Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy. It has a population of approximately 36 million people. It has a thriving economy and a treasure of natural resources. Its population is diverse and multicultural.
The headquarters of C.E.O. Ministries is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, which is not only the centre of Canada but also near the centre of North America. It has a ministry to some of the immigrants coming into Canada. The ministry’s central location helps to solicit financial support to various countries around the world. This particular province has a very high rate of charitable giving mainly due to its religious roots. There is a history of hard-working immigrants that have done well and desire to support various needs even as they were supported when they first arrive.
C.E.O. Ministries raises funds from private citizens, and corporations through various appeals such as newsletters, outdoor bbq’s, garage sales, and personal appeals. It has an elected Board that is accountable to the Government of Canada to raise and disperse funds solely for charitable purposes. It first began as a Christian Influence in Education in October of 1980 and since then grew to incorporate various charitable programmes in various countries. The operations of the ministry are accomplished mainly by volunteers and no personnel are paid salaries near that of their contemporaries.
Henry Blackaby wrote: “ I have earnestly sought to gather God’s people together to look to see what the Lord was doing, and to join Him as He is on mission in our world... We don’t dream our dreams for what we want to do for God; He sets the directions that He is going and reveals them to us. We have a choice to join Him in that direction.”
The Republic of Cuba has a population of 11 million people. The revolution began in 1953 and when Castro took over the island nation it became a communist country and later a secular country. The official language is Spanish. The major religion is Christian. The average salary is 20-25 CUC and the cost to live for a family of four is 140 CUC. There is a saying in Cuba, “The people pretend to work for the government and the government pretends to pay the people.”
In 1991, there were only 1,100 churches and by 2011 there were over 18,000 churches. We are told that in the 1990’s that ten percent of the population became Christians. There is a shortage of Bibles and training facilities for new pastors. Even though a priority of God first, family second, ministry third is taught there is often a confusion between ministry and God and families of pastors come up short. The evangelistic success of these young pastors puts them under pressure to disciple and counsel the growing number of converts.
Besides doing similar ministries other Christian organizations do in Cuba where the needs are so great, C.E.O. is building the only campus in the country to deal with pastors and their families who are experiencing critical challenges. In most cases the churches are in the homes of these pastors and when the pastor and family are in difficulty they end up leaving their homes and there is no place for them to go. We will provide a place to stay, counselling, and work in the process of restoring them back to being a healthy family and to ministry if that is how God directs.
Haiti has a population of almost 11 million people. The capital of Haiti is Port-au-Prince and is a semi-presidential republic. It is called the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Corruption, cholera, and natural disasters keep the country in poverty. Foreign aids have not contributed to the improvement of the long term economic development of the country. Unemployment is very high with more than two thirds of the labour having no formal jobs. The income is meagre. Catholicism, Protestantism and Voodoo have great influence on the culture and politics of the country. Lack of access to basic health care and lack of basic sanitation result in serious health issues. The introduction of cholera by a contingent of the UN exacerbates the population health risks. There is an abundance of missions in Haiti. Very often their good will and the resources have rather a negative effect on the population. Due to a lack of understanding of the cultural creeds, and a long term plan, their good intentions turn out to yield very negative consequences on the work of the mission and the local population. Most Haitians want to be part of a mission as it means income. There is a culture of “survival” in which the ends justify the means even among many if not most professing Haitian believers. We do missions in Haiti different than most and it creates dangers through life-threatening intimidation. Everyone wants a cut of the mission income and when they do not get it they can resort to sabotage to undermine what is being done. Haiti is a place known for biting the hand that feeds it. It is one of the most challenging countries to do missions. The key to solving this conundrum is to cultivate the next generation to a new way of thinking transformed by the gospel of Jesus. Support the work in Haiti
This is a multi-party democracy that rules over 10 million people. It is the fastest growing economy in the Caribbean. Many large companies and farms brought in Haitians to work at almost slave labour. Racial tension between the two countries has at times created near genocide of Haitians in the Dominican. Dominicans blame the Haitians for low wages and seek to drive out the Haitians with different forms of persecution and legal obstacles.
Many Haitians in the DR do not have access to medical services or education for the Haitian youth. Many Haitians live in fear of execution or deportation. This is why C.E.O. provides an education for the Haitian youth. We also provide food to feed our students and the parents who accompany them to the school.
Some of our ministry is in a tourist area that is a cesspool for immorality and many young Haitian girls get caught up in the sex markets in the area. This is a very difficult area to work in as our school and students are under the constant fear of persecution. Please pray for God’s intervention.
Presently this is a war-torn country with a population of more than 42 million people. It is an Eastern Slavic country with a rich history. Ukraine has an agricultural base but also has a large industrial economy.
Russia has been using various means, including its military to annex as much of the Ukraine as it can, seeking Ukraine’s fertile lands and resources. Russia has used various means to create instability in the government and is in open warfare with it. Large areas of the Ukraine are devastated by the turmoil that has destroyed farms, industry, personal homes and whole towns. In the wake of such hostility many children have been orphaned, and the population in some areas have limited food and resources. The Eastern Orthodox Church has also persecuted any rivals to its grip on the nation creating even more poverty and destitution.
C.E.O. Ministries seeks to help empower orphanages and feeding programs for widows and orphans. Some other organizations are suspect because they have given names and locations to the invading forces. Corruption within the government system and in other organizations have also hindered helping the poor and destitute.
Rwanda and Congo lie just south of the equator in east-central Africa and is known for their beautiful scenery. Rwanda is geographically small with one of the highest population densities in sub-Saharan Africa with 12 million people, but Congo is central and much larger with 89 million inhabitants. However, the demise of the Rwandan kingship in Rwanda came about through a grassroots Hutu-led movement that occurred before the country became independent in 1962. Ethnic strife between the Hutus and the Tusis peaked in 1994 where civil war and genocide broke out leaving the economy and social fabric in pieces. And Congo has been embroiled in violence since 1996 seeing as many as 6 million people killed. C.E.O Ministries has been working closely with local ministries in Rwanda, Congo, and Burundi helping groups of people escape persecution and death. Sadly, with the Congo being a report 70% Christian, the genocide that remains is being done by one Christian group to another, based on racism and tribal differences. Efforts consist of aiding local leadership in providing transportation, food, medicine, and protection where possible.
Central America: The two main countries C.E.O. has worked in are Honduras and Guatemala that border each other. Both countries have experienced a history of civil unrest and civil war.
Honduras: Is mainly composed of Mestizo people. It has the world’s highest murder rate and high levels of sexual violence. The population is slightly over 9 million people and is mainly an agricultural based economy. Politically it is a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic.
Republic of Guatemala: This country has a population of close to 18 million people and is the core of Maya civilization. Poverty, crime and the drug trade plague this country.
Drugs and Violence: Both Honduras and Guatemala are geographical channels for drugs going to the U.S. from South America. There are gang wars and gangs forcibly recruit young people into their gangs under threat of death or gang rape. Many young girls are multiply raped and then have children who they have to care for without an education or a career.
C.E.O. believes the only answer to these horrendous problems is Jesus Christ. Working with Ernesto Pinto we have seen gang members come to know Jesus as Saviour and now some are even pastors. Ernesto serves as a mentor to pastors and plants churches in the most crime-filled areas. We do several pastoral training conferences and retreats. We offer a children’s feeding program through churches that helps single moms and offers an alternative to the gangs. Through Marina we seek to train single moms so they can become financially independent. All of this is on top of the work that Ernesto and Maria do running a successful television and radio ministry with Square One World Media!
We enthusiastically support and partner with Sight.org ministry in Togo. This ministry is led by Lewis and Naomi Swann out of Texas. They have been working in this country for a number of years and have made great strides. Last year 500 blind, mostly Muslims from the rural area received their sight. Cataracts are common due to the drinking water and health care in these remote areas is slim to non-existent. They are also taught agricultural skills to improve their crops.
This country is located on the Western Coast of Africa. It has a population of slightly over 6 million people. About 65% of the population lives in rural agricultural area. Agriculture is the backbone of the country’s economy. A recent documentary was titled “Togo, the most unhappy country in the world”. This is due to the low income. The UN indicates that the general population needs twice the income it presently receives to live adequately. The country is run by an elected president. However, the presidency has been in the same family for a few decades and looks more like a monarchy.
There are 39 languages spoken in the country and a high illiteracy rate with compulsory education only for 6 years. The quality of education is low and teachers sparse especially in the rural areas. Sight.org has partnered with others to bring the gospel to these remote rural areas.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is Democratic and has equal freedoms for all people regardless of race or religion which is not present in any other country in the Middle East. The capital of Israel is the City of David called Jerusalem which was established more than 3,000 years before the advent of Islam, the Muslim faith. The historical provinces of Israel called Judea and Samaria are labeled by the Arabs as the ‘West Bank’. Israel is surrounded by non-democratic countries that are intent on destroying Israel and committing genocide to the Jewish people as stated in some of their constitutions. The concept of Israel was established in 1917 by the Balfor Act. The population is approximately 9 million people. This small little country has done far more in fields of medicine, technology, arts, and almost any other field than any country 10 times its size. Persecution against the Jews is an historical fact. Now you have 210 million Arabs trying to annihilate 9 million Jews and the World seems to think this is a fair fight. You have the Arabs with the huge land masses trying to steal Israel’s strip of land and the world thinks this is fair?
The missionaries from C.E.O., Grant and Roberta, have sought to empower two specific ministries. The first is one that works with vets and their families who have experience PTSD due to the constant threat and assaults by the militant regimes that surround Israel. The other ministry is related to the Duvdevan Foundation that operates a school for children with various challenges regardless of race or religion. We are excited to help the ministries in this small beleaguered country.
Peru is situated in the western part of South America and shares borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. Its enormous territory, covering more than 1.2 million square kilometers, is composed of three regions: Coast, Highlands and Jungle. Its current population exceeds 31.5 million inhabitants. Large areas of Peru are devastated with poverty and its side effects such as drug and alcohol abuse, addition, children without parents, and chronic hunger for countless people. In the wake of such poverty and distress, many children's parents have succumbed to various addictions attempting to solve their problems yet only adding more to the equation both for themselves and their children. C.E.O Ministries seeks to help empower local leaders in feeding programs, providing food to the poorest of poor communities alongside Bible study programs and church planting. They are also working closely with an addiction-recovery home which serves young men helping them break free from their addictions and return home as productive citizens, many of whom enter the ministry after completing the yearlong program at the home.
