Two days ago, the LIA International Board of Directors met to discuss and approve many items as we looked back upon 2010 – and all that has been accomplished – and forward to 2011.

In light of what was shared to our Board, it seemed appropriate to share this information with you, our partners and supporters.

The late Andrew Murray famously stated that followers of Jesus are to, “beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things ‘above all that we ask or think’.”

We serve a mighty and powerful God who is bringing about change and transformation in Africa’s poorest communities. May we not limit God by what we believe to be possible!

Please join me in thanking God for the following highlights:

The LIA Cause

-    LIA staff has trained nearly 400 local church and lay-leaders in the ministry of transformational development this year.

-    These 400 people join a network of 56 churches that are actively serving in their community to meet the needs of the poorest.

-    Most of these churches operate openly in their context, while others serve underground.

-    Community development activities are far ranging, from street children rehabilitation to shoe-manufacturing to elementary schooling, based on the community need.

-    As a result of this activity, more than 44,000 people have been served by LIA through those we have trained, thus far into 2010.

We are humbled and encouraged by how the Lord is moving through the communities we serve.  It is in the Lord we put our trust in light of planning for 2011.

Celebrate with us!

It is with great excitement we announce that after completing our annual financial audit and compiling data, editing, designing, and mailing, we can present LIA’s 2009 Annual Report with joy!

We’ve called this annual report: Empowering Change and the entire piece showcases the ministry that God allowed us to participate with during 2009. To him be the glory!

We have mailed out a copy of the report to partners  who generously donated to LIA in the past two years, or to those that have served on a short-term team with us in Africa.  If you don’t fall within one of these criteria, or simply want to ensure that we’ve mailed you a copy of the annual report, please send us an email and we’ll get back to you.

As our committed prayer partner we ask that you join us this morning as we take time to thank the Lord for the work that has been accomplished throughout 2009.  Below you will find a highlight from each of the countries as they are found in the report.  Thank you for taking time to praise the Lord with us, both for the guiding hand of the ministry and the impact that has been seen in the communities where we serve.

Ethiopia:
-    We commenced a community based water supply, sanitation and hygiene initiative in Addis Ababa with the aim of reducing communicable disease prevalence and improving quality of life for 4,700 household in the slum areas.

-    Please Pray that this initiative will continue to grow and that more families will see improved water and sanitation in their communities.

Horn of Africa:
-    As we established our International Headquarters in Nairobi and brought our Senior management team under one roof, LIA was able to implement more programs in the Horn and facilitate and sustain them more effectively.

-   Please pray for the underground churches in this area.  That they would be protected from any persecution and would be met with receptive hearts from those within the community.

Kenya:
-    We formalized key relationships bringing our church partnerships to a total of 30 and are nurturing even greater community engagement.

-    Please continue to pray for strengthened relationships with the churches and their leaders. Pray that the training will continue and more families will be impacted by the diligent work of the local churches.

Sudan:
-    In Rumbek, South Sudan, LIA helped establish a school, children’s ministry, theological training program and medical clinic for the benefit of more than 1,200 community members.  This clinic more recently has seen great success and is well accepted and utilized by the community.

- Please pray that the Lord would continue to bless this clinic and those that dedicated their time to serve the community in this transformative way.

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.

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It is with heart felt joy that we celebrate the goodness of God to LIA, as we mark our 8th birthday since our registration in the USA on April 17.

It’s been 8 great years marked with growth way beyond our wildest expectations. The easiest indicator of this growth could be noted by a look at how our yearly income has grown, or seeing how our staff team has emerged. These indicators speak for themselves. But, we know the real growth is measured by the impact facilitated in the countries God has given us; that has been huge.

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Fact: In Djibouti, a country with a population over 724,622 people, a mere 13,000 are recorded as internet users.

In the United States, with a population of about 307,212,123, there are 231,000,000 people able to access and utilize the world wide web.

Fact from CIA-The World Factbook