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Florida Group Reaches Out To Poverty Stricken Nation

Lifespring Community Church Has a Global Vision to Help the Poor

PALM HARBOR, Fla. - September 2, 2004 /Send2Press Newswire/ -- When Paul Heier, a local minister, visited Nicaragua last year, he was stunned to see the immense poverty. He came back and invited the thirty-five people at his church to "help change the world." When several people from his church offered to give up their summer vacations, he knew things were going to work out. He and the other minister from Lifespring Community Church (www.empoweredchurch.com) in Palm Harbor, Al Depoutot, took a group of twenty-one people to Nicaragua near the end of July.

Most of the twenty-one were from Lifespring, but other people joined the group as they began to learn about what was going to be done.

The group worked with impoverished children, gave out food to the hungry, and distributed gifts to hundreds of children in the Northern section of Nicaragua near the city of Chinandega. Lifespring Community Church has a love for helping people.

Last year they provided school supplies for dozens of underprivileged school children in downtown Clearwater. They also went on a missions trip to Panama City, Panama and worked with hundreds of children there.

Although most of the team worked with children, church leaders in Chinandega had asked both ministers to teach classes and sponsor a conference on leadership. The church's two pastors, Paul Heier and Al Depoutot, Jr., are elated at the response of the church and the community.

"Many people went with us and those who didn't go ended up giving so that the others could go," said Heier. Most of Pastor Heier's book on leadership entitled, "Leading Out of Love," was translated into Spanish and was the basis for the leadership conference.

"Hundreds of people received food while, one little girl was given financial assistance to buy hearing aids, and one family got a brand new roof. It doesn't get much better than that!" Heier exclaimed while reflecting on the trip.

The church recently celebrated its second birthday. Although it is currently a small congregation, the church has big dreams and wants to live out Jesus' command to "love your neighbor." They have found many avenues to serve their community by giving out free soft drinks, offering breakfast bags to busy commuters, and delivering snacks to local business people. Some from Lifespring even went recently to help victims of Hurricane Charley.

"It's so fun to 'love your neighbor' because we live in a world where most people don't have many friends. They're surprised when someone just does something nice for them without some sort of hidden agenda," Heier went on to say.

Lifespring Community Church meets at 10:30AM on Sundays upstairs at the Plaza at Lake St. George, located at 3442-C Tampa Road in Palm Harbor. For further information, contact them by phone at (727) 934-6714 or visit their website at www.empoweredchurch.com.

Organization Website: www.empoweredchurch.com
Source of News: Lifespring Community Church

Note: for contact information at the organization mentioned in the above article, visit the "organization website" (if applicable), or view either version of the original news release using the links below. Send2Press cannot provide contact info.



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