We have some exciting news! We’re partnering with Manna Worldwide to raise awareness of the human need in impoverished communities around the world. Manna Worldwide is doing work in thirty-seven countries with a focus on feeding children and nurturing their spiritual needs. This isn’t your typical non-profit missions organization, though.
Led by CEO, Bruce O’Neal, Manna Worldwide has managed to consistently maintain an overhead of less than ten percent. That means, at least, ninety percent of any contribution you make to Manna Worldwide goes directly to helping rescue children from the grip of poverty; this is the kind of wise stewardship we can get behind.
There are many reasons why your church should be involved in world missions; some of these reasons are strategic, and some of these reasons are spiritual. We live and breathe strategy at everything.church, so we put together the three most important strategic reasons your church should get involved with world missions.
1) any church, at any size, can get involved with missions
Believe it or not, not every church takes world missions seriously. As a matter of fact, according to The Traveling Team, only 6.4 percent of the revenue generated by churches worldwide is apportioned to world missions. On top of that, for every 216,300 people in the world, there is one full-time missionary. This means that every small step in the direction of supporting world missions has a larger impact that you might initially perceive.
The truth is, you don’t need to have a five thousand person congregation before you start taking world missions seriously. Your contribution, whatever the size, can make a real impact today. For instance, did you know that a $59 donation to Manna Worldwide supplies one million gallons of clean water, and feeds a child for two months? Also, planning a missions trip with Manna Worldwide for your church or student ministry is quite simple; the folks at Manna have taken all the “guess work” out of trip planning.
They also provide you with all the tools necessary for a church of any size to raise the funds needed to participate. By selling shoes through Manna’s “shoe unto others” program, and selling clean water filters, a church of any size can make an immediate impact while simultaneously raising money to take a trip.
Manna Worldwide has eliminated all the barriers that exist between your burden to reach a lost world and the actual means to do so.
2) meeting the human need will grow your church
At everything.church, we exist to do one single thing: help you build better churches. That’s why we can so confidently recommend working with Manna Worldwide and making missions a priority in your church. When your church meets the human need, you gain respect from the best of every religion and people group. Meeting human needs, like providing food and clean water demonstrates to your local community that your church is a player on the world stage.
After all, don’t we all have a great deal of respect for those who dedicate their lives to serving the “least of these?” At the core of the human heart is the desire to love and be loved; nothing demonstrates this quite like taking part in a movement dedicated to causes like ‘rescuing children from the grip of poverty.’
Also, whether you like it or not, someone who has been at your church for less than 18 months is seven times more likely to give to the human need over the local church. While this may sound like bad news up front, meeting the human need through world missions is an excellent way to teach generosity and introduce people to the idea of weekly giving for the first time. Giving needs to start somewhere, and this is a great entry point.
Ultimately, meeting human needs is a slam dunk for the reputation of your church, and will undoubtedly cause growth.
3) the face of every child represents an untold story
Life is full of inspirational moments that push us forward. However, there’s nothing quite as inspirational as the story of redemption, love, and hope. When you take a group on a trip with Manna Worldwide, that group gets to experience the stories that surround children escaping the grip of poverty. They get to experience redemption and hope first hand. After a week serving the needs of others, not only do they have a gracious new outlook on life, but they desire to share that story with others.
When your church tells the untold story of a child born into a broken world, that same story has added value. It makes their struggle worth something more because the world is being made aware of the timeless need to take James 1:27 more seriously. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
More importantly, when you have the privilege and opportunity to personally spend time with these children, you become a part of their story. Your investment in their lives shapes their adulthood, and could even be the single thing that inspires them to be a world changer like you.
So as we encounter pastors and churches who are looking to expand their missions initiatives and make a global impact, we’re going to be exclusively sending them to Manna Worldwide. Not only do we wholeheartedly believe in the vision and mission of Manna Worldwide, but we also wholeheartedly believe in the visionaries and leadership team behind Manna Worldwide. I have never met a more passionate and committed group of people in my life. I know you’re going to love serving alongside these awesome men and women.
TK Dennis
Chief Executive Officer
TK has worked in the church for over a decade and brings years of executive leadership experience along with years of experience in media and technology. TK has a Masters in Public Administration and is an expert of navigating the minefield of procedural issues churches experience. He’s not quite so stuffy though; he is vibrantly creative and understands what it takes to create and plan a weekend from start to finish including video, music, and production.