THE HISTORY OF HWCM
Hidden with Christ Ministries (a 501c3 organization) was founded in the year 2000. It was started with the aim of producing radio broadcasts of KEYS TO VICTORIOUS CHRISTIAN LIVING, a program designed to share practical, Bible-based teaching for everyday life.
After several years of broadcasting in the USA, the program branched out to include international broadcasting through WORLD HARVEST RADIO. It was then that requests to teach overseas began to pour in. One letter from the East African nation of Tanzania struck a chord and we felt that the Lord had spoken to us to answer that call. From that point – the rest is history!
Hidden with Christ Ministries began to work in East Africa in 2003, teaching seminars to native church pastors and leaders. In 2007, we opened the doors to an orphanage we named TREASURES OF AFRICA CHILDREN’S HOME in the town of Moshi, Tanzania, at the foot of majestic Mt. Kilimanjaro. The home cared for orphaned and abandoned children, feeding, clothing, housing, and educating them in the love of God. (see our website www.treasuresofafrica.org)
In 2020, the laws in Tanzania regarding orphans and orphanages changed. The government pledged to begin closing orphanages and placing the children with families. Though we had previously lobbied the Social Welfare authorities to allow us to find “foster families” for the children at Treasures of Africa (because we knew it was healthier for children to live in a family setting) we were refused because the law did not allow orphans to be placed with anyone not related by blood. The only exception was for placement in an orphanage. But with the change in the law, suddenly there was a program in place similar to “foster families” to care for orphaned children.
By mid-2021, we had successfully placed all the children from Treasures of Africa Children’s Home (who had no viable blood relatives to care for them) into hand-picked Christian families. Most of them were our own Treasures of Africa staff members who already knew and loved the children.
Since then, we have been laboring intensively with our newly reconfigured TREASURES OF AFRICA KIDZ project – which focuses on education and medical care for orphaned, abandoned and otherwise vulnerable children. We currently sponsor the education of students from Pre-school through University Graduate school! We have expanded the number of students we are helping, in addition to all the former orphanage residents, we have other needy children who are now part of the TOA KIDZ family. (you can watch videos of some of our TOA KIDZ stories on our website www.treasuresofafrica.org)
Because we recognize that every nation rises or falls based upon the quality of its leadership, we have been dedicated to educating the next generation of leaders for East Africa. Our next major undertaking will be the construction of the TREASURES OF AFRICA LEADERSHIP ACADEMY. This will be a Secondary School with a leadership training emphasis and a Biblical worldview. Orphans will be able to attend for free and other students will pay tuition to help offset the costs of running the school. Architectural plans are being developed now and the school will be built on a 5.2 acre plot of land outside the town of Moshi, Tanzania, which was purchased by HWCM more than a decade ago. This project will require a large investment to build, and we are currently fundraising for a target budget of $5,000,000.
In addition to working to educate orphans and other vulnerable children, we have a mercy project that focuses on helping the poorest of the poor. We call it our REHEMA PROJECTS. (The Swahili word for mercy is REHEMA.) We distribute food to the hungry and medical care to the indigent as there is no government funding for food or medical care for the poor in Tanzania.
Our third focus in Tanzania is our CHURCH DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS. We assist native churches with practical building projects and through Leadership Training.
On the U.S. side – we continue to produce practical Bible-teaching materials which are available for free through multiple media platforms including YouTube and Facebook, as well as a free Bible App available in the App stores called MY EVERYDAY BIBLE.
Please consider supporting the work of HIDDEN WITH CHRIST MINISTRIES by making a donation – CLICK HERE to give!