At our Pastors Conference in November, Doug Hayes gave a brief update on how one church is carrying out Scripture’s commands to care for the poor, in a way that keeps the gospel of Christ central.

In 2002, Covenant Fellowship Church, where Doug is a pastor, established an organization called Covenant Mercies. Their goal was two fold: meet practical needs and preach the gospel to the needy. Today, with Doug as director, Covenant Mercies operates an orphan sponsorship program that provides care for about 950 children in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia, through partnerships with local churches in those countries.

In this 10-minute update, Doug outlines how Covenant Mercies provides gospel-centered, local-church-based orphan care amid the HIV/AIDS epidemic in eastern Africa.

(RSS readers, you may need to click through to the post to watch the video.)

For more about Covenant Life Church Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian church Doug references, watch this 8-minute film produced in 2008.

Doug’s update followed Kevin DeYoung’s excellent message “Rethinking the Mission of the Church.” Read a brief excerpt at C.J. Mahaney’s blog, or listen/download here.

Photo, top right: Doug Hayes with Hanna, whose story he tells in the video above. From Covenant Fellowship Church's blog.