Refugee churches play a unique and vital role in helping people survive and recover from forced displacement. But they often struggle to find safe spaces in which to gather for worship, fellowship, prayer and various ministries. Without a church building, they are significantly limited in their ability to provide spiritual, social, emotional and physical care for their congregations and for their fellow refugees. As refugees are often located in places with inhospitable conditions, their churches often fall into disrepair as roofing is blown away, termites destroy wooden beams, rains washout mud walls, etc. This project fund makes it possible for us to respond to refugee church building needs quickly.

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The Opportunity

People like you can partner with God in answering the prayers of our forcibly displaced brothers and sisters by giving to the "Refugee Church Building Project".

The Goal

We hope to assist with the costs of building and/or repairing at least 6 refugee church buildings annually (averaging 1 building every 2 months). In most cases, refugees are happy and able to do the work of building - they often only need help purchasing building materials. The cost of building/repairing church structures varies greatly from context to context. The average cost is about $1,700 per church.

The Strategy

As funding permits, we assist refugee churches with building church structures or repairing existing buildings. Refugee church leaders in each ministry location determine which churches are in need and ready for such construction work. This IAFR project is presently focused on meeting church building needs in Dzaleka refugee camp (Malawi) and Kakuma refugee camp (Kenya).

The Progress

IAFR has supported 78 refugee church building projects as of 9/2024. As camp populations continue to grow and older church buildings succumb to the harsh climate and termites, the need for refugee church buildings remains great! Let's continue to generously help our displaced brothers and sisters in this way!