[7] Dating back as early as the Middle Ages, Catholic monasteries and monastic orders have a long tradition of providing charity, asylum, and assistance to the poor.
Some Christian NGOs, such as those run by evangelical doctors providing medical assistance in impoverished countries, are recognized for their contributions to development.
The international network of many Christian religions allows their NGOs to gather significant funding and publicity to promote their humanitarian actions across the world.
In some parts of the world, as on the African continent, local culture places a great deal of importance on spiritual things, which makes it difficult for some people to understand or accept the work of Humanitarian NGOs that do not display their religious identity.
[25] According to a British study by Elizabeth Ferris, published in 2005 in the periodical International Review of the Red Cross, Christian NGOs have large budgets and provide considerable financial support worldwide.
[8] This same study gives the following figures: According to sociologist Sébastien Fath, Evangelical churches and their respective NGOs develop an international humanitarian entrepreneurship that influences policy decisions.
[34] In 2007, an anonymous tip accused local World Vision International employees in Liberia of diverting food stocks and building materials for personal use.
In 2003, Abby Stoddard criticized Christian NGOs for not respecting the principle of neutrality in the armed conflict in South Sudan, because of their support for the regional independence.
[8] According to Tamsin Bradley, who performed a study in Rajasthan (India), faith and compassion occasionally result in members of Christian NGOs overlooking the actual needs of people they assist, as well as their long-term needs.
[36] Some have criticized the actions of Mother Teresa as "an imperialist enterprise of the Catholic Church, against an Eastern population, in an oriental city" and a "cult of suffering" little concerned about hygiene.