Community Health Evangelism

Disease, deplorable living conditions, and lack of water or sanitation are overwhelming issues in urban poor communities and rural villages worldwide. But there are workable solutions to these heath problems. One successful strategy is Community Health Evangelism (CHE, pronounced “chay”). Through CHE, we develop holistic ministries that provide ways to break the grip of poverty and demonstrate the love of Christ.

CHE seeks to transform individual lives physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually in order to bring change to the community. The primary goal of CHE is to teach people how to do things for themselves with the resources they have, integrated with physical and spiritual teaching.

CHE includes instruction on hygiene, clean water, safe cooking, latrines, healthcare, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, and other basic life issues. Many come to Christ through the training, as well as when the communities begin to clean up and promote holistic health. The impact has been so great that church leaders ask for CHE training so they can care for new believers.

As CHE leaders are trained, they begin to equip others so that a community oversees its own program. This allows outsiders to step back and to act as consultants or resources instead of leaders.

Microenterprise is an extension of the CHE strategy, which provides for and encourages income-generating activities for the poor, often in partnership with a local church. Vocational training enables individuals to learn skills that will enable them to be gainfully employed through their own business or another local business.

CHE outreach is committed to developing Christian leadership as programs are oriented toward reaching non-Christians through evangelism, follow-up, and discipleship. An empowered Church brings the community together and shares Christ, which results in transformed lives for eternity.

We currently have CHE programs among the urban poor in our Hope Partnership program in Nairobi, Kenya; Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Mexico City and Pachuca, Mexico; and in rural settings among the Maasai in Kenya; the Agni and Attíe in Ivory Coast; several tribal groups in Tanzania; the Oromo and Gumuz of Ethiopia; the Jula of Burkina Faso. During 2009, CHE programs will be initiated in urban centers of closed countries in Asia and Central Asia.