Blessings International 
The information in this column was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 2/11/2019. To update the information in this column, please email: info@ministrywatch.com
Summary
Our mission is to heal the hurting globally and locally by providing life-saving pharmaceuticals, vitamins and medical supplies to medical mission teams, clinics and hospitals; to build healthy communities by treating the poor and victims of endemic medical problems, outbreaks of disease, or overwhelming disasters; and to transform lives by actively demonstrating the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. We accomplish this by facilitating medical missions primarily in developing nations by serving as a source of pharmaceuticals, vitamins, and medical supplies. In addition, we have a number of our own benevolent projects such as Haiti Orphanage Medical Support (HOMS), Emergency Disaster Relief, Maternal Care, and Antimalarial & Deworming projects, serving a global population of indigent patients.
Contact information
Mailing address:
1650 N. Indianwood Ave
Broken Arrow, OK 74012-4012
Website: www.blessing.org
Phone: (918) 250-8101
Email: info@blessing.org
Organization details
EIN: 731130590
CEO/President: Barry Ewy, PharmD, JD, MHA
Chairman: Donald Treadway, MD, PhD
Board size: 9
Founder: Dr. Harold Harder
Year founded: 1981
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 08/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 1990
Purpose
Blessings International has provided pharmaceuticals to thousands of medical teams going to more than 140 different nations since the ministry was created in 1981. Last fiscal year alone, we shipped 316,990 lbs of medicines.
Blessings continues to equip an upward of 3,000 teams traveling around the world each year. Among those teams are those that are the first to arrive, assess, and bring care to victims of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, famines and even wars. Through the donations that Blessings receives, we are also able to help subsidize the medical costs for these emergency teams working in disaster zones as well as for teams working in indigent medical clinics in the USA.
Countless numbers of lives have been saved because of medicines that Blessings has made available at low or subsidized costs. Additionally, the medical personnel including teams of doctors, nurses, dentists, as well as, clergy, volunteers, and professional aid workers have carried Blessings' medicines to remote locales, while also bringing the love and good news of Christ.
Mission statement
Blessings uses the following to express its mission:
Our mission is to heal the hurting, build healthy communities, and transform lives. We accomplish this by facilitating medical missions in primarily developing nations by supplying pharmaceuticals, vitamins, and medical supplies for medical mission teams, clinics, and hospitals.
Statement of faith
Blessings uses the following to express its statement of faith:
This Statement of Faith is not intended to cover all Biblical truth but only to establish a basis for fellowship and cooperation so that we may "all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions." (1 Cor 1:10)
The Scriptures
The Bible is the inspired word of God to men, the infallible, all-sufficient, final authority in all matters of faith and conduct.
(2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)
The One True God
The one true God has revealed Himself as eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
(Deuteronomy 6:4; Luke 3:22; John 14:12, 16, 28; 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)
The Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ
In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. (Colossians 2:9; Hebrews 1:3)
Jesus is the eternal Son of God who was with God and was God in the beginning. (John 1:1-3)
He was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary. (Matthew 1:23; Luke 1:35)
He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil. (Acts 10:38)
He lived a sinless life - holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners. (Hebrews 7:26)
He died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried and was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
(1 Corinthians 15:1-4)
He has now been exalted to the right hand of God. (Acts 2:33; Hebrews 1:3)
This same Jesus, who has been taken into heaven, will come back in the same way. (Acts 1:11)
The Fall of Man
There is no one righteous before God. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:10, 23; Isaiah 64:6)
God's Plan of Redemption
Salvation is found in no one else but the Lord Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Man is saved by grace, through faith, not by His own efforts but as a gift from God. (Ephesians 2:8)
God saves us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:5-7)
Water Baptism
All who repent and believe on Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord are commanded in Scripture to be baptized in water. (Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:16)
Present Work of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is at work in the earth today:
In response, believers are commanded to eagerly desire the greater gifts and to try to excel in gifts that build up the church. (1 Corinthians 12:31; 14:12)
Future Events
There is a coming resurrection: those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29; 2 Corinthians 5:10)
There is a coming judgment where any whose name is not found written in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire which is the second death. (Revelation 20:14, 15)
The Unity of All Believers
In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body. (Romans 12:5; 1 Corinthians 12:12)
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Relief and Development
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 492 of 819 | 37 of 69 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 481 of 819 | 43 of 69 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 213 of 819 | 20 of 69 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 682 of 819 | 54 of 69 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 7% | 65% | 48% | 51% | 44% | 33% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 6% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 98% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 6% | 2% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 2% | 97% | 97% | 97% | 97% | 97% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 86% | 91% | 91% | 91% | 91% | 92% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 98% | 101% | 98% | 100% | 95% | 88% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 84% | 92% | 90% | 91% | 86% | 81% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 2% | -1% | 2% | 0% | 5% | 12% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 5% | 0% | 1% | 0% | 3% | 7% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 6% | 7% | 7% | 8% | 8% | 7% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.86 | 0.60 | 0.60 | 0.57 | 0.53 | 0.51 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.37 | 1.62 | 1.58 | 1.61 | 1.62 | 1.80 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.93 | 0.97 | 0.95 | 0.91 | 0.85 | 0.91 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 8.46 | 89.67 | 71.99 | 65.68 | 81.52 | 44.82 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.11 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 3.07 | 12.26 | 12.49 | 13.00 | 13.89 | 12.85 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 12% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 42% | 166% | 165% | 175% | 188% | 194% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Cash | $1,316,247 | $1,683,092 | $2,018,668 | $2,041,823 | $1,718,738 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $2,049,210 | $1,787,778 | $1,615,972 | $1,801,911 | $1,867,499 |
| Short-term investments | $1,848,244 | $1,912,728 | $1,607,902 | $1,360,285 | $991,738 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $5,213,701 | $5,383,598 | $5,242,542 | $5,204,019 | $4,577,975 |
| Long-term investments | $429,854 | $171,264 | $168,667 | $166,184 | $499,077 |
| Fixed assets | $2,812,276 | $2,943,187 | $3,016,428 | $3,055,920 | $3,144,715 |
| Other long-term assets | $0 | $9,560 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term assets | $3,242,130 | $3,124,011 | $3,185,095 | $3,222,104 | $3,643,792 |
| Total assets | $8,455,831 | $8,507,609 | $8,427,637 | $8,426,123 | $8,221,767 |
| Liabilities | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $46,193 | $60,533 | $72,306 | $41,549 | $67,986 |
| Other current liabilities | $11,952 | $14,249 | $7,515 | $22,288 | $34,151 |
| Total current liabilities | $58,145 | $74,782 | $79,821 | $63,837 | $102,137 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total liabilities | $58,145 | $74,782 | $79,821 | $63,837 | $102,137 |
| Net assets | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Unrestricted | $8,174,746 | $8,225,542 | $8,112,823 | $8,139,504 | $7,893,653 |
| Temporarily restricted | $222,940 | $207,285 | $234,993 | $222,782 | $225,977 |
| Permanently restricted | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assets | $8,397,686 | $8,432,827 | $8,347,816 | $8,362,286 | $8,119,630 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Total contributions | $145,702 | $148,978 | $127,062 | $143,236 | $162,078 |
| Program service revenue | $4,766,580 | $4,982,381 | $4,602,902 | $4,504,971 | $4,542,821 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $95,309 | $55,581 | $27,106 | $34,135 | $32,150 |
| Other revenue | $1,505 | $640 | ($6,300) | $1,340 | $2,460 |
| Total other revenue | $4,863,394 | $5,038,602 | $4,623,708 | $4,540,446 | $4,577,431 |
| Total revenue | $5,009,096 | $5,187,580 | $4,750,770 | $4,683,682 | $4,739,509 |
| Expenses | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Program services | $4,585,621 | $4,661,477 | $4,315,843 | $4,037,525 | $3,824,851 |
| Management and general | $364,528 | $369,762 | $384,565 | $340,374 | $301,331 |
| Fundraising | $94,088 | $71,330 | $64,832 | $63,127 | $53,137 |
| Total expenses | $5,044,237 | $5,102,569 | $4,765,240 | $4,441,026 | $4,179,319 |
| Change in net assets | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Surplus (deficit) | ($35,141) | $85,011 | ($14,470) | $242,656 | $560,190 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | ($35,141) | $85,011 | ($14,470) | $242,656 | $560,190 |
Compensation
Compensation data for this ministry has not been collected.
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 2/11/2019. To update the information below, please email: info@ministrywatch.com
History
In 1980, an early morning men's prayer group at a church in Tulsa, Oklahoma was planning a mission outreach to Guatemala. A member of that group, Harold Harder, a PhD pharmacologist and medical school professor, joined the team as its acting pharmacist after sensing a desire to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of Mayans. His role was to solicit donated medicines. At the time, Guatemala was in the midst of civil war. Despite the apparent danger, Harold and his wife, Linda, knew they had to be obedient to God.
After returning from the trip to Guatemala and after much prayer, the Harders, were able to successfully obtain donated pharmaceuticals to help other teams going on similar short-term medical mission trips. In July 1981, Blessings International was incorporated as a non-profit and opened its doors to a world in need of its service.
The ministry was originally created to serve as a source for donated and low-cost pharmaceuticals to mission trips. Today, Blessings International provides pharmaceuticals and medical supplies to clinics and hospitals in developing countries and to some in the United States. Blessings International has expanded its territory to work with churches, non-governmental organizations, universities, and medical institutions.
Today, Blessings International maintains a growing staff of over 20 full-time employees and operates a 14,000 square foot warehouse and repackaging facility, all for the sake of providing medicines and medical supplies to teams, clinics, and hospitals which are healing the hurting, building healthy communities, and transforming lives with the love of Christ.
Program accomplishments
In Fiscal Year 2018, the human treatment value (HTV) of the medicines we shipped was 116,319,508! That is over 116 million courses of medicine and vitamins Blessings International shipped to medical teams, clinics, and hospitals around the world. We shipped to 101 nations, six more than last year. The chart on the opposite page details exactly how many dosages went to each nation.
HTV is our measurement for the number of lives affected by a product ordered through Blessings International. It is measured by totaling the number of medicines shipped that fall into one of two categories: curative treatments and treatment days.
- Curative treatments are defined as one full dosage of a treatment, regardless of how many individual pills/tablets/injections are required. For example, one course of antibiotics to treat an infection may require multiple tablets given to a patient over multiple days, but for HTV accounting purposes, it will only be counted as one treatment. Curative treatments include items such as antibiotics and anti-malarials.
- Treatment days are defined by the number of days a medicine is used. Total treatment days are the number of pharmaceutical dosages that are used to treat acute or chronic issues (including items such as analgesics, vitamins, antihypertensives, etc.) For example, if Blessings ships a bottle of 500 vitamins and someone takes one multi-vitamin per day, that bottle will equal 500 treatment days.
HTV 2014-2018
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Curative Treatments | 6,200,000 | 4,941,078 | 4,207,150 | 4,207,150 | 4,936,293 |
| Treatment Days | 81,000,000 | 96,692,600 | 97,915,831 | 100,030,615 | 111,383,215 |
| Total HTV | 87,162,683 | 100,570,678 | 102,122,981 | 104,604,378 | 116,570,678 |
Blessings International is committed to supplying medical teams with the medicine and supplies needed to respond to the acute recovery phase following natural disasters in developing nations. Teams responding to disaster situations quickly need antibiotics, wound care products, rehydration salts, and other items to treat emergent maladies, as well as routine medicines for conditions such as blood pressure and diabetes to replace destroyed prescriptions.
In Blessings' Fiscal Year 2018, many teams responded to the need for help in countries such as Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti in the aftermath of destructive Hurricanes Maria and Irma in September/October 2017. There was also the devastation that occurred in Guatemala as a result of the eruption of Volcn de Fuego in June 2018 which required the attention of relief volunteers.
Blessings International staff member Laura Berry was one of the volunteers who went to help in Guatemala during this time. She states, "When we arrived in Guatemala shortly after the eruption of Volcn de Fuego, our medical team was set to care for individuals displaced by the volcano. I am thankful for Blessings International and the quick response to deploy the medicines needed in country for that particular disaster. Medicines such as inhalers and burn cream that we easily take for granted in the United States were unavailable for first responders to the eruption. We were able to bring the critical medicines and distribute them to different teams that were serving in communities close to the volcano."
Collaborative Relief Efforts
Blessings International collaborated with several organizations during FY 2018. In the aftermath of the eruption of Volcn de Fuego in Guatemala, we were pleased to once again partner with Health Talents International, who stepped in to offer aid. Rick Harper, executive director of Health Talents International, tells us, "Health Talents International, with the aid of Blessings International, will fill more than 200,000 prescriptions in 2018. To say you are a valued ministry partner is an understatement. Following the eruption of Fuego, you not only honored a request to fill an emergency order, you generously gifted a sizable portion of the order. Within five business days, our order was filled and five days later, it was in Guatemala. Your compassion for those who are lost and hurting is only matched by your passion for service and love for our Lord."
Likewise, the team affiliated with Messengers of Mercy responded to the crisis in Haiti following Hurricane Irma, at which time Dr. Choi, president of Messengers of Mercy, said, "The ministry we do around the world is greatly expanded and fulfilled through the medicines and medical supplies we receive from Blessings International each year, and we are eternally grateful to God for our partnership."
As a result of partnering with organizations so willing to serve, Blessings International helps thousands of people receive a caring hand while restoring health in countries like Guatemala, Haiti, and more.
Haiti Orphanage Medical Support (HOMS)
The HOMS project provides consistent medical care and supplies to orphans in seventeen different Haitian orphanages. The program's primary purpose is to provide basic medical care and to monitor the orphanage to ensure it is providing a sufficient level of care for each child.
From April through August 2018, the HOMS project hosted multiple Mobile Kids Health Day events at orphanages to test for tuberculosis and malnourishment. Because of the work done through the Mobile Kids Health Day, Blessings International was able to help provide significant care to 640 orphans and minister to their spiritual needs.
Deborah Lammert, APRN-CNS, director of the HOMS project, states, "The longer we implement the HOMS project, helping care for vulnerable children in Haiti, the greater the impact we have seen. Through HOMS, the Mobile Kids Health Day provided additional screening and critical nutritional support. We are having a positive impact on the health of these children, as the simple but crucial interventions are performed. It's great to see kids tell us how much better they feel, how they've grown, and see how they are developing physically, socially, spiritually, and relationally."
Malaria
Globally, malaria is one of the top five causes of fatality for children under five. In 2017, there were an estimated 219 million cases of malaria that occurred worldwide, with 435,000 deaths. Unfortunately, 61% of these deaths (266,000) were children under the age of five. There are currently almost 3.2 billion people at risk of contracting malaria, which is almost half of the world's population.
Blessings is committed to fighting malaria, and in FY 2018, we gave away anti-malarial medicine to teams serving in fifty-one different countries. As a result of these gifts, approximately 17,400 people received malarial treatment. One very special case was a little boy in Togo, Africa. When his mother brought him to a Medical Missions International clinic, he was unresponsive, running a high fever, and dehydrated. She held his hand as if to say goodbye. That is, until Madeleine Allard, RN, BN, CWS, director of Medical Mission International, came into the clinic with antimalarial medicine she had received from Blessings International. Goodbye was no longer necessary after he received the treatment which led to his full recovery.
"Thank you for donating Arthemeter tablets to our ministry for Togo, Africa," Allard says. "It is indeed a gift of life. We serve people living in the bush, and malaria is quite rampant in this area. People are extremely poor and it is not uncommon for them to 'pay' for such medicine with a few yams. Thank you for loving our patients and for this gift!"
USA Clinic Support
While "International" is a part of our name, we recognize there are a lot of people hurting and in need here in the United States. This year, Blessings contributed toward Hurricane Harvey relief with our USA fund, and we came alongside new clinics.
Blessings works with charitable clinics located throughout the USA that provide care and treatment to those who are underserved or cannot afford healthcare. Through donations, Blessings is able to provide free or heavily subsidized medicines to these clinics.
The young lady pictured was one patron of Care Net Pregnancy Center, a clinic Blessings International partners with. Sandy Christiansen, MD, FACOG, medical director of Care Net, says, "This young woman, like many of our clients, is pregnant and without health insurance and very much in need of support. She was grateful to be able to come to our center where she received an ultrasound to confirm her pregnancy and prenatal vitamins, all free of charge. Thank you, Blessings International, for helping us serve our clients well!"
Clinic Expansion and Ministry Support
Blessings International believes in the power of medicine to save and improve lives. An adequate facility and properly trained staff are critical components to saving and improving those lives, and are part of our vision to "build healthy communities." For these reasons, Blessings International is proud to collaborate with medical organizations worldwide to provide exactly these things. For example, this fiscal year, Blessings partnered with Heal Our World to provide ultrasound equipment for a clinic in India.
Blessings International also links arms with local Oklahoman ministries that we feel complement our vision or are likewise working to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ. Whether monetarily or otherwise, Blessings International proudly supports these ministries to further their work for the Lord.