Morning Light (Yengat Birhan) is a refuge for the needy, serving 243 widows, single mothers, and orphans in the slums outside of Addis Ababa. Women receive job training, health care, counseling, and income-generating opportunities. With this support, they gain self-esteem and can provide for the basic needs of their families. Morning Light’s holistic approach to ministry meets physical needs while sharing the hope and refuge found in Christ.
CEMIPRE began as a ministry in 2003, became a Chilean foundation in 2013, and currently serves over 60 individuals with vision impairment (low vision or blindness). While the average age of a participant is 50, this year CEMIPRE added occupational therapy services for children ages 5–16. Every service—occupational, speech, and language therapy; Braille instruction; and computer literacy training—is bathed in the gospel. Rather than focusing on a diagnosis or a disability, the ministry highlights each participant’s value and dignity.
CEMIPRE involves family and friends as much as possible to educate and encourage program participants. A devoted group of local pastors and church members teach beneficiaries 30-minute devotionals twice a week. Local church involvement has increased over the years; a change from rejecting people with disabilities to welcoming them into their fellowships.
Royal Nest is a tuition-free Christian school for impoverished children in the slums of Monrovia, Liberia. With 84 percent of the population living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day, Liberia is one of the poorest countries in the world. Royal Nest helps 500 underprivileged children break the cycle of poverty through education. Each year Royal Nest hosts community outreach days on Liberia’s Independence Day (July 26) and Christmas Day where 300 community children gather for a meal, clothing distribution, and special gifts. The ministry also hosts a soccer program so children can develop positive friendships and cultivate team-building skills.
Reformed Hearts Orphans Center (RHOC) cares for 35 orphans within seven homes at RHOC and with families from their local church. The children in their care are orphaned from the AIDS/HIV epidemic and political unrest. RHOC believes “that every child deserves a loving home, a family and parents or caretakers who cater to the child’s physical and emotional well – being and development. We believe that children belong in homes and families and not in institutions.” It is with this commitment that RHOC is caring for orphans in the name of Christ, instructing them in solid, Biblical teaching.