- Within the United States, our charter allows us only to assist organizations recognized by the IRS as churches and/or other 501-c (3) charitable organizations (most Christian camps and mission agencies qualify).
- We assist only those organizations in agreement with our Statement of Faith and whose need and project has been carefully and prayerfully evaluated by the CWCf staff authorized by our Board of Directors.
- We are not presently accepting requests from outside the USA.
We provide short-term construction and maintenance assistance to our client ministries so that they can either expand their ministry or make it more efficient. We are not a Contractor and we do not contract work. In most cases, we come alongside your ministry to assist you – not to perform the work for you. Below is a complete listing of our services.
- Pre-design or pre-construction review
- CWCf staff is willing and ready to review your building needs even before you begin the design work;
- If you already have plans underway or completed, we can review them and possibly make recommendations that might lead to a more efficient or cost-effective volunteer project.
- Recruit volunteer labor (craftsmen, handy-helpers, willing workers)
- Our Project Coordinator can serve as a liaison between you and our pool of potential volunteers. We may be able to send one or more volunteers to work directly under your own on-site supervisor or to work with a CWCf team leader;
- Most of our volunteers serve through RV’ers for Christ, a ministry of CWCf.
- On-site job supervision
- CWCf staff is made up of full and part-time, faith-supported construction missionaries;
- CWCf supervisors can help order materials and help coordinate subcontractors, but CWCf does not typically provide any materials, subcontracts, funds, or fundraising on behalf of our client ministries.
Ultimately, we rely on the Lord to bring all the resources together to enable us to assist you with your project. Our CEO likes to call this “Holy Ghost serendipity”. You must meet some basic criteria (see Who will we help? tab above), and we have some expectations of you that must be met in order for us to be able to help you…read more on the What do we expect? tab below.
- A completed application for construction assistance and an executed Memorandum of Understanding (provided by our Project Coordinator when your project has been approved and details have been worked out).
- Materials for the project, and workers from your congregation, staff, or volunteer base (remember, we come alongside to guide and supplement your people, we generally don’t build it for you);
- Construction permits and licensed subcontractors, where required; we must have copies of the required permits in our office before we will mobilize missionaries and/or volunteers to your jobsite;
- Liability Insurance covering volunteer workers on your project, with Construction Workers Christian Fellowship named as an additional insured on your policy (a copy must be received before we start work); the Memorandum of Understanding sets forth the preferred minimum standards;
- Automobile Liability Insurance for any and all vehicles owned by Client and used at any job sites or to transport individuals or materials to or from job sites for a minimum coverage amount of $1,000,000 each accident, including Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability Coverage.
- If your coverage does not meet these standards, or you are unable to obtain insurance that does, please discuss your situation with our Project Coordinator.
- Jobsite phone or cell phone/cell service and e-mail/Internet access for our missionaries;
- Beginning 60 days prior to the arrival of CWCf missionary or other personnel on your site, we require weekly communication to our home office (phone or e-mail), updating us on project status.
- Some sort of room and board for our Associates/RV’ers/Missionaries. This varies from project to project and depends on the missionary staff assigned, the location, etc.:
- A place to park their RV (trailer or motor home), as well as parking spaces or rooms for any volunteers we recruit for the project, free of charge to the missionary and associates; (we coordinate with you the number of spots needed before mobilizing staff or Associates);
- Utilities to the RV spaces – minimum 30 amp electrical service (50 amp preferred), drinking water, and some form of sewer service (sometimes this is a weekly pump out by the “honey bucket” truck); with you (the client ministry) covering the cost of these utilities. Making sure the missionaries’ propane tanks are full before they leave your job isn’t required, but it’s sure appreciated!
- A few of our missionaries and volunteers do not have RV’s; in their case we ask you to arrange for lodging, typically with a church family or in a camp dorm or cabin, mission apartment, etc.
- Although we do not require meals be provided, on jobs where a number of folks are working at the lunch or dinner hour on a regular basis it is common and much appreciated for the client ministry to provide at least one meal a day for the workers. At camps, this usually means the use of the dining hall. Churches typically form a pot-luck committee and bring meals to the job site.
- Finally, we ask for opportunities for our missionaries to share the ministry of CWCf with your people. For churches, this can be to the whole church, or to small groups. Some of our missionaries can even fill in for your pastor from time to time if desired. For ministries other than churches we appreciate opportunities to present our ministry to your board or other leadership.
Please Note: Approval/Acceptance of your project does not constitute a commitment by CWCf to service it. We depend entirely on the Lord raising up volunteers to work on projects after we publish the need and project details (See How do we decide? tab above).
Special Notes for Non-USA Projects
We are not currently accepting applications for assistance from overseas ministries.
- While CWCf missionaries are faith supported and our Associates and RV’ers for Christ cover their own costs, we find it necessary to ask our client ministries to help out a little bit, if possible; “…the worker is worth his keep.” (Matt. 10:10 and 1Tim 5:18) Also, just to be frank, we’ve learned that human nature doesn’t seem to place a lot of value on things that are received “for free” (2 Sam. 24:24). So in addition to the items mentioned in the What do we expect? tab above, we request that our client ministries give prayerful consideration to contributing toward the following minimal expenses (details and estimated costs are available from our Project Coordinator after your project has been approved for consideration):
- Travel Expenses to Your Jobsite: Rising fuel costs are making travel to projects much more expensive. Please discuss the possibility of your ministry covering a portion of the travel expenses with our Project Coordinator.
- State labor insurance: We recommend a monthly or quarterly gift to CWCf for the cost of labor insurance when applicable to our missionaries on your project at the then-current rate plus 10% for overhead.
- Staff/Volunteer Accident Insurance: We provide a small accident insurance policy (different from your liability insurance) for our missionaries and for all volunteers (Associates) we supply through RV’ers for Christ to your project for a very low cost (recently about $1/day/volunteer). Please consider making a monthly or quarterly donation to help us provide this reasonable insurance for our people.
- Missionary Support: Finally, we ask you to consider supporting the CWCf construction missionary who served you, or our General Fund, at whatever amount your budget allows, for at least a number of months equal to the number of weeks the missionary spends on your project. This is completely between you and the Lord.
If you are unable to contribute toward these needs, it will not prevent your project from being considered for assistance. Please discuss this with our Project Coordinator.
Note: We highly recommend that the church or mission maintain a debt-free building program. We believe God’s work done in God’s way will not lack God’s resources.
Some congregations have been truly blessed by committing a “tithe” of their building fund resources to a needier congregation, perhaps in a developing world country. This helps put the focus on the broader body of Christ, and keeps the building experience from just being “all about US”. You cannot out-give God!