@powertochange:

Make 2012 Count

Written by Eric Reynolds

January 6, 2012

You work. You earn a living. In the process you learn things and influence people. This is your LIFE (Labor, Influence, Finance and Expertise) and you can give back to God in each category this year.

What is a LIFE Team?

A LIFE Team engages with people’s God-given desires and encourages them to go on an international project where they partner with a local organization/church. LIFE Teams were born out of a desire to reflect God’s heart as expressed in Exodus 33 and other places.

Global Aid Network (GAiN) seeks to help others demonstrate the love of God in word and deed, and, therefore, has now incorporated regular LIFE Team projects into their activity.

Teams max out at 20 people and vary in their focus:
• medical & dental clinics
• hygiene & sanitation training
• construction
• leader training
• and much more

“Before I went to Haiti, I didn’t realize how oppressed [Haitians] are. I also mistook them for being lazy. The Haitians I worked with were so dedicated, like boxers who get up every time they get knocked down,” says Peter Koteles who has been to Haiti twice and oversees Gifts in Kind and logistics for GAiN. As for those who are concerned if LIFE Teams are right for them,

Peter remarks, “Don’t worry about being qualified. If you can hold a hammer or paintbrush you are qualified!”

2012 is full of opportunity and GAiN encourages you to join in the work they are doing. Experience one of a dozen short-term trips: work at an orphanage in Haiti; run a medical clinic in Benin or Tanzania; minister to women and children freed from poverty and abuse.

“I love the passage in Isaiah that says if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday,” Peter shares.

Make 2012 count. Join a LIFE Team and turn compassion into action.

For more trip information or to apply, email lifeteams@globalaid.net