1995
October
The Vineyard's DNA was started by Bob & Penny Fulton in the 1970s. Under the leadership of John Wimber, that group eventually grew to become the Anaheim Vineyard. In 1997, a small group from the Silicon Valley Vineyard established Vineyard Center in Chennai, India, which is currently known as Unwind Center.
Bob & Penny were founding leaders of the Vineyard movement and also served as the Founding Fathers of Acts of Mercy and Unwind Center. Bob Fulton's passion is ingrained in all that we do today which is "we want to work with the Father in proclaiming the love and favor of God to every generation, every culture, every nation".
1997
September
Bay Area, California
1998
September
Chennai, India
Acts of Mercy was founded in Chennai, India in 1998 where we began helping children who were begging and living on the streets of Anna Nagar. The efforts that initially started off in the city, later extended into the town of Mahabalipuram, in and around East Coast Road (ECR) in Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu.
Our primary focus was to show love and compassion by serving the poor, the widows and children. Thanks to the ongoing efforts, passion and dedication of the Acts of Mercy team, we are humbled by the success of the various intitiatives over the years. The Achiever Academy School, Sparrows of Splendor tailoring center for widows, the Widow Rehabilitation Center, the cleaning up of the Marina beach by Chennai musicians are some of those that led to the empowerment and sustained impact in the region.
The impact of the compassion and generosity of Acts of Mercy challenged many who were involved and participated in the life mission of John & Carol Christian in the United States. That influence made way to establish Acts of Mercy, USA in 2006.
On December 26, 2004, a massive tsunami triggered by an undersea earthquake in Indonesia struck the south Indian coast on a Sunday morning. Over 8,000 people lost their lives in Tamil Nadu. John's life was changed by the aftermath of the Tsunami and he felt called to serve those in need. His compassion and commitment to love and serve the poor fisherman communities impacted many lives and fisherman hamlets.
2006
Sunnyvale, California
2016
Guyana, South America
Our projects moved into Guyana, South America in 2016. We were compelled to bring hope to the poverty stricken migrant sugarcane farmers and workers belonging to the Indian community. Indians were brought into Guyana originally as slaves by the British during their rule in India. We began collaborating with various faith communities and regional non-profits to help restore the dignity of these people and improve their quality of life.
In 2018, the leadership made the decision to assist various philanthropical initiatives that were seeking links and support in and from the United States through what was called “Bridge Initiatives”. Reverend Vijayan Pavamani founded Emmanuel Ministries in Calcutta to express love and compassion to the poor, hungry, sex workers and to children deprived of basic rights and privileges. Through the Bridge Initiative, we support them in order to ensure the success and well-being of those involved in this charitable and benevolent mission. We have been inviting donors in the United States to support the ongoing work and its growing social impact in Calcutta.
2018
Calcutta, India
2019
San Fransico BayArea,
California
Currently, various shifts are taking place specifically within the Indian community. Shifts such as the need for the integration of the new arrivals into the community, stigmas around mental health, life values, and religious beliefs. Amidst the flux and ongoing paradigm shifts within and around the community, we want to provide a place for people to experience empathy, belonging and hope. In order to tackle these issues head-on we are bringing onboard Govind Prabhu. We believe his contributions as a coach and experience in building gospel based communities will make him an invaluable asset to our Bay Area team.
In 2019, the Bay area initiative was kick-started after realizing the critical need for assimilating and integrating the Indian diaspora, which has rapidly grown to make up one-eighth of the Bay Area's population. Our goal is to create a community where we think globally, act locally and live personally and intentionally so that the assimilation into this land will be organic.