New Series of Blog Posts

One of the most rewarding things for me as a leader is when I hear many of you get excited about what we're doing. I've also found that the more details you have, the more excited you become!

A couple of months ago, I mentioned that I have been working on our Strategic Ministry Plan (aka Business Plan). I want to share in bite-sized bits the main points of our plan with you: our calling to the country, the context of Sierra Leone, our vision, mission, values, our two main goals and a few other things along the way.

Worshipping in the village of Kenema

Today is the "executive summary" which gives a good overview of the plan:

            When pastor Chris Chandler asked his wife Lisa to give up her diamond ring to help the war-torn country of Sierra Leone, they had no idea where it would take them or what it would turn into. Over the next decade, God would develop leadership in them through a leadership mentor named Danny Golich and take Chris and Lisa to St. Andrews Scotland so Chris could obtain his Ph.D. in the New Testament. They would also visit Sierra Leone and build an extensive network of both nationals and expatriates engaged in ministry in the country.

            This team of three now has a powerful calling, a unique leadership style, a high degree of theological expertise, and an extensive network. Sierra Leone is an extremely challenging context in which to work. A desperately poor country before its 11 year civil-war, this conflict witnessed some of the most brutal atrocities in recent memory. The country is now devastated in its infrastructure, in dire need of healthcare, battered psychologically, behind in education and lacking in many other areas such as clean water. Through our nonprofit efforts based in Phoenix, AZ, we seek to breathe life into the West African country of Sierra Leone through our commitment to the gospel and our effective leadership philosophy.

            The aim of Leaders 4 Life, as our mission statement says, is “to provide access to the highest quality leadership and expertise in the world in 4 areas: spiritually, physically, socially and intellectually.” We will do this in two primary ways. First, through The Leaders 4 Life Institute we will bring experts from around the world in the fields of leadership, theological education, the medical field, and beyond. This Institute will also create a network of Christian organizations in the country to rally and focus existing efforts. Second, we will create Leaders 4 Life Communities throughout the country. We will work with locals to adopt communities, build a basic infrastructure for them, and then build a 4-fold community consisting of a church, a school, a clinic and an orphanage. Leading these communities will be high caliber leaders alongside nationals. But these expert friends are merely there to help; Sierra Leoneans will eventually lead these communities and continue to receive training from the Institute.

            There is a high degree of risk in a venture of this kind. It is a new concept in a challenging environment. But we are taking every precaution. We approach our work in Sierra Leone cautiously and prepared.  

            We believe that the current state of mission work in Sierra Leone can be much better, and we seek to make drastic improvements. By telling the inspiring story of our calling and telling of the amazing faith of Sierra Leoneans, by training people in our unique leadership style, and through training from the world’s leading experts, we believe we can prevail in Sierra Leone. 

Meeting the Chief with Victor and Tony