Nora Lam Chinese Ministries International
The information on this page was last updated 6/13/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Through our underground distribution network, we distribute Chinese Bibles throughout the countryside of China. Bible distribution is a major outreach of this ministry. An entire church in China may share only one Bible. Pages are carefully torn out of Bibles and passed around; so that they can be memorized and passed along to someone else. The power of the Bible provides the truth that sets souls free. Over 28,000 Chinese souls convert to Jesus every day in China. The crisis need for Chinese Bibles is urgent for not only the underground churches but also for the new born babes in Christ.
Contact information
Mailing address:
Nora Lam Chinese Ministries International
PO Box 24466
San Jose, CA 95154
Website: noralam.org
Phone: (408)629-5000
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 237418355
CEO/President: Joseph Lam
Chairman: Joseph Lam
Board size: 5
Founder:
Ruling year: 2019
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 03/31
Member of ECFA: No
Member of ECFA since:
Purpose
Nora Lam Worldwide Ministries International exists for the express purpose of communicating the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout China, Asia and the world according to Mark 16:15 which says, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature."
Mission statement
This mission is accomplished through publications, evangelistic outreaches, Bible distribution, humanitarian and relief operations, educational materials and any other media available to spread the message of Jesus Christ.
Statement of faith
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
F
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Foreign Missions
This ministry has not been rated.
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 6% | 8% | 9% | 13% | 8% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 8% | 9% | 13% | 8% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 99% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 8% | 9% | 14% | 8% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 84% | 88% | 88% | 83% | 86% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 99% | 99% | 100% | 99% | 96% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 82% | 87% | 88% | 81% | 82% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 1% | 1% | 0% | 1% | 4% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 2% | -12% | 2% | -16% | -31% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 8% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.33 | 52.66 | 63.91 | 42.96 | 27.58 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.23 | 1.80 | 2.13 | 2.24 | 2.12 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 2.02 | 94.66 | 135.82 | 96.31 | 58.50 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 19.87 | 1.17 | 0.46 | 0.39 | 0.75 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.05 | 0.85 | 2.18 | 2.58 | 1.33 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 5.62 | 0.02 | -0.10 | -0.20 | -0.07 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 7% | 532% | 639% | 505% | 458% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 475% | 528% | 382% | 390% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 67% | -8% | -8% | -9% | -13% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | ||||
| Assets | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Cash | $52,469 | $44,231 | $52,515 | $79,579 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $6,611 | $3,784 | $13,745 | $15,730 |
| Short-term investments | $23,389 | $15,245 | $12,558 | $13,762 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $82,469 | $63,260 | $78,818 | $109,071 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $62,379 | $65,991 | $91,898 | $121,650 |
| Other long-term assets | $3,377 | $5,202 | $5,976 | $619 |
| Total long-term assets | $65,756 | $71,193 | $97,874 | $122,269 |
| Total assets | $148,225 | $134,453 | $176,692 | $231,340 |
| Liabilities | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $70,249 | $138,022 | $203,581 | $144,528 |
| Other current liabilities | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current liabilities | $70,249 | $138,022 | $203,581 | $144,528 |
| Debt | $704,563 | $709,564 | $675,771 | $901,855 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $13,379 | $11,762 | $12,645 | $13,529 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $717,942 | $721,326 | $688,416 | $915,384 |
| Total liabilities | $788,191 | $859,348 | $891,997 | $1,059,912 |
| Net assets | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Without donor restrictions | ($639,966) | ($724,895) | ($715,305) | ($828,572) |
| With donor restrictions | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Net assets | ($639,966) | ($724,895) | ($715,305) | ($828,572) |
| Revenues and expenses | ||||
| Revenue | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Total contributions | $7,897,932 | $8,601,504 | $7,722,166 | $6,659,178 |
| Program service revenue | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | $577 | $795 | $8,477 | $984 |
| Other revenue | ($15,322) | ($22,083) | ($25,151) | ($23,332) |
| Total other revenue | ($14,745) | ($21,288) | ($16,674) | ($22,348) |
| Total revenue | $7,883,187 | $8,580,216 | $7,705,492 | $6,636,830 |
| Expenses | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Program services | $6,894,194 | $7,546,942 | $6,267,234 | $5,467,757 |
| Management and general | $263,204 | $276,942 | $293,373 | $381,867 |
| Fundraising | $648,867 | $768,370 | $1,030,218 | $530,568 |
| Total expenses | $7,806,265 | $8,592,254 | $7,590,825 | $6,380,192 |
| Change in net assets | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| Surplus (deficit) | $76,922 | ($12,038) | $114,667 | $256,638 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | $76,922 | ($12,038) | $114,667 | $256,638 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Joseph Lam | President/CEO | $247,874 |
| Ruth Kendrick | Chief Operating Officer | $131,885 |
| Doug Kendrick | CFO/Program Director | $70,836 |
Compensation data as of: 3/31/2018
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 6/13/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
Nora Lam was born September 4, 1932 and was adopted by Dr. H.T. and Evelyn Tak-Bun (Yip) Sung, a prominent family in Shanghai. Dr. Sung's father was the Chairman of the Board of the Bank of China. When the Japanese invaded mainland China during World War II, Nora and her family were forced out of their home. They fled from the Japanese and sought refuge with a relative until they were able to achieve an escape route to Chungking. When the Japanese army surrendered and left China, Nora's family moved back to Shanghai. She then enrolled in Soochow University's law school and received her degree with honors in 1953. She later taught law and history at the university.
But before long, the rumble of communism was thundering throughout China. The reign of Communist Dictator Mao Tze Tung was in full force, and Nora Lam was singled out and interrogated because of her affluent background as the daughter of a wealthy doctor and the fact that she attended the Mary Farnham Presbyterian missionary school. When she refused to repudiate her beliefs and faith, she was imprisoned and eventually put before a firing squad. A truly astonishing miracle occurred when she survived the ordeal which remains a mystery until this day.
After imprisonment by the communists, in 1958, she managed to escape to Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, she worked with the Department of Social Welfare. In 1966, Nora Lam was brought to the United States for the first time by a famed evangelist, the late Kathryn Kuhlman. Nora made her first network television appearance on Kuhlman's "I Believe In Miracles" CBS show. Kathryn Kuhlman was a mentor and sponsor of Nora Lam. Later that year, 1966, Nora and her three children emigrated to the U.S.
Throughout the 70s, Nora Lam began to present her testimony to groups across America; to supply Chinese Bibles and Christian literature, to hold large evangelistic crusades; and to give aid to orphanages in Asia. During this time, she established an office in Taiwan as her headquarters in the Far East; and she began her regular radio and TV programs there. These programs penetrated the Communist "Bamboo Curtain." She held large evangelistic crusades in Taiwan.
She was the host of the Chinese "God's Power Today" TV program for TBN and CBN. In 1972, she wrote her first book, "For Those Tears," an autobiography. In 1974, she incorporated her own organization in San Jose, California and began her annual missions tours to China and the Far East. Over 5,000 North Americans have been with Nora Lam on these short-term missionary trips in the last 18 consecutive years.
In 1974, Nora Lam became a naturalized United States citizen. She received special recognition during this period of her life, including the Korean Association of Social Work Award, a medal from the Pacific Cultural Foundation, an award from the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission and a special award from Sung Ro Won children's Home in Korea.
In 1979, Nora Lam returned to Communist China (People's Republic of China) itself. This trip marked the beginning of her deep involvement with the communications between Red China and the U.S. In 1987, she visited the Shanghai State Church along with a group of American tourists; and the following year she, along with several outstanding Americans from various states, ministered at the Beijing Christian Center where President George and Barbara Bush attended when he was an U.S. Envoy to China.
By the 80's, Nora Lam's work had captured the notice of heads of state, including President Ronald Reagan. She was issued a private invitation to the White House in 1980. In l980 - 81, she opened up offices in Canada and Hong Kong. In 1982, she was first listed in WHO'S WHO IN THE WORLD and WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA.
In 1988, Nora Lam began hosting a television broadcast on China's CCTV, with a potential audience of 600 million people, as part of a cultural exchange program in conjunction with the Trinity Broadcasting Network of Santa Ana, California. Additionally, Nora Lam became a featured guest of Paul Crouch on his U.S. television broadcasts. In 1989, Nora Lam was honored with the International Broadcaster Award at the National Religious Broadcasters annual convention in Washington, D.C. She has been broadcasting on Taiwan radio and television for 17 years.
Nora Lam has distributed over 1.1 million Chinese Bibles in China/Asia. Her "Bibles For China Program" is one of the most important outreaches of her ministry in conjunction with assisting and sponsoring the underground house church movement in China. Nora Lam passed away on February 2, 2004. The extraordinary life of Nora Lam is a story of overcoming seemingly hopeless obstacles, the story of her public and private belief: of revolutions, war and political tumult and the individual who, irrespective of the tides of history or circumstances, stands victorious and triumphant.
Program accomplishments
Nora Lam Worldwide Ministries International believes in the power of God's Word and has distributed over ONE MILLION BIBLES throughout China and Asia.