Bringing dignity to developing communities

World Servants is working alongside Daniel Schimenes and his organization, One Challenge International, in Brazil. They have a passion to help communities in Brazil by sharing the Gospel and encouraging them through meeting physical needs. If you consider yourself or your group adventurous, then you’ll appreciate the three-hour boat ride to Ariri, where there are very few vehicles, dirt roads, and no gas station. Ariri is a village unlike most others in Brazil. Its unique location, nestled in the coastal waters south of Sao Paulo, and its isolation from the modern world, have left it relatively unchanged for centuries. The people of Ariri have lived there all their lives, fishing in the waters surrounding the island.

World Servants partners with Pastor Leroy Gordon and his wife, Marcia, who lead the Christian Community Fellowship Church in Catadupa, Jamaica. World Servants has been working with Pastor Leroy since 1990. During that time teams have built two schools and the community center, renovated classrooms around the parish, and completed many other projects. The church also runs a thriving preschool and kindergarten for children 3-5 years old.

The partnership between World Servants’ mission teams and our host community has been significant for everyone involved. Jamaicans receive encouragement, prayer, and tangible help, while people from the United States are challenged in their faith by involvement with hope-filled Jamaican believers.

World Servants began short-term mission trips in the Dominican Republic (DR) in 1986. The World Servants DR office has hosted World Servants’ teams for three decades. Partnerships with several communities means every year hundreds of World Servants volunteers work in the DR building schools, community centers, dispensaries and other community development projects.

The partnership between World Servants, mission teams, and our host community is significant for everyone. Dominicans receive encouragement, prayer and tangible help, while people from the United States will be challenged in their faith by involvement with hope-filled Dominican believers.

We are working in Wheelwright, Kentucky, located in the eastern part of the state in Floyd County. Kentucky is part of the Cumberland Plateau of the Appalachian Mountain Range. It has a rich cultural heritage beginning with the mound-building Adena Indians, through the civil war, to the coal camps that sprang up and faded as fast as the coal could be mined. The region is now a center for art and music through the Mountain Arts Center.

This area has many aspects of beauty from its lush wooded mountains to its colorful inhabitants that call this their home. With all of the beauty of the mountainous landscape there are many challenges that the communities and families face on a daily basis. The median income for a household in this area is $14,808 annually. The needs can range from leaking roofs, homes needing insulation, and families struggling to provide the basic necessities, as about 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

World Servants is working alongside Peru Hope in the city of Huaycan, a suburb of Lima, Peru. Huaycan is home to thousands of immigrant settlers from different parts of Peru, looking to improve their standard of living and job opportunities in the city of Lima. It is one of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital of Peru.

The people living in Huaycan are hard-working, friendly and family-oriented. The normal household income is less than $9,000.00 per year. Living conditions are simple, but challenging. Most families live in one or two room houses made of handmade mud bricks/wood and thatched roofs with kitchens and latrines located outside.

World Servants first came to Jellico in June, 2000. Over the past few years, our partnership with local leaders, Good Soil Ministries, and the Woodland Community Organization has grown and is now key to our work in Tennessee today. Together we are working to meet the needs of this community.

Located between Knoxville, TN, and Lexington, KY, Jellico is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. The scenery is breathtaking and people are very friendly. Its native inhabitants represented a variety of Native American tribal groups. Tennessean’s passion for the outdoors and love for music, especially fiddles and other stringed instruments, speak of their early European roots even to this day.

Today, Jellico has a population of approximately 2,400. During its ‘boom days’ until the 1960’s, when coal was king, the population was more than 10,000. Times have changed—sixty percent of its current citizens are on government assistance, the schools are struggling with resources, and employment is a problem.

We are excited to announce that we are now serving in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! Partnering with Productive Lives and Cornerstone Community Church, two ministries already well-established in that area, we will focus our work in two sections of the city, namely, Kensington and South Philly. Cam Garven, head of Productive Lives and long-time volunteer and mission leader of World Servants, has been serving in Kensington with his church and family for many years. He, along with Joe Darrow and Andy Schultz, who have been pastors for more than 20 years, will be our community leaders. Opportunities abound for rehabbing homes/outreach buildings, food distribution, and outreaches to the neighborhood. Our hope is to mobilize teams that desire to serve people in need.

The intention of World Servants is to bring a “hand up” and a message of hope. Needs in the community can range from leaking roofs, homes needing insulation, and families struggling to provide the basic necessities, as the majority of the population lives below the poverty line.

Ecuador is on the Pacific side of South America bordered by Columbia, Brazil, and Peru. World Servants is working along-side the Emanuel Christian School to assist in constructing classrooms for their K-12 school in the town of Macas, Ecuador. Macas is a town of about 30,000 inhabitants on the southeast side of Ecuador. It is often called the “Emerald of the East” because it lies just east of the Andes Mountains. The school has been a beacon of light that brings hope to the community.

The people living in Macas are hard-working, friendly and family-oriented. The main industries are oil, forestry, fisheries and assorted others. The average family household income is between $4,000 and $6,000 per year. Living conditions are simple, but challenging. There is a large population of rural peoples.

World Servants is working alongside the community of Iviani, which is located about 5 miles from Mitito Andei, a small community about halfway between Nairobi and Mombasa, Kenya. This is an area inhabited by people from the Maasai and Kamba tribes.

The people living in the Iviani area are hard-working, friendly and family-oriented. The normal household income is less than $3,000 per year. Living conditions are simple, but challenging. Most families live in one or two room houses made of handmade mud bricks/wood and thatched roofs with kitchens and latrines located outside.

The purpose of this mission experience is to help our Navajo partners in the development of their community while building relationships with the wonderful community members we get the great opportunity to serve alongside. We go as learners and listeners with servant hearts open to what God has prepared for us to do. The hope is that when trip participants return home they will be open to helping others in need locally and expand their efforts around the world.

The construction projects usually consist of home renovations such as roof repair and ramp building as well as home builds. The team will also have an opportunity to have Kids’ Club for the children in the community.

World Servants is working alongside the community of Rio Grande to complete the work on the primary school. Rio Grande is located in the mountains near the mountain community of Constanza. It is a very poor but proud community. The school has been a beacon of light that is bringing hope to the community.

The people living in Rio Grande are hard-working, friendly and family-oriented. The normal household income is less than $3,000.00 per year. Living conditions are simple, but challenging. Most families live in one or two room houses made of wood, with tin roofs—often with kitchens and latrines located outside the house.

Outside of the not so sleepy town of Salcedo lies a very special place, the focus of this mission trip. Jardín del Eden happens to be the highest government-rated orphanage in the country, although you may not have recognized this fate at its humble beginnings. The orphanage was founded by Roberto Altamirano in 1989. Growing up in an orphanage himself, when Roberto reached university age and began his studies, he set about paying regular visits to prisoners at the local jail in his free time. In these Ecuador prisons, shockingly many children were left with no choice but to live in jail with their condemned fathers. They had no other home. Small cells would at times hold several children, where cold floors served as their only bedding. Sharing what little food they were offered and participating in the daily prison drills constituted the new lives of these forgotten youths.

As the years passed, the children’s social neglect became more and more obvious to the Salcedo residents, but no one would offer a solution. One day a prisoner said to Roberto, “Nice of you to come visiting and talking, but you are like all the others. You just talk, but you don’t act. Go do something.” Roberto was deeply moved by the children’s situation, and God decided the time was right to act, and He had His man. Roberto resolved to commit one year to the Lord, and began his adventure. Jardín del Eden hosts prisoners’ children, those mistreated or abandoned by their parents, children who formerly worked and lived on the streets, as well as those orphaned or whose parents were unable to support them. This unique haven nestled in the Andes Mountains of South America provides shelter, home-cooked meals, medical care, schooling, and professional training for the youths who live there.

World Servants is working alongside Foundation Mi Refugio in Villa Hermosa to continue construction of the primary and vocational schools. Villa Hermosa is a large barrio just outside La Romana, Dominican Republic. We have future plans to expand the building of the current Eye and Ear Clinic by constructing a second level which will house a new dental clinic.

The people living in Villa Hermosa are hard-working, friendly and family-oriented. The normal household income is less than $5,000.00 per year. Living conditions are simple, but challenging. Most families live in one or two room houses made of handmade mud bricks/wood or concrete blocks, with roofs that often leak and latrines located outside.

For more than two decades, World Servants teams have been serving in several partner communities in West Virginia, located in the Appalachian mountains. Deep and abiding relationships have been established between the locals and our mission teams. Appalachia is a 200,000 square mile region including all of West Virginia and parts of 12 other states from Ohio to Alabama.

Thirty-two percent of the population resides in rural counties. Industries that once produced good jobs are gone. The focus of World Servants is to bring a “hand up” and a message of hope. The needs can range from leaking roofs, homes needing insulation, and families struggling to provide the basic necessities, as the majority of the population lives below the poverty line.