Cleisse Andrade has a dream: “I want to reach the ‘invisible’ children of Brazil. And by God's grace, we are doing it."
"The ribeirinhos – a population of over 7 million, a third of whom are children – live on the banks of rivers, streams, lakes,” says Cleisse. “They lack proper water sanitation, and have difficulty accessing education. The sertanejas – where there are 10 million children – live in semi-arid areas and suffer from drought and a lack of resources. There are 3,475 communities of quilombola people in 24 states in Brazil. These people suffer from malnutrition and lack basic sanitation. There are more than 200,000 children.”
- Cleisse is part of the Lifewords team in Latin America. She sees these “invisible children” and wants to train people to work with them, to share good news through Pavement Project and Choose Life. It’s a big dream, but nothing is impossible with God. There are others with dreams too.
- Gunar in Indonesia has plans to train more pastors and church leaders, to expand Lifewords Indonesia’s new Kids Ministry, and to re-energise work with street children.
- Jarek dreams about the next stage of the Lifewords 50 languages project – aiming for 26 new titles and animations this year. Many will be the first Lifewords resources in these languages in decades.
- Dan wants to see more churches across Australia take the 9-weeks Beatitude journey. Groups engage in practical outputs of faith that help others to see the love and activity of Jesus through the Ninefold Path;
- Clara, and Serah hope to resource many additional ministries & churches in their unique contexts in Africa and India.
- Murima wants to bring young people together to engage digitally with the Bible.
- Clenir, her dream is reaching a key point as the Pavement Project app sees its full debut this year, but it’s just the beginning, as plans for its global rollout are dependent on training, resources and funds.
ROOTED IN THE GOSPEL
These dreams are rooted in the message of the gospel. It's our desire to reach the vulnerable, downtrodden, lost and hopeless with God’s peace, comfort, salvation and love. And big dreams are forged in partnership with God’s people: those who stand alongside, pray and get involved.
“It is a joy for all of us at Lifewords to know that there are people throughout the world who pray, support and encourage our ministry,” says Steve Bassett, Lifewords Creative Director. “Such support helps us when things are tough and grounds us when things are going well – this partnership in the gospel is very wonderful and sustaining.”
SUSTAINED BY PARTNERSHIP
Lifewords activities and outputs around the world are designed to meet specific contexts, cultures, people groups, and needs.
So, whether it’s producing booklets; engaging digital generations; helping at-risk children; fostering spiritual formation; doing outreach
to unreached people groups; equipping churches, ministries, and evangelists; there is always more and there are always bigger dreams.
“We are excited by the challenges and opportunities ahead,” says Steve. “With the partnership, support and prayer of friends we can
share the Bible’s transforming, healing, and saving life words with renewed passion and vision all over the world.”
