Over the last several weeks members of the Discovery Church leadership team (the elders and staff) have been sharing some of what has them excited about partnering with One Life. Our fifth installment has been written by Tammy Sutton. Tammy is one of Discovery's elders, in addition to serving as the chief financial person (CFP?).
Most people that know me know I have a passion for projects that involve serving others. One of the most exciting things for me about One Life is the expanded opportunities that it will give us as a church to be a servant. To steal a quote from the One Life Church website, “Jesus lived compassion. We want to follow His lead and share his compassion both locally and globally.” Compassion is the word One Life uses to address these service projects. It involves opportunities for us to serve others ranging from our local neighborhood to those living on the other side of the world.
I like the approach that One Life takes on serving others. They not only look at the immediate needs for food, clothing and shelter, but at the issues that are causing the underlying poverty. They encourage economic growth of the community through micro financing and industry development. Part of the systemic change involves providing clean water for the area. The local residents are trained in various methods to treat and purify the water, resulting in a reduction of diseases and illnesses. Tools such as job training and furthering education enable those in poverty more opportunities to make a sustainable living. The local culture remains intact when implementing these methods that allow for a higher standard of living, and leadership of the community develops from within the native people.
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