Monday, March 14, 2011
Gospel-centered Japan relief organizations: whom to support, and why?
At the end of this post, I invited readers to detail which Christian Gospel-oriented relief organization they would recommend, and why. I'm afraid that it got lost as an update, so I am singling out that question.
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Samaritan's Purse is flying people out right now, at the request of Christians in Japan. They're a favorite of mine.
I like Children's Hunger Fund.
Their mission statement: Children's Hunger Fund seeks to alleviate the suffering of children by equipping God's Church to communicate the Gospel through effective compassion ministry.
Another interesting factoid from their website: CHF is well-known for program efficiency. Since 1991, Children's Hunger Fund has given an average of 99% of its revenue to programs serving children in need.
I like Medical Teams International,formerly Northwest Medical Teams.
Their mission, from their website: To demonstrate the love of Christ to people affected by disaster, conflict and poverty around the world.
Members of EFCA, and their financial reports are available on their website. 98% of funds go to programs/services, 2% to overhead. They have just begun collecting for Japan, they have been to disasters all over the world.
It's probably where my donations will go.
Cindy, Samaritan's Purse is associated with Franklin Graham, who (of course) is associated with Billy, so I wonder: do they preach the Gospel? They aren't simply "Here, take a sandwich, God bless you"? Do you know?
I'm partial to Churches Helping Churches.
Gospel-centeredness comes in two ways. First, in caring especially for those with whom we are united by the strongest possible bond, common faith in Christ. Second, in so doing we put them in a better position to minister in the midst of the chaos around them. The organization provides immediate aid and long-term assistance in rebuilding, training, equipping, etc.
All of the ministries are quoted are all good. Many have different goals. There are others such as World Vision and Food for the Poor (the latter not being on that assist in Japan's region). All of them are Christian and claim to share the gospel. All are excellent as far as aid distribution and financial responsibility. But without actually being on a mission trip, it would be difficult to tell which is better at the gospel part of the aid.
Our congregation will be sending the help relief fund to Asia Haarvest.
Asia Harvest have local contacts on the ground who are involved in relief efforts. http://asiaharvest.org/pages/projects.html
Dan, when Samaritan's Purse distribute their famous shoe boxes for Christmas, I think they put gospel tracts (or at least Christian literature) inside the shoe boxes.
FWIW, every time I've seen Franklin interviewed on TV, even CNN, he always finds a way to get the Gospel into his answers - he's very outspoken on behalf of the Gospel, IMO, and, unlike his father, has not been corrupted by any political alliances.
Just sayin'....
Franklin Graham, if I'm not mistaken, got a lot of criticism a few years back for saying Christ is the only way to salvation. (gasp!) In general, he seems to be much more solid than his father, theologically speaking.
I love Children's Hunger Fund, but their website says they have no active networks in Japan and are mostly directing resources to their partners (who may not be the sort of gospel-centered relief you had in mind).
Churches Helping Churches seems to have potential, although they're only a year old.
Justin Taylor is plugging CRASH http://www.crashjapan.com/ which seems to be a ministry of this Tokyo church: http://www.gcfjapan.com/
At the moment, any of my five cats is sounder than Billy Graham. Well, except Lucy. Pretty sure she's apostate.
hahaha
Okay, I looked it up. It was just last year, actually (it seems like 3 or 4 years!). He got disinvited from the Pentagon's National Day of Prayer service because of an interview he had given to USA Today where he had the audacity to affirm the truth that Muslims, Hindus, and Christians don't all worship the same God.
http://www.christianexaminer.com/Articles/Articles%20May10/Art_May10_01.html
I hesitate to say this, but many are unaware that the Southern Baptist Convention's disaster relief wing is the second largest disaster relief agency in the United States, second only to the Red Cross.
I believe that the international wing of this is known as Baptist Global Response, and I believe that they are already accepting donations.
My husband has been involved with Southern Baptist Disaster Relief during Katrina and several tornado recoveries in southern Alabama.
We both went through the initial training program to get certified to serve. Part of the training was learning to share the gospel message with individuals so they know why you're doing whatever you're doing.
They are extremely organized and efficient.
Mission to the World - I personally have been involved in two disaster responses with Mission to the World so know what they do first-hand. They are invited into country by long-term missionaries on the ground and work with the churches and missionaries there. They provide to the medical, spiritual, and emotional needs of the people there and have always maintained a long-term presence. In other words, they aren't a come in, rescue, then leave kind of organization. They are committed to long-term work.
You can't forget Operation Blessing International (OBI) (community.ob.org) and World Vision (www.worldvision.org/). Charity Navigator rates both at 4-stars (OBI has 99% of expenses going to relief). Not sure where to direct your relief? Donate to both! Now!
While I'm aware that Billy has gone completely off the reservation, I still have confidence in the work of Samaritan's Purse, so they are our default organization for giving to stricken countries around the world. If that changes, we will rethink. Their website states that they are working with evangelical churches in Japan in their distribution effort; their statement of faith continues to stress the Gospel of Jesus Christ so I'm pretty comfortable giving to them. They've been doing this for years and they do it well.
What would be pretty cool if all of Dan's regulars went on a mission trip together.
Does anyone know about this organization:
http://crashjapan.com/
They have updated their website with what they are doing now, and the conditions they are facing.
Billy Graham has said some troubling things, but I don't think he's in the same category of bad as Brian McLaren, whom World Vision has associated with.
http://www.worldvision.com.au/act/attendevents/09-01-15/Where_faith_meets_the_world_An_evening_with_Brian_McLaren.aspx?Events=EventItem
http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/worldvision.htm
I’ve been following and enjoying your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.
In answer to your question...and this appearently won't be a very popular answer, but it's mine just the same.
I'd send my support thru ANY Christian org. that preached the whole counsel of God i.e. Faith,repentance, confession, and baptism to those they were assisting.
And as Forrest Gump would say..."that's all I have to say about that."
I'm 4 pages back on your follow wedgit.
We can quibble about the theology of relief orgs, but at some point we need to react to the present need and give the people of Japan assistance. Effective relief requires access to infrastructure, speed of deployment, and efficient distribution of resources. If Samaritan's Purse is able to achieve those objectives, I'm not going to let my disagreements with Billy Graham stand in the way (...and I won't even mention the Red Cross here, lol).
Our local Moody affiliate airs commercials for World Vision and they get on my last nerve. Each ad features some person they have "helped" through their....relief organization....and they're never about spiritual matters. It's always about someone being able to get an education so she can start a business, someone getting a micro-loan so he can grow and sell crops, etc.
While those things are all fine things to help people with, don't you think that on a Christian station you'd want to mention the spiritual aspect of your work if that is a priority for your...organization? Maybe it's just poor marketing, but it's really turned me off to that group.
Seconding (or fourthing) Samaritan's Purse. I always call the kids in when Franklin is on a news show because he will always find a way to get the gospel in, no matter how short the segment. He can be talking about cholera and diarrhea and suddenly turn on a dime and give a 30-second gospel presentation. I'm always so impressed and humbled.
"That's right, Greta, when people have diarrhea and are spending hours in the outhouse, they need IV fluids and they need to contemplate their eternal destiny and their sinful state and know that God sent his son, Jesus, who suffered and died on a cross and rose again so that if they repent and trust Christ as their savior he will forgive their sins and give them eternal life with him in heaven."
I've volunteered locally at an Operation Christian Child collection center and they do put tracts in all the boxes except for those destined for countries where it would be unsafe to do so (i.e. some Muslim countries). However, it's still a good thing that these countries are allowing Christian workers in and allowing them to provide gifts for the children.
Families donating filled boxes are also encouraged to write personal notes to the children who will be receiving the boxes.
I guess I never took the time to really look through the World Vision website before these past few days. Thanks to you and your readers for pointing out the McLaren (and others) connection.
Our church is working with the Japanese Evangelical Mission Association (JEMA; http://www.jema.org/). As it turns out, they in turn are working with the abovementioned CRASH Japan.
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