When we are invited into a new area to teach the TCT program, we try to identify the key lies that hold communities in poverty. For one reason or another, one of the lies that we often find is that “God only cares about spiritual matters.” This lie along with the belief that they cannot do anything for themselves, can bring great harm to communities. Through the TCT program we are trying to combat lies like these and demonstrate that God has created us as an interconnected whole. We were created to love others and help them not only spiritually, but physically and emotionally as well. Here is just one example of how this integration of physical and spiritual has played out in a TCT community.

Grace Community Church was in poor condition with many believers who were in need, hungry and sick. the environment was unhygienic; the roads were full of garbage. Although the local government called for hygienic living many times there was no positive response from the villagers and conditions got worse and worse.

Upon hearing about the TCT Program, the Pastor arranged a class for the believers in his church. Through this program, God encouraged them to plan an act of love. The church members saw the smelly, polluted conditions in their community and decided to do something about it. The Pastor, the deacons and the staff in the church decided to implement a hygiene project in the village. They mobilized 40 people to work one day. The first thing they did was dredge the sewage pipes and ditches along the road. Also, two Christian families used their tractors to move garbage to a designated dumping area away from the residential area.

While the Church members were working, there were some people who came and joined saying, “We also want to make the road clean and have no bad odour any more.” Everyone worked together eagerly and enthusiastically.

Then, the government came to give thanks to the Church for what the Church had done – cleaning the village road. It was what the government had tried to do many times but without success.

The women in the village came to be acquainted with the women in the Church and wanted to learn more about the reason why the Church took care of the community like that. This encouraged the Church so much because they had just done a little thing, but the result from it was so great and they wished to do more and more projects like that. Through this project, the name of God is glorified and the Church has had a good relationship with the community.