East West Ministries International

What East West Ministries International does

East West Ministries International is a private nonprofit Christian missions organization founded in 1993 by John Maisel and headquartered in Plano, Texas. The organization focuses on church planting and disciple-making among unreached people groups (UPGs) — ethnic and religious populations with less than 2% evangelical Christian presence — operating in more than 50 countries across 10 major world regions including Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, North America, Russia and the Caucasus, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. East-West reports cumulative ministry outcomes since founding of 370,000+ churches planted, 292M+ gospel shares, 23M+ professions of faith, and 1.8M+ leaders trained, with 2024 alone producing 13,199 churches planted and 961,904 professions of faith.

East-West's core offerings are organized around a "go, give, pray, engage" engagement model. Go-programs include week-long short-term mission teams (Mission, Extreme, Arise, NEXT, and Medical variants), year-plus long-term overseas deployments, and an 11-week Plano-based stateside internship. Give-programs include one-time and recurring individual donations, a 'Multipliers' monthly giving program, designated gifts tied to specific missionaries or regions, and planned giving vehicles (wills, trusts, legacy gifts) processed through plannedgiving.org. The 'Multiply' strategic framework for 2026-2028 sets quantitative targets for expanding the Multiplier donor base and Growing Church Partner network. The organization is ECFA accredited, holds Candid's Platinum Seal of Transparency, and was recognized as a Best Christian Workplace in 2023.

The business model is donation-funded with no products or services sold. Revenue streams include individual donations (one-time and recurring), church partnership contributions, designated gifts to specific missionaries or regions, and planned/legacy giving. Distribution costs are framed as ministry impact metrics: $0.39 per gospel share, $14 to train a local leader, and $252 to plant a reproducible house church. The organization does not operate a technology platform; its 'Digital Strategies' program uses online advertising to connect seekers with local believers, primarily in restricted-access countries. Leadership is split between CEO Kurt Nelson (since 2010) and President Kristen Shuler (since 2024), with founder John Maisel serving as Chairman Emeritus.

Name

East West Ministries International

Legal name

East-West Ministries International

Website

https://eastwest.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

East West Ministries International is a nonprofit Christian missions organization founded in 1993 that mobilizes believers, trains local leaders, and plants churches among unreached people groups in more than 50 countries across 10 world regions, funded by individual donations, church partnerships, and planned giving.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Religious Nonprofit Missions Services

NAICS

Religious Organizations (8131), Religious Organizations (81311)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Missions & Evangelism Organizations (Domestic & International) (BPAGAJAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG), Ministerial Training Institutes (Clergy Formation) (EDAHAKAE)

Keywords

• Christian missions
• Unreached people groups
• Missionary training
• Faith-based outreach
• Nonprofit ministry

Headquarters

HQ city

Plano

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Individual donors contribute one-time or recurring gifts to support the general ministry, specific missionaries, regions, or initiatives. Monthly giving program called 'Multipliers' encourages ongoing support. Donors can give through the website, stock, cryptocurrency, or donor-advised funds.
2. Church Partnerships: Churches partner with East-West through sending short-term mission teams, supporting specific missionaries or regions financially, or engaging in prayer initiatives. Churches receive coordination services, training, and ministry support in return.
3. Designated Gifts: Donors can designate gifts to specific missionaries, regions, initiatives, or short-term team members. Each has a specific account enabling tracked allocation. A small percentage underwrites general operating costs.
4. Planned Giving & Legacy Gifts: East-West offers planned giving options including wills, trusts, and legacy gifts through their plannedgiving.org portal, allowing donors to leave long-term financial support for the ministry.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

East West Ministries International is a Christian nonprofit missions organization that engages unreached people groups through field ministry, missionary training, and disciple-making programs. It partners with local believers and churches in more than 50 countries across 10 regions to plant churches and share its faith among populations with little or no access to Christian witness.

Product overview

East West Ministries International operates as a church planting and missionary mobilization organization with a multi-tiered service portfolio. The core offering centers on mobilizing, evangelizing, equipping, and multiplying disciples and churches among unreached people groups worldwide through short-term mission teams (Mission Teams, Extreme Teams, Arise Teams, NEXT Teams, Medical Teams), long-term overseas deployments, and a stateside internship program. The organization runs specialized initiatives including Arise (women's missions movement), Digital Strategies (online evangelism), Medical Outreach, and Multiply (2026-2028 strategic framework). Training programs encompass Four Fields Training, Women's Ministry Training, Pastoral and Leadership Training, and Degree Level Training for national partners. Supplementary offerings include devotional resources (From the Front Lines, The Awe of Jesus, The Gift of God), educational materials (Field Guide to World Religions, Nations in Your Neighborhood), giving programs (Monthly Multipliers, Planned Giving), and a Prayer Program with regional prayer guides. The organization works across more than 50 countries in 10 major world regions including Africa, Central Asia, East Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America, Russia and the Caucasus, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Missionary Training and Mobilization
• Unreached People Groups Outreach
• Church Planting Among Least-Reached Populations

Quantifiable outcome

• 370,000+ churches planted since 1993
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA)coreOthersECFA membership provides third-party accreditation confirming East-West adheres to high standards of financial stewardship and ethical practices. Donors can verify ECFA membership on the organization's member profile page.
• Candid (GuideStar)coreOthersEast-West maintains Candid's Platinum Seal of Transparency, the highest level of nonprofit transparency rating, demonstrating commitment to donor accountability and organizational openness.
• MissioNexusminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMissioNexus is an evangelical missions association connecting and resourcing missions organizations. East-West participates in this network for collaboration and resource sharing with other missions agencies.
• Planned Giving PartnersminorOthersPartnership with plannedgiving.org for legacy giving options, allowing donors to include East-West in wills, trusts, and estate planning.

Scale indicators32 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• International Mission Board (IMB): The IMB is the Southern Baptist Convention's global missions sending agency and the organization where East-West President Kristen Shuler previously served. As a much larger denominational incumbent, IMB offers overlapping capabilities in missionary deployment, unreached-people-group engagement, and church planting — the closest large-scale peer for scale and methodology comparison.
• Samaritan's Purse: Samaritan's Purse, led by Franklin Graham (who publicly endorss East-West), is a large evangelical relief and missions organization combining humanitarian aid, medical teams, and church planting among unreached populations. Its medical and short-term team offerings overlap directly with East-West's Medical Teams and short-term mission programs.
• Operation Mobilisation (OM): OM is one of the largest evangelical missions movements worldwide, mobilizing short-term teams (often via the OM Ship ministry), long-term workers, and church partnerships to engage least-reached populations. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping delivery mechanisms (short-term trips, training programs, donor mobilization) even though its scope is significantly larger than East-West's.
• Youth With A Mission (YWAM): YWAM is a global, decentralized evangelical missions movement running short-term outreach teams (DTS training), long-term bases, and mercy ministry programs across 100+ countries. It competes with East-West for short-term mission participants and church-partner relationships and offers comparable training/discipleship infrastructure.

Others

• Joshua Project: Joshua Project is a research and data initiative that profiles the world's unreached people groups and connects mission agencies to UPG-specific ministry opportunities. It is not a peer in the mobilization sense but is an adjacent, enabling data and referral platform commonly used by agencies like East-West to identify and prioritize field targets.

Direct peers

• Frontiers: Frontiers is a missions-sending organization specializing in Muslim-background unreached people groups, using church planting movements and team-based mobilization in countries where the gospel has limited access. It competes directly with East-West for missionaries, donors, and church partnerships targeting similar restricted-access populations.
• Pioneers: Pioneers is an evangelical missions agency that focuses on church planting among unreached people groups in restricted-access regions, with mobilization of short-term teams and long-term missionaries supported by individual donors and church partners. Its model and target segments substantially overlap with East-West's core offering.
• e3 Partners / Global Missions Fellowship: e3 Partners is the merged entity of Global Missions Fellowship, where East-West CEO Kurt Nelson previously served as Vice President. Both organizations mobilize church-based teams and individual missionaries to plant churches among unreached people groups, making them direct comparables on GTM motion, church partnership model, and target donor base.
• Africa Inland Mission (AIM): AIM is a long-established evangelical mission agency focused on church planting and disciple-making among unreached African people groups, with comparable donor mobilization, missionary support raising, and cross-cultural training programs. It is a meaningful peer on the unreached-people-group segment and on field-deployment infrastructure.

Emerging players

• Luis Palau Association: The Luis Palau Association is an evangelistic ministry with a public endorsement relationship to East-West, conducting citywide gospel campaigns and church-equipping work. While its primary focus is mass evangelism rather than missions mobilization, it overlaps on donor base, evangelical audience, and church partnership development.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights3 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/eastwestministries

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about East West Ministries International