Conventional development aid, typically a service from government to government, has been a relatively poor determinant of economic growth or human development in developing countries. In this paper we test whether a distinctly grass-roots delivery mode, as is the case with missionary work, leads to a more effective dispersion of foreign aid. In addition to its mode of delivery, missionary work is also of interest as there is a known positive correlation between the growth rate of Christianity and economic development. We estimate the economic growth impacts of development aid versus missionary work variables by using empirical data from 119 countries and discuss several explanations for our empirical results.