The United Church of God has always had an assistance fund built into the budget, but sometimes circumstances would arise that weren’t budgeted for in the general assistance fund. Thus the Good Works program was born.

But why do we do it? Jesus said: “Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me’” (Matthew 25:34-40). God commands us to care for others!

Initially, funds donated to Good Works were used to purchase things: church buildings, vans, and disaster relief. However, in recent years we’ve also provided an outlet for outreach by partnering with United Youth Corps. We’ve funded volunteers for farming projects in Brazil, wells in Zambia and Brazil, working with orphans in Guatemala, teaching in Chile and Argentina, and youth camps in Jamaica, Brazil, and Nigeria. In addition to partnering with United Youth Corps, Good Works will often partner with the non-profit agency LifeNets, particularly on projects that fund wells, cattle, and orphanages (projects that impact the communities at large since they receive donations from the public). While we support joint projects, we do not donate to LifeNets, nor does LifeNets donate to Good Works.

You can see our current or past projects at http://goodworks.ucg.org/. You can follow our volunteers through their blogs at
http://goodworks.ucg.org/blog.

None of these projects are possible without the generous donations of our members. If you’d like to support any of our projects please visit http://donate.ucg.org/Good-Works-Program_p_11.html. Any projects that don’t receive enough specific donations are supplemented by the general Good Works fund (donations that are not earmarked for a specific project).