THE WORK
We are totally dependent on God as the Supplier of every need in our lives and ministry, and trust in Him entirely to bring His revealed purposes to pass. We minister out of the abundance of the Almighty God. There is no shortage, lack or apparent impossibility that will be an obstacle to the ministry to which He has called us, but rather, according to the "exceedingly great and precious promises" in His Word, God shall supply all of our needs. We believe that a believer in Jesus Christ has been re-created having a new nature made to be like God, to participate in the divine nature. The believer, along with Christ, has been seated at the right hand of God in heaven, a place of authority. Each believer has the opportunity to use the full authority of God to bring about His purposes, according to his faith. We believe it is the opportunity and responsibility of every follower of Christ to be concerned for the poor. Our Supplier provides our every need, and He will provide for the needs of the poor (both physical and spiritual) to whom we minister as we trust in Him.
TRANSFORMATION
We believe that the true evidence of a transformed life, irrespective of culture or background, is holiness of character - having one’s being conformed to the image of Christ. This is made possible through a believer’s union with Christ and by the new nature, created to participate in His divine nature, that He has provided us. We believe a transformed community is one that will display many of the blessings of God and few of the curses of Satan in the physical realm. It is a community in which God’s kingdom is displayed and God’s will is done, like it is in heaven. God’s will is always, consistently to bless; He is good all the time.
DEVELOPMENT
We believe the goal of any development program is to provide tools for an individual to grow in strength (physical, financial, spiritual, social, etc.) so that, having some strength, he/she may offer assistance to others. So long as the individual remains just a “taker” the development process is incomplete. We believe that business functioning within a non-profit organization is the most advantageous way to work toward the transformation of a group of people. (The difference between for-profit and non-profit isn’t the profit, but what is done with it. A non-profit cannot distribute the profit to directors or employees, but can only wrap it back up into the corporation.) In the developing world charity is highly regulated and poorly understood (seen as people with more money than sense and therefore someone to be taken advantage of). Business, on the other hand, is the less regulated and very well understood. Business, once developed, is also a very sustainable vehicle by which to bring physical transformation to a developing people. We believe that the obstacles to development of the vast majority of individuals and communities are multi-faceted. Therefore, in order to truly achieve development, the development program itself must also be multi-faceted. We believe that poverty (physical and spiritual) is caused by a lack in one or more of these areas: opportunity, resources or justice. It is the job of the development worker, in conjunction with the individual or community, to determine the primary causes and means of addressing them. We believe that God has granted to each person an individual freedom to choose his own path through life. The behavioral sciences are based on this premise. Some people are quick to accept change, others cautious and still others resistant. The bottom line is that not everyone wants help. We will not attempt to bring everyone into programs, but rather we will attempt to help those who are ready to receive it. As time goes on, we trust that some of the cautious ones will also come.