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US & World Missions

Primary Roles

Nazareth congregation supports the work of fourteen missionary families through prayer, encouragement, and financial support. Most of these families have very close ties to Nazareth, and many have been long term partners in sharing the God News. Nazareth’s US & World Missions Committee has been entrusted with managing and promoting this support.


The US & World Mission Committee also seeks to increase Nazareth’s engagement in Christ’s Great Commission to His Church. Each month a missionary prayer letter is sent to communicate mission partner prayer requests and news updates. We encourage visits by our mission partners to share first hand their work with the congregation. H2O Jamaica and other short term mission trips are highly encouraged. The Perspectives on the World Christian Movement class is a great way to learn about God’s heart for missions and other ways to become involved in God’s call to mission. If you would like to receive further information on any of the above, please send an email to US.WorldMissions@Naz.org.


Nazareth’s Mission Fund was created to “enhance the work of the Church by helping to “establish new ministries and increased evangelism, discipleship, and stewardship opportunities” by funding projects beyond those included in the annual budget. The US &
World Mission Committee helps to administer this fund which has been used for many projects, including the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project. Check out Nazareth's Fund Applications for further information, if you know of individuals or organizations seeking support.

Committee Detail and Invitation

The US & World Missions Committee is actively seeking additional members. We generally meet the last Tuesday of each month from 7 to 9 pm, sometimes by Zoom, to pray for our workers in the mission field and discern how best to use the resources God has given us through Nazareth to support them. Email US.WorldMissions@Naz.org if you are interested.

Nazareth's US & World Mission Partners

Dean and Ruth

Dean and Ruth are currently based in the US but remain heavily involved with their organization in SE Asia. Their vision for a new ministry they recently started is to “equip, commission, and amplify” the expressions of Christian artists. The foundation of their training program is an understanding that God’s truth and a biblical worldview can be re-introduced into society through the arts.

Mac and Selah

Mac and Selah, known to many at Nazareth, have served in South Asia in relational outreach for the past five years. They are soon returning to the US where they will serve as Missionary Care Coordinators for their sending organization.

Nazareth's US & World Mission Opportunities

H2Jamicia Mission Trip 

Dr. Neil Williams brought Nazareth’s first medical/dental mission team to Jamaica in 1990. He wanted to start a tradition of Nazareth members and others personally participating in overseas mission projects. 2023 marked our 33 rd year of ministering to people in the interior portions of this island nation and our medical mission is now called “Hope and Health to Jamaica” or H2Jamaica.


Each year (other than 2021 and 2022 when we were unable to go due to the pandemic) we have had between 40 and 60 participants on the team – a good number from Nazareth and then others from all over the United States from Alaska to Massachusetts. We provide medical and dental care in rural areas where care is not easily accessible. We also have a construction team that works with local pastors and other missionaries on a variety of projects. For the past five years we have been installing drip irrigation systems for subsistence farmers in addition to other smaller projects such as a gazebo at “Gift of Hope,” a home for handicapped children; painting the interior of rooms at Gift of Hope; building and installing cabinets in the kitchen of a local church; and solving a water drainage problem at a local Roman Catholic school’s play yard.

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Dates tentatively set for 2024 are February 3 - 10. If you’re interested in participating in this outreach, please contact Barb Ericson at 319-493-5039 or email her at h2jamaica@gmail.com. Also, take a look at the H2Jamaica website for more information, http://h2jamaica.org/

Kits and Quilts Ministry

The Kits and Quilts ministry has existed at Nazareth for many years. We create colorful and sturdy quilts used for warmth, shelter, floor coverings, and many other world relief uses. We
also create school kits, personal care kits, baby care kits, and sewing kits for those in need around the world.


K&Q meets the 1st and 3rd Monday and Tuesday mornings of every month, from 9 a.m. to noon in the Underground (below the gym). Volunteers sort fabric donations; cut and piece fillers; layer, pin, sew, and tie the layered quilts; and design quilt tops from 11” and 21” squares. Additionally, we have devotions and coffee, cut diapers and baby blankets from purchased flannel, and assemble kits. Many of our tasks are completed at home, including sewing baby jackets and gowns, finding and cutting fabric donations, cutting fabric for and sewing school bags, purchasing supplies, sewing quilt tops, dying sheets for quilt backs, and finding gently used items at garage sales and thrift shops. Annually, the group creates 500-600 quilts and assembles approximately 200 baby care kits, 700 school kits, 700 personal care kits, and 50 sewing kits. These are shipped twice a year to the Lutheran World Relief warehouse in St. Paul, MN, where they are re-packed into shipping containers to be distributed to families and children in need around the world.


The K&Q ministry welcomes anyone, women AND men, willing to learn and have fun together while we work to serve others in the name of Jesus. No experience is necessary. If you can tie a
knot, use scissors or pins, or pack a box, we have a place for you!

Nazareth's US & World Mission Projects

Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf

BASIC (our college & young adult ministry) serves at CCCD in Kingston, Jamaica annually over spring break. CCCD exists to reach, teach, and nurture the Deaf of Jamaica so that they can experience the joy of knowing Jesus and serving within their community. Nazareth's partnership has been essential in empowering the students at the school through long term relationships with the missionaries, helping start their social enterprise DeafCan!, and encouragement through our spring break trip where the team focuses on building relationships.  

Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project

In June 2016 and June 2017, Nazareth was blessed to receive a visit from Jackson Kaguri, the Founder and Executive Director of the Nyaka AIDS Orphans Project.  The mission of the project is to work on behalf of HIV/AIDS orphans in rural Uganda to end systemic deprivation, poverty, and hunger through a holistic approach to community development, education, and healthcare.  Mr. Kaguri shared his powerful story with congregation members and with all of the children in attendance at VBS. 

St. Andrews Refugee Service

Through donations totaling $75,000.00, Nazareth is blessed to be partnering with the St. Andrews Refugee Service (StARS) in Cairo, Egypt, to provide assistance to refugees in the region.

Here are some exciting updates about how God has been at work through this ministry:

  • In 2018, StARS helped over 30,000 people and their families access healthy food, education, mental health services and professional development tools.

  •  650-750 children a day receive breakfast and lunch through The Children’s Feeding program.

  • In 2019, StARS education program supports over 4,000 teachers and learners through its Children’s Education program, Preschools, Adult Education program, Education Access and Capacity Building program and Early Childhood Wellbeing program.

  •  90% of students in the Children’s Education program passed their internal exams.

  • StARS employs over 280 professionals and experts who provide support ranging from individual medical consultations to language classes to organizational capacity building to cross-sectoral emergency interventions.

  • 208 volunteers also work part-time and full-time to support the activities of the program, most notably making up the bulk of StARS’ legal teams and providing a range of individual and group support to adult learners in the Adult Education and Education Access and Capacity Building programs.

  •  Given restrictions to services for refugees and ongoing inflation, an increasing number of people approach StARS each day with emergencies.

  • Throughout the year, an emergency fund supports 428 people, 62 percent of whom were women, in accessing their basic needs through life changing interventions, impacting 631 of their family members.

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Missions Funds Application

Endowment Fund
Application

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