Shining Light International

“FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4a. Education (Empowering Children)- Over 1,000 children from pre-school to Class 10 (High School) received top quality, English medium education through Shining Light Academy (SLA) located in Gilgit, Pakistan. Approximately 20% of the students were from Christian minority communities and attended SLA on a scholarship basis. Additional accomplishments include: a) Teachers - SLA was able to increase the teaching staff level to 84 with no layoffs or terminations in 2023. b) Scholarship Program - In 2024, SLI provided scholarships for pre-school, elementary, middle school, high school, college and university students. Since 2019, SLI has faced increasing challenges in raising funds for scholarships. There has been a trend among granting organizations away from supporting scholarships and SLI is working on re-branding the Scholarship Program to better reflect its scope which includes not only tuition, but also counseling, supplies and discipleship. Despite these challenges, $25K was allocated for the following scholarship programs : c) Primary Education - Pre-school through high school level minority Christian students received $16K for tuition, books, uniforms and other educational expenses. Most of the recipients attend Shining Light Academy. d) Secondary Education - Five Christian students received $9K for college tuition, fees, books and personal expenses. These are the first Christian students to attend college in Gilgit, Pakistan and in the history of their families. Many are volunteering at SLA and eight are employed at the school as teachers and administrators. This has become the cornerstone of our Leadership Development Program which equips and mobilizes young people with a passion for providing high quality education and project development services to serve their local communities. Expenses for Education programs include donated services totaling $23,050. This includes professional services for database and survey development.”

“FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4b. Training (Empowering Leaders) - In 2024, SLI continued efforts to establish its capacity building program to provide skills training specifically for Shining Light Community Development Organization (SLCDO) staff as well as leaders of the FGA Gilgit Church. The intent is to build capacity among these individuals as leaders, teachers, business owners, students and professionals who will, in turn, have the ability to provide effective skills training to the people of northern Pakistan. Developing servant leaders that serve the community with integrity and compassion combined with effective capacity building skills is the primary focus of all SLI-developed training programs. A key milestone was the First Light Servant Leadership 101 course delivered to the youth of FGA Gilgit Church. Urdu translation modules 9-16 of the Elemental Bussiness Development training curriculum has been deferred until 2025. Once completed, this course will be incorporated into our womens sewing program and upper classes at Shinig Light Academy. a) Womens Empowerment Program - By the end of 2024, approximately 1,100 women had received sewing, cutting, knitting, embroidery and wool weaving skills through our Womens Vocational Training Center (WVTC) in Gilgit, Pakistan and numerous other sewing centers established throughout the region. In 2024, SLI raised $15K to fund two, fully equipped, womens sewing centers in rural villages in two districts of Gilgit-Baltistan. This funding was also used to train women at the main WVTC in Gilgit, plus provide advanced sewing skills for women who will become Master Trainers upon graduation. The WVTC is a key component of SLIs Womens Empowerment Program that provides job/life skills training, Urdu literacy, business entrepreneurship training and gender equality awareness for mostly low-income women from local village communities. SLI plans to raise $50K in 2025 to continue expansion of its Womens Empowerment Program into new regions. b)Elemental Business Entrepreneur Training Course - To date, SLI has invested over $60K to develop and deploy the Business Entrepreneur Training Course that is contextualized for an Islamic society and can be deployed throughout Central Asia. . c) Church Leadership Development - In 2022, Pastor Sajjad Masih (Pastor of FGA Gilgit Church and Executive Director of SLCDO) became ill during the year due to stress, exhaustion and major fatigue. SLI responded immediately by raising prayer support, awareness and funding ($23K) to provide Pastor Sajjad and his family with a one-month sabbatical and all-expense paid trip to Chaing Mai, Thailand. In 2024, SLI followed up by providing $1.5K for Pastor Sajjad and his family to have a time of rest and relaxation in Pakistan. This is a trend that SLI plans to continue to ensure the health of Pastor Sajjad and his family while working in Pakistan. Expenses for Training programs include donated services totaling $13,778. This includes professional services for database and survey development.”

“FORM 990, PART III, LINE 4c. Development (Empowering Communities) - The Rural Village Development Program (RVDP) was established to support provision of quality education among remote, isolated communities in northern Pakistan. One of the most marginalized people groups in the region are the semi-nomadic Gujjar people. They live in the high mountain valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan and for generations have faced extremely high rates of poverty and illiteracy. Because of religious extremism, very few girls among the Gujjar people in Gilgit-Baltistan were able to attend school. Since 2007, in Gujjar communities where government support for education was limited or unavailable, Shining Light has been providing school equipment and supplies, supporting local teachers and paying for student school fees, books and uniforms. In addition, due to the lack of literacy in many communities throughout Gilgit-Baltistan, SLI has placed a high priority on implementing Adult Urdu Literacy classes. Most of the participants have been women. In 2024, SLI raised $34K for our Rural Village Primary Education, Kunis Water Project, Homes of Hope Reconstruction, High Pasture Tent School and Adult Urdu Literacy programs as outlined below: a) Rural Village Primary Education Program - In 2024, Shining Light raised $20K to equip five village schools, hire local teachers/staff and enable children to attend school. RVDP School enrollment has stayed relatively strong at 450 students attending regularly. Of the 450 regular school attendees, about 25% are girls. b) Adult Urdu Literacy Project - Since 2018, SLI has successfully deployed our Adult Urdu Literacy program in 18 villages and have graduated 200 adults (mostly women) making this one of the most successful and impactful of SLIs programs. Three new adult literary centers were completed in 2024. c) Homes for Hope Flood Reconstruction - SLI raised $6K in 2024 for conutinued repairs due to the 2022 floods. The total project cost to construct the 23 homes was $122K. SLI is now well positioned to expand our influence in these 3 villages and will follow up with various development projects over the next several years as needs are identified. d) Kunis Water Project - Kunis is a village in eastern Gilgit-Baltistan that was severely affected by the floods. As a result, 40 families were relocated to a nearby area that was lacking water. The village elders approached SLI after completion of the 3 Homes for Hope and stated that water for these families was the most pressing need. In 2023 SLI raised $15K to construct a water tank and install water piping from the water source (mountain spring) to each of the re-located homes. The project was completed in 2024 with an addiontal $2.3K raised in 2024 to install water tanks for 4 village widows. e) New School and Training Center - In August of 2023, FGA Gilgit Church purchased approximately 1.5 acres of partially developed land in order to build a new school and training center. This was a major event and nothing short of a miracle that had been prayed for over sixteen years. The new school will replace the current Shining Light Academy and will accommodate over 1,500 students from Pre-School through class 12 (College) when completed. SLI quickly contacted EMI-an engineering firm-to provide a master plan and drawings in order to launch a fundraising campaign that began in November 2023. In 2024, SLI raised $125K for the conceptual design package, completed in December. SlI also raised $100K for the purchase of an adjacent building to be converted into an ECD facility for 300 students. Detail engineering and construction drawings are expected to be completed in July of 2025 with construction commencing in July of 2026. Completion of the new school and training center will significantly improve the ability of Shining Light Pakistan to provide quality education at reasonable costs to the students of Gilgit-Baltistan far into the future. f)Gujjar Tent School Project - Between Jun”

“The ceo is an ex-officio member with no voting rights.”

“Mike gordon, ceo, is the father of tyler gordon. This relationship has been disclosed in the conflict of interest policy.”

“All board members are given a copy of the 990 before it is filed and are encouraged to review the return and make inquiries as needed.”

“The board annually reviews the conflict of interest policy and completes conflict of interest statements. The policy is made available upon request.”

“Shining light international compensated the executive director and one other board member on a contract basis, which the board reviewed and agreed upon. Compensation is based on comparable compensation data for similar positions. All decisions related to compensation are included in board meeting minutes and contract rates are reviewed annually.”

“Shining light international board includes one key employee as a strategic manager. The compensation for this position is reviewed by the board annually and adjusted as needed.”

“Shining light internationals 990, governing documents, conflict of interest policy, and financial statements are available upon request.”