by Dr. Gary G. Hoag

ECFA exists to enhance trust in Christ-centered churches and ministries. That trust undergirds a vibrant giving community in the United States. However, in too many places around the world where trust is broken – perhaps because of systemic corruption or a lack of education in effective charity administration – it can be hard to rally participation in God’s work.

What if generous givers globally had an organization like ECFA to help them be confident in the integrity and financial accountability of ministries located in their own nations? What sort of work for the Kingdom could that empower? 

That was a dream that energized ECFA leaders a decade ago and led to the launch of Global Trust Partners (GTP) in December 2018. GTP works with partners worldwide to multiply and mobilize peer accountability groups like ECFA that will establish biblically faithful, globally consistent, and locally contextualized standards necessary for building trust and encouraging local generosity for God’s work in every nation.

This has been a team effort. GTP formed an international board and began with three staff in the U.S., Egypt, and the Philippines. Since then, we have added seven more in Australia, Canada, Guatemala, Malaysia, Nepal, Rwanda, and South Africa. In addition, as GTP President & CEO, it has been my honor to commission volunteer professionals to serve as regional facilitators. They helped deliver four programs  – Teaching, Training, Teamwork, and Toolbox –  in the twelve regions of the Lausanne Movement. Now GTP serves 6,690 stewards in 122 countries, with prayer support from 2,766 intercessors worldwide and financial giving from 243 givers in 53 countries. 

We grow peer accountability groups like ECFA in four phases: (1) planting, (2) sprouting, (3) budding, and (4) spreading.

 

Phase #1: PLANTING

GTP does planting work in regions where no ministries adhere to common accountability standards. Initiatives involve rallying prayer, sowing biblical teaching on stewardship and standards, and providing replicable generosity training to church workers and Christian professionals. 

Recent planting work offers hope. For example, we formed a coalition in Jamaica that plans to launch an accountability organization in 2024. In addition, onsite work in Benin, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal in 2023 is seeding already existing African Council for Accreditation and Accountability (AfCAA) standards in Francophone Africa. Also, GTP joined an alliance to bring standards for ministry sustainability to Eurasia.

Jamaica

Phase #2: SPROUTING

GTP endeavors to nurture new peer accountability groups abroad by helping them set up or streamline accreditation processes and by facilitating peer learning with accountability group administrators. We are grateful that with patience and support we have seen sprouting recently in East Asia, Latin America, and South Asia. For example, the Christian Council for Financial Transparency Korea is serving churches and ministries in South Korea, and CONFIABLE now has official charity status in Guatemala. In addition, Orden (meaning “Order”) in Colombia, Mayordomos (meaning “Stewards”) in Costa Rica, and Calidad (meaning “Quality”) in Bolivia represent three new ECFA-like groups emerging in Latin America. Also noteworthy, workers in Brazil plan to launch a peer accountability group after meetings in May 2024, and the Evangelical Financial Accountability Council in India has completed its standards and is beginning the process of accrediting ministries.

Guatemala

Phase #3: BUDDING

For ECFA-like groups that have begun accrediting members, GTP provides capacity-building support. This includes coaching, awareness events, and matching grants. We are particularly active in such work in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and English, Portuguese, and Spanish-speaking Africa.

AfCAA, formed in Kenya in 2016 with encouragement from ECFA, accredits organizations in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Zimbabwe thanks in part to referrals from GTP. We also helped activate NABLA in Egypt, and we are pleased that Ehrenkodex (“Code of Honor”) now offers a seal of quality for transparent, effective, and sustainable actions by Christian nonprofits in Switzerland. Looking ahead, we’ll be traveling to Czechia in April to convene a coalition hoping to form such an accountability group for Eastern Europe.

Malawi

Phase #4: SPREADING

This phase is when GTP gets to collaborate with advanced peer accountability groups ready to help spread standards to new places. We have worked with groups in North America, the South Pacific, and Southeast Asia in sharing resources and expertise or traveling to foreign countries.

ECFA stands out as a global catalyst in this international movement, and the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities has also supported such efforts. In addition, the CMA Standards Council (Australia) has helped in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, and the Christian Council for Transparency and Accountability (Philippines) helped us spur the launch of the fast-growing ICCSA in Indonesia.

Indonesia

God continues to bless the bold vision of ECFA leaders who encouraged the launch of GTP to serve the international accountability movement around the globe. It’s happening by prayer, supported by giving, and nurtured through collaboration between the fellowship of the accountability organizations sprouting, budding, and spreading around the world.

You, too, can join this movement. Support the work of GTP through prayer and giving. Encourage ministries to get accredited by existing peer accountability groups. Or contact GTP to explore the next steps in planting a new ECFA-like group in an underserved country today.

Gary G. Hoag, Ph.D., serves as President & CEO of Global Trust Partners (GTP).