Pastor Daniel married his wife Nancy in 2006. A year after their wedding, Camila was born. She was a joy to her parents and shared her father’s passion for music.
At the end of 2012, a medical diagnosis indicated that Camila, only four years old, had a brain tumor. The results of the studies were not encouraging; the doctors said they could not operate on Camila and that there was nothing they could do. The tumor continued to grow and Camila’s health deteriorated rapidly. Everything was delivered into the hands of God, praying and waiting for His will.
In February 2013, Camila, now five years old, told her father, “Dad, I am going to go with Jesus.” Ten days after, Camila passed away, leaving her parents to deal with the pain of losing a daughter.
Two years later, Pastor Daniel moved his family to the city of Itauguá, Paraguay, with the desire to impact their community. They began to pray for direction. Camila’s words echoed in his mind and heart until he finally understood that if his five-year-old daughter was sure that she would be in heaven with Jesus after she passed away, then the children of the neighborhood could also have the same sense of security. This assured Pastor Daniel that working with the children would not be a waste of time.
It was then that, they learned about the support that Jesus Responde, Global Aid Network (GAiN)’s partner in Paraguay, was providing through the wholistic community centres. These community centres, all throughout Paraguay, invite children from families who are living in poverty and crisis to gather weekly. They come for a nutritious meal and various activities, such as sports and games, educational tutoring, and spiritual care (songs and Biblical teaching through AWANA, a children’s discipleship program). In some cases, some community centres host vocational trainings for parents of the children.
Hearing about the impact of these community centres filled Pastor Daniel and his wife with so much joy and hope that they decided to open their own community centre in partnership with Jesus Responde. They called it La Semilla.
Today, Pastor Daniel tells us how children get excited when they receive a nutritious meal, as many of them do not eat breakfast or eat at home. La Semilla has helped Daniel and his family fulfill their call and teach these children about Jesus.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO INVEST IN A WHOLISTIC COMMUNITY CENTRE IN PARAGUAY? YOU COULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE PHYSICAL, SPIRITUAL AND SOCIAL HEALTH OF CHILDREN LIVING IN POVERTY.
The heads of 11 global humanitarian organizations warned on Thursday that the embattled rebel-held province of Idlib in Syria, stands on the brink of disaster, with three million civilian lives at risk, including one million children.
In a direct video address to launch a worldwide campaign in solidarity with civilians trapped there, dubbed #TheWorldIsWatching, the humanitarian leaders said that they face the constant threat of violence. “Too many have died already” and “even wars have laws” they declared, in the face of multiple attacks by Government forces and their allies on hospitals, schools and markets, together with fierce resistance from extremist fighters that have gained control of much of the territory.
“Idlib is on the brink of a humanitarian nightmare unlike anything we have seen this century”, they warn.
UN relief chief and Humanitarian Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, said that “our worst fears are materializing…Yet again innocent civilians are paying the price for the political failure to stop the violence and do what is demanded under international law – to protect all civilians.
A huge influx of civilians – many displaced by fighting during urban offensives in places such as Aleppo and eastern Ghouta – has seen the northwestern Governorate double in population since 2015.
At least 330,000 have been forced to seek shelter elsewhere within the region, during the huge uptick in violence of the past two months. Many of them have nowhere left to run.
“Our campaign expresses solidarity with the families under attack and tells everyone that we are watching and witnessing what is happening”, said OCHA chief Lowcock.
‘Universal principles and values must prevail’: Rochdi
With more than 300 civilians have been killed in the so-called de-escalation area in northwestern Syria since the latest Government offensive, including many women and children, said the Senior Humanitarian Adviser on Syria, Najat Rochdi.
During a Syria Humanitarian Taskforce meeting in Geneva on Thursday, she noted the ambulance that had been hit by aerial bombardment just last week, and the death of three medical workers, who had been attempting to rescue a female patient who also died, while they were trying to reach a local hospital.
“Everything needs to be done to protect civilians”, she said. “Universal principles and values must prevail when so many innocent lives are at stake.”
In Rukban camp on the Jordanian border, she said around 27,000 displaced civilians still lacked the most basic services, in dire need of assistance. “We continue to call for humanitarian access to Rukban to be able to deliver life-saving aid and to assist those who would like to leave”, she added.
UN envoy urges Russia and Turkey to ‘stablize’ Idlib
The UN Special Envoy for Syria, on Thursday urged the Security Council to “work at the highest level to stabilize the situation in Idleb” as the guarantors of the de-confliction zone in and around Idlib, set up last September.
Gier Pedersen told the Council that both countries “have reassured me that they remain committed” to the Memorandum of Understanding and had set up a working group.
“We must see this assurance reflected on the ground” said the Envoy, adding that he hoped Syria would be a main item for discussion at this weekend’s G20 Summit of nations, taking place in Japan.
“We hope that Russia and the United States can build on recent talks and deepen their dialogue at the highest level too”, he said, noting that five international armies were still present in war-torn Syria, making the need for a nationwide ceasefire critical.
Mr. Pedersen also highlighted the “significant presence” of terrorist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham inside the de-escalation area as another major drawback: “Its attacks must cease. But all due protection must be afforded to the up to three million civilians in Idlib.
“Undoubtedly, there is no easy solution for Idlib. But the only way to find one, is for hostilities to stop, and for key stakeholders to engage in a cooperative approach towards countering terrorism – an approach that safeguards the protection of civilians.”
GAIN IS WORKING IN SYRIA, ALONGSIDE LOCAL PARTNERS, TO HELP BRING HOPE THROUGH AID (BAGS OF BLESSINGS).
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION AND/OR TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT.
Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/06/1041471
Photo Source: UNICEF/Khalil Ashawi
For Tess Mawson, doing a Global Aid Network (GAiN) DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) training was an obvious step in her ministry and career in the humanitarian sector.
“I really love practical ways of serving people that are truly in their most desperate place. Often one of the strategies of GAiN DART teams is to reach people that are kind of on the outside, or have been left behind, or neglected by other organizations, or in situations where nobody else is reaching them,” Tess explained.
“There’s a value to reaching out to the lost and left behind. It is such a valuable way to show the love of God. I love getting to use my practical God-given skills in problem solving and hard work and leadership and all these different things and getting to use these to reach people.”
DART is a GAiN Worldwide initiative, that responds in the event of a disaster by deploying teams of certified volunteers to the field. Teams provide aid such as food and non-food items, water, medical support, emergency shelter and trauma healing.
Every two years GAiN puts on a training, designed and organized by GAiN Germany, in order to equip and prepare trainees for real-life disaster response on the field. This year, the eight day training program was led by four GAiN Germany staff and one GAiN Canada staff. Twenty trainees from 10 different countries, including six Canadians, took part. The participants came from diverse backgrounds, ranging in age (early 20s to 70s), differing in careers (finance, medicine, business, humanitarian aid, etc.) and varying in culture.
About half of the days were focused on classroom theory, where trainees learned about specific roles and responsibilities required for every DART team. Other sessions included topics on leadership, the history of humanitarian aid, conflict resolution, as well as safety and security.
The other half of the days consisted of a practical exercise that lasted multiple days. Trainees were put into teams, navigating a simulated disaster situation and getting the opportunity to practice being on a DART team. Trainees were tested to see how they would respond to possible scenarios and potential issues that may arise on any DART mission.
The program is designed to challenge, push and stretch participants. For Tess, she completed the program with a better sense of herself and learned more about leadership, teamwork and humanitarian aid.
“In my terms, [I call the training] the pressure cooker for character. You’re definitely operating in these intense situations and you’re not sleeping and you’re working hard. You’re really stretched, yet you have to work as a team and care for people and love people well. It really pushes you to know your limits and your capacity and to know when you need to stop and when you can push forward and when you need to rely on your team for work. [There were a lot] of really valuable lessons for team work.”
Besides learning a lot about her strengths, weaknesses and capabilities, one of Tess’s biggest takeaways was the humanness of humanitarian aid.
“We [often] think that it’s about the logistics and what’s being distributed and what’s being done or the aid that’s being brought, but it’s actually so much more about the person that is receiving the aid. It’s about meeting people where they are in their suffering and in their pain and caring for them and seeing them and being with them. That has so much of an impact, more than an item of food or clothing could.”
If you have a heart for reaching the lost, hurting and forgotten, don’t let the challenging aspects of the training discourage you from applying, Tess said.
“Don’t make a decision based on your qualifications and your skills and experiences but on your desire to serve in that way. I would recommend DART to anybody who has a heart to meet people in very broken situations and who is willing to sacrifice comfort and ease to reach those people. It does help if you love problem solving and have an interest in humanitarian aid and those kinds of things but it’s really open for everybody. It’s open for everybody but it’s not for everybody because it’s hard. It does require a certain stamina to be able to do it.”
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Mrs. Clotilde Haedo (pictured on the right), 57 years old, is a hardworking mother of seven, currently living with two of her kids in Isla Bogado, Paraguay, in the neighborhood of Luque. She has faithfully attended the National Marathon of Prayer, an event organized annually by Global Aid Network (GAiN)’s Paraguayan partner Jesús Responde, since 2010.
In August 2012, a young volunteer from Jesús Responde met with Clotilde and shared stories of impact from the Jesús Responde wholistic community centres and invited Clotilde to partner with them as a donor. She accepted the invitation and committed to giving 20,000 Guaranies ($4.36 CAD).
True to her word, Clotilde gave the agreed amount each month.
Unfortunately, as time passed, her family experienced a financial crisis, causing her to, with great sorrow in her heart, renounce the commitment that she had made.
In September 2017, the pastor, of Clotilde’s church, Pastor Cleibel Peixoto, challenged the members of his congregation to start a wholistic community centre. Although she was hesitant at first, Clotilde agreed to be one of the cooks. In that moment, she remembered the commitment she had made and could not fulfill years ago. Clotilde saw this as a new opportunity that came from God. He was calling her once again to serve.
By the end of 2017, the wholistic community centres had served the community successfully and the number of children in attendance increased. Upon hearing this, a representative of Jesús Responde en Luque told them of the support given to the churches that work with children.
On February 13, 2018, Pastor Cleibel presented his application and shortly thereafter began to work in partnership with the institution.
On June 3 of that same year, Mrs. Clotilde confirmed during a volunteer day, once again, the call for her life. “I thank God for showing me, after thirty years (in the way of the Lord), the ministry that He had kept for me,” she told us, with tears in her eyes.
Today she serves with joy and faithfulness at the community centre, loving and caring for the children. The children have praised her, saying that they do not even eat a meal made with as much affection in their homes.
YOU CAN HELP BRING WHOLISTIC NUTRITION TO IMPOVERISHED CHILDREN IN PARAGUAY. WILL YOU HELP SUPPORT A WHOLISTIC COMMUNITY CENTRE?
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Telma is 12 years old and lives with her mother Liz, her grandmother Esperanza and her sister Sara. For the majority of her life she has been under the care of her grandmother because her mother was absent. When her mother wasn’t working she would spend her free time with friends, attending parties or other participating in other activities outside of the house.
Grandmother Esperanza already knew about Jesus and was a regular church attendee. Her church runs a wholistic community centre with Global Aid Network (GAiN)’s Paraguayan partner Jesus Responde. At these community centres, children from impoverished backgrounds are invited to attend weekly, where they receive a nutritious meal, play games with other kids, and learn about Jesus through the AWANA program.
Telma was two years old when her grandmother brought her and her sister Sara to a wholistic community centre. It was there that she was taught about Jesus and his love. Every morning, Telma and Sara would pray to God that Liz (their mother) would come to know Jesus.
Eventually, after years of praying, their mother decided to accompany Telma and Sara to church. It was in one of the meetings that she got to know Jesus. Now, the whole family attends church together. Recently, Grandmother Esperanza lost her eyesight but continues to attend church meetings, thanks to perseverance and the help of Telma who is an active church participant.
Telma shares, “Jesus transformed my family. In my house there is more peace and more joy. Sara and I now receive the attention and affection from our mother that we did not have when we were younger. We are grateful because every day we are taken care of, loved and get to learn about God.”
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Another year has passed since the Syrian Civil War started in 2011 and the country remains unstable. Our partners on the ground are still working faithfully to bring hope and physical aid where needed most. They continue to meet with displaced families, the majority of whom have experienced trauma and are living in poverty as a result of the war.
In December, our partners distributed clothing (sweaters, jackets, dresses) to 523 displaced children whose families could not afford to get them Christmas gifts. One thousand Bags of Blessings (bags with essential food and non-food items that provide for a family of five for one month) were distributed to the children’s families, which helped to alleviate their monthly expenses.
The clothes and Bags of Blessings were a huge help to many families who were in need of not just aid and hope, but community and love in the midst of war and uncertainty. Here are three families who had received gifts:
Jan’s father is in the army, his mother has no work and his brother is just three months old. Jan’s mother told our partners that receiving the Bag of Blessing helped her cover a large part of what would have been her expenses for the month. In the bag there was halawa (a Syrian dessert), which Jan loved.
When Jan received the Christmas gift (sweater) at the distribution, he was very happy and excited to wear it. Jan’s mother said they were very thankful for this gift as there had been no money to buy things for him, since most of the money went toward the baby and rent.
Kalven and Elvin are siblings. Their mother does not work and their father works sporadically, except for in the winter when there is no work available.
For a short period of time, Kalven and Elvin came to the centre. Last month the family took a Bag of Blessing, which helped them out tremendously. The mother said that she would buy half a kilo of rice for cooking. And, due to the high cost of sugar in Syria, she could not afford to buy any sweets at the market. But, with the Bag of Blessing, she received rice, oil, pasta and sugar. The children were delighted because they love pasta and halawa.
The family was also pleased with the Christmas gifts they received. The mother explained that she was unable to buy Christmas dresses for her children due to the market price being too high. So, they were thrilled to receive these dresses as gifts at the distribution.
Tim, Shahab and Nabih attended the centre where Christmas distributions were happening. Their father, who is physically disabled and in a wheelchair, works at a vegetable shop. Their mother does not work; instead, she stays at home and helps the children study.
The children’s father mentioned that he had not been thinking about buying Christmas clothes because they had just given their children hand-me-downs from their relatives. When they received the Christmas gift of clothes, they were thrilled.
Upon receiving the Bag of Blessing, the mother cried and explained that she had not seen this amount of food in a long time. The boys loved the many different pastas and the rice. The family happily reported that now the children are always full and satisfied.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO BRING HOPE TO DISPLACED SYRIANS IN THE FORM OF A BAG OF BLESSING?
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When participating in a DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) mission you need to work through any physical, mental and emotional challenges that may arise — and that’s just what DART training is for.
DART responds in the event of a disaster (natural or man-made) providing food, water, medical support, emergency shelter and trauma healing with the perspective of long-term aid. Volunteers are required to be ready to leave for a disaster area for at least two weeks, but preferably four weeks to three months.
In May 2017, Canadians participants, including one GAiN Canada staff member, took part in DART training that took place in Riga, Latvia for eight days.
The training program was organized by GAiN Germany, where trainees were put through real-life simulated situations to mimic specific problems that would present themselves on a DART mission. Sleeping in tents in freezing temperatures with little sleep only intensified the challenges, truly testing the participants’ ability to respond under pressure. All of the real-life simulated situations gave participants a glimpse of what participating in a DART mission might entail.
“It is amazing and it’s hard,” expressed Monique Lieuwen, Relief and Development project manager for GAiN and DART training participant. “Your emotions [go up and down] at any given minute. [Sometimes you think], ‘it’s so awesome,’ [and other times], ‘wow, what am I doing?’ But overall it is incredible.”
The training was valuable and Lieuwen returned to Canada having learned many things. One of the most significant lessons she learned was the importance of teamwork, especially in disaster situations.
“One thing that was really evident, because DART has a lot of strong personalities, was teamwork and the importance of submitting to the leader. You don’t have time to ask questions, you just do it. There were moments we worked really well together and there were moments we should have just trusted the leader and we didn’t. In a disaster context everything is amplified.”
While a DART member needs to be strong, both physically and mentally, Lieuwen also learned that a team requires a variety of people with different skill sets. DART looks for volunteers with skills in leadership, communication, finances, medical care, technology, spiritual guidance, construction and more.
“If people think they’re not qualified, I think they need to think outside the box a little bit. Because even at first I thought, ‘What do I have to offer?’ And at the end I was like, ‘I can do this, this, this and this. A lot of people just think it is physical strength and you do need physical strength because you will do physical tasks but there’s more.”
But the DART training experience wasn’t just challenges. Lieuwen was grateful to meet 19 other participants from six different countries: Canada, Australia, Germany, Finland, Netherlands and Korea.
“It’s awesome to meet people from all those different places with the same faith and the same passions. One thing I love is before we went to the practical exercises we had time for praise and worship and so everyone is singing in their own language, the same song. I love it. It’s a little glimpse of heaven.”
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Guest blog by Pam W., Two-Time Lebanon LIFE Team Participant
Geopolitical crises and wars have become typical news items. Following the coverage of the war in Syria, the images of casualties rattled me, but they were just news. In 2017, I joined GAiN on its first LIFE team mission to Lebanon to serve alongside a local partner working with refugees in Beirut. While there, I visited the Bekaa Valley, an area of farmland near the Syrian border that is now filled with a multitude of makeshift tents. The valley has become “home” to Syrians who fled their war-torn country.
We hear a lot about the war and refugees from Syria, but not so much about the Syrians displaced within their own country – and there are many. Some had to flee their bomb-stricken homes, along with any surviving family members, with only the clothes on their back. While in Lebanon, I met Syrian aid workers from GAiN’s local partner who provide both physical (food distribution) and emotional support to these Internally Displaced People (IDP). They shared accounts of the experiences of IDPs, and also some of their own. One aid worker shared her own chilling account of escaping armed groups. These experiences are unlike those reported in the media. They are painfully detailed and personal.
After returning home, news from Syria was no longer just news to me. Now I had friends living there – and that changed everything. With the war into its seventh year, local Syrians were surviving with limited resources and diminishing hope, and they are feeling forgotten.
I needed to do something….
I felt it was important that I share their stories so the world could relate to them on a personal level. I also launched a GAiN campaign and fundraised for 100 Bags of Blessing. Each bag provides food for a family of five for a month. These bags are vital to IDPs in Syria who struggle on a daily basis for even the most basic of necessities. The campaign enables sponsors to support the IDPs in Syria in a direct way, but it also helps to restore their hope and reminds them that they have not been forgotten and are loved.
Returning to Lebanon in 2018, there was a sense of familiarity. Reconnecting with the staff of GAiN’s local partner and the refugee children was like visiting relatives; no introduction was necessary. For me, the highlight was spending time with the aid workers from Syria. I feel my GAiN campaign brought me closer to them. There were a few familiar faces from my first visit, but I felt a sense of closeness with all of them. They were like family. I am humbled by the tenacity of these aid workers, the silent heroes that the world will never know.
Hearing stories about those who received the Bags of Blessing was like a sequel to my fundraising campaign, following the journey of these bags into the hands of specific recipients. Without this food distribution, these people wouldn’t have had enough to eat.
Returning home this time, I am not just telling stories. I am sharing about the lives of people who now have a special place in my life. Continued support of IDPs in Syria through programs such as the Bags of Blessing program is still very much needed. Most importantly, I hope to cultivate a connection between them and the rest of the world by sharing their personal testimonies gathered during my LIFE team experiences.
Like the song says: “We are the world…We’re all part of God’s great big family…we’ll make a brighter day…Just you and me.”
Whether it is getting to know the refugees in our neighbourhood or joining GAiN’s LIFE team in Lebanon and meeting them locally, the encounter is life-changing. They will no longer be just news stories but personal acquaintances, and for me, like family!
DO YOU WANT TO GO ON A LIFE TEAM TRIP? SEE OUR UPCOMING TRIPS HERE.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BAGS OF BLESSING PROGRAM HERE.
Sometimes we can be so focused on the end goal that we don’t appreciate the journey. While we work hard at the office to raise funds and awareness for our projects all over the world, we can sometimes take for granted the process that it takes to get from beginning to end.
Earlier this month (May), we joined the Fraser Valley Gleaners, our local partners in Abbotsford, to pack a container shipment of soup mix and apple snacks for Jesus Responde, our partner in Paraguay.
This year, our annual shipment contained 864 boxes of soup mix, for a total of 1,036,800 servings and 96 boxes of apples for a total of 46,080 servings!
Once the container reaches Jesus Responde, the food will be served at one of the 381* active wholistic community centres (previously called nutrition centres) throughout Asuncion, Paraguay, where approximately 22,179* children receive nutritious meals each week!
To connect the dots between Abbotsford and Asuncion, we highlighted the one-and-a-half month journey that the shipment takes from the warehouse of our faithful partners the Fraser Valley Gleaners to the Jesus Responde warehouse in Asuncion.
We never want to take the journey for granted. We are so grateful every time a shipment arrives intact because we know that impoverished children all over Paraguay have the opportunity to be fed nutritious meals every week!
*As of March 2018
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In the past seven years since the Syrian Crisis started, news of the ongoing war has been unavoidable. Uncertainty seems to be the only constant for refugees and yet, there is still a strong spirit of hope – participants on our most recent LIFE Team to Lebanon learned.
For two weeks in May, seven compassionate people joined Global Aid Network on a LIFE Team impact trip to Lebanon. The purpose of the trip was to get a better understanding of the crisis happening in Syria while serving alongside our partner in Beirut, Lebanon, to help bring hope and encouragement to refugees.
The team showed up, ready to serve with the opportunity to be present in the following ways:
1) To encourage our Syrian partners
Our team met with some leaders from our partner organization in Syria, who travelled from Damascus to Beirut for a short one-and-a-half day retreat. We had the chance to hear directly from our Syrian partner’s staff who shared their own harrowing stories of war, displacement and loss.
The volunteers, who faithfully distribute Bags of Blessing (food and household items) to people who have been forced from their homes, were an inspiration and encouragement to our team. Their steadfast determination to stay in a war zone to provide aid to those in need is a strong testament to their faith.
“At times, the personal stories were so heartbreaking that many tears flow[ed] in the room,” shared Lily Kwok, LIFE Team Manager. “The team ministered to the Syrian leaders through their listening ears, words of encouragement, many prayers and hugs and simply being present. Despite the tears and obvious pain, we were so encouraged by the leader’s joy, faith and trust in the Lord.”
The meeting was mutually encouraging to both the Syrian staff and the LIFE Team. Our Syrian partners found the session therapeutic, while our team members gained an eye-opening and humbling glimpse into what life has been like in Syria for the past seven years.
“It has made me more aware of the impact of war on the citizens of the country of Syria,” said one participant. “The hurt and pain of losses but the opportunities it gives to show the love of Jesus.”
Another LIFE Team member said: “I have been challenged by the group of heroes in the faith from Syria. They care about their community so much to risk their own lives.”
2) Spend time with refugee children
With our Lebanese partner, the team was able to serve at a “makeshift” school for over 40 refugee children who are unable to attend a Lebanese school for various reasons. The children were either behind academically (due to the war and displacement causing a gap in their schooling), lacked the required legal status, or simply could not afford the minimal fees required to attend a school.
Despite the lack of obligation for these children to attend this unofficial school, the kids show up early, enthusiastic and ready to learn.
“It’s a testimony of love and care the kids receive from the church that keeps them coming back,” Kwok observed.
Team members that worked with the kids were able to help them with crafts, math games and chapel services, providing some temporary relief for the underpaid but passionate teachers.
3) Visit refugee families
After school, participants were able to be a light to the community by visiting the homes of refugee families (some were families of children who attend the school).
“During these visits we were able to hear stories of their plight from Syria, often filled with some traumatic experiences,” Kwok explained.
They also visited a squatter refugee camp (not run by the UN) in the Bekaa Valley. Working with the local hosts, the team was able to meet with a family of eight (parents and six kids) who had been at the camp for two years. There, they saw the reality of conditions that refugees in camps have to live in.
“Often there are no words when faced with such circumstances, but we also know that God is at work here through this team who are committed long-term,” said Kwok.
4) Lend a hand
Team members also had the chance to serve through manual labour at our partner’s used clothing store. The store sells items at a discounted price for refugees in need. By spending their time cleaning up the storefront and adding a fresh coat of paint, the store was transformed to be more welcoming and organized.
At the same time, other team members were able help our Lebanese partner prepare meals for refugee kids and seniors in the community. Help in the kitchen provided an “answer to prayer” for the staff who work tirelessly.
With open and compassionate hearts, the LIFE Team group was able to serve the community in different ways. Their willingness to be available and present meant that they were able to be used in whatever capacity was needed.
One LIFE Team participant said: “What I have experienced the most in short-term teams like this is that it’s about being able to build relationships, taking time to stop, spend time with people and not just “do.’… Maintaining relationships can be such an encouragement to the people here. To know that they have prayer partners all over the world is just as important as the practical things that are needed in getting a job done.”