Life Shared International is a non-profit organization committed to advocacy, community development, and intercultural training through authentic partnerships in local communities.
Life Shared International is headquartered in Omaha, NE. We work primarily in Mali, West Africa and Omaha, NE with plans to expand our work to other communities. Our three focus areas are advocacy, community development and intercultural training. All of the founding board members have lived, studied and worked in Omaha, NE and Mali, West Africa – we are tied together through a shared commitment and faith. In Mali we partner with the Evangelical Protestant Church of Mali (EEPM). It is through this partnership that all our ventures in Mali are filtered and approved.
We believe that all people matter. Every person is inherently valuable because we’re all created in the image of God. Therefore we share a fundamental connection to one another.
We believe that culture matters. Valuable similarities and differences exist between people of all cultures. Therefore we share a fundamental need for intercultural competence.
We believe that the quality of daily life matters. People face overwhelming challenges every day. Therefore we share a fundamental responsibility to engage both the practical and systemic realities behind those challenges.
We believe that authentic partnerships matter. While engaging with communities, we acknowledge that there are already people present with whom we can and should partner. These humble, intelligent people, committed to their neighbors and already active in serving others, can be found in every community. In serving alongside these individuals, we seek to both listen and speak, to give and receive.
On behalf of those who through genuine relationship have entrusted their story to us:
· we seek to honor the worth people who are overlooked and marginalized
· we seek to tell people’s stories to a new audience
· we seek to convey knowledge and understanding to individuals with influence and resources for the purpose of enacting change
· we seek to challenge systems that exploit people for selfish gain
· we seek to enter into the challenge, loss, and hope of others as if it’s our very own and invite others to do the same
A high quality of life, both individual and communal, can and should be pursued. Greed and exploitation are not natural or inevitable. Their effects can and should be challenged. We find our hope for change in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Practical evidence of this hope can be seen in the history of communities working selflessly toward wholeness. We desire to relate to communities in this pursuit through…
→ Intentional Relationships
→ Just Access to Resources
→ Reconciliation
→ Empowerment
People are seeking to discover the reality of life around them, where they fit, and how they can contribute meaningfully in their context. Our desire is to facilitate this pursuit through formal education, practical skills training, and daily life experience.
Three key focus areas for LSI are:
→ intercultural training
→ leadership training
→ life training
· leadership
· change agent
· literacy/nutrition etc
· business
· biblical education
We accomplish this through:
→ capital loans, exchanges, seminar training, joint ventures
→ institutional support, curriculum development
Ventures are specific endeavors which result from us relating to those with a desire for a higher quality of life. Our desire to help has resulted in the following categories:
→ Aquaculture
→ Agriculture
→ Small animals & livestock
→ Business development
→ Education
→ Transportation
→ Appropriate Technology
→ The IBR Development Center
Joseph is the President of the Evangelical Church of Mali (EEPM) and a Pastor in Bamako, Mali. Joseph and his wife, Marthe Diallo, and their three children, all just moved to Bamako from Bougouni where Joseph was the director of the Reed Bible Institute since 2006. Joseph graduated with a Bachelors Degree from Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska and his Masters Degree from Calvary Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri. Joseph has served on the International Board of Directors with World Vision for several years.
Marthe is currently the Vice President of the Evangelical Women’s Association in Mali. She taught Bible and health classes at Reed Bible Institute (IBR) for six years and will continue to do so in Bamako. Marthe is a counselor to many women in Mali and works alongside her husband providing marriage counseling to numerous couples. She and her husband, Joseph, have three children, Ibrahim, Emmanuel and Kyria. Her experience and wisdom are great assets to us and to many in Mali.
Stephen owns and operates Viscereality Intercultural Development Corporation. Stephen recently served as the Intercultural Studies Program Director at Grace University for three years. He graduated with his Bachelors degree from Grace University in Omaha, Nebraska and received his Masters Degree in Intercultural Relations from The University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, in conjunction with the Intercultural Communication Institute in Portland, Oregon. Stephen has traveled to Mali numerous times since first going there in 2007. He currently lives in Omaha with his wife and two children.
Nanga is the Agriculture Program Director with the international non-profit Integrated Community Development International (ICDI) working primarily in the Central African Republic. Nanga is also the Food Security and Agricultural Ecology Consultant with the International Food Policy Research Institute. Before working at ICDI, Nanga traveled the world as a sustainable agriculture consultant. Nanga is also the Chief Research Procurement Officer of Kasny Recon, Inc, which operates the business Shea Touch. He graduated with his Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Agronomy at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
Sharon recently worked at an international non-profit based out of Omaha, Nebraska for two years. Sharon graduated from Grace University in Omaha with a Bachelors Degree in Intercultural Studies. She went to Mali for the summer of 2007, and then went back on a global service-learning program in 2009, and returned once again as an Intercultural Studies intern in 2010. Sharon also spent a semester in France between her trips to Mali to study French.
Rebecca works at a local church in Omaha, Nebraska as the office administrator/graphic designer. Rebecca graduated from Grace University in Omaha with her Bachelors Degree in Intercultural Studies. She completed a Global Service-learning Program in Mali in 2009, traveled back in the summer of 2010, and again as an Intercultural Studies Intern with Grace University in 2011.
Mike owns and operates Transformations, Inc. He lives with his wife, Tiffany, and three boys in Omaha, Nebraska. Mike graduated with his Bachelors Degree from Grace University in Omaha and his Masters Degree from Grace Theological Seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana. Mike first traveled to Mali in 1993. He has traveled back to Mali numerous times since 1993, and has traveled all around the globe while working as the Intercultural Studies Program Director at Grace University.
There are two ways to give to Life Shared International. Here’s why:
Make check payable to Life Shared International and send to:
Life Shared International
PO Box 31517
Omaha, NE 68132
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Contact LSI
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402.301.9943
West Africa & Omaha, Nebraska USA