2007: A YEAR OF PARTNER EXPANSION IN THE FIGHT AGAINST GLOBAL POVERTY AND AIDS

By Warren Beach, Director Global Connections

"For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him." (2Chronicles 16:9)

As this is being written, with still over one month left in 2007, I am thrilled to say that our partners in Latin America and Africa are on track to impact approximately 250,000 additional people in their communities. This is largely due to the resources from Willow Creek, and it is a 35% impact increase over last year. We have been able to increase the number of churches and church networks who are fighting the good fight and wholistically addressing their community's needs. The main reason that Global Connections has been able to do so is the increased amount of resources that we have been able to steward. We have identified many wonderful local churches in contexts of need, and we have joined together with these churches to do kingdom work. It's remarkable what can happen with a well timed injection of funds and other resources, such as a container of donated goods or a serving team jointly working alongside a dynamic community of believers from one of our partner churches.

As has been the case for many years, WCCC has richly benefited from the partner relationships that continue to develop. Those who have been exposed to the work of our partners have seen wonderful examples of churches doing first class neighborhood ministry. Personally, I have yet to visit a partner and not be challenged by the spirit of volunteerism at the church and/or the dedication of leadership teams that I have met. A highlight for me this year was spending a productive 8 hours learning from a pastor in Brazil on how he serves the poor in his community. It gave me insight as I try to do my job better at Willow.

Some quick highlights from the African battlefront on HIV/AIDS:

In 2007, we expanded the number of church partners in South Africa by 6. We now have 22 partners that we are empowering in HIV/AIDS work. In Zambia, we have spent a season getting to know potential partners, and now we have engaged with Jubilee Center. This ministry assists 4 networks of churches-nearly 80 churches in total- to effectively serve their peri-urban areas. While some of the larger global initiatives focus on the medical side of the pandemic, like getting people started on treatment and finding vaccines, our local church partners continue to focus primarily on prevention and care activities. When appropriate, we are also open to assisting with other issues like malaria, unemployment, lack of clean water and food scarcity. In Samfya, an important move toward sustainability is taking place. Caregivers of orphans are being equipped to grow their own kitchen gardens. This helps them to support the nutritional needs of their family and have something to sell in the marketplace instead of being dependent on donations from others. In Malawi, we are continuing the health care training taking place with church volunteers. We have also provided resources to dig bore holes, access malaria netting and distribute Bibles to pastors who have never owned one before. We are also in serious dialogue with a large network of churches around an initiative that can respond to mother-to-child HIV transmission at birth. We anticipate that, by year's end, over $2 million will be placed in the hands of our brothers and our sisters as they play a vital grass roots role in addressing global poverty and AIDS.