Contact: Jon Hirst, The Well, 719-362-5235, jhirst@dotheword.org

ORANGE COUNTY, Calif., Oct. 20 /Christian Newswire/ -- Recently Ghana was chosen as the winner of an online contest for an initiative proposed to help the country's subsistent farmers. Ghanaian house church partner Ken Eastburn believes the announcement comes as the result of a shifting paradigm within social justice, "Our work with the Ghanaian house church movement is one example of a larger trend--the old ways of doing for others what they cannot do for themselves are over."

Africa Rural Connect (ARC) hosted the contest and is a global online collaborative effort through the National Peace Corps that asks people from every background for their best idea on the challenges facing rural Africa. Their intention is to create and enhance project plans that could have a real-life impact in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to their website. In August, ARC started giving away up to $3,000 every month to each of the top three ideas as voted on by the online community. This will culminate in a chance to win the $20,000 grand prize to be announced in December.

"The idea behind ARC is phenomenal," commented Eastburn, "It is the difference between giving the people of Africa a fish and teaching them how to fish. Every social justice initiative should include such collaborative efforts and that's exactly what we've tried to do with the house churches in Ghana. They want to be self-sufficient as a simple church movement, and we're helping them to accomplish that."

Eastburn is a leader with The Well, a house-church network based in Orange County. The Well began a relationship with the house church movement in Ghana in 2007 with the goal of equipping local believers to be salt and light in their communities. In addition to offering financial resources, The Well also provides training, transportation, and tools such as grinders which are used in agricultural and business ventures.

"Collaboration is a powerful thing. When we first started partnering with the Ghanaian church, we thought we were going to be teaching them how to fish. As it turns out, we had a lot to learn about fishing as well," says Eastburn, "Currently they have planted upwards of 50 simple churches and they are working towards 200 in the next few years. Because of our partnership, we are gaining a new perspective on how to address needs in our own community."

The Well hosts 10-15 members on a weekly basis at each of its five locations, including some individuals who also continue to participate in traditional church settings. Eastburn and other members post their experiences on a blog maintained by the church, www.leavethebuildingblog.com, for the purpose of interacting with individuals from traditional and house church backgrounds.