When we launched our website in the fall of last year, the three focal point pictures were selected because they were both beautiful and meaningful to us.

The first picture was of a lady in our HIV/AIDS care and support program in Ethiopia. She has a powerful testimony of how the small resources that our partner church provides to her have been empowering.

The second picture is of an elderly man who lives in the community of one of our partner churches in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He suffers from blindness and begs on the street as his primary source of income. Our church partner now cares for him on a consistent and regular basis.

The last picture is from Mathare, Kenya. I thought that this picture captured the beauty and power that happens when children in the slums are empowered with food, education by their local church.

Just recently, Holly and a team from Southeast Christian Church went on a short-term trip to learn how LIA serves to empower local churches in Ethiopia. During their trip, they had the opportunity to ‘get their hands dirty’ with a small project that would further the work of our church partner in their community.

Their project was to improve the ‘dwelling’ (a pile of trash) of the elderly gentleman that is featured on our website.

Here is the BEFORE picture of his dwelling:

Here is the AFTER picture of his dwelling:

I literally had a tear in my eye when I saw these pictures. This AFTER dwelling may not look like much to you or I, but it protects the man from the elements which will keep him healthier over the long-term. It also brings a sense of dignity to him, which is valuable beyond words.

The beauty of this project wasn’t that this team came from the USA and ‘saved the day.’ Rather, they came alongside an existing relationship between a local church and someone that the church already serves. The teams focus was on serving to empower the church, who is serving to empower the poor and marginalized within their community.

Awesome.

A big thanks to Holly, our team in Ethiopia and the team from Southeast!

“14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” (James 2:14-17 NIV)

Tags: Wholistic Ministry