Ministries

Ephesians 2:10 

“For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” NIV

Our ministries seek to glorify Christ by using every gift and resources God has given us. We speak the message of transformation through Christ in a language best understood by our development partners; that Christ loves them and is concerned about their daily needs, hurts and eventual well-being. We believe that the best way to serve Christ is to serve those that he is most concerned about. Click on the links below for more about our ministries.

Missions

LFM is committed to helping you fulfill God’s call on your life by reaching out to those who need you most. We believe that every Christian has a gift. You also have a gift and some one out there has been waiting to receive from.

LFM organizes short term mission trips to Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic Congo. In the past few years mission teams have been sent from the USA, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Norway. Missions’ team members participate in a number of outreach activities. Some of these may include: Gospel crusades, believer’s seminars, construction projects, children’s vocational bible clubs, counseling, university/college ministry, worship concerts, among others. 

 We have been blessed to host and to be a part of numerous mission teams in the resent years. We have seen God use various kinds of people like high school students and senior saints to bring about changes that last, with their simple acts of faith. Whoever you are, wherever you live, and whatever your focus in life, the opportunities are unlimited. Click here to learn more about missions and mission trips. Contact us after reviewing this website and we will be glad to orient your ministry interests.

Children ministries

As a Bible based ministry inspired by the love of Christ, we put great emphasis on children ministries. Our very foundation is built on ministering to the needs of children from all walks of life.  Christ’s ministry was characterized by embracing the little ones and gives us the reason why;-“... for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” Mathew 19:14.

Statistics show that 80- to 85-percent of those who believe in Christ came to know the Lord between the ages of 4 and 14.  Do you know what that means? It means that 80 to 85-percent of the church’s resources should be invested in children’s ministries. LFM has various opportunities for individuals like you to invest in a child’s life.

We focus on children because they are the best indicator of a community's social health. When children are fed, sheltered, schooled, protected, valued, and loved a community thrives. Learn more…

Facts

LFM is presently running a child sponsorship Program in Rwanda focusing on the province of Butare. Butare, the southern most province in Rwanda, is one of the provinces of Rwanda most stricken by the genocide in 1994. This war left behind a number of problems particularly in Butare, due to the return and settlement of refugees, most of who had fled to Burundi and the Congo during the war.  Upon their return, these families (an average of 4.4 people per household) brought with them poverty, disease, and death that would leave the area devastated with a large population of widows and child-led homes.  We find the following resent statistical findings about Butare rather fascinating:

·        Children between the ages of 0-14 form 49% of Butare’s entire population of 518,900 people.

·        Of 160,000 orphans of AIDS in Rwanda, there are more than 13,000 in the province of Butare alone.

·        Infant mortality rate is 189 children out of 1000 born, which is the highest in all Rwanda’s provinces.

·        Of every 6.37 children born alive, only 4.33 live to celebrate their first birthday.

·        Mortality rate is also at a high 268 per 1000, still the highest in Rwanda.

·        Life expectancy of 39.1 is the lowest in all Rwanda’s provinces.

• In Rwanda, there are 101,000 children heading up an estimated 42,000 households.
• Though Rwanda is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking 158th out of 175 countries listed in the United Nation’s Human Development Index, 42,000 child headed households is still the biggest number in Africa.

 Child sponsorship

“I hate seeing these kids live like this. Their teeth are rotting and I know that a dentist could easily fix this. They have malaria and it could have been prevented with a mosquito net. They have skin rashes and this most likely could have been prevented by having a regular bath. They have worms, and this could have been prevented with clean drinking water, they get headaches at the age of 4. No child at the age of 4 should know what a headache feels like. When I took their pictures, some of them didn’t know how to smile. The mothers strive to survive. I can’t imagine how much it hurts them to see their kids like this, but they do what they can for their kids. Do the mothers feel like they have failed when they see their kids the way they are? Maybe some of them do, but they shouldn’t. How do I keep myself from being numbed to this reality? It hurts me to see these people suffer when I can only do so little, but I’d rather have this feeling of helplessness than not” (Miriam Galston, Manitoba Canada: Volunteer with LFM in Rwanda)

Child Sponsorship’s primary focus is individual child development. This approach recognizes the God-given value and potential of each individual child. Very often, these children grow up to become positive influences to bring about lasting changes in their own communities.

Child sponsorship enables individuals to personally invest in the life of a child in need. Sponsorship enables a needy child to receive the following:

•         Education

•         Medical Needs

•         Food Supplements

•         Family Support

•         Basic Necessities

•         Christian Discipleship and Training

 And more than this, you can help a child develop a sense of confidence and self-worth with the love you express through letters and prayers.

The sponsorship program aims at connecting one sponsor to one child. The Child you sponsor is be able to know about you, write to you and enjoy the blessings that come with your monthly sponsorship.

Your relationship with your sponsored child makes you a very important person who has a significant role in his or her development. You stand alongside parents, pastors, teachers and family friends who are taking an active role in encouraging and developing the child.

Sponsorship FAQs

How much does it cost to sponsor a child?

When you choose to sponsor a child, the contributions for the sponsoring one child are as follows:

• Monthly                $ 25
• Semi-Annually:      $150
• Annually:              $300

How do we determine Children to be sponsored?

Selecting a child to be enrolled in our sponsorship program is a difficult decision.

There are so many impoverished children in Rwanda that choosing which ones to accept can be a tough business for us. But this does not stop us from playing our part however small it may be.

In the selection process, we strive to find the most needy among the needy and as many children as possible from non-Christian homes. Then, special attention is given to children who are:

• Orphaned, abandoned or exploited
• Living with a widowed parent or other relatives

·         Physically or mentally handicapped or have parents who are handicapped.

·         From destitute families or are children of single parents

What benefits does my sponsored child receive?

Your sponsored Child will receive opportunities that most of the Rwanda’s poorest children will simply never see. These opportunities include the following:

1. The opportunity to receive an education. In some cases, this means providing the cost of school fees, clothing, and supplies. In other cases, it means providing tutoring; help with homework and encouragement in order for the child to get the best out of her/ his education.
2. The opportunity to be healthy. In Rwanda very few families are able to afford medical bills. Your sponsored Child will be able to get medical attention and monitoring. In addition to that, children are taught about hygiene and how to maintain personal health. Sometimes, according to a child’s need, sponsored children receive supplementary food.
3. The opportunity to develop socially and spiritually. The child you support will be part of a program where Christian adults offer love, guidance, personal attention, guided recreation and safety.

4.      The opportunity to hear the Gospel and learn about Jesus. Most important, your sponsored child will receive an opportunity to hear about Jesus and learn about him in our Children Bible clubs.

How much of my money goes to my sponsored child?

With the exception of office expenses, postage expenses and bank charges, all your support goes directly to support one child- your sponsored child.

Your $25.00 a month donation is used as follows:

• $22.50- Goes to support your sponsored Child
• $2.50   - 10% for Living Faith Ministries operational expenses.

Your Cash donation above the $25 support sent as a gift for birthdays, or Christmas or as extra support is sent in its entirety to your sponsored child with no deduction.

Can I send small packages to my sponsored child?

The best gift would be a cash donation. However, if one prefers to send a package, we  encourage you to send a registered package. Sending packages to Africa is very risky and often times the gifts may not reach the recipients. That’s why we encourage cash donations as opposed to gifts and presents.

What a sponsor gets from his sponsored Child

There will be at least four letters from the Children, and this is what you can expect:

§           A photograph

§         A personal biography

§         A Christmas note

§         A thank you note, and

§         A student progress report during the course of the year.

How do I communicate with my sponsored child?

We encourage you to write to your child as often as you like. All correspondence, whether from the sponsor, or the children, must be filtered through LFM for security and accountability purposes.

Letters can be posted to the address above. For those who may find it hard to find time for a hand written letter, though it is preferred, can send an email to their child which will be printed and read to the child.

We believe that as you continue to help your child, you shall be making a lasting impression on the world and experiencing the joy of sharing your life with a child in Africa. And remember… together we can make a difference where it counts.

Education

Today, one out of every four African children does not go to school. Sixteen countries have enrolment rates of less than 60%.Our goal is to ensure that every child has access to quality education. Children have the right to have access to an education that provides them with the tools needed to sustain an adequate standard of living when they grow up. The best way to ensure sustainable development of a community is to educate its children in a way that releases them to become responsible and able citizens.

Our faith preparatory academy schools act not only as outreach centers, but as centers   of knowledge and personal development. Through our faithful Christian teachers, children are descipled and taught to be responsible citizens right from the beginning (proverbs 22:6).

In addition to a normal school syllabus, children are encouraged to form Bible clubs to study the word of God. They are also encouraged to form different groups like singing, dancing, drama, among other groups, in order to develop their god-given talents.

Click here for more information about Faith Preparatory Academy.

Children outreach program

"If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God." D.L. Moody

Children make up a large percentage of the church in Africa. And as earlier on said, 80- to 85-percent of those who believe in Christ came to know the Lord between the ages of 4 and 14. Evangelizing children, therefore, is a very rewarding task, not only for the growth of the church, but for the betterment of society and generations to come. The children outreach program aims at evangelizing children with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are three main concentrations in our children outreach program:

-         Evangelism and discipleship of children

-         Educating those who work with children, and

-         Equipping children with resources

Child Evangelism and Discipleship: Our team in Africa runs children Bible Club centers where children come to share in song, drama, skits and to hear the word of God taught in the language they understand. On top of children Bible clubs, we organize children crusades in different town and city centers. These crusades are different in style and are organized in a way that appeals to children.

Educating children teachers: Sunday school and children teachers’ seminars are organized for those who teach children. These seminars normally dwell on the creative ways of teaching children. Making the gospel relevant to the children is no simple task. It requires great creativity and spiritual maturity to be able to touch the simple heart of a child with the great truths of the gospel. Our seminars are referred to as “Theology made easy” seminars. Some adults have also found these seminars to be useful in helping them to be more creative in the way they share the gospel with their friends and in their churches.

Equipping children with resources: Throughout the history of mission in the west, there has long existed a need for resources that are culturally relevant and sensitive to people of other lands. The relationship of gospel and culture has been extensively discussed in academic and mission circles, but little application can be found in Sunday school material around the world. Emerging churches as well as established ones are requesting resources that reflect their particular history and culture.

We work with church leaders and Sunday school teachers in Africa to develop Sunday school and children materials that are relevant to the culture and environment of the children. This initiative has not only been a source of spiritual development among children in rural areas, but also a great source of cultural pride. The children delight in seeing images of them in relation to the Gospel. It makes a tremendous difference in how quickly they become engaged when they see reflections of themselves and their communities in the study material. It is a surprise to discover how relatively inexpensive it is to produce African-inspired resources instead of buying western-cultured story books. This approach has helped us to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ in the African children’s own language, life experiences, histories, fears and hopes. And on top of that we have learnt how limited funds can bring great results.  For African- inspired children resources, click here…

Family Ministry:

The best way to change a community is by empowering and taking care of its smallest social unit- the family. The family is the most important unit of society. It plays an essential role in fulfilling the emotional and physical needs of individuals, which is necessary for the achievement of economic and social development.

The African family is a target for a number of social limitations. In Rwanda in particular, families have been damaged by the effects of war, social unrest, and ongoing poverty. Problems like malaria, HIV/AIDS, trauma, poverty, hunger, among others, are "combining in a terrible synergy, robbing countless mothers and children not only of their loved ones but everything they own.

LFM is involved in the following family outreach programs in Rwanda:

•         HIV/AIDS

•         Family Health

•         Care groups

Read more

HIV/AIDS. Last year, Rwanda registered twenty two thousands known HIV/AIDS related deaths. It’s estimated that 230,000 adults and 22,000 children live with HIV AIDS in Rwanda. This means that HIV/AIDS affects more than three percent of Rwanda’s population of eight million people.

There are six key priorities for our HIV/AIDS-related work, which are:

-         Awareness and prevention program (APP). We achieve this through special HIV/AIDS awareness seminars, small group discussions especially in family care groups. By fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS, LFM strives to prevent children from losing their parents due to AIDS in the first place. We advocate for de-stigmatization and non-discrimination.

-         Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). This is offered through our counseling centers which work with local healthy centers to offer free AIDS testing. For those parents who are living with HIV/AIDS, VCT opens the possibility to early interventions that can prolong their life and improve the quality of their life.

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