Church Empowerment Zones

In a typical CEZ, World Relief brings together 50-100 local pastors and gives them the opportunity to wrestle with common problems, share resources and join together in vision-casting for their churches, families and communities. We equip and train these leaders in both spiritual development and technical program areas, giving them the means to then equip hundreds of community members as trainers and outreach volunteers.

The evidence of tangible transformation in our CEZs is clear. Evaluations in one Rwandan district prove tremendous improvements in economic and social behaviors, as well as in family strengthening and relationships across our CEZs.*

• Households visited by church volunteers were 2x more food secure and saved twice as much in community savings groups. 

• 91% of beneficiaries obtained health insurance.

• 84% of households made changes in their marriage as a result of volunteer visits.

*Please note: These results are based on comparative data.