partner organizations

Kenya Children's Fund

Kenya Children’s Fund (KCF) works to lift children from hopelessness to achievement under the nurturing care of African professionals who believe in imparting faith based principles to children from preschool to university. In addition to providing educational opportunities, KCF also works to bring dignity and the Hope of Jesus Christ to communities affected by poverty and oppression.

Venture Expeditions is partnering with KCF this year by connecting our 2010 Mt. Kilimanjaro Trek with one of their projects in Nairobi, Kenya. The Kilimanjaro Trek will spend time serving one of KCF's projects reaching the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. To Learn more about KCF and The 2010 Mt. Kilimanjaro Trip will be supporting and serving KCF as part of their trip at the Mt. Kilimanjaro Page.

International Justice Mission

International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local governments to ensure victim rescue, to prosecute perpetrators and to strengthen the community and civic factors that promote functioning public justice systems.

IJM's justice professionals work in their communities in 12 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America to secure tangible and sustainable protection of national laws through local court systems.

IJM Collaborative Casework

IJM investigators, lawyers and social workers intervene in individual cases of abuse in partnership with state and local authorities to ensure proper support for the victim and appropriate action against the perpetrator. Such collaboration is essential to obtain convictions against individual perpetrators and to bring meaning to local laws that are meaningless if not enforced.

History

Founded in 1997, IJM began operations in response to a massive need. Historically, humanitarian and missions organizations worked faithfully and courageously to bring healthcare, education, food and other vital services to those who needed them. But little had been done to actually restrain the oppressors who are a source of great harm to the vulnerable.

Gary Haugen, working as a lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice and as the United Nations’ Investigator in Charge in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, founded International Justice Mission as a response to this massive need. Today, IJM has grown to more than 300 professionals working in their own communities to fight injustice.

IJM's Response Today

Through individual casework, IJM confronts aggressive human violence: violence that strips widows and orphans of their property and livelihoods, violence that steals dignity and health from children trafficked into forced prostitution, violence that denies freedom and security to families trapped in slavery.

Violence against the poor is not driven by the overwhelming power of the perpetrators – it is driven by the vulnerability of the victims. This violence can be stopped when the power of the law is brought to bear on behalf of those who need it, and when people of good will contribute their financial and professional resources to insisting it stop.

IJM’s casework model combats victimization and violence on the level of the individual, and supports functioning public justice systems where the poor urgently need an advocate.

In the tradition of heroic Christian leaders like abolitionist William Wilberforce and transformational leaders like Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., IJM’s staff stand against violent oppression in response to the Bible’s call to justice (Isaiah 1:17): Seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. Learn more at www.ijm.org

Blood:Water Mission

Mission and Purpose

Blood:Water Mission is a grassroots organization that empowers communities to work together against the HIV/AIDS and water crisis. It's core purpose is to build community through creative social action.

More About Blood:Water mission

Blood:Water Mission is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded by the members of the multi-platinum, Grammy Award-winning band, Jars of Clay, to address the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. Visit Blood:Water Mission online.

Blood:Water Mission exists to promote clean blood and clean water efforts in Africa, tangibly reducing the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic while addressing the underlying issues of poverty, injustice and oppression. Blood:Water Mission is building clean water wells, supporting medical facilities, and focusing on community and worldview transformation, both here in America and in Africa.

We recognize that numbers and statistics are hard to grasp, and that sometimes a step back is necessary to conceptualize the enormity of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Yet we also know that simply standing from a distance with arms thrown in the air is not a solution. We believe in pressing inward, in building relationships and bridges with communities in Africa. We believe in hearing personal stories and walking alongside brothers and sisters who have demonstrated strength and faith in the midst of desperate and tragic situations.

We hold fast to the conviction that we are all responsible for being good stewards of our time, our resources and our compassion in a broken world. Learn more about Blood:Water Mission online.