Our History

When Melody Taylor and her husband, Lewis began leading volunteers to serve the poor of inner-city Little Rock in 2005, she never anticipated the scope of the journey God was orchestrating. The Taylor family had always been passionate about and embraced the mission set out for believers in James 1:27: ”Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” They diligently served their local community and led teams of volunteers to serve orphans in Guatemala in obedience to God’s call to serve the downcast and the abandoned. Eventually, God revealed a larger assignment for the Taylor family—an assignment that would take them to the other side of the globe to live among some of the most impoverished people in the world and continue serving to this present date.

Abandoning the comforts and security of home, Melody and her family moved to Nairobi, Kenya. Following God’s lead, the Taylor family entered into a season that would forever change their lives. God opened their eyes and their hearts to the incredible poverty of Africa and granted them the vision to become part of the solution.

Confronted with the overwhelming needs of the Kenyan people, the Taylors began asking God to reveal ways for them to impact more lives. The people of Kenya needed more time, more love, and more resources than the Taylors could offer on their own. In 2010, they returned to the United States to mobilize others to join them in sharing the Gospel and caring for the widows, the orphans, and the poor in impoverished areas of Africa. To date, Go Near Ministry has mobilized more than 400 volunteers to serve overseas in missions in Africa. Some have remained as full-time missionaries. Others have started nonprofits in the US to advocate for and serve the poor in Africa.

Go Near Ministry’s reach has grown to serve in Rwanda, Sao Tome, Tanzania, and Kenya. Melody is passionate to be a voice for the poor and serves to mobilize people to action. She started a nonprofit thrift boutique (Shop My Closet) in Little Rock and launched Beautiful Lives Thrift Boutique in three locations in Northwest Arkansas to benefit nonprofits that serve marginalized women in Arkansas and around the globe. 

God is working in the hearts of those who have chosen to be part of Go Near. Through financial support, donation drives, or going to share the gospel and care for the poor in Africa, people who join us are blessed.

You can have a role in this exciting story. Will you join us?