Traditional models of vulnerability community care have seen Western Christians moving into developing contexts and setting up shop with robust ministries, external funding, and Western trained men and women who have the potential to do great work for empowering the vulnerable, but often bring significant challenges with them. These challenges include a lack of contextual appropriateness that can harm individuals and communities, a lack of long-term missional sustainability, a failure to connect with hearts on a level comparable to someone of the host culture that can inhibit Gospel-understanding, and a whole host of cultural power dynamics that can lead to conflict, misunderstanding, and more. 

While 127 Worldwide recognizes that we aren’t immune to any of these challenges, we choose to work with and empower local leaders – men and women who are already doing fruitful Gospel-work in their own cultural contexts to empower the orphan, the widow, and other vulnerable men, women, and children – who know the culture and local needs, know the language, have given their lives to the work before them, and can benefit from connection to the global Church through independence-building funding, discipleship and coaching, and more. We want to connect advocates to the work of strategically chosen 127 partners and to mobilize and equip them to do the work of James 1:27 better.