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History of CBM

"I walked with a friend once from Pera Street in Constantinople down to Galata Bridge, a distance that can be covered in 15 minutes. When we reached the bridge, I asked my friend how many blind people he had seen. He looked at me amazed and replied: ‘None’. I had seen twelve…In order to see the blind, you need to have open eyes, otherwise the world of the sightless remains hidden. God has opened my eyes." Ernst Jakob Christoffel, Founder of CBM.

In the early days of the twentieth century, news of violent outbreaks against Armenians living in Turkey reached the people of Germany and the ears of a young theological student named Ernst Christoffel. Struck by the plight of these desperate people, Christoffel determined to serve God in the Middle East. Originally denied by the mission board because he was unmarried and planned to remain so, he finally reached a compromise with them when his sister Hedwig agreed to join him. Ernst and Hedwig arrived in Turkey to assist with dismantling homes for children, but something else caught their attention…the desperation of the blind men, women, and especially children in the region.

The mission again refused to assist Christoffel in this endeavor, thus prompting him and Hedwig to share this adventurous opportunity with all who would listen. In the summer of 1908, with just enough money to last them a year, this brother and sister team set out again for Turkey. Soon, their home for blind children had expanded to include those suffering from all kinds of disabilities and "nobody's children," the unwanted boys and girls from the streets. Denied the right to proclaim the Christian faith by the Turkish government, Hedwig and Ernst presented the tangible love of Christ in action to the world around them.

When the political situation in Turkey became so tumultuous that he could no longer remain there, Ernst, accompanied by his three adopted children, returned to Germany. After a few years of work amongst the blind of Germany, he returned to the Middle East, this time to open a home for blind children in Persia (Iran). Hedwig married and her family continued to play an extensive role in the mission. Ernst himself became the primary communicator for the work. During World War II, the Allied forces incarcerated him behind barbed wire in Iran. After his release, he returned to Germany for a short time. Near the end of his life, he journeyed once more to Iran to lead the work and died there in 1955.

In 1961, Christoffel Blindenmission, as the work was now called in honor of its founders, expanded its work, beginning ophthalmic work in Afghanistan and Iran. By 1967, Christoffel Blindenmission had extended its work to Africa, and in the early 1970s, it opened its first project in South America. By the mid-1970s, the organization's operations had stretched to include services for the physically disabled, mentally challenged, and hearing impaired. The ministry was growing exponentially.

Friends of Christoffel Blindenmission founded Christian Blind Mission (CBM) in North America in 1975. Affiliate offices opened in Switzerland, Australia, England, Italy, New Zealand, and other developed countries. By 1989, the World Health Organization recognized CBM as a professional partner in blindness prevention. With representation in many countries around the world, the CBM affiliate offices joined together to form Christian Blind Mission International (CBM).

CBM launched Vision 2020, the historic, global initiative to eradicate preventable and avoidable blindness, in 1999. And the work continues to expand, now reaching out to 10 million people each year through over 1,000 projects in 108 developing countries across the globe. 

Near the end of his life, Ernst Christoffel prophetically remarked, "A new chapter has begun in the history of our mission. The pages are as yet unwritten. The Lord will dictate their content. What is written on the empty pages will depend on how thoroughly we grasp the Lord's intentions, and act on them." In the early days of the 21st century, CBM continues to write stories of hope, health, and redemption in the lives of destitute people through the Authorship of Jesus Christ.