What We Care About

First and foremost, people! Whilst we might talk about programmes or projects our focus is always people and how we can make a positive difference in their lives, and, as a consequence society as a whole.

How we do this varies depending on the local situation at any given time. We can perhaps best explain some of our activities as they relate to our name:

International

we are truly international in terms of our team and those who benefit from our work.

Development

we seek to develop people both as individuals but also as they gather in community.

Agents of positive change

we seek to be the embodiment of the definition of the word, agents: “an action or intervention producing a particular effect”.

training

many of our activities are aimed at developing knowledge, skills, personal awareness or a combination of all three. However, we also believe in the importance of caring for those who may be considered students or delegates at one of our seminars practically, emotionally and spiritually.

relief

on occasions immediate practical help is needed either on an individual basis or community wide. This may be because of an unforeseen economic need, or in response to natural disasters. In such situations our response is always administered through local, official agencies.

advocacy

we seek to ensure that people, particularly those who are most vulnerable in society, are able to have their voices heard on issues that are important to them along with being able to defend and safeguard their rights.

networking

the strength of any organisation is its ability to partner with others. This is something we believe in passionately. We don’t want to duplicate what others are doing thus wasting time and resources. Sometimes we can simply come alongside and help practically, other times our projects are a combined effort.

skills for life

life skills are behaviours that enable individuals to adapt and deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. There are many such skills, but we like how the World Health Organisation define life skills: Self-awareness; Empathy; Critical thinking; Creative thinking; Decision making; Problem solving; Effective communication; Interpersonal relationship; Coping with stress and Coping with emotion. One or more of these are encompassed in every activity we undertake.

families

all families face challenges of one sort or another, as well as individual members negotiating the ups and downs related to different stages of development. Many of our activities focus on specific target groups such as young adults and parents, or relevant topics such as singleness or marriage as well as gender specific issues.

organisational strategy

to maximise impact, ensure good stewardship of resources and personnel and ensure our help is appropriate to need, we believe passionately in research, planning, monitoring and evaluation. This means we can guarantee our activities are relevant, cost effective and timely.

resilience

important for a number of reasons, resilience; enables us to develop mechanisms for protection against experiences which could be overwhelming, it helps us to maintain balance in our lives during difficult or stressful periods of time and can also protect us from the development of some mental health difficulties. Our specialists in trauma and counselling seek to offer the help and support required to individuals or families when they are faced with the trials and challenges that life sometimes presents.

mentoring

one of the most effective ways to develop an individual is to invest in their spiritual health, personal growth, and character development in order to reach their fullest potential. Through the relationship mentors and an individual build, the mentor may help develop new skills or knowledge, provide guidance and wisdom for decision-making, or hold their students accountable in the ways they engage with themselves and the world around them.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

(Rom 12:1,2)