Before 1940, a majority of foreign missions work was done by missionaries from Western Europe and North America. Since 1945 the pendulum has swung in a new direction. The torch has passed to indigenous missions. They have taken over virtually all the tasks that were formerly carried out by Europeans and Americans. Today, fully 90% of pioneer missionary work among unreached peoples is being done by native missionaries who are near neighbors of those being reached with the gospel. They serve with mission boards based within those regions.

Standing behind more than 800 of these indigenous missions is Christian Aid, making their work known and seeking financial assistance for thousands of gospel workers who have gone out on the fields of the world with no other means of support. The 800 plus ministries receiving financial assistance from Christian Aid deploy a combined total of more than 100,000 missionaries in the service of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Their primary goal is to plant Bible-believing church congregations of born-again Christians among those people and in those places where heretofore our Lord has had no people for His name. They also carry out all of the diverse ministries that were formerly the province of foreign missionaries from industrialized countries.

Of high importance among these are Bible institutes and missionary training centers to prepare workers for evangelism, church planting and Bible teaching. In mainland China alone Christian Aid supports hundreds of short term training programs that prepare over 30,000 workers for Christian service every year. These include 129 fully established Bible institutes that offer advanced instruction in Bible and missionary courses.

Indigenous missions also operate primary and secondary schools for thousands of children who otherwise would have no chance to learn. Plus medical clinics, orphanages, leprosariums and ministries to the deaf, maimed and blind.

They provide food, clothing and shelter for impoverished families in famine areas, and also for victims of fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, typhoons, wars and persecution.

Indigenous missions print and distribute Bibles and Christian literature in the languages of the people they reach. They make Bible translations into languages which have never had it before, and often reduce to writing newly discovered languages spoken by tribes that have never before had a written language.

Where facilities are available, native missionaries broadcast the gospel by radio and TV. They conduct open-air evangelistic meetings to audiences from 50 to 50,000. And, always, the object of every ministry is to establish self-supporting church congregations which bring the believers to maturity of faith in Christ.

Even though the local churches may be self-sufficient, most are located in lands of extreme poverty, or where unfriendly governments restrict religious freedom. So most of them have nothing extra that can be given for the support of missionary operations. Local churches can hardly meet their own needs in poorer countries. So native missionaries can only pray, and believe God to miraculously meet their needs.

That's where Christian Aid comes in. We seek out and evaluate native missionary operations to make sure. . . .

. . . they love the Lord and believe His Word.

. . . that He is using them in effective ways.

. . . that they are honest and accountable in handling finances.

Then we make their work known to churches and individual Christians in America to encourage financial and prayer support.