This morning we ask that you would join us, praising the Lord for his strong presence and mighty hand in the Rumbek community in Sudan.

We are beyond thankful and excited for the more recent developments in this great community, as God has remained faithful and has truly answered prayers.

We ask that you would take some time to truly think over and pray over the highlights of the community listed below, recognizing that these statements are a representation of transformation and empowerment for the beautiful people of this area.

-The Rumbek Medical Clinic is seeing 50+ patients a day on average.

-We were able to charter a plane to transport medicines and other supplies for the clinic.

-We have recently entered two partnerships that will funding of the school initiatives and nutrition  in the community, impacting upwards of 110 children.

-The Rumbek community has seen much rain lately allowing for crops and agriculture to flourish.

We thank God for the great favor shown to all the activities from here – the school, pastors training, clinic, farming and community work providing seeds and tools. We are so grateful for the work and are praying for continued growth in the community.

August 7th marked the 10th year anniversary of LIA-Ethiopia!

It is with great joy that we are able to announce this milestone regarding the work in Ethiopia. We are especially grateful for Dr. Yared Mekonnen, LIA-Ethiopia Country Director, and the entire Ethiopia team as they have faithfully served and sacrificed to ensure the success of the ministry in this country.  They have remained steadfast in the direction of the Lord and have allowed God to work through the ministry, impacting the “least of these” in the communities throughout Ethiopia over the years.

We ask that you would join us in a prayer of thanksgiving for the growth of LIA-Ethiopia over these last 10 years.

For we have seen economic empowerment in low to no income families.

We have seen street children rise up against the odds creating a sustainable life for themselves off of the streets.

We have seen water and sanitation initiatives improve the quality of life for many households.

We have seen the orphans and widows within the community cared for and loved.

We have seen the church rise up and refuse to stand for the injustices of poverty that plague Ethiopia.

Through God’s mighty direction, we are praying for continued growth and development in the churches and communities we serve in Ethiopia. We ask that you would join us as we continue to pray for the LIA staff, church partners, volunteers, and the people in the communities in Jimma, Addis Ababa, Merkato, Nazaret, and Debre Birhan Ethiopia.

God is moving in Ethiopia and we are so grateful to share just a glimpse of His work with you!

“Kenyans are to vote in a referendum on a new constitution on 4 August  - part of an agreement that ended in deadly clashes after disputed elections in December 2007.” BBC.com

Please join us in prayer for the nation of Kenya during the present campaigning and upcoming election. While we have already seen heightened violence directed toward campaigners in early June, we are hopeful for continued peace in this historical time. For information about the proposed constitution and the opponents views, please read an article from BBC.com.

During this time we are praying for the protection of the Kenyan people and a just outcome. Please join us as we ask God for His provision of peace during this time of heightened tension, that no blood will be shed, and divine direction in the voting process.

Islam is the predominant religion in Eritrea. It is estimated that about 40% of the population is practicing Orthodox Christianity and less than 5% are Protestant and Roman Catholic.

Though the Constitution of this country calls for a freedom of religion, that actual freedom has not been realized.  In fact, people of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostal, and reformed Orthodox Christians suffer much persecution, harassment and even reports of brutal torturing for their faith.

It is with great faith and hope that we continue to pray for the church in Eritrea. Many of our brothers and sisters in Christ continue to serve indefinite prison terms and several have lost their lives in hard confinement because they follow and serve the Lord. We are praying for the church to remain strong and that they will see peace and reconciliation.

We invite you to join us as we pray for the Eritrean brethren not just residing in Eritrea but also those brethren living in our communities of Cairo, Nairobi and Khartoum. We are asking God to guide us in ways to be an encouragement to them and for them to be accepted in their community as they try to build a life for themselves, their family, and the community at large.

The rural vs urban divide is quite pronounced in Sudan. Health care for example, is developing much faster in the larger cities compared to many conflict-affected and disaster prone rural areas.  There are many factors hindering the increase in rural health care provision even though it seems since 2005 it has become more of a priority to the Sudanese government. The excess of many communicable diseases, food shortages caused many times by natural disasters, and a dependency on foreign relief are just a few barriers to an improved health-care system in rural cities like Rumbek.

In the midst of such despair however we are here to praise God for how he is working in one of our Sudanese partner communities, Rumbek.

The medical clinic in Rumbek, which opened early this year by a consortium of local staff and pastors, has continued to see an increased number of patients each week. Last week, a growth of over 40% patient turnout was experienced.  For this community to see regular health care services by an established clinic and trained physician is truly praise worthy. People suffering from illnesses, sickness, and significant wounds are able to receive treatment almost immediately, before the condition gets too serious and/or life threatening.

We ask that you join us in praying for sustained growth management at the Clinic in all aspects from drug supplies, staffing, to patient flow systems despite any barriers that will likely arise. We are also praying for continued development and establishment of health care services throughout other rural areas in Sudan.

A startling number of children roam the streets of Nazaret, Ethiopia, unattended.

Upon closer inspection these children are more than unattended, they are members of a street life community whose dwelling place is that of pitched tents that line the walls of city buildings. This sub-culture is currently estimated at approximately 6,000 children. In order to get by, many children join with others that have experienced the same crushed dreams. These children are thrown into a daily cycle that can be characterized by physical and sexual harassment, exploitation, drugs, and overwhelming feelings of hopelessness.

These children come into the city because their families leave rural communities to make a better life for themselves at the promise of a booming job market. Upon entering the city many find that their glorified image of urban life holds a grim reality.

Today, we ask you to join us in praying for the orphans and vulnerable children in Nazaret and our initiatives specifically targeting children in this community, which will soon commence.

Please pray that through our street children rehabilitation and preventative care the local church will be able to care for and empower children that have been separated from their family and cast aside by society. Pray also for the receptive hearts of the children who participate in our street children rehabilitation program, that they would be reminded of their worth in their transformational journey toward a God who thinks so highly of them.

Fact: In Kenya, bribery payments make up a third of the average household budget.

Essentials such as education, health care services, and jobs are in many cases denied to the people that are already living in poverty as they cannot compete with the bribes distorting the market.  Basic needs of the people can also be ignored thus perpetuating the cycle of poverty in the years to come. The issue of corruption is multifaceted and demands correction so that Kenya as a country may grow in development, and that the people will experience equal opportunity.

It is our firm belief that the only institution that has the ability to confront this form of systemic injustice is the Church. These systemic powers are so pervasive that any man-made entity will all but fail to achieve the breakthrough necessary.

Today, would you please take a moment to join us in a prayer of strength, wisdom and power for the local churches throughout Kenya, as they seek to serve their community and push against this strong tide of injustice?

“It isn’t what you look at that matters, it is what you see.” (Henry David Thoreau) This paradox challenged our team while we filmed in the heart of poverty in Mathare Valley, a slum of Nairobi. Yes, the poverty is obvious to anyone who looks, however, it takes one who can really ’see’ to observe. Our perception of a slum tends to be great need, and unrelenting poverty. Yes, there is a great need in Mathare. However, we also observed neighbors helping one another, men and women departing for another days work, and small shop fronts selling goods daily as we entered the slums for another day of filming. We observed faith, hope, entrepreneurship, family, and community even in the midst of such impoverished surroundings.

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In the states, it is extremely common for a person to ask another, ‘how are you?’ We do this as greeting.

I’ll walk into a 7-11, look the cashier in the eye, and say ‘Hi, Ruthie, how are you?’ I really ask the question to be polite and she answers with an ‘I’m fine’ to be equally polite. The truth is that we don’t really know each other well enough to ask the question, or to respond, honestly. After this brief exchange of niceties, we’ll go about our business and part ways – either of us not any different because of the interaction. It’s fine. I’m fine. She’s fine. We’re all just fine, thank you very much.

Somehow, this shallow politeness has manifested itself among children in the Nairobi slums. When a white person walks through, or even drives through the slums, children sitting and playing along the roadside will stop what they are doing, look you in the eyes and yell, ‘HOW ARE YOU!?’

Taken back, most of us would simply reply, ‘I’m fine, how are you?’ Most of these kids haven’t been fully versed in the response, so most simply just keep repeating ‘HOW ARE YOU’ until it almost becomes a chant. But some, who have obviously interacted with outsiders before, will reply, ‘I’m fine.’

I’m fine.

If you spend enough time in these communities, the words will ring in your head. I would liken the sensation to lying in bed the night after being on a cruise ship. In the same way your body sways though your bed is still, my head rings with ‘How are you – I’m fine’ as if I’m standing next to these children, though they are nowhere to be found.

Sure, after watching these children living in the slums play together and run wild with joyful exuberance through the contaminated waste water, one could easily conclude that these children are, in fact, ‘fine-er’ than children in the USA who sit around, get fat, whine and watch tv. I’ll give you that one, but I’d argue that these American kids aren’t fine, either. We’re not fine, none of us. I’m not fine, and neither are these children. Ruthie at the 7-11 isn’t fine either. This is easier to articulate in the slums than it is in suburbs, but ultimately, we aren’t fine as a condition of the brokenness of this world.

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I walk by, and see her.

In the midst of hundreds of other children I’ve seen this day, she catches my utmost attention. I stop walking and bend down, just long enough for our eyes to meet. She can’t be more than 18 months old and her little round belly reminds me of my daughter at that age, though this little  girl’s belly is distended from malnourishment, something my little girl will likely never experience.

She continues to fidget with the dirty shirt that she has turned into pants, as she holds her shorts in her arm. The scene would be actually be cute if she were not alone, standing in the street, visibly ill, without any garments protecting her from the filth of these streets.

My mind quickly shifts to the suburbs where I live back in the United States and the coffee shops where I often meet with people to share about the ministry of Life in Abundance. I remain knelt down; looking at this sweet girl, while the words of Jesus ‘the poor will always be with us’ ring through my head.

If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times, “I think it [the ministry of LIA]is really noble,” will remark a well-meaning believer, “ but EVEN Jesus said that ‘the poor will always be with us’, so what is the use in wasting resources (time, energy, effort, money) on a problem that will never go away?” I can understand this sentiment, really I can. If the poor will always be, and if Jesus said it, then why not focus our limited resources toward more ‘productive’ means of expanding the Kingdom?

And yet, as I look at this little girl, I know that Jesus would not want his followers to pass her by, reasoning that we should not have compassion on her because ‘the poor will always be.’

Still staring at this girl, not knowing what is best to do, I simply and gently begin to remove the denim shorts from her arm. In the middle of the slum, standing in the busy marketplace alleyway, I have the opportunity to clothe Jesus, disguised as a sweet and helpless little girl (see Matthew 25: 31-46).

This little girl isn’t poverty. She is a daughter of a King who made her in His likeness. On this special day, I’m honored to have served the daughter of our King.

We are a part of a Kingdom in which we are called to live in a new reality, where:

-    The first become the last

-    The weak are made strong

-    The meek experience an overwhelming inheritance

-    The lowly and marginalized are made whole

-    The blind receive sight, and

-    The treasures and powers of this world are made worthless by the grace and peace freely given.

In spite of all our transgressions, we are invited into a great story, asking nothing, and everything, at the same time. The paradox is astounding, the sacrifice unfathomable, and the challenge unparalleled. May we be refined, that we may have eyes to see, and ears to hear, the truth of the Kingdom, as intended. May we be given wisdom, courage, and faithfulness to serve our Lord in the most inconspicuous disguises.