About Us

ALWS does not offer volunteer opportunities. We may, however, be able to assist through advice and re-directing to specific agencies.

Many generous people, recognising how blessed we are here in Australia and New Zealand, feel moved to share what they have with families in poor communities. 

However, the mechanics of sending goods overseas generally make this an impractical and inefficient way to help people: 

• shipping costs are very expensive
• customs duties can cost more than the value of goods themselves 
• ALWS projects are often in remote regions, and transport costs can be high 
• managing transport and distribution of goods can use a large amount of staff time, better applied elsewhere 
• the proposed goods may not be appropriate for the local situation, and therefore may end up being discarded 
• it can be difficult to make certain all members of a community benefit equally 
• sourcing goods locally provides employment opportunities and benefits the local economy. 

For these reasons, ALWS does not support sending gifts-in-kind overseas. Donations of money are by far the most practical, efficient and effective means of helping. 

ALWS has been established by the Lutheran Church of Australia to meet human need, without any strings attached. This work takes us into places where there may not be local churches and involves us with people who may not be Christian.  This gives you the wonderful opportunity to reflect God’s unconditional love to others, and display in actions Jesus’ love for us. 

ALWS has been set up as a complementary body to the LCA’s International Mission, which has a mandate to spread the Gospel message. International Mission works primarily in partnership with overseas partner churches to strengthen and support their ministry. 

ALWS and International Mission work together as an expression of the total ministry of the LCA to both proclaim and demonstrate the Gospel message to the world. 

ALWS does not offer a child sponsorship program. A key reason is that our partners do not support this form of giving, as it’s not consistent with proven integrated and empowerment approaches to development. Another factor is the amount of resources required to operate such a program often means that a great deal of time and money is used up in running the program, rather than directly helping the people who need help. 

However, we do offer: 

1. The opportunity for Easy Regular Giving  

Your donation supports the work of ALWS, including our overseas program that assists whole communities in their long-term development, in countries such as Cambodia, Nepal and South Sudan. You receive written updates twice a year on how your support is helping people around the world. 

2. Gifts to specific projects 

Although ALWS especially values gifts that are provided on an undesignated basis, donors are able to specify their gifts to particular projects with the ALWS Overseas Program. Currently, these projects are: 

• Burundi 
• Cambodia 
• Djibouti 
• Indonesia 
• Kenya
• Nepal
• Papua New Guinea 
• South Sudan 

 3. Farm Partnership in Burundi

This initiative involves being linked with a Farm Group in Burundi and creating lasting change. Find out more 

It’s wonderful that you want to help others through ALWS. However, supporting only a specific activity can take up a lot of resources in terms of time and money relative to the size of the activity, and therefore it is not always the best or most efficient way to help. The following paragraphs may help to explain this. 

60 years of experience has demonstrated that individual activities which don’t fit within an overall development program don’t achieve sustainable outcomes. That’s why we support integrated development. 

Integrated development = all of the development activities work together. For example, rather than just a well being built, the project also makes sure that there is training in how to fix the pump if it breaks, training in good water and sanitation practices, and a road to get to the well! Just a well on its own isn’t so useful. 

ALWS and our partners also want to ensure that all projects are carefully monitored and evaluated. Therefore, any specific activity requires this same high standard of monitoring and evaluation. This follow-up in terms of proposals and reports which must be written creates a great deal of work for program and project staff and means that time and resources, which are  very stretched already, are perhaps not used as efficiently or effectively as they could be. 

We understand that it’s easier for people, especially children, to visualise how they are helping others by having a specific activity. That’s why we’ve tried to put in place a number of ways for people to understand the help they are providing while at the same time, making sure we use your donations as effectively and efficiently as possible: 

Our Gifts of Grace catalogues provide you with concrete examples of the kind of help you can provide to people in need through ALWS. 

Our Farm Partnership  initiative links a group/individual here in Australia with a Farm Group in Burundi. 

Each year, we identify a number of specific activities which fit within our current programs and which you’re most welcome to support. In this way, we’re able to offer the link to specific support while at the same time making sure that specific activities don’t consume a disproportionate amount of resources and still fit within an overall development program. Contact us for further information. 

We value very highly donations made to the overall work of ALWS, as this allows us to use the funds where they are most needed to help the most number of people possible. Of course, we are also greatly appreciative of any support for specific activities and understand the need for these. Because of the increase in resources required for managing specific activities, any contribution you or your group can make to the overall work of ALWS throughout the year would be greatly appreciated. 

ALWS is accredited by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), responsible for managing Australia’s aid program. To maintain accreditation, ALWS’s systems, policies and processes are rigorously reviewed by the Australian Government. ALWS receives support through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) for our programs in Burundi, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, and Somalia.

Through the PNGAusPartnership, the Australian Government also supports the Church Partnership Program in PNG.

Through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership and the CAN DO Consortium, the Australian Government also supports our work in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

We are very grateful for the support we receive from the Australian Government. 

ALWS acknowledges its role, not primarily as an implementing agency but as an organization that supports and adds value by leveraging wider change to increase our impact.   

We do this through financial and technical support and work with other partners with whom we share common values and approaches to poverty injustice, recognising that we are part of a global partnership commitment to ending all forms of poverty and fighting inequalities. 

In Australia, this partnership includes:

• Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (departments such as the Office of the Bishop, LCA International Mission)
• Lutheran Education Australia
• Lutheran Lay People’s League
• Church Agencies Network, including CANDO – Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations
• National Council of Churches’ aid agency Act for Peace
• Australian Council for International Development
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Partners Overseas include:

• Lutheran World Federation – World Service
• Action by Churches Together (ACT) Alliance
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea
• Life With Dignity (LWD)
• Nommensen University in Indonesia 
• RDRS in Bangladesh
• LWF Member churches

ALWS benefits from and contributes to the collaborative strengths and experiences of all our partnerships. The benefits of ALWS operating through partnerships are many and include:

• The implementation of effective aid and development programs by trusted and accountable organisations in-country
• Assurance of transparent and accountable financial systems for all projects
• The sharing of professional development opportunities and materials
• Access to a wide range of resources and expertise
• The shared use of resources to ensure value for money