These local Christian partners (who we call our ministry partners) know the communities they are serving, they understand the culture and speak their language. This enables them to build trust and relationships as they share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, working across the following areas:
Our Priorities
We give priority to:
- The poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised
- Christ-centred partnership with locally-led ministries.
- The least resourced, least reached people of the world.
Our History
30 years before WorldShare was founded, Fred Savage left Worthing, England, to serve God in Jiangxi province, China. Fred and his wife Geraldine were amongst the first to see the need to trust pioneering Chinese evangelists to go to places the missionaries could not reach and where the ‘foreign-ness’ of the missionaries would not inhibit people from accepting Christ. From that seed, WorldShare was born.
1943
Japanese armies occupied Eastern China. The cities were bombed. Millions of starving refugees sought frantically for safety. Chinese church leaders were inspiring hundreds to commit their lives to reaching China for Christ. In 1943, the Savage’s’ son-in-law, Duncan McRoberts, raised funds to support these evangelists. The China Natives Evangelistic Crusade (CNEC), fore-runner of WorldShare, was created for this purpose.
1946
After the war, a sister-organisation to the Seattle-based CNEC was founded in the UK in 1946. Duncan McRoberts saw that Christianity could now only reach the masses through Chinese Christians, not westerners. Amongst those who heard McRoberts speak in Seattle was Dr Alvin Jepson, who had been supporting indigenous Christians to reach their own peoples for 20 years. He became the first Chief Executive of CNEC.
1949
China was in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Christians were entering decades of persecution and two million Chinese people fled to Hong Kong. The beginning of CNEC’s extensive child sponsorship ministry was in the Hong Kong refugee camps. Later, Chinese expatriate Christians would carry CNEC’s vision widely across Southeast Asia and the Philippines.
1960
In 1960, the organisation’s name was changed to Christian Nationals Evangelism Commission to reflect a concern for the wider world. Rev. Allen Finley was appointed as Executive Director - he and his wife Ruth would give over 43 years of service. By 1964, WorldShare’s ministry partners had planted 110 new churches, including 40 in pre-1949 China.
1983
By 1983, there were 80 separate ministry partners, working in 41 countries. CNEC began with a primarily evangelistic impetus, though this was soon joined by ministry to the immediate physical needs of the Chinese refugees. Today, through our ministry partners, we manifest the love of Christ in a huge variety of ways.
1991
The UK office moved from Hertfordshire to Chadwell Heath in London and in 1991, to Bawtry Hall in South Yorkshire. In 1987, parts of the global alliance changed their name from CNEC and in 1997, our UK office followed suit by changing to WorldShare. We moved to our present home, Armstrong House, in 2010.
Today
WorldShare, and each of our alliance partners, continue today to aspire to fulfil the vision of Duncan McRoberts, Dr. Jepson and the other founders: to see indigenous Christians in China and elsewhere mobilised, equipped and enabled for Christian service within their communities.
Make an impact through WorldShare
Could you donate today and bring the hope of the Gospel and practical help to the lives of many? Please check out our immediate needs and prayerfully consider how God is calling you to respond.
