The Apostle Paul, wrote to the church in Rome,

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.” (Romans 1:10-11)

Recently, I had the opportunity to speak for the first time to the board of directors of a ministry with which we have a close partnership.  Similar to the verse above, I wanted it to be a time of mutual encouragement, as I heartened them with my perception of the development and impact that I had seen God graciously provide their organization, as well as updated them on our ministries continued maturity.

Four and a half years into Empowering Action, I communicated three things that I was grateful for the Lord’s provision: Clarity, Competency and Capacity.

CLARITY – God has brought into focus our mission, vision, targeted clients and strategy

Mission: To combat physical and spiritual poverty by mobilizing expertise and resources in partnership with the local church

Vision: Church-facilitated sustainable transformation of impoverished communities

Clients: We serve the Church…who serves individuals.

EA serves the shepherds…who serve their sheep.

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

Strategy: Desarrollo de la red de iglesias

There are 3 Drawers in our “Toolbox:”  Character, Theological Competency, Ministry Capability

Our methodology is dictated by our theology

We believe in the unique calling and qualifications of the Church

“There is one institution on earth with the capacity, the presence, the credibility, the endurance, and the passion to perform the ultimate act of caring for the poor. It is the Church, the body of Christ.”- Scott Todd

Poverty is the effect of the 4 Broken Relationships in Genesis 3: God, Self, Others, Creation

“It is simply impossible to alleviate poverty – in its fullest sense – apart from the local church.” – Church in Hard Places by 9 Marks

COMPETENCY – We are pleased with the Lord’s provision of a team that, like David (Psalm 78:70-72), will shepherd with integrity of heart (character) and skillful hands (competency), particularly these most recent additions:

– Raydel Riquelme – to oversee Church Network Development
– Madeline Riquelme – to facilitate a new Church Children’s Ministry Initiative (amoprogram.com)
– Ken and Mary Anne O’Malley – to coordinate our Construction and Special Needs Ministry efforts

CAPACITY – As the chart below indicates in 2017 we are projecting that we will serve 3,025 church leaders representing 33,375 community members. This year we anticipate ministry not only within the Dominican Republic and Cuba, but also Haiti, Kenya and Costa Rica.

 ESTIMATED INDIVIDUALS SERVED

INITIATIVE	INDIVIDUALS SERVED ANNUALLY	NOTES
Desarrollo de la red de iglesias	2,500 leaders representing 22,500 church members	Through various yearly initiatives EA is training 2,500 pastors and church leaders, representative of 150 churches, averaging 150 members in attendance. (Total: 150 x 150 = 22,500 people)
AMO Program (year one)	75 leaders representing 1,875 children	In year one of the AMO program we look to train 25 churches with 3 trainers per church for a total of 75. We anticipate that they will launch Amo programs with an average attendance of 25 children. (Total: 75 x 25 = 1,875)
Programa de Vida Abundante	450 leaders representing 9,000 community members	EA will train 6 leaders at 50 churches in 2017. Additionally, through follow-up with leaders of previous Abundant Life programs, we estimate we will train an additional 150 people (30 churches of 5 people). Each of the 50 programs impacts 36 individuals representing an average 5-member family. (Total: 50 x 36 x 5 = 9,000)
TOTAL	3,025 leaders representing 33,375 community members served annually