Doing good in the world“Do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the orphan. Plead for the widow.” Isaiah 1:17

A massive famine struck Ethiopia in 1983, and before it had finished, an estimated one million people lost their lives. To respond to the massive need, leaders at The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada made a decision that would bring focus, energy and resources in a new way to serve the sick and hungry. From the biblical call to “do good”, Emergency Relief & Development Overseas, or ERDO, was born.

ERDO now serves children and their families in more than 30 developing countries, and was recognized two years in a row by The Financial Post as one of the "Top 25 Charities in Canada".

ERDO focuses on three main areas of work: child sponsorship, crisis response and community development. Read the highlights below, and then explore each area to find out more.

CHILDCARE PLUS is our child sponsorship program.

Few children in the developing world are able to go to school. Without education they remain caught in the same cycle of poverty as their parents, struggling against unemployment, homelessness and the constant threat of hunger, malnutrition and disease.

We believe each child has the right to grow to his or her God-given potential. ChildCARE Plus children are helped physically, mentally and spiritually.

Crisis Response: When crises strike, the challenges of poverty are magnified for children and families. Finding food each day is even more difficult when a flood or hurricane wipes out a village’s crops.

ERDO’s crisis response programs work alongside courageous men, women and children who struggle to survive, doing good as we bring hope to those in need.

Community Development

ERDO comes alongside communities to help them out of extreme poverty by offering programs that:

•Teach new, eco-friendly and profitable farming techniques

•Instruct families about breeding, raising and selling farm animals to generate income

•Help people start small businesses and provide small business loans (Microfinance/Wezesha)

•Drill clean water wells and teach communities how to maintain them (LIFE: Just Add Water)

•Offer vocational training and employment skills

ERDO comes alongside communities to help them out of extreme poverty by offering programs that:

•Teach new, eco-friendly and profitable farming techniques

•Instruct families about breeding, raising and selling farm animals to generate income

•Help people start small businesses and provide small business loans (Microfinance/Wezesha)

•Drill clean water wells and teach communities how to maintain them (LIFE: Just Add Water)

•Offer vocational training and employment skills