IMPACTING AIDS IN AFRICA
My name is Brice Futch I am 18 years old and a senior in High School, last summer I had the opportunity to attend SLU 101, 201, and 301 with Lakeland Christian School. By 301 you expect to have seen and heard the best of what SLU has to offer however they continue to absolutely blow you away. The leadership principles that you learn throughout the program are applicable to your everyday life and believe me if you apply them they will change your life, as they have changed mine.
When I attended SLU 201 in the summer of 2009 Justin Miller, a SLU Graduate, gave his testimony about how he started the organization CARE for AIDS (CFA). CARE for AIDS exists to engage American Christians to partner with African churches to transform and empower the HIV-Infected men and women both physically and spiritually (CARE for AIDS). This was an idea that I had never heard before. I thought finally someone has set up a system that is truly Christ like, caring not only for the physical but also for the spiritual.
Brent Crowe challenged all of us in the room to take the idea of CFA back to our youth groups and to get involved. Thats when I had the idea to bring CFA to my school in the form of a club. I was able to meet with Justin Miller after he gave his testimony and he informed me that it takes a total of $18,000 to sponsor a center for a full year. This seemed to be a daunting task for me but think about it thats the same as finding 30 businesses, churches or individuals who are willing to give $50 a month.
I would like to say that because a friend and I applied what we learned at SLU the club was a great success and it was a walk in the park but that would be a lie. We applied what we learned, but our success lies solely in the Lord. God brought in $13,000 dollars in our first year through car washes, dodge ball tournaments, a dinner, and individual donations and the like.
You may be thinking to yourself $13,000 dollars thats $5,000 short of what you needed, how could you possibly call this a success? Well look at it this way even though we had to rely on CFA to fill in the gaps for us we still had a direct impact on 73 not being helped. We had 7 HIV-negative babies born in our center and 35 people enter a relationship with Christ. Without SLU I would not have had the privilege to lead a team that changes lives on the other side of the globe.
Here are 4 thoughts about Brices story and the lives of great leaders:
- A Compelling Vision is Contagious. Learn to paint the future so people not only hear your vision but see it.
- Understand the Times. Read and study about different cultures and nations. You must know how to change the direction of a nation before you do so.
- Capture the Future: Create the future, do not be a victim of it.
- Do it Now. Putting off until you have more time, more resources, and more people will never translate into influence
Learn more about CARE for AIDS http://www.careforaids.org/