Our Impact
Transforming a community involves transforming the lives of the people living in it.
IDEAS celebrates success in 2 strategic areas:
- Progress on the journey towards true and lasting hope.
- Sustainability and local ownership of transformative projects that will continue to multiply long after IDEAS professionals have left.
At IDEAS you do not have to leave your profession to have an impact.
IDEAS projects are designed to use your gifts and skills in real and practical ways that embody, inform, and offer true and lasting hope. If you are ready to say “yes” to the calling to go where God is at work, and want to continue working in your profession, we invite you to join us!
Scroll Down to view impact stories from IDEAS projects in agriculture, business, education, community development, and health and wellness!
Education
Education Opportunities:
- 2,000+ book donations distributed to libraries, families, and literacy and refugee projects in the Middle East.
- 1500+ students received high-quality education in the Middle East, Asia, and North Africa.
- 400+ children participated in English classes online in Central Asia.
- 100+ Indian college students taught in English and now working as teachers and community development workers in India.
- 50 students in remote China mountain communities received scholarships, allowing them to stay in school.
- 6 Cambodian village school teachers trained in effective teaching methods for students impacted by poverty and trauma.
"This school has been a place where I can be involved in community and grow in leadership. We are like a family."
- High-School Student, Middle East
"People respect me much more now that I can speak such good English."
- Indian Student Teacher
"I believe the music program is going to transform the students and the local community."
- School Director, Middle East
"Because of your help with my English, I am able to finish translating a library manual from Arabic to English."
- Librarian, Egypt
"I greatly appreciate your teaching methodology. It was very impactful."
- Student, China
"I consider your distance learning experience to be one of the most successful ones."
- Parent during COVID-19 lockdown, Middle East
"XiaoQin entered the sponsorship program in 2006 and graduated this past year with an engineering degree. Her parents were village farmers when she entered the program, making education costs difficult to manage. Our small amount of support encouraged her family to keep her in school.
"She excelled in school, which allowed her to enter a higher lever university where she earned her Bachelor's degree in engineering. There are very few science majors coming out of the villages, so XiaoQin is unusual in that way. She now works at the prefectural electric power utility managing their control systems maintenance. She sees how our help opened doors to a better life for her, and she'd like to provide that same kind of help to others."
- Project Director, China
Community Development
Community Development Opportunities:
- 24,000 residents of 7 remote mountain communities in China received clean, reliable water supply from spring water at their homes.
- 2,000+ families received food parcels, baby supplies, and household products in North Africa during the COVID-19 lockdown.
- 850 youth in Lebanon from different backgrounds participated in various programs to enhance social stability and promote intellectual development.
- 349 campers in China participated in a summer camp that facilitates relationship-building strategies.
- 100+ at-risk women empowered in North Africa through life skills training, including jewelry, crafts, goat production, poultry raising, and olive tree pruning.
- 40 water wells built in Bangladesh.
"Thank you for bringing food to my home, for caring for me and my son, for treating me with respect and valuing me as a person."
- Latifah, widow in North Africa
"I enjoy coming to the youth center. It is a safe place where I feel supported and cared for."
- Student, Middle East
"When I come to camp, I am taught that I have value."
- Jack, China
"I did not feel that my disability was a weakness but, rather, a source of strength that enables me to defend my rights."
- Seminar Participant, North Africa
"I'm learning to respect and treat everyone well despite the color of their skin, religion, or country where they are from."
- Student, Middle East
Agriculture
Agriculture Opportunities:
- 150,000 kg vegetables produced and delivered to marginalized communities in the Middle East.
- 1500+ farmers and their communities directly impacted by agricultural training program in Central Asia.
- 200+ local farmers, students, and citizens in North Africa trained in farming techniques to enable them to manage and promote assets and resources in sustainable ways for their future and communities, securing their country's long-term food needs.
- 200+ skilled workers trained in fruit orchard management in Central Asia.
- 65 new orchards started for small-farm families in Central Asia.
"We are harvesting 3 times a week in a 6-month season, and all the vegetables are shipped to Community Based Organizations, who distribute it to vulnerable families. In this way, we are supporting about 500 vulnerable families a week with fresh vegetables!"
- Project Manager, Jordan
"With the knowledge a farmer has gained from the training program and skills through on-the-job training, he is now consulting and trouble-shooting for commercial orchards."
- Project Leader, Central Asia
Health & Wellness
Health & Wellness Opportunities:
"Thank you for seeing me through this lockdown and for your sacrifices to me and the rest of the needy."
- Refugee, Cyprus
"Now my children are cleaner. They don't have to bathe in the pond, and they don't have diarrhea anymore."
- Mother, Bangladesh
"Each child is encouraged to use his/her own personal power to resolve conflict and that he/she is capable of becoming a peacemaker."
- Project Leader, North Africa
"Trauma is a topic we deal with as we assist women exiting all forms of sexual exploitation. Educating survivors on how trauma impacts their brain and body is key in their recovery journey. One woman exclaimed, 'Finally, I understand what is happening in me!' Thank you!"
- Director, Pink Door Berlin
- Karen Medical Student, Myanmar
Business
Business & IT Opportunities:
- 150 staff employed in Central Asia, plus 120 jobs created through clients.
- 20 full-time, highly-trained orchard management and staff provided competitive jobs and contributed to renovating the orchard industry infrastructure in Central Asia.
- 5 entrepreneurs coached in the Middle East.
"I used to think that business has nothing to do with my faith. I have learned that I'm a steward, not a boss or owner, and that I'm called to use my talents, wealth, and intelligence to discover the needs of people."
- Owner of a Middle East learning center
"This training helps me do my service and work with more confidence. It helped me to discover my abilities."
- Suzan, Freedom Factory, Middle East
(Suzan runs a jewelry business that employs marginalized women.)