the history of LEAD

In 1994 members from The Lighthouse A Christian Church in Vancouver, Washington, assisted World Wide Harvest Ministries Intl. in teaching new Christians about the faith, and to train pastors in Guinea-Bissau. Pastor Mike Blondino came back from that trip touched by the poverty, lack of clean water, poor infrastructure, and the dire public health conditions. He began to ask God how one man could help. After reporting the conditions to the church, he began researching how someone in the US could make positive changes in West Africa.

At that time information about Guinea-Bissau on the Internet or in books was scarce to say the least. Very few people in the West had heard of Guinea-Bissau, and even fewer had any interest in helping make changes there. Virtually all Christian work had been accomplished by the World Evangelistic Crusade (WEC) Mission.

Through the difficult communications infrastructure and relentless attempts at faxes and costly phone calls, he managed to establish contact with the WEC Staff and national pastors he had met on his first trip. Networking began. Each communication ended with more questions. Mike realized he had to return to Bissau in order to understand first hand exactly what was happening in the country, and how to make a difference. In 1995 he returned and researched general information with the assistance of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Ministry of Public Health, and the National Council of the Evangelical Church of Guinea-Bissau. Youth With A Mission out of Brazil (JoCUM) had a small educational and dentistry mission in the eastern city of Gabu, and World Vision had done a single food grain drop in early 1990s. Wycliff had been in Guinea-Bissau in the 1980s but had since departed. Beyond that all development work was being done through European entities, China, Cuba, and the UN. The US involvement in development came primarily through TIPS. The US's focus was largely upon the legal system, and understandably so.

Even with the work being done living conditions in Guinea-Bissau were unfathomable by western standards. There was no working X-ray in the country, in some wards four people to a bed in the public hospital in Bissau. Literacy was at only 12% nationally.

Upon Mike's return, it took the church a time to fully embrace his sense of responsibility towards this small country. Few of them including Mike understood how much a small church could do to meet such vast needs. He began making phone calls to humanitarian organizations. None had any plans to work in Guinea-Bissau. A friend and senior staff member of Northwest Medical Teams challenged Mike to initiate this work regardless of the participation of others. His first question was, "If you could accomplish anything, and if money were not a problem, what would you do?" Mike took the challenge and said, "I would help change a nation."

As the saying goes, Mike had to decide to "lead, follow, or get out of the way." He opted to lead, and that became the name and spirit of LEAD International. In 1995, LEAD International Ministry Network became a nonprofit corporation and was recognized by the IRS as a tax-exempt 509(a)1 entity. This process was undertaken to help LEAD obtain government and private grants for which churches could not apply.

Over the years the congregation at The Lighthouse became increasingly involved in funding shipments and local projects, and sending teams to help their friends in Guinea-Bissau. LEAD became an acronym for an unwieldy group of important associated words: Lighthouse Evangelism Advocacy, and Discipleship. Few ever connected those elements with who or what LEAD had done.

Today, while The Lighthouse remains highly committed to helping Guinea-Bissau, LEAD has become an entity in itself. The acronym is gone, but the work continues. From 1995 until today, LEAD has brought medical teams, shipments of food and medical supplies, crossed battle lines, and trained leaders. We've provided water and power, funding and research. LEAD supported developing new paradigms in how nationals reach their own people. In that process, the people who went to Bissau to help, were equally touched, and equally influenced by the enterprising spirit of the Christians in Guinea-Bissau.

LEAD International exists because of the vital leadership of Jesus Christ in all LEAD efforts. He not only started this work, but also continues to orchestrate and direct all LEAD is involved in. We have accepted a responsibility from Him to help the poor to help themselves. Only He could have provided miracles, and arranged the divine appointments that have become a trademark of God's fingerprints on each and every phase of our work. Clearly evident divine appointments and interventions are almost a daily part of our work in Guinea-Bissau.

LEAD is no longer solely the work of Mike Blondino. It is a broad, multi-ethnic, multinational effort to impact people's lives. Today LEAD International has arguably the most reputable board of directors in the nation of Guinea-Bissau. This body is made up of roughly 20 pastors, lawyers, financiers, and men of stellar rapport; all Guinean, and all highly committed to help the nation. LEAD International is the only formal partner of the National Farmer's Association. LEAD is uniquely authorized to represent the nation of Guinea-Bissau by the highest level of the government, by the National Council of the Evangelical Church of Guinea-Bissau, and by the National Commission on Cashew Development, and the Secretary of Commerce of Guinea-Bissau. Everything we do is collaborative, and initiated by nationals who want to help their nation, and their neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ.