Who Is the Founder of World Vision?

World Vision was founded by Dr. Robert Pierce, a pastor and evangelist who was inspired to begin the organization after a missionary trip to China brought him face to face with orphans and children in need.

Let's learn a little more about Dr. Robert Pierce, the man who was the founder of World Vision, and about how Dr. Pierce founded the organization.

• Dr. Pierce was just 33 years old in 1947, when he made that trip to China as a member of the Youth for Christ missionary foundation.
• While in China, he gave a speech at a school and noted how many of the children were impoverished, without enough food and without parental support.
• The troubled children were being partially supported by the schoolmaster, who could little afford to do so.
• Upon his return to America, Dr. Pierce began sending money to the school each month to help provide much-needed support; he could not afford much himself, but the plight of the school children had greatly affected him.

Sponsoring the Needy with World Vision

Not long after, Dr. Pierce returned to Asia with a camera in hand and shot film and photos of the suffering he saw. He then returned home and showed the footage to American church-goers, asking for help in supporting the children.

He asked his audiences to “adopt” the needy children by sending small amounts of money to support them, stressing the fact that what was just a few dollars to them was the difference between survival and suffering for the children. His efforts were explosively successful and by 1950 he turned his work into the official organization known as World Vision. 

The program began work in South Korea and eventually expanded to assist children in other parts of Asia. Today it is one of the largest charitable foundations in the world, with operations in over 90 countries and a wide-angle focus on more than just needy children. World Vision also helps to develop communities and advocate for families in areas where resources and hope are limited. 

Next Steps for the Founder of World Vision

Dr. Pierce, the man who was the founder of World Vision, acted as the head of World Vision until 1967, at which point he resigned from the position and moved on a few years later to found Samaritan’s Purse, another successful Christian organization aimed at hunger relief. He passed away in 1978.