What is Vine and Branches Global Ministries?
Vine & Branches Global Ministries is an evangelical Christian non-profit organization serving the church worldwide to help promote the love of Christ in their communities. Vine & Branches focuses on the local church and their ministries, especially those churches and ministries seeking to rescue at-risk children and those ministering to widows. Rather than sending a missionary, it is our hope to help the local ingenious pastor with resources of funds, short-term mission teams, prayer, and encouragement.- Our VISION is for every person to encounter the life-changing power of Jesus Christ
- Our PRAYER is for the love of Christ to be shown through our lives to the world around us.
Our Founders
The vision of Vine & Branches began after a mission trip to Africa. My wife, Ana, and I had had several opportunities to travel on mission trips around the world through our church, South Peoria Baptist church, fulfilling a lifelong dream of participating in missions in our world. Every trip we took impacted our lives dramatically. Our eyes and hearts were touched by:- The sacrifices local pastors and their families were making for the Lord.
- The realization of the need for new churches to be planted knowing that often new churches reach more people than existing churches do.
- The needs that seemed to be so great everywhere we would go.
- The impact upon the lives of those going with us as they saw God at work, especially young people seeing for themselves a different world than their own and God having an opportunity to speak into their hearts while on those trips.
“Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”We began the process of forming a 501-c-3 non-profit and we called in Vine & Branches Global Ministries, after our life verse, John 15:5, I am the vine you are the branches, he that abides in me and I in him shall bring forth much fruit for without me you can do nothing.
Evolution
Vine & Branches has evolved into a ministry that helps local churches and ministries reach their communities for Christ and to rescue at risk children by:- Coming alongside of them in prayer
- Helping to seek resources for their ministry
- Providing leadership and guidance
- Encouraging people to go on mission trips
- Providing a means for people to give to ministries thru a non-profit org.
Our Ministries
We presently are involved in helping these areas. Our help involves raising awareness of these ministries, facilitating raising funds for some of them, being a conduit for friends of these ministries to give to them, and occasionally visiting them and of course providing prayer network for them.- Asante Sana Children’s Home in Iringa Tanzania under the leadership of Daily Bread Life Ministries. Daily Bread Life Ministries also has a Christian Secondary School where the children from Asante Sana can receive a Christian Education.
- God Loves Peru, under the Leadership of Professor Dr. Frank Lamca, University students from Grand Canyon University go to Peru during spring break and summer break to work with local pastors and doing medical clinics.
One of the exciting programs VABGM has is facilitating taking college students on mission trips to South America. And in the future those trips may also include the Middle East. - Guardian Foundation, led by Charles and Anne Nderitu in Nairobi Kenya, invests in the lives of pastors and their wives encouraging them to plant churches across Kenya. Charles and Anne mentor young couples, pouring into them the power of God’s Word. They encourage them to step out in faith and plant churches around the country of Kenya.
- LOV Children’s Home in Eldoret, Kenya under the leadership of Vine & Branches Kenya Ministries. Jean Meenk is our liaison with this ministry. Meshack and Fame Olesabai are the directors of this ministry. A home and a small farm provides a foundation for the lives of young people in the Eldoret area of Kenya. A safe environment, encouragement to get an education, providing training for life skills along with a Christian home is the goal of LOV Children’s Home.
- Pastor Support here in the US. We have had opportunity to help pastors of refugee churches in Arizona. Encouraging them and when possible providing financial assistance. We also have been able to encourage church planters here in the US when funds have been available.
- Handicapped School in India. In the heart of India is a couple, Bathala and Sucheta, who operate a school to provide a safe haven for handicapped children. A hot meal and therapy, learning crafts and skills training are provided. Their home has been opened to abandoned children and abandoned senior adults. VABGM has come along side of them to help when possible with finances and encouragement.