culture

Meet an Agency: Lahash

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We heart this new, ongoing series–a virtual trip to the coffee shop with organizations to help you go there, serve Him, and love them even better. (For more thoughts about why you might join an agency–and a handful of reasons you might not–make sure to check out He Said/She Said/You Say? “Should I go overseas with an organization?”, both the pros and the cons.)

Today, we’re grabbing a lavender latte with Lahash.

Tell us what your organization specializes in. What are you passionate about?

Lahash is a child sponsorship organization with headquarters in Portland, Oregon.

Our vision is that all children in Africa know Jesus and are loved by a flourishing global church. We are passionate about seeing children in East Africa cared for holistically. We do all of our work in partnership with local ministry partners. Our local Christian partners provide these kids with educational support, counseling, mentoring, clothing, nutritional support and share with them of the love and good news of Jesus.

How long have you been around? How large is your organization? What reach does your organization have globally?

Lahash was started thirteen years ago by Dan Holcomb. He saw a need for holistic care of children in East Africa. We have five different partnerships. Three of our partnerships are located in Tanzania, one in Rwanda, and one in Kenya. We currently are serving 450 kids across East Africa.

Lahash is a small but mighty team of ten employees: seven that work in the Portland office and three that work and live in Kenya.

Tell us one story that excites you from what God is doing through your organization?

Sure! One of the youth in our program was a young woman named Golda. She was an orphaned child from South Sudan and was in great need.

Through Lahash’s work with our partner ministry, she was able to grow up, receive mentoring and support, attend a great school, and eventually attend higher education.

God transformed this very vulnerable life into a powerful ministry leader in the region. Currently Golda has a job with a ministry in South Sudan where she cares for “the least of these” in her home nation.

These stories completely energize our team! We love seeing God use our efforts to transform lives and allow these special kids to grow up to become a blessing to their local community. We love seeing God heal and restore broken people and provide a new heart and new beginning in life.

5 words to describe your organizational culture. Go.

Christ-centered
Team
Supportive
Driven
Accepting

What is distinctive about your organization?

We are unique because we have staff here in the United States and also in Africa. We also holistically care for the children in our program as in we give them education, food and the love of Jesus.

We also take the month of March and dedicate that as Rice and Beans month. We simplify our diets in order to experience what the children in our partnerships face every day. And then we use the extra money that we have saved and send it overseas to our partners.

Let’s talk Brass tacks. Give us the 411 on your application process and training?

We have a number of short and long-term roles where individuals can join the team and help the local church in East Africa grow and thrive as they care for vulnerable kids.

You can apply to Lahash by emailing info@lahash.org. Before any international travel and service takes place, training is done at our home office in Portland, Oregon to ensure that individuals are trained with language, cultural customs, spiritual realities, political sensitivities, and and understanding of dress and food realities.

Our goal is that these international partnerships and connections are beneficial to both the local church as well as the international partners.

What kind of global workers are you looking for? Paint us a picture.

We are looking for individuals who are passionate about engaging the least of these. We are looking for people who have a heart for the Lord and a heart for service.

We want people who are humble, listeners, learners, sensitive, and teachable. We desire that our team members ask hard questions but do not get mired in the cynicism of the day, instead looking up with joy and hope at the challenges ahead.

We desire team members who are passionate about both the Great Commission (evangelism and discipleship) as well as the Great Commandment (loving God and loving neighbors). We desire team members who are people who are passionate about both the King (Jesus) and the Kingdom (God’s rule where shalom and justice are complete).

Tell us anything we missed.

Our team has a strong background in storytelling and media creation. We love crafting beautiful stories of what God is doing around the world and sharing those stories with others. We desire that these stories, images, and videos to be dignifying to the local church and to our friends that we serve. Have a particular interest and skill set in the creative arts? Check out our website and see if you’d like to join our team and help out our media department.

What advice would you give to someone who is looking in an overseas direction?

Pray. Make sure that your heart lines up with God’s, and that this is where he wants you to be. Surrender your desires to God and it’s in that place of surrender where you will experience true union with Jesus.

Interested in joining Lahash? Email them at info@lahash.Org

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Go. Serve. Love

After seven years on staff with Cru, Janel and her husband packed up their family of six to--yup, Go. Serve. Love in Uganda with Engineering Ministries International (EMI). EMI focuses on poverty relief and development, providing structural design and construction management for Christian organizations in the developing world. After 5.5 years there in East Africa, Janel and her family recently schlepped back to the U.S., where they keep working on behalf of the poor. She writes and loves on her family from Colorado. You can find more of her ideas for practical spirituality and loving each other at AGenerousGrace.com.