A Ministry of Place
Our Purpose
The “Joshua House” was initiated to stand for unity in the Body of Christ, a place for Christian believers from various denominations, races, cultural and economic backgrounds to share – a place to renew and grow in their faith. The endeavor grew to include serving others and sharing the love of Jesus with the lost. Through its Joshua Houses, The Joshua Foundation refined its purpose to become “a ministry of place.”
A Ministry of Place
The work of the Joshua Foundation is founded upon and motivated by a theology of place. We believe that a place is more than just a portion of space. A place is a significant portion of space for a number of important reasons.
A place is significant because a place is created by God. Before God spoke His creative word there were no places. Places are defined by the things that are in them and around them. Before God created, these things did not exist so place did not exist. God spoke and that which was not became that which is including places and the things that fill them and surround them.
A place is significant because, as its Creator, God is Lord of that space. There is no place in the entire world where God is not the sovereign Lord. A place is where it may be said “The Lord reigns here.”
Places are significant because of what they mean in the lives of the people who were in those places. There are places of healing, places of increased understanding, places of rest, of prayer, vision, fellowship, commitment and rededication.
Places are significant because the Lord of those places often accomplishes significant things in the lives of those He has led there by His sovereign will.
The work of the Joshua Foundation is accomplished in partnership with the Lord of place to provide, in His name and by His provision, places where significant things can happen between individuals and between individuals and God.
Our Mission, Goals, & Values
Joshua Schweiger was a little boy who was born on May 5th, 1999 and died unexpectedly on July 14th, 2000. Joshua was truly a gift from God. Because Joshua’s life exuded such love, we feel the Lord put him into this world for a purpose far greater than the 14 months we were able to enjoy his presence. The Joshua Foundation was created in the Fall of 2000 with the original specific purpose of creating an interdenominational CHRISTIAN retreat house called the Joshua House. Now through God’s hand we have the opportunity to offer so much more!
Our Mission
Having first built a Missionary Lodge in Cap Haitian Haiti for Christians to bring the love of Jesus to the “least of these” and the lost, The Joshua Foundation set out to fulfill its purpose to build The Joshua House retreat Center in Western Pennsylvania. The Joshua Foundation, in partnership with Ligonier Camp and Conference Center and Prayer Mountain Training Center, have built two Joshua House locations- one in Darlington, PA, the other in Ligonier, PA. Finally, the Joshua Foundation is actively pursuing its mission to provide a guest house in our own urban community in downtown Pittsburgh. The Joshua House Pittsburgh will be a place for believers to carry out their faith journey through urban immersions.
Our Vision
The Glory of God. The Joshua Houses will be places where believers live and grow in their faith. Through faith and relationship in Jesus, others will experience the love of Jesus when our guests serve and intentionally be in relationship with them. The ministry will be transformative breaking through social, racial and denominational barriers that separate us. A model for the world to see. “The Church” displaying what a united Christian Body of Believers can do when used by God to heal all of us in need… simply by equipping and providing “a place” for missionaries and the faithful.
96 Short Term Mission Trips
300 Missionaries Served
9 IDADEE Years of Service
12 Projects
3 Experiences
Our Statement of Faith
1. We believe the Bible in its original manuscripts to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.
2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
4. We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful man, regeneration by the Holy Spirit through personal faith and relationship with Christ is absolutely essential.
5. We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose influence, we are able to come to Christ and we know the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit enables Christians to be obedient to God’s Word and to live a godly life.
6. We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; Those that are saved through faith in Jesus Christ unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
7. We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ and in the universality of Christianity in that all who believe might enter into an eternal relationship with God.
