’s work in Vietnam united evangelical Christians across denom-inations. Churches who opposed the war and others who believed it to be a “just war” worked side-by-side to send food and clothing to

“Mom and Dad and the sta at World Relief just really believed that the resettlement of refugees ought to be done by the church because the church in America would experience the love of Christ as these refugees came into their lives — and it was the truth! Churches were transformed because of these people, Christians or not. Congregations began to recognize the love of God… in tangible ways, and then they watched those same people come in and sit in the front row of the church. It just changed the worship experience in America in so many ways.” − conniE FairchiLd, daughtEr oF EvELynand grady mangham

those who were suering in Vietnam. They sup-ported educational programming, agricultural and job training, as well as health and medical aid. From 1969 to 1975, the U.S. Marines even turned the Hoa Khanh Children’s Hospital over to World Relief. For the next six years, World Relief would care for more than 125,000 patients in that 120-bed hospital.When the war ended in 1975, World Relief was forced to evacuate. It was around that time that Evelyn and Grady began receiving calls from their friends in Vietnam — it was no longer safe for them to remain in the country. Could the Manghams help them resettle in the U.S.?With the help of their friends Tin and Kim Nguyê˜ n, a Vietnamese couple who was already living stateside, they got to work. They cold-called every church within the CMA network and asked them to support Vietnamese refugees as they arrived. Although the Manghams and Nguy ns fully believed that the church was called to wel-come refugees, some were resistant.Evelyn recalls speaking with a pastor who, when asked if his congregation would support a refugee family, said, “Evelyn, we can’t do it. We’re putting in a parking lot.” To which she replied, “A parking lot? These are people!”

Two hours after the conversation ended the pastor called back, “You’re right,” he said. “We are not going to put in a parking lot. We’re going to help some people and we’ll give you two years.”As more refugees from Southeast Asia continued to arrive, Grady and Evelyn ran out of CMA congregations to call upon so Evelyn began cold-calling pastors from the directory of the National Association of Evangelicals, expanding their outreach to Baptists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, Wesleyans and others. When she encountered resis-tance, Evelyn reminded the pastors of the repeated injunctions in scripture to welcome and care for “the stranger.”Soon, the resettlement eort which had previously been stew-arded by the CMA and Lutheran World Relief, was brought under the umbrella of World Relief — bringing our work to support suering and displaced people overseas to the U.S. In 1979 Grady, who was overseeing all of World Relief’s resettlement eorts, signed a con-tract with the U.S. State Department making World Relief the first and only evangelical organization authorized to resettle refugees at the time. Since then, with the help of volunteers and local churches, World Relief has welcomed more than 400,000 refugees and other immigrants to the U.S.

Since 1979, with the help of volunteers and local churches, World Relief has welcomed more than 400,000 refugees and other immigrants to the U.S.

THREADING HOPE ACROSS THEGLOBEOver the next four decades, innumerable stories of faith, commitment and curiosity would continue to shape World Relief as we began to understand the uniquely powerful role the local church could play in poor, and especially remote, communities. We began to see the importance of trust and rela-tionship building, and of partnering with communi-ties as they took ownership of their own destinies rather than depending on outside interventions. Take our work in Rwanda where, immediately following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi, World Relief was one of the first international organizations to respond. Emmanuel Ngoga, a humble, soft-spoken man of deep faith answered the call to serve and became one of our first sta members in the country.For nearly 25 years, Emmanuel’s compassionate love and quiet, spirit-filled wisdom built a reservoir of trust with local communities and churches that helped heal the nation and paved the way for our work to flourish.As Rwanda began the long hard work of recov-ering from war, HIV/AIDs emerged as an inter-secting crisis of mass proportions. Initially, church leaders refused to help those suering under the weight of this terrible disease, believing that AIDs

“I remember my brother Emmanual asking the pastors one compelling question... ‘What did [Jesus] do when he came across people with leprosy? Itwas prohibited to touch them, but what did Jesusdo?’ ... God would actually love and heal. IfJesus was standing in our place here, he would love and heal.” − cypriEn nkiriyumWami

must be a punishment from God. However, through his powerful min-istry of presence, Emmanuel had developed a respect within local communities that made way for heart change that opened doors to hundreds of churches and homes, allowing our sta to come along-side families and communities in transformative ways.“I remember my brother, Emmanuel, asking the pastors one very compelling question,” recalled Cyprien Nkiriyumwami, who worked alongside Emmanuel, “‘...if Jesus was at your place, what do you think he would do? If you get your inspiration from the Bible, what did [Jesus] do when he came across people with leprosy? It was prohibited to touch them, but what did Jesus do?’“The pastors began looking at each other. One unanimous answer came out of their talk — God would actually love and heal. If Jesus was standing in our place here, he would love and heal.”Meanwhile, 1200 miles south, a man named Dr. Pieter Ernst was working for World Relief in Mozambique. In an eort to address high levels of child mortality in remote communities with no access to healthcare clinics, he piloted an innovative program to reach women and communities with education that encouraged healthy behav-iors. His work resulted in the creation of our Care Group model — a model that has since been adopted by more than 25 NGOs in over 28 countries, benefiting millions of people worldwide.

And then there was Debbie Dortzbach, a young American nurse who was working in a mission hospital in Ethiopia in 1974 when rebels armed with machine guns and grenades burst into the hospital. She and another missionary nurse named Anna were abducted and forced to run across the mountains of Northern Ethiopia in 104-degree heat. When Anna couldn’t keep up, the rebels shot and killed her while Debbie looked on in horror. Debbie, who was pregnant at the time, was held in captivity for 26 agonizing days.While some may have turned their backs on their calling after such an ordeal, Debbie later settled in Nairobi, where she joined World Relief and found herself responding to the HIV/AIDS crisis that was beginning to engulf the continent. Debbie’s innovative determination would lead to the creation of Families for Life, a couple’s strength-ening program that is used in countries across the globe today.IMPROVISING IN STEP WITH THESPIRITAs we reflect on these stories of faithful commitment, we are struck by the fact that no amount of central planning, no government orga-nization or think-tank could ever have assembled the people and the pieces that have contributed to the World Relief story. Only the

e real essence of World Relief is found in the heart of everypastor who prays, everydonor who gives, everyvolunteer who serves, everyprogram participant who celebrates growth and transformation and everycongregation who humbly says “yes” to being the hands and feet of Jesus intheircommunities.

hand of God, the movement of his spirit and the faithful obedience of people like the Manghams, the Nguyns, Emmanuel, Debbie and Dr. Pieter could write such a beautiful and unexpected story.At World Relief, our fluid approach to our changing world reflects what New Testament scholar, N.T. Wright has described as “obedient improvisation” — faithful to scriptural authority and tradition, but alive to our time, open to new learning and discoveries and constantly seeking out what story God might be writing on the margins and joining it.Today, our story continues to be written by people like Tatyana Sigidina who, herself a former ref-ugee from Ukraine, now mobilizes Slovik churches in Chicagoland to welcome and support Ukrainian refugees as they arrive in the U.S.It’s being written by faith leaders like Marie Claire, one of the 11,000+ leaders who helped deliver critical health messages to their communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. And by teens like Sifa who, after seeing the positive impact World Relief Savings Groups had on her family in Rwanda, decided to start her own savings group for kids ages 6-11 so she and her friends could learn about savings and finance.Our story continues thanks to partners like George Cook who supports our work in Kenya, and congregations like Park Street who continue to part-ner with us today. It is made possible by church leaders like Pastor Audrique in Haiti, and by more than 95,000 volunteers like Rodney in Memphis and Leocadie in Burundi.

As we look back over 80 years of World Relief, we are reminded that even in the bleakest of circumstances, hope exists when the church shows up as Jesus modeled, to walk alongside those who are hurting and create lasting change right here in our local communities and in communities all across the globe.Today, we see how God has brought together for such a time as this, a global network of local churches and faithful followers of Jesus who are passionate about caring for their neighbors in their greatest times of need — people who don’t want to just do church, but who want to be the church. People like you.The real essence of World Relief is found in the heart of every pas-tor who prays, every donor who gives, every volunteer who serves, every program participant who celebrates growth and transformation and every congregation who humbly says “yes” to being the hands and feet of Jesus in their communities.You are the real World Relief, and we thank you for co-author-ing this story of restoration and renewal that God has so graciously entrusted us with.*Segments of this story have been adapted from articles written by Matthew Soerens, Tim Breene and Jerry Ballard.

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is nally nished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” − Philippians 1:6 NLT