Although not identified yet as World Partners, its work began as religious renewal
movements during the late nineteenth century. Out of these movements emerged
a commitment to bring enduring change at home and abroad as individuals with a
common purpose shared their new found hope and labored to develop schools, places
of worship and hospitals among some of the least developed countries of the world.
Early ventures included Liberia (1890), Turkey (1898), Sierra Leone (1898), Nigeria
(1901) and India (1924). Those early years were frequently marked by hardship and
disease and yet as workers gave their lives for the cause, the number of new applicants
swelled. The name “World Partners” was formally adopted in 1988. Over the years work
has expanded beyond simply the least developed nations of the world and is today
spread throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
In recent years, the identification and development of key leaders throughout the world
has allowed the organization to further the extent of its influence beyond the efforts of
its own staff and open doors that would otherwise have remained closed for a variety
of reasons.
