Do Christian nonprofits make a difference?

Sometimes it is difficult being a Christian nonprofit organization. Some supporters would rather that we left our Christianity at home and just cared for people's physical needs. After all, they say, why should we cram our religious beliefs down other people's throats? Why not just give them a hand and let them decide on their own? Organizations like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders do a great job helping people without any religious context... but Hospitals of Hope isn't quite like them.

Other supporters argue that we aren't religious enough. Why, they ask, don't we have more evangelistic campaigns? Why don't we plant churches everywhere we go? Once again, there are several other organizations that do this quite well, such as Gospel for Asia and the Billy Graham Foundation. Hospitals of Hope doesn't fit into this mold either.

Hospitals of Hope tries to combine these two ideologies and "Show Christ's Love By Healing Bodies and Souls" [our mission statement]. We want to holistically care for people's physical and spiritual needs just as Christ did. We cannot separate one from the other. Jesus obviously attended to the spiritual needs of his followers, but he also healed them, fed them and looked after their other physical needs. As Christians, we should do no less. This can be a difficult middle ground to walk upon, but it is where we have been called.

I got started thinking about this topic after my uncle sent me an article titled "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God." In it, he goes on to explain that aid work alone will not change the current problems in Africa. People need to change, and normal aid organizations do not change people. According to the author, Christianity is the only thing that will change Africa. I would have to agree.