NGOs

It has been less than 24 hours since the death of David Wilkerson, the beloved founding pastor of Times Square Church in Manhattan, N.Y., founder of Teen Challenge, and bestselling author of The Cross and the Switchblade. David was 79 years old when he died.

Don Wilkerson, 71, the youngest brother of David, spoke to The Christian Post Thursday morning about the backstory of his brother’s work with gang members and drug addicts in New York City, and the qualities that endeared him to the youths that roamed the dangerous streets of “the city that never sleeps.”

Besides being the brother of David Wilkerson, Don is the co-founder of Times Square Church and co-founder of Teen Challenge. He is currently the director of Teen Challenge Brooklyn – the first Teen Challenge center that opened 53 years ago. There are now 233 Teen Challenge centers in the United States and 1,181 centers in total worldwide. Teen Challenge is an evangelical Christian recovery and discipleship program that teaches biblical principles to help young adults struggling with addictions, including drug and alcohol problems. more >>

The Evangelical Free Church of America, in partnership with national believers in India, plans to open a women’s center next week to provide a physical and spiritual haven for victims of human trafficking.

The launch date for Mutki Women’s Center in India is set for March 15.

Sharon (last name withheld for security reasons), a leader for the project said, “Still several things need to come together but March 15th is definitely the tentative plan.” more >>

After three years of weakening support for charities, Americans indicated that they are more likely to increase donations this year, according to a study released Monday.

This is the first time since the recession began that Americans said they are more likely to increase their giving to charity than decrease their support, found the annual Dunham+Company New Year’s Philanthropy Survey, conducted by Wilson Research Strategies.

Nearly 1 in 5 respondents (18 percent) said they plan to increase their giving in 2011, marking a 29 percent increase in households compared to 2010. There was a 48 percent drop in the number of households that said they plan to decrease their giving and a 20 percent jump in households that said their giving will stay the same. more >>

With Sri Lanka facing its worst natural disaster since the 2004 tsunami, Christian aid agencies are providing emergency relief to those affected by the heavy monsoon rains.

Caritas Internationalis is supporting some 100,000 people suffering from flooding in Sri Lanka.

“Some areas are difficult to access and people are trapped there. Rivers are overflowing, dams [are] breaking and the main roads can’t be used,” reports Fr. George Sigamoney, secretary general of Caritas Sri Lanka. more >>

It is one year later, but most of the 1.5 million people displaced by the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti are still living in tents in squalid conditions. But for a fortunate few, a new home funded or partially built by American churches will arrive this year.

Haiti Transformed, a ministry of Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas, has, as of this date, built 48 homes for Haitian quake victims in the city of Leogane, about 20 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince. The church’s goal is to construct a total of 100 homes for the families living in a tent village there.

The church moved close to reaching that goal when university-aged students at the Passion 2011 conference in Atlanta donated $140,400 to Haiti Transformed, or enough to build another 39 homes. more >>

If Southern Sudan were to form its own country as a result of the ongoing referendum, it would only be the start of a long journey to overcoming the poverty and underdevelopment it has suffered since Sudan gained independence from Britain and Egypt more than 50 years ago.

But in the midst of a rural community where villagers are mostly living in mud huts, Akot Medical Mission center, founded by evangelical Christian organization Mustard Seed International, has been operating for over four years.

Since the facility opened its doors to patients on October 1, 2006, the impact on the community where the sick would have had to walk two to three days to see a doctor in the past, has been significant. more >>