A History Alongside the Vulnerable

Since its earliest days, World Challenge has cared for widows and orphans.

David Wilkerson founded World Challenge in 1971 to minister to both the spiritual and physical needs of people in the United States and beyond. While Times Square Church had originally been founded out of David’s heart for New York City and its many troubles at that time, he planted World Challenge with a wider aim in mind. 

“In the 70s,” Gary Wilkerson explains, “my father was very concerned about the trajectory of the United States. It was on the tail end of the 60s, which were pretty radical. He was speaking to the Black Panthers, the drug addicts on the street, the runaway kids who were living out of their vans in the streets on San Francisco.” 

At this point, David sat down in prayer and asked, “God, what do you want me to do now?”

God, in essence, told him, “David, feed the poor.”

People who had heard of him or received his newsletter would reach out with needs that they were seeing in their communities, even globally. Whenever David saw a need, he would try to meet that need. World Challenge was designed to help those caught in the grip of poverty. Orphanages were built in slum areas where children had nowhere else to go. Food kitchens were set up and stocked for those who were going hungry.

Gary Wilkerson has carried on that heart to care for the poor and vulnerable but also to awaken the church to the needs around the world. Sharing Christ’s love and message often comes first through meeting someone’s desperate need. It’s emphasized so poignantly through the Apostle James’s words in scripture: “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:15-17, ESV).

With this in mind, World Challenge teams around the world follow five steps of intervention while caring for the vulnerable.

1.     Provide essential nutrition.

2.     Give any medical attention needed.

3.     Provide a nurturing environment in Christian homes or church-supported care centers.

4.     Share the gospel and start biblical discipleship.

5.     Offer education opportunities and support.

All of this shows practical love and care for those in need! It also points beyond us to the God who has sacrificed his most valuable treasure to reach them with eternal hope.