Harvest Bridge
Equipping South Asian Christians to reach their own people for Christ
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Globally, over 3 billion people belong to ethnic groups in which few people, if any, are followers of Jesus Christ. Due to their lack of contact with Christians, the overwhelming majority of these 3 billion people will live their entire lives without ever hearing the Gospel and without seeing it lived out authentically in the lives of Christ's followers.
Nearly half of these 3 billion people reside in South Asia, a region that also struggles with persecution of religious minorities, some of the highest poverty rates in the world, and numerous other societal issues.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Church Planting, Evangelism & Discipleship
Using our extensive network, Harvest Bridge identifies indigenous missionaries who plant churches among unreached people groups (UPGs) throughout South Asia. We collect information about these missionaries, meet them individually, verify the authenticity of their work, and then help other nonprofits and individuals like you come alongside them.
Over 200 missionaries receive modest levels of monthly support through our efforts, not including grants we make for other ministry purposes.
Humanitarian Relief & Rehabilitation
Not only do our partners face natural disasters, violence, and political upheaval, they are ready to respond to these circumstances on behalf of others. When a disaster hits, our partners develop a plan to provide relief, and we supply financial resources through our emergency funds or grants from other organizations like Samaritan's Purse and UMCOR. Whether an earthquake in Nepal, flooding in Pakistan, or a cyclone in India, our partners are dedicated and faithful to serve others, even at their own risk.
Our relief efforts typically provide emergency assistance to the hardest-hit areas, with the goal of helping families get back on their feet and resume healthy lives. Our partners also train communities to prepare effectively for future disasters. In 2016 alone, over 6,000 people were helped through these efforts.
Through several projects in Pakistan, we have seen age-old ethnic prejudices subside and sometimes disappear. Relief efforts have also fostered goodwill in other countries, opening doors wide for the Gospel. That is long-term success!
Pastor and Missionary Training
Perhaps the single greatest need in the Christian church worldwide is for trained leaders to shepherd the growing number of people coming to vital Christian faith.
This need is especially acute in countries where many pastors cannot afford formal education. Dr. George Van Pelt Campbell, Harvest Bridge’s Director of Pastor Training, has written five books for pastors and holds annual training conferences.
We provide affordable, translated copies of our books to local pastors. Using our materials, Rev. James Pandian, our Asia Director, has given seminars throughout India and in most South Asian countries. These have impacted several thousand indigenous pastors and missionaries.
In many countries, we are blessed to come alongside church planting trainers who are trusted to lead by organizations like The Timothy Initiative, and several different denominations. We encourage collaboration with other trusted ministries to cultivate accountability, teachability, church unity and respect.
Children's Programs
Asian nations are modernizing, creating new opportunities for well-educated and technologically savvy young people. But what about the poorest of the poor? Without schooling, these children face futures of hard manual labor at unlivable wages, begging, or crime.
For only $50, we can equip a child with remedial education, training in hygiene, and the school supplies they need to enter school and complete their first year. We've had the joy of seeing children replace low expectations with dreams of becoming engineers, businessmen, teachers and doctors.
Many parents, seeing the benefits to their kids, are learning the value of education and making sacrifices to pay for children to continue schooling after the first year. Some children even come home and teach their parents what they’ve learned! With just $50, not only is a child helped, but his or her whole family benefits!
Impoverished children we enroll in school sometimes need help to succeed because (1) they missed earlier grades, (2) their parents are illiterate and cannot help them, and (3) they live in conditions not conducive to studying. This led to our School Success program.
Harvest Bridge provides a small allowance, ranging from $12-$24 per month, to help 20 churches make their facilities available as study centers in the evening. Church members serve as tutors. On average, between 350-500 children attend these programs regularly each year.
Poor families are impressed by how the local Christians are helping their children; as a result, many parents have turned to faith in Christ!
Economic Development
We assist local ministries in establishing vocational programs, including tailoring schools, micro-enterprises that produce goods such as brooms, garlands or sandals, and an apprenticeship program which teaches skilled trades to unschooled youth. Through our Gypsy and Tribal Empowerment (GATE) program in Southern India, we also train pastors to start vocational programs in impoverished and marginalized areas.
Gypsy, Dalit and tribal and communities suffer from inadequate housing, low-paying jobs, and insufficient food. While larger impoverished groups receive attention from the local government and humanitarian organizations, smaller groups of fewer than 100 families are often overlooked. This is where Harvest Bridge steps in.
Gypsy and Tribal Empowerment (GATE) was started in Tamil Nadu, India by a local HB partner, Prabha, to train pastors and provide community development services to gypsy and tribal people. This includes helping them gain rights to land, education, job training, and proper water and electricity supplies. Over twenty communities, consisting of several thousand families, have benefited from this ministry.
Where we work
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of new Christians baptized
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Church Planting, Evangelism & Discipleship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
New followers of Jesus are baptized through the ministries of our local partners in the eight countries where we work. Baptisms occur after thorough instruction in the faith.
Number of churches and house churches planted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Church Planting, Evangelism & Discipleship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our local partners actively forge into new areas, planting churches that normally start as small house gatherings and grow as the number of Christians increases.
Number of church leaders trained through conferences and seminary training programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Pastor and Missionary Training
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Theological training is an enormous need in the South Asian church. Our partners' theological education programs mainly consist of training conferences and accelerated seminary courses.
Number of church planters who received ministry tools to aid their outreach efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Church Planting, Evangelism & Discipleship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
We partner with other Christian NGOs to provide tools to enhance the ministries of missionaries. Tools include gospel tracts, backpacks, walking shoes, rain coats, flashlights, motorbikes, and more.
Number of Christians who received medical, legal and/or relocation assistance following persecution
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Humanitarian Relief & Rehabilitation
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Following Christ in the countries where we work often brings persecution from family and community. We work with other Christian NGOs to assist those who suffer various forms of persecution.
Number of Bibles distributed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Church Planting, Evangelism & Discipleship
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In many of the areas where our Asian partners serve, Bibles are either unavailable or too expensive for most people to afford. We distribute Bibles both to new Christians and seekers.
Number of children educated in schools started by our Asian partners
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Children's Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Several of our Asian missionaries have started schools to serve poor communities where children are not attending school. Our partners also help enroll children in existing schools.
Number of children from poor families who received monthly sponsorship
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Children's Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In two of the countries where we work, our partners run homes to care for children who lost parents due to war, disease or neglect. These homes provide a caring, Christ-centered environment.
Number of children who participated in after-school tutoring programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Children's Programs
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In many parts of South Asia, children need additional tutoring outside of school hours to overcome barriers to success. Our partners run quality after-school tutoring programs for this purpose.
Number of ultra-poor individuals who received vocational training, started or expanded their own business, and/or acquired employment
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Economic Development
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Our micro-grants enable families to rise above extreme poverty by providing skills training, business coaching, productive assets such as livestock or sewing machines, and counseling.
Number of people served by disaster relief and community development programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Humanitarian Relief & Rehabilitation
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
When disasters such as floods, landslides, and earthquakes strike, our partners spring quickly into action. They also teach communities how to prepare for and mitigate the impact of disasters.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Harvest Bridge's goal is to equip indigenous Christian ministries in South Asia to serve more effectively, so that Christ will be glorified and individuals in these countries will have greater physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.
This encapsulates four important ideas:
1. Rather than sending our own staff to start ministries in Asia, we identify local Asian ministries that already have proven to be effective and accelerate their work by equipping them with training, relationships, and material support.
2. Equipping local ministries is a high-impact strategy because it is respectful of local culture and it leverages local talent, knowledge, and other resources.
3. South Asia is a region where foreign missionary dollars go very far, because Christians are a tiny minority and extreme poverty is widespread.
4. Harvest Bridge's mission statement recognizes that the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel go hand-in-hand.
Our vision is for unreached people groups to gain access to the Gospel, for poor and marginalized communities to be empowered and lifted out of poverty, and for underprivileged children to be equipped with the education and resources necessary to achieve their dreams.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategy is to equip existing local ministries rather than sending Americans to start new ones. Local people already understand the language and culture and can work at much lower cost. We make it possible for these ministries to accelerate and expand their work by connecting them with like-minded organizations and training, sharing ideas, and providing material support, which includes both equipment and financial assistance. Following Christ's example, our partners both proclaim the Gospel and alleviate suffering through economic development programs for the extremely poor and marginalized, and various other humanitarian programs.
The benefits of working through local ministries are particularly high in the difficult places where we work – communities where both Christians and foreign visitors are rare. Americans who travel to these areas can put themselves and their local hosts in danger. Furthermore, the presence of an American creates the expectation of handouts, which complicates the proclamation of the Gospel and attempts to minister to people holistically.
Harvest Bridge can be thought of as a switchboard connecting Asian ministries, international NGOs, and American donors. When our Asian partners find an opportunity or face a need, we can frequently find someone in our network that can help. When an NGO makes plans to provide relief to survivors of earthquakes or floods, we can connect the NGO to our reliable Asian partners and help with the necessary paperwork. When donors are interested in helping with a particular need in a particular nation, often we can find a project within our network that fits their interests. Often, Harvest Bridge has its own ideas for projects. If there is interest from our Asian partners and donors, then we can implement these as well.
Regardless of who proposes a particular project, we move forward with projects only if they are consistent with our mission and sound in their methodology and benefits.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Relationships are Harvest Bridge's most important assets. We work regularly with 274 indigenous missionary partners in eight South Asian countries, along with thousands of other indigenous missionaries who have benefited from one or more of our programs.
We have a proven accountability structure with regular reporting requirements, financial safeguards, and country & regional leaders. Throughout South Asia, we have access to local churches and talented people who understand the language and culture, and who help us to get God's work done in cost-effective, culturally appropriate ways.
Harvest Bridge also has strong relationships with other Western NGOs. In 2017, nearly half of our work was financed by other humanitarian or missionary organizations. Our main limitation is that we are a young organization with limited finances and human resources in the US.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Harvest Bridge began in 2008 with only $1,325. By God's grace but with few worldly resources, we have grown into an organization that has trained thousands of pastors, educated hundreds of children, and supports 274 indigenous missionaries in eight countries.
In 2017 alone:
- Over 3,700 new followers of Jesus were baptized through our 274 indigenous partners in eight countries.
- 34 churches and 311 house churches were planted by our Asian partners.
- Over 860 pastors and lay leaders were trained through conferences and condensed seminary courses conducted by our Asian partners.
- 115 church planters received ministry tools to enhance their outreach efforts, such as rain coats, walking shoes, gospel tracts, backpacks and more.
- 35 Christians were helped with medical, legal and/or relocation assistance following severe persecution.
- More than 2,000 Bibles were distributed in areas where Bibles are in short supply.
- More than 550 children were educated in schools started and operated by our partners, and over 1,200 received school supplies.
- Over 560 children participated in HB-sponsored after school tutoring programs.
- Through our partners' social entrepreneurship efforts, 294 extremely poor individuals received apprenticeship training, started or expanded their own businesses, or acquired employment.
- 3,440 people benefited from relief and development programs, including flood relief, hygiene and sanitation education, disaster preparedness training, and free medical clinics.
Much work remains. Harvest Bridge is still relatively unknown in the USA, and short of both funds and personnel. We seek to increase funding for our ministry, and raise awareness in the US about God's work in South Asia and the trials, courage, and accomplishments of the South Asian church.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Harvest Bridge
Board of directorsas of 11/08/2022
Kimberly Garrett
George Van Pelt Campbell
Grove City College
Katrina Wolinski
Cardiff Software
Cedric Lewis
CIRDEC Consulting, LLC
Alan Rice
Grove City College
Erika F Tallerico
Grossman Yanak & Ford LLP
Evan Feinberg
Stand Together
Cliff Hovis
Hovis Auto & Truck Supply
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data