Who We Are
Christian Connections for International Health (CCIH) is a global network of Christian organizations and individuals committed to advancing health and wholeness. Motivated by our Christian faith and our values, CCIH envisions a world where all have access to quality healthcare and prevention services. CCIH is a nonprofit (501c3) organization established in 1987 and headquartered in the Washington, DC area.
CCIH members include over 125 organizations and affiliates, plus hundreds of individuals who work in over 90 countries globally. These members include non-governmental organizations, church networks, Christian Health Associations, volunteer and product donation agencies, and other support organizations. CCIH works with Protestant, Catholic, and non-denominational organizations as well as interfaith networks. Over half our members are based in low- and middle-income countries.
CCIH strengthens the visibility, quality, and fellowship of Christians engaged in global health. We elevate the profile of Christian health initiatives through data-driven mapping and landscape analyses that showcase their scope and impact. We enhance technical and organizational quality by facilitating self-assessment, shared learning, and accountability among dedicated cohorts. And we nurture a vibrant, global fellowship by actively engaging our diverse network of members and partners.
Read more about Who We Are, What We Do, and What Members Say about why they are part of the CCIH network.
What We Do
CCIH provides a forum for Christians working in global health to share best practices learned from field-tested programs to help them strengthen their work and provide the best care they can.
We implement a number of programs and initiatives working in partnership with our members and others. Our initiatives range from health systems strengthening; advocating for global health programs and especially for the work of faith-based organizations; mapping Christian health assets; increasing resilience to climate change among FBOs working in health; improving reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health; and helping CCIH members strengthen their capacity.
CCIH supports faith-based organizations by focusing on these strategic aims:
VISIBILITY: Raise the profile of Christian health initiatives globally through data-driven mapping and landscape studies on their scope and scale.
QUALITY: Improve technical and organizational quality and impact by supporting self-assessment, knowledge exchange, and data-driven accountability among cohorts of committed organizations.
FELLOWSHIP: Cultivate and engage our vibrant, global, and broad fellowship of members and partners to support enhanced visibility and quality.
Mission & Vision
OUR VALUES: Collaborative Fellowship | Holistic Health | Technical Excellence | Christian Compassion | Faithful Stewardship
OUR MISSION: CCIH seeks to mobilize and empower our network to promote global health and wholeness from a Christian perspective.
OUR VISION: Motivated by our Christian faith and our values, CCIH envisions a world where all have access to quality healthcare and prevention services.
OUR GOALS: To share information and provide a forum for capacity-building, networking, fellowship, and advocacy to the ever-increasing spectrum of organizations and individuals interested in how transformational Christian faith has a positive impact on international health.
The Case for CCIH
Here’s the opportunity
With 84% of the global population belonging to a major religion, a “faith engagement strategy” is vital—but often missing—from global health interventions. Churches have deep roots in communities and were present in many areas of developing countries before governments and other organizations providing health care. Religious leaders are respected in their communities and are powerful messengers on health when they have the facts.
Faith-based organizations are critical
Christian health workers and organizations are frequently the only actors to “reach the last mile,” be that a remote village, an urban slum, or any community of people who lack access to care. They operate training and community health programs and work with religious leaders who routinely influence attitudes and drive health behaviors. They are mostly locally formed, owned and controlled, resulting in culturally appropriate approaches.
Why CCIH matters
The world is changing and governments, donors, and Christian health programs are trying to find new ways to work together to solve complex health problems. CCIH draws on the strength of global and local institutions to strengthen local services and engage church leaders, promoting learning, advocacy and raising a network of next-generation leaders.
CCIH helps our network…
Tell their story. They want new and fresh ways to share news and impacts of their work with a variety of audiences.
Promote adaptive learning and capacity strengthening. They seek help responding to the call for evidence-based practice and applying emerging global guidelines to local contexts.
Access resources and partners to advance their programs. They want to see better coordination, sharing of funding opportunities and brokerage of networks and consortia.
Strengthen their integration of faith and health. They want to refine how Christian faith adds perspective and motivation to their work.
Belong to an influential global movement. Their voice needs to be amplified for policy makers and funders at local, national and international levels.
CCIH and the Christian Approach to Health
The percentage of health care provided by faith entities in low- and middle-income countries is significant, but varies widely from country to country. Faith entities are a critically important component of the overall health system in many countries, without which millions of people would be deprived of services, particularly in hard-to-reach underserved rural areas.
What is special about the Christian approach to health care? What makes CCIH unique and a critical part of the global health world? These six key elements sum up who we are and what CCIH stands for:
Holistic | The Christian approach to health is holistic, caring for the whole person, body, mind and spirit.
Compassionate | The Christian approach to health and health care is not simply delivered by doctors, hospitals and drugs, it flows out of communities and institutions of people caring for and loving each other.
Equitable | As Christians driven by compassion to serve, we are called to advocate for the poor and marginalized who often are left out of quality services.
Timeless | Christian churches are deeply rooted in communities and are with them for the long haul, continuing the compassionate health ministry that started with Jesus and continued over the centuries with the Church’s role in promoting health.
Evidence-based | CCIH blends research and evidence-based work with our faith-based calling to serve.
Unifying | CCIH spans the diverse spectrum of Christians working in global health, and connects people and organizations who share this Christian approach to health care in the spirit of Jesus, the Master Healer.
Our interaction with private, governmental and international agencies is expanding as the international community recognizes and acknowledges the pivotal role that faith-based organizations play in global health care. CCIH is increasingly being sought out by these agencies for its ability to connect with, and to be a voice for, Christians involved in international health.