Dr. Florence Muindi, our President, is providing the keynote address tonight at this year’s National Missionary Convention. As such, our USA team is managing a booth for the duration of the convention. Please stop by and visit with us if you are here! If you aren’t, JJ, Holly and I will also be posting throughout the event. Stay tuned…

Down one alley in Merkato (one of the busiest and largest marketplaces / slums in Africa), behind a tin gate, an LIA ministry is at work. In this small compound, surrounded by miles of poverty…in an area notorious for theft and addictions…the gospel is being demonstrated and street kids are being transformed.

I had the privilege this past week to spend time in that ministry, called the Merkato Street Kid Project here in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city. In year one of three, this project and its team of ten workers deals with two extremes. One is a targeted 150 at risk children and their families. These are deemed the poorest of the poor- and are children who have not been reach by other non-governmental organizations in the area. The goal is prevention. They want to educate these children and their families so poverty’s vicious cycle won’t be the end to their story. They are aiming to change the outcomes of these families through education.

The other extreme is an outreach targeted towards those most have already given up hope on, the kids living on the streets. They targeted 50 “hard core” boys ages 14 to 17. LIA gives them peer houses. They give them counseling and tutoring. Both target groups (at risk and hard core) are given food; clothing; education; medical care; training; etc; over a three year period. In partnership with local churches, spiritual direction and the hope of Jesus is explained.

In Merkato, I met the team and was inspired by their dedication and passion for what they’re doing. I met several of the hard core boys and heard about what life on the streets was like for them. I heard about how much their lives and behaviors have changed since being on the program. I observed their morning devotion time and saw counseling sessions happen. I visited the homes of some of the at risk families. The families I visited were Muslim.  They smiled when they talked about the hope and care given by the project- seeds no doubt God will continue to water.

Who would have guessed behind this little tin gate, that so much was going on?

And this is not the only project like this going on. In Jimma, five hours from Addis, another street kid project targeting 200 at risk kids and 65 hard core kids is in its second year. I was able to visit that project as well and was blown away by the changed lives I witnessed.

Pray for these initiatives and for those who labor there.

It’s hard work, but it’s working! The program has an over 70% success rate.  God is transforming street kids through the ministry of LIA!

Thank you for your prayers and support of this amazing work.

Enjoy surfing the web?  Now you can earn money for your favorite cause, LIA, just by searching for items on-line.  It is increibly easy and it helps out LIA.

Justin and I have been doing it for a couple weeks and we’ve already earned enough to support an orphan for two weeks.  It is pretty amazing.

All you have to do is go to http://isearch.igive.com/ and type in Life in Abundance in the “find cause” area, select us, then search away.  Everytime you use the search tool you earn two cents for LIA.  If you buy something through it then it is even more.  To make it easier you can even install it on your tool bar.

Every little bit makes a huge difference.  Thanks for joining us in changing the world.

I flew into Addis Ababa- the capital city of Ethiopia under the canvas of night. I kept shaking my head that I was country-hopping in Africa…Holly M. Garrett..oh my. I had no idea what to expect. I noticed first- the plane from Nairobi to Addis- was crowded with a mix of people.

The airport was easy to get through. Right after customs, I spied my twin sister, Noel, waving to me outside of baggage claim. She was here with a team from the Czech Republic. Our reunion was a great one! Who would have ever thought that we’d get to spend a few weeks together in Ethiopia? What a blessing!

I was taken through the streets of Addis in an LIA van and I tried to see out the best I could. The elevation was different, much more mountainous- some roads were paved, some not. And we were definitely in a city. Some noticeable differences- we drove on the right side of the road again! (Kenya is the opposite than in the states) And signs were in Amharic- which looks like Arabic. So I felt like I was in the Middle East. The guesthouse was nice- and bedtime came quick.

The next day, Noel’s team and I took a road trip- we drove ten hours north to a town called Bahir Dar and the Blue Nile Falls. We drove through probably the prettiest country I have ever seen. It was breathtaking! Greens- like I’ve never seen! We sped through little towns that reminded me of Haiti. Cooler in temperature though. It seemed like everyone had a herd of goats or cows or cattle or horses. These herds would roam the streets freely- and several times we almost hit one- or all. We drove through gorges and valleys. It was breathtaking!

Our “tourist town” was right on a big lake. The next day, we took a boat to three monasteries that were on different islands. There were actually monks that lived on these islands. We saw a hippo in the water too. Later, we did a huge hike in and around Blue Nile Falls. It was a great weekend there. Overall, it was a tiring trip, but a great look at the rural side of Ethiopia.

Now, back in Addis, I can’t believe I’m here for the next month or so to learn about LIA’s projects and to meet the team. I’m honored to see more of the LIA team! And I’m excited to write the stories and share them with you!

A few other interesting notes…

Birds and bugs here are big! We did see a hyena running down our street. The “birr” is the currency, it’s almost 10 to 1, to an American dollar. Lots of ladies wear head coverings. The altitude is high- you can feel it when you walk. And the calendar year here is 2001. Which makes me younger, I like it…

Stay tuned for more soon…

On October 5, in our Sunday worship experience, we gave money away. We called it a “reverse offering”. If you ever wanted to take money out of the offering basket-that was your chance. As part of our “for sale” teaching series, we gave away $5, $10, or $20 bills to everybody that would take them, with the challenge to put this into play for the cause of Christ. The rules of the game:

1. give it away (you can’t spend it on you)

2. give it out there (you can’t give it back to the church)

3. tell us about it

We had a family meeting and we all gave suggestions. We decided to take the $10 we received and grow it (Matt. 24:14-30) by using it to buy ingredients for cookies. The kids (ages 7 and 10) went door-to-door on our street telling our neighbors what we were doing and taking orders. The kids also set up a table at church and people donated money for cookies. Results: the initial $10 ended up being $155. We will donate the money to Advice & Aid and Life In Abundance (LIA). What a great lesson for the kids! Luke, the 10-yr old said, “I learned that by taking something and doing something to make it bigger, that you can make a difference in someone else’s life.”

The Fraser Family

See the rest of the stories from Cedar Ridge by following this link.

Hi! My name is Sarah, I go to Covenant Community Church and Justin came and spoke to our youth group about the famine in Ethiopia.

CCC Youth Group

Our group was moved by the presentation and felt called to do something. So over a lunch at Chik-Fil-A, we decided that we would put on a benefit dinner sponsored by Chick-Fil-A where they would donate 20% of the proceeds to helping this mission. We made flyers and appealed to the people of our church to come and rally with us to help raise money for what we felt so passionate about.

I was very nervous on the first night, I worried no one would come and the night would not be a success, however at the end of the second night I was almost in tears. I was overwhelmed at all the love and support our friends and church family had shown by giving up their nights to help us. How great is our Lord, He affirmed for me once again that He is our Jehovah Jireh, our GREAT provider. We were blessed and able to raise more than six hundred dollars that will go to help our brothers and sisters in Ethiopia.

This is only a start to the money we hope to raise, please be praying that we will be faithful to the Lords call in our hearts! What a great God we serve!!

God Bless!
Sarah”

The amazing thing is that these students aren’t even done yet.  Their next campaign is called The 3C’s Campain.  They are going door to door in their community to collect cell phones for the Call Out For Hope Campaign with LIA, change for the Boxes for Change Campaign, and cans of food for the Pheonix Rescue Mission.  3C’s, get it?  Cell phones, change and cans.

We are so inspired by all these young people are doing.  They are amazing and we are so proud to be associated with them.   What can you do?

Whether or not you are aware of it, today is the day that bloggers worldwide are united in a common cause: to blog about poverty. That’s right, today is Blog Action Day!

I thought that I would take this opportunity to briefly share the vision that LIA is replicating throughout Africa, in order to alleviate poverty and suffering. Our vision is that local African pastors and community leaders would be the catalysts who work against the tide of poverty in their local communities. Our ministry is dedicated to supporting, equipping and empowering local churches who take the initiative to strategically meet the pressing needs of their community.

For example, I can’t tell you how many communities in Africa that I have visited where there were simply no elementary schools. Not poorly performing public schools and not just unregulated charter schools, but NO SCHOOLS! Well, those communities now have a school because a local church has caught the vision of what could be and was empowered to make that vision a reality.

Likewise, take the example of street children. Urban cities in Africa have a tremendous problem rehabilitating these children. In fact, few to zero organizations actually attempt to work with this population because they are so ‘difficult to change.’ Difficult they may be, but they are still children, and local leaders in partnership with local churches are now transforming the lives of street children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is a beautiful sight.

Nelson Mandela famously stated that,

“Africa is beyond bemoaning the past for its problems. The task of undoing that past is on the shoulders of African leaders themselves, with the support of those willing to join in a continental renewal. We have a new generation of leaders who know that Africa must take responsibility for its own destiny, that Africa will uplift itself only by its own efforts in partnership with those who wish her well.”

May this day be a day that you choose to wish Africa well in a way that supports this new generation of her leaders. Happy Blog Action Day to you!

My name is John Abell. I am an elder at Hazel Dell Christian Church in Carmel, Indiana.  Four other men from Hazel Dell traveled with me to Ethiopia and Kenya, just returning a few days ago.  Our church has partnered with Dr. Muindi for about fourteen years, supporting LIA’a ministry efforts in Eastern Africa. It was on a Sunday in May while watching Dr. Muindi’s  presentation at our church that I was struck by one of the slides on the screen. The slide indicated that every twenty-one seconds a child dies somewhere in the world due to malnutrition or preventable childhood disease.

If you do the calculation, the final figure is eleven million children under the age of five die every year from malnutrition, starvation or preventable childhood disease. I spoke to Dr. Muindi after the service and asked her what we could do to address this terrible statistic – a statistic that equaled human lives and human suffering.  Part of LIA’s ministry targets food relief efforts that can help children that are malnourished (perhaps starving).

Immediately I thought that Hazel Dell Christian could do something that could save lives. I spoke to our senior pastor about a short-term food relief campaign during the summer months that would target the hungry and malnourished in Africa, specifically Ethiopia or Kenya. Our primary strategy was to raise funds through our Adult Bible Fellowship classes and our goal was to raise $4,000. That amount would feed approximately 1,000 people for a month. The interesting thing was that $4,000 was our goal – God had other things in mind.

Our middle school and high school programs got involved as did our primary kids. I contacted Rick Jett at IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services) and the IDES board voted to match our $4,000. I spoke to a friend who is a successful businessman and he agreed to match the $4,000 also. Another husband-wife couple from Hazel Dell who own a business contacted me and indicated they would match up to $8,000.

The bottom line is that when all was said and done, by the end of August, our African Food Relief campaign had raised over $28,000 for African food relief!!

So why am I excited about this mission effort? Because God gave the increase and blessed our efforts beyond our wildest imaginations. And, ultimately, God was glorified and human needs were met. In Matthew 25:35, Christ says, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat…” In Matthew 25:40, Christ also says, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

To God be the glory!

John Abell

We share stories because we are inspired by people who join in our cause every day. They inspire us because they carry the cause of Serving to Empower as their own. They inspire us because they choose to ‘do hard things.’ They inspire us because in the process of taking the next step of faith they discover that the ‘hard things’ are not only a blessing to those that we serve in Africa, but a blessing to their own lives as well.

We truly hope that these stories will inspire you to be creative and to do the hard things to serve the poor and oppressed. Perhaps this is how we, together, can learn to better Serve to Empower.

Counting is hard work. Especially when it turns into a relatively obscure exercise in determining whether or not the worlds poorest individuals are in fact appropriately classified as ‘poor.’ Previously, it was widely held that there were 1 Billion people in the world living on less than $1.00 dollar a day. The $1.00 figure was the poverty line (aka those living in ‘Extreme Poverty’) drawn in the sand for statistical and analytical purposes.

“Extreme poverty means that households cannot meet basic needs for survival. They are chronically hungry, unable to access health care, lack the amenities of safe drinking water and sanitation, cannot afford education for some or all of their children, and perhaps lack rudimentary shelter - a roof to keep the rain out of the hut, a chimney to remove the smoke from the cook stove - and basic articles of clothing, such as shoes.” Taken from The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs (pg 20 - hardback)

Just over one month ago, researchers at the World Bank determined that the previous poverty line may not be accurate in reflecting the total population living in extreme poverty. Using what seems to be solid logic, these researchers determined that a more accurate poverty line should consider those living on less that $1.25/day.

While the difference of a quarter may not mean much to you and I, it adds another 400 Million people to the already 1 Billion people living in extreme poverty. Comparatively, that quarter difference in income adds more than the entire population of the United States to the population of people literally struggling to survive on a daily basis.

Because we want to move you from awareness to action, we have adopted a three-fold approach to sharing information like this.

Read: The Bottom 1.4 Billion - An article from the Economist Magazine that was used as the basis for this post. Also, consider beginning to read The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs as an introduction to worldwide poverty.

Pray: The Kingdom of God is expanding and wholistically transforming lives among those living in extreme poverty. Pray specifically for the local leaders that we have partnered with in East Africa. Comb through our gallery and story pages to pray specifically for individuals and communities that are moving out of extreme poverty.

Respond: We all have ways to be involved, from fund raising to awareness raising, the opportunities are endless. But, we have to be creative and humble. We truly believe that lasting and wholistic transformation comes from empowering local African leaders to serve their communities. I say that so that you all don’t feel like you can only do something by flying to Africa and working with the poor in the slums. No, you can do something today. Check out our get involved area on the website to start brainstorming. Also, I’ll be posting stories of individuals and groups that have already taken our cause upon themselves and are serving to empower in inspiring ways.