EQUIP Plan
127’s EQUIP Plan serves as a library of resources curated to serve Christians who desire to live out James 1:27 by centering the gospel, preserving human dignity, and empowering communities to flourish.
EQUIP Plan
127’s EQUIP Plan serves as a library of resources curated to serve Christians who desire to live out James 1:27 by centering the gospel, preserving human dignity, and empowering communities to flourish.
Our Strategy for Equipping the Church
Our EQUIP Plan includes 6 educational units we believe are critical to helping the church engage the vulnerable well
Gospel-Centrality
For us, everything about our work begins with gospel-centrality because God has first rescued us from sin and despair and then invited us to join him in restoring hope to a broken world. We develop resources around what it looks like to connect, equip, and empower with the gospel at the center.
Resources on Gospel-Centrality

What does James 1:27 really mean?
As the name 127 Worldwide suggests, our work is founded in a correct interpretation of James 1:27. “Religion that is

The Image of God
127 Worldwide’s approach to caring for vulnerable communities is rooted in a belief in the imago dei, or the image

Biblical Justice
Justice is foundational to the work of caring for the vulnerable. If we have no standard for how human beings

Rediscovering Our Place in the Story
We are motivated to care for the needs of others because we were once needy, orphaned, spiritually dead, separated from

Thinking Biblically About Poverty Relief
Poverty relief is a complex undertaking that often requires both immediate intervention and upstream investment. Walter Strickland, Associate Vice President

To Western Missionaries: From An African Pastor
Chopo Mwanza pastors Faith Baptist Church Riverside in Kitwe, Zambia, and his thoughts about missions in Africa provide insightful context

Faith Without Works Won’t Work
For as long as 127 Worldwide exists with its current name, our purpose is inseparable from the book of James.

Spiritual and Physical Transformation
As 127 collaborates with our partners to address the root causes of family-fracturing, poverty, and other evidences of brokenness, we
Local Leaders
127 Worldwide believes that partnership with local leaders who know the unique needs, culture, language, and history of vulnerable communities is the healthiest way to engage in vulnerable community care.
Resources on Local Leaders

Ministry of Presence
“Ministry of presence” is an important part of 127 Worldwide’s ministry philosophy and plays a huge role in our GO

Interview with Chris Omondi
Chrispine (Chris) Omondi is the Director of Swahiba Networks in Nairobi, Kenya, and in this podcast episode, he shares about

Interview with Peter Abungu
Peter is the founder of Swahiba Networks in Nairobi, Kenya. As a young man, Peter Abungu wrestled to reconcile what

Members of the Global Church
These days all you need for a social media post to go viral is a reference to a well-known personality

Why Local is Best
127 Worldwide believes the Bible teaches that, as members of the global church, we’re meant to partner together to the

Interview with David Lara
In this podcast episode Sara Beth Fentress, Executive Director of 127 Worldwide, has a conversation with the newest partner, David

Recognizing Our Own Shortcomings
Peter Abungu, founder of Swahiba Youth Networks in Kenya, acknowledges that working with Americans presents its own set of challenges.

3 Conclusions from Encountering the Global Church
Believing that God has gifted believers to accomplish his work in the world, 127 Worldwide has come to several conclusions.
Find out more about the Local Leaders 127 partners with
Healthy Engagement
Healthy Engagement means backing away from many traditional models of vulnerable community engagement and stepping into hard self-evaluation about our motives and methods. Healthy engagement seeks to make hard decisions that lead to long-term ministry viability, contextually appropriate mechanisms, and a lot of listening before speaking.
Resources on Healthy Engagement

Human Dignity
Supporting human dignity seems like one of those obvious things that shouldn’t require serious reflection. We all believe people deserve to be treated with respect, right? It’s hard to imagine a Christian who would admit to thinking other people are inferior to him.
Resources on Human Dignity

Cultural Sensitivity
We recognize that easy doesn’t always mean best. We work hard to raise up advocates and to do partnership in ways that are contexutually appropriate and keep the posture of a learner while we work to live of James 1:27 among the worlds most vulnerable
Resources on Cultural Sensitivity
The importance of understanding cultures
Short-Term Missions
You might be surprised to know that 127 Worldwide has some hesitation about sending teams to our partners. There are no cookie-cutter solutions to issues of poverty and family fracturing, and it takes longer than a week to understand the need, much less seek to alleviate it. That’s why our short-term trips are focused on equipping you for the long haul of vulnerable community care.