Worldwide Seminarian Support, Inc., (WSS) is a Catholic laity fund-raising organization, which primarily helps support the Apostolic Life Community of Priests (ALCP) seminarian education based in Moshi, Tanzania East Africa. The ALCP Seminary in Moshi is educating men from numerous nations in Africa. WSS is also funding diocesan seminarians in Nigeria, and ALCP seminarians in India. A non-profit 501(C)(3) corporation, WSS was established in 1993 in Portland, Oregon, by John Becker, Jr.. WSS was established as a result of spiritual inspiration from Fr. Nicholas Nilema, Pastor of Our Lady of Victory in Seaside, Oregon. John L. Becker Jr. serves as President of Advocate Financial LLC, a national retirement planning service.

The Apostolic Life Community of Priests is an international community that was founded by Fr. Bernhard Bendel, a German priest, in 1974, in Moshi, Tanzania.  Moshi lies at the foot of Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. Tanzania is in East Africa, bordering Kenya to the north, Congo to the west, Zambia and Mozambique to the south, with the Indian Ocean to the east.  Tanzania is over double the size of California, with its 36.7 million people earning an average annual per capita income of $700.

Now a parishioner of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Fort Wayne, Indiana, John L. Becker, Jr. explains that the church in the United States is facing a shortage of priests and vocations to the priesthood. Many third world countries are blessed with an abundance of vocations, but the cash needed for seminarian education is in very short supply. Hence many seminarians will never become priests due to the lack of funding.

Worldwide Seminarian Support was founded so that no qualified seminarian will ever have to be denied the priesthood due to a lack of funding. WSS has collected private donations in over 20 states to support 30 seminarians annually for the last 17 years. WSS donors have also financed a much needed fresh water well for crop irrigation, and are currently helping fund construction of a seminary. We are also currently funding the construction a Formation house in India. Worldwide Seminarian Support has also assisted in funding elementary and high school buildings in Tanzania.

These future priests will serve in Africa, the United States, and other locations around the world.  Donations have also been received in support of the Apostolic Life Community of Sisters who serve Tanzania, Malawi, Kenya, India, the Philippines, Italy, Germany and the U.S.A.