In 1959, a group of committed volunteers led by Rev. Alan Prior began the poverty ending work which would one day become Baptist World Aid.

Created by the Baptist Union of Australia, our organisation was born out of a response to the suffering caused by World War II.

The Australia Baptist World Aid and Relief Committee provided disaster relief in the form of shelter, food, clothing and financial assistance to refugees and displaced persons. It was a grassroots movement made up of Christians from local Baptist Churches, who gave of themselves to be love so they could help end extreme poverty.

Rev Alan Prior

Rev. Alan Prior, pictured center

The work expanded when Rev. Prior learned of the hardship that children in India were facing because of poverty. And in 1974 a group of volunteers started our Child Sponsorship program, signalling the beginning of an organisational focus on children which still continues.

Today Baptist World Aid is a not-for-profit Christian aid and development organisation with a rich heritage and more than 50 years’ experience. We have grown, learned and changed; always striving to love poor communities in the most practical and helpful ways.

We are inspired by the hearts of the volunteers who began the poverty ending work which we continue today. But most of all, we are humbled by the generosity of our faithful supporters. It is their commitment to be love, which, from the very beginning, has fuelled our dream of ending poverty.