Though the country is in the midst of a long standing, presently peaceful, civil war, many changes are expected in less than six months for Sudan. In January, a referendum vote is to take place that is likely to have a dramatic impact on the future of this country. And yet, in the midst of this national political activity, seeds of transformation are taking root in Rumbek, South Sudan.

One of our partners, Judy, a retired school teacher, traveled to Rumbek for the first time with LIA in November of 2009 by way of a short-term team from Southeast Christian Church. While there, Judy and her team saw the work of LIA through the partner churches in its beginning stages. The team also hosted a medical clinic for the community, to which Judy remarked the need was overwhelming, as they remained busy all day attending to various illnesses and wounds.

While spending time with the LIA staff in Rumbek on this trip, Judy commented that the original strategic plan for LIA Sudan was revealed to them through a simple drawing etched in the dirt. These plans included opening a permanent clinic and expanding a primary school. The community also wanted to construct a fence around the 18 acres of land to prevent cattle from coming through and destroying crops. The long term goal was to have a place for the community to be trained on agricultural practices that they could then replicate on their own. The empowerment in the local churches of the community would continue as well, through Bible training classes, fellowship, and prayer.

Almost six months later, Judy had the opportunity to travel back to Rumbek in April 2010. She shared with me that in just this short amount of time, the transformation taking place in Rumbek is truly remarkable.  Please take a moment to watch the video below and hear more about the development and progress Judy saw from her second trip:

We are so grateful to join God in the work he is doing in Rumbek, and throughout South Sudan.

Please keep praying for the staff in the Rumbek community, the clinic, the agricultural initiative, the pastors, the Bible diploma classes happening in the compound, the school and most importantly the Sudanese people. May songs of praise be heard as transformation continues to happen, lives are being changed, and the community of Rumbek is empowered.

When you go to an Easter service, there are many things you may expect to see.  Colorful flowers decorating the church, children dressed in cute outfits, pastel colors of pink, purple and yellow and, the most important, evidence of joy in people’s faces as they remember a Risen Savior and King on this day.

This past Easter weekend I had the privilege of witnessing all these things and more at Crestwood Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky.  For not only did they celebrate Jesus, but they celebrated His work in the world in a powerful way.

In Crestwood’s Easter services, their mission trip team of seventeen Skyped in from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where they are currently serving with Life in Abundance.  They were able to check in with their church family, give an update on their activities thus far, and even teach the church  a little  Amharic.

The most powerful moment for me was when they had LIA-E program manager Debele, pray for the church.  What a blessing it was to witness, as it truly served as a prime example of communities joining together for the purpose of serving and glorifying our Lord. Check out the video below to hear some of Debele’s prayer for Crestwood Baptist:

Tears filled my eyes as I witnessed partnership at its best.  The senders and the goers, the whole team, celebrating stories, joy, prayer, and the journey on a beautiful Easter Sunday.

Please keep this team in prayer as they continue their medical work and ministry through the local LIA partner churches in Addis Ababa this week.

For more information on how your church can partner with LIA, email us at info@liaint.org.

A few weeks ago, while spending time at Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Lenexa, Kansas, I met CJ White. CJ is an eleven year old 6^th grader. Upon hearing about some of the extremely impoverished communities LIA is serving in Africa, CJ sought to respond.

His response came at the expense of his allowance, which he saved as a means to donate to the work of LIA. Watch below to hear more from CJ about his heart to serve his brothers and sisters in Africa.

CJ’s decision to use his time, voice, and finances to support the people of Africa and the work of LIA is both inspiring and encouraging. His passion to serve selflessly is one that can be mirrored by all. We are so thankful for CJ’s heart and passion to stand up to the injustices of poverty, on a daily basis.

-Reject Apathy and help free Kelsey Timmerman so he can help LIA in producing our second documentary film.

-Enlist your small group or Sunday school to join the Boxes for Change Program which is a great tool to expose kids to the reality of poverty in Ethiopia. It also gives kids the chance to respond by raising money for the street children in the Merkato community.

This afternoon, a team of interns and leaders from Southeast Christian Church arrived in Nairobi, Kenya officially kicking off our 2010 Short-Term Mission Team year.  We’re excited for another year of powerful partnerships between our communities in the states and our communities in Africa.

This team of future ministry leaders is made up of thirteen people, each with diverse backgrounds and interests.  Below is a video taken before they left as a means to ask for prayer during their travel and time in Kenya.

Kenya Intern Team, February 2010 from Life in Abundance on Vimeo.

They will be serving in the community of Thika, just outside of Nairobi, working with our five partner churches in this area.  During their stay the team will be visiting homes, encouraging church volunteers, loving on kids, and partnering with our local pastors to serve the needy in the community.

This team will be in Kenya February 15-24.  Please keep them in your prayers.  We will give you a full update upon their return.

When you were ten years old, what did you like to do?  How did you spend your time?  I recently talked to one ten year old named Mason Reaser.  She told me she likes to draw, write stories and play piano.  Mason is in fifth grade and enjoys school as well.

But what surprised me about Mason was the amazing thing she did at her school for the Merkato community in Ethiopia.

She told me the story.  Her dad showed her a video about where her mom visited in Ethiopia on a recent trip with Life in Abundance. Mason learned about the conditions of life in Ethiopia and she wanted to help. Her student government group each month sponsors a charity (usually local) to raise money or supplies for that cause. Mason wrote a letter to her principal about Merkato. She had learned one of the struggles in Merkato is keeping things clean, especially children. Her request to raise money for soap for the children in Merkato was approved!

During one week in January, Mason went to all of the classes in her school of 350 students (Meadowlane Elementary School, kindergarten through 6th grade, in Olathe, Kansas). She told about the need in Merkato and encouraged her classmates to bring in money. Mason said it was challenging because some of the younger kids had never heard of Ethiopia. But by the end of the week, everyone was involved.

Mason was proud to raise $340 for soap to be purchased for the Merkato community in partnership with Life in Abundance. She is testimony to the fact that advocacy can start at any age!  Thank you Mason!

To find out some ideas of what you can do to advocate for those living among the impoverished communities in northeast Africa take a look at our get involved page. To learn more about the conditions as well as the work of LIA in the Merkato community, purchase your very own copy of our first ever documentary “This Is My Home”.

What are some creative ideas YOU have to advocate for injustice and serve your brothers and sisters around the world? We would love to hear!

The mission of LIA is to empower churches to serve the poor using a wholistic approach for community development.

A significant focus for our organization in 2010 is communicating to you from the communities where we serve, in order for the global community to be connected, sharing the burden of poverty (both spiritual and physical) and therefore undertaking the process of mutual transformation.

Last weekend, the beginning of this community sharing and serving was seen in Louisville, Kentucky.

A team of young leaders from Southeast Christian Church is preparing to partner with the Thika community in Kenya this February. We had a retreat where the team grew in their understanding of the culture, dynamics and context of Kenya at large, and Thika specifically.

After leading a few sessions on poverty, the mission/vision of LIA, and how communities can serve one another - you could feel the excitement and expectation of true community partnership happening.

At the same time, another important community connection happened the same weekend when LIA staff and local supporters met together with the local Sudanese community in Louisville.  A rich bond with these dear brothers and sisters was quickly formed.  We are really excited about the future of partnership between the Sudanese communities living in Louisville with our community development work in the community of Rumbek, South Sudan.

May 2010 be the year that we seek to mutually learn and be transformed by serving to empower Africa’s poorest communities.

If you are interested in learning more about our community work in Rumbek, Sudan we would love for you to check out our Annual Report (pg. 11), sharing “Stories of Transformation” and offering a glimpse into the work you helped empower through your partnership with us!

On the December 1st over 2,000 women came together at Southeast Christian Church to kick off their winter Bible study series.  On this night the crowd was challenged to think about the magnitude of what God can do through ordinary people, and focused on the theme of making your life worthwhile and glorifying.  The guests were also challenged to think about creative ways to give this holiday season. 

Before and after the event, women gathered to hear stories about LIA’s work in Africa, were given the opportunity to purchase African crafts and also we able to donate to empower our community in focus this holiday season Makueni, Kenya.

LIA’s holiday initiative is to empower the Makueni community by highlighting the current projects and needs in this area and asking donors to respond.  Makueni, Kenya is considered one of the hardest hit areas by drought leading to food shortages, inadequate water supply, prevalence of disease and infection, and inability to create a sustainable livelihood or business.  LIA has a three-year partnership plan with local churches in this area to help empower the churches to respond to the overwhelming need.

Donations given through LIA can help these churches support their neighbors with food, water, and micro business training.

Over $8,000 was raised for Makueni at the Christmas Joy event as women responded to the challenge.

We pray that everyone who learns of this initiative will do something for Makueni this holiday season.

Check out our donate page as we have revamped it to support Makueni, Kenya this Christmas.

Are you a friend of LIA on Facebook? Join the “LIA’s Christmas Challenge: Empower The Makueni Community! “ and partner with LIA and the Makueni, community to provide 6 months of clean water!

Spread the word about the Makueni community and invite friends, family and small groups to join you this Christmas as we remember that this holiday was about – giving.

To see more photos from the Christmas Joy event check out Jules Wiegand Photopgraphy.

By definition the word community means a unified body of individuals.  One of the main focuses for LIA in 2010 will be strategically linking passionate and committed localized communities, in the form of small groups, businesses, schools, churches, etc., with our community initiative throughout Africa.  Our goal is long-term partnerships that share prayer and resources while focusing on building each other up in unity as the body of Christ.  We believe that each community will be empowered by this collective unity.

Two communities began a pilot project of this initiative just a couple months ago.  In October of 2009, Cedar Ridge Christian Church in Olathe, Kansas began a partnership with the Merkato community in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  A team from the church traveled to Merkato to learn about the community and met the street kids and families that comprise a targeted kebele (small area) of Merkato.  Over the course of time spent there, a deep bond was formed between the Cedar Ridge community and the church workers, children, and street boys in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  True community developed through this time as lives were shared and needs from both communities were recognized.

One of the team members, Allyson Cheney (check out her blog), captured some of the moments of this unified time together, and compiled a 25-minute video together.
Check it out!

Several missionaries, mission organizations, medical students, and people of all ages gathered November 12th -14th at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY for one of the largest medical missions conferences in the world.

LIA’s Founder and President Dr. Florence Muindi and Kenya Country Director Dr. Emily Obwaka attended and spoke at this year’s conference.

Florence spoke first at the Friday plenary session with the message of “Empowering the Least.”

She encouraged those listening to acknowledge and empower the least among us, describing that this is truly the strategy that Jesus used in His model of ministry.  Florence also did a workshop describing the role of the Church in cross-cultural medical missions.  She explained the logic of using the local church as the primary partner, showing that it is through this approach that a sustainable transformation can occur within communities.

Dr. Emily presented a workshop called “More than Empowerment: A Christian Mandate.” In a time of sharing, she looked at transitional empowerment versus transformational empowerment  and charged those in attendance to work for the latter.

The whole conference was eye-opening.  Hundreds of ministries were displayed and many students were challenged to continue to become kingdom builders and to commit to that call as they seek to work as medical missionaries.

The shared worship times were powerful with the closing session seeing hundreds coming forward to commit their lives to full-time service in kingdom work.

The Global Missions Health Conference was something to see, feel and be part of.  God indeed is calling a generation to respond to His voice and we are excited that LIA could be part of this memorable and powerful conference - connecting with such passionate and dedicated followers of Christ.

LIA’s founder and President, Florence Muindi and LIA Kenya Country Director, Dr. Emily Obwaka will be speaking in Louisville, KY this week at one of the largest medical mission conferences in the world.

The Global Missions Health Conference will take place at Southeast Christian Church Thursday through Saturday, November 12th-14th.  The church and community is excited to host missionaries and medical professionals from around the world.  Since the beginning of the conference in 1995, it has become an annual gathering of nearly 3,000 people meeting together to encourage, network, and learn advanced medical practices and innovations.  Speakers in 65 workshops and main sessions will tell stories about how God is changing lives through medical missions.  More than 800 students attend the conference from universities and medical schools around the country to learn about global mission opportunities.  The conference is designed for anyone interested in mission outreach regardless of age or profession.

Dr. Florence will be speaking Friday and Saturday morning and Dr. Emily will present a workshop on Dependency vs. Empowerment on both Friday morning and Saturday afternoon.
We will be hosting an information booth at the conference and would love to share more about the work of LIA with you - stop by and say hi to me!  The Mi2 interns will also be there representing the Mi2 Internship program.  Stay tuned for updates from my experience at the GMHC this coming week.

To read more about the conference check it out here.