On Saturday, September 26, more than 400 supporters and guests celebrated the 60th anniversary of World Concern at the Future of Flight Aviation Center in Mukilteo, Wash.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the amazing generosity of World Concern supporters and friends,” said World Concern President Jacinta Tegman. “Those in attendance gave enough to deeply impact more than 60,000 lives. Because of this, many of the world’s poorest people will have access to clean water, education, and essential nutrition. It was a joy to celebrate our 60-year history and at the same time make a difference in vulnerable lives and communities.”
See World Concern’s 60 years of transformation in the video below:
Founded in 1955 by Seattle physician Wilbert Saunders and pharmacist Jim McCoy, World Concern began as Medicine for Missions, which supplied medicine to clinics and hospitals overseas. In 1970 Medicine for Missions officially joined CRISTA Ministries and in 1976, was renamed World Concern.
For 60 years, World Concern has served the world’s poor through disaster response and sustainable community development programs. In some of the most dangerous, challenging places in the world, where suffering, conflict, and disease are worst, World Concern brings relief and hope to those in greatest need.
Today, World Concern serves in 12 countries throughout East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Haiti. Ninety-five percent of World Concern’s overseas staff are nationals of the countries where they work.
World Concern’s significant responses of the last decade include relief and recovery work after the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, and a life-saving response in Myanmar to rebuild communities after Cyclone Nargis in 2008. World Concern supported refugees from the Darfur region of Sudan who fled into Chad during the Darfur war, as well as currently resettling displaced families in Chad.
World Concern also provided assistance to more than 100,000 people in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. The earthquake disaster response and long-term development in Haiti is one of World Concern’s most significant projects.
“By God’s grace for the next 60 years World Concern will continue to go to the poorest of the poor. We will continue to seek out those left out of mainstream humanitarian aid—those in areas of insecurity and need. We continue to work with the most vulnerable so that boys and girls, and moms and dads can reach their God-given potential,” said Tegman.
For more information on World Concern’s programs or to donate, please visit www.worldconcern.org.