By Carol Pipes
Director of corporate communications, LifeWay
World Changers participants perform a project in Chattanooga. — Photo provided by LifeWay
NASHVILLE — LifeWay Christian Resources announced this week they are canceling World Changers mission projects for summer 2020 and closing all future operations due to declining numbers and the inability to host projects this summer because of COVID-19.
“We are sad about the closing of World Changers, but we know now is the time to make this decision based on more than 10 years of decline in participants and the current financial impact related to the coronavirus pandemic,” said Ben Trueblood, director of Student Ministry at LifeWay.
Since 1990, World Changers has provided students and adults with opportunities to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others by making repairs for low-income homeowners at no charge. Volunteers donated a week of their time in the summer, often sleeping on classroom and gymnasium floors at local schools, while tackling projects like building wheelchair ramps, applying fresh coats of paint, and replacing windows and siding.
“While World Changers as an organization is going away, the impact upon thousands of lives over 30 years of ministry is undeniable,” Trueblood said. “The love of Christ was shown to homeowners and communities across North America, people came to know the Lord, and students were trained in sharing the gospel and being the hands and feet of Jesus.”
The inaugural group of World Changers in 1990 poses for a photo in the Briceville, Tenn., community where they worked to renovate substandard houses and share the gospel. — Photo provided by Baptist Press
World Changers launched its first project in the small coal-mining town of Briceville, Tenn., in 1990. The challenge of repairing substandard housing was the key avenue for sharing the gospel at that first World Changers project. It was the first time any organization used students in construction-type ministry projects. That summer, 137 youth and adults painted, roofed and performed other light construction jobs on nine homes in the area.
Partnering with local churches, Southern Baptist associations and city governments, World Changers became one of the first student volunteer organizations to help alleviate substandard housing in the United States. It also was one of the first pre-packaged mission trips for Southern Baptist churches.
“For 30 years, World Changers has provided meaningful missions experiences for more than 400,000 students and adults throughout North America,” Trueblood said. “It’s important we celebrate this incredible ministry and the work the Lord has done through it for three decades.”
For 30 years World Changers has provided meaningful missions experiences for more than 400,000 students and adults throughout North America. — Photo provided by LifeWay
World Changers originally began under the umbrella of the former SBC Brotherhood Commission and was moved to the North American Mission Board in 1997.
In 2011, LifeWay partnered with NAMB to bring World Changers to the LifeWay student ministry family and assume day-to-day operations of the ministry. Summer 2012 was the first summer World Changers was operated by LifeWay.
“I am deeply proud of our World Changers team and the work they’ve done for the last eight years serving churches, communities, and providing life impacting missions experiences for teenagers.” Trueblood said. “They’ve poured their lives into this ministry, and I’m grateful for the work the Lord has done through them. They’ve had an undeniable impact on thousands of lives.” B&R
