My Experience
December 2011 to Present: Director of Community Relations
May 2001 to December 2010: Director of Outreach Ministries
Christ Fellowship, Leo Abdella has developed numerous local, national and international projects and events. In doing so, he has created a model for building bridges between churches, relief agencies and government entities as close as inner-city West Palm Beach and as far away as Peru and India.
He calls the concept “marketplace ministry,” meaning that Christ Fellowship/Outreach Ministries tries to aid people wherever they are in their life journey, and by doing so draws them close to a God who wants a personal relationship with each of His children – showing them Christ’s love, not merely telling them about it.
Beyond relying on existing ministries and organizations, under Leo Abdella’s guidance, Christ Fellowship/Outreach Ministries has developed a number of new initiatives including:
- Places of Hope International
- Impact Leadership Network
- Homeland Compassion
- Healthcare Advocates
- Project-oriented Mission Trips
- National and International Relief
Locally, Leo Abdella has overseen numerous annual events that marshal the efforts of the faith community to enrich the community at large, including:
- The Back to Supplies School Drive – Helps to provided some 7,000 children in need with the necessary supplies to prosper in school.
- Thanksgiving Feast – Provides good, healthy turkey dinners to some 80,000 individuals in need across five counties.
- Christmas Toy Drive – Ensures that thousands of underprivileged children are able to share in the joy of the season.
“Our volunteers are using their life-skills and experiences to demonstrate the love and compassion of our loving God. They’re meeting people at their point of need.”
September 2003 to Present: Leo Abdella, President, Managing Director
Places of Hope International is a non-profit fund development organization that supports and assists abandoned and abused children around the world by helping to provide a stable, loving home, education, healthcare and three meals a day. It gives such children a chance to live in a place of love and provision where they can know God.
“We use a holistic approach that not only feeds their stomachs, but feeds their hearts, minds and spirits as well,” says Leo Abdella.
P.O.H.I. partners with homes in Peru, Brazil, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia, India and Romania.
Support is raised through child and project sponsorships, vision trips and the generosity of donors who care about impacting these children’s lives.
“Those children are the next generation leaders of those countries. If we invest in those children now, we can change countries in the future,” says Leo Abdella. “So, with Places of Hope International, we say, take a look at how you can invest in the future of a nation.
September 2001 to December 2010: Leo Abdella, Board of Directors
India Gospel League has a 150-year history of bringing the Good News of the gospel to some of the most remote and impoverished regions of India while helping to provide for some of the most basic needs of those touched by the message. Because of this century-and-half history of commitment, Places of Hope International and Christ Fellowship Church is proud to partner with IGL.
“I’ve been involved with the India Gospel League for nearly ten years and its solid like a rock,” says Leo Abdella. “The India Gospel League is a perfect model. They just get it. I wish we as the church, across the world, could show God’s message the way they do.”
Through child sponsorships, IGL’s goal is to provide for 20,000 children by 2020.
At the same time, IGL is planting “Life Centers” that help impoverished individuals find food, clothing, healthcare, education and economic opportunities. IGL also is involved in evangelism, discipleship, church planting and agricultural assistance.
“IGL representatives goes into a village and show that this God who loves people so much will send people, send resources and send tools to change the way they live,” says Leo Abdella. “They’ll teach them about farming and agriculture, and help bring in economic development and medical resources. If they don’t know how to grow grass to feed a cow, they’ll show them how to do that and help them get a cow and, perhaps, create a milk co-op with other families.”
“That may not sound like much in the United States, but in India that’s a holistic approach that can’t help but change lives.”
August 2001 to December 2010: Leo Abdella, Board of Directors, Secretary, Vice Chair and Chair
Urban Youth Impact is a non-profit outreach to inner-city youth and their families in West Palm Beach. However, the model being generated within one of the toughest neighborhoods in South Florida, and thus the United States, is one we hope will be replicated elsewhere.
U.Y.I.’s many programs include:
- Impact Works/Impact Coffee
- The Leadership Academy
- Family Empowerment Program
- Community Outreach
- Summer Youth Work Program
- Discipleship Groups, Bible Studies
These programs are used to reach out to the youth, combat the problems of poverty, breakdown of the family and substance abuse, and to bring them into a loving, Christ-centered environment.
“You can tell them a thousand times you’ll end up dead or in the gutter if you’re out there doing dope or selling it. They’ll never hear you,” says Leo Abdella. “But now you’ve got kids taking care of their siblings because momma’s dead of an overdose and daddy’s in prison. When they see that, we don’t have to teach them. They’re smart enough to want out of that cycle. They just need someone to be loved, equipped and empowered.”
“Urban Youth Impact’s mission is to develop young leaders, and they’re doing that through the Leadership Academy. They are developing kids and showing them that they have purpose in life.”
The “Dream Center,” a 32,000-square-foot building in downtown West Palm Beach, serves as the UYI’s physical hub, activity center and a safe haven in the community.
November 2008 to December 2010: Leo Abdella,
Faith*Hope*Love Charity, Inc. Stand Down House, First Stop Resource Center
Stand Down House assists veterans, active duty members, & their families in various ways, including through supportive services, financial assistance, housing, life skills education, community outreach, and mental health services for combat and non-combat related issues. Although located in Florida, they do their best to provide assistance to those in need wherever they live or are stationed.
Although Stand Down House’s resources are small compared to the need, they do great work. Recently they were recognized as part of CNN’s Heroes series and on the floor of the US House of Representatives.
Homeland Compassion was a Web-based crisis response volunteer network that partners with the faith-based community and emergency management personnel. Working with America’s churches, Homeland Compassion was geared to having in place volunteers and resources before a crisis hits so that they could be mobilized in a matter of hours.
“When there’s a crisis, the faith-based community is on the front lines. They’re usually first in and last out,” says Leo Abdella. “However, they are generally working independently of an organized structure and not leveraging the public resources.”
Born out of Hurricane Andrew’s devastation of South Florida in 1992, Homeland Compassion was an organization dedicated to supporting people and communities in times of crisis.
Homeland Compassion, which began as a Christ Fellowship initiative, spread internationally in 1999 to the war-ravaged former Yugoslavia during the Kosovo Conflict. Since then, Founder and CEO Leo Abdella has led numerous hurricane relief teams and served amid the ruins of New York’s World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks.
“This is another example of a ‘marketplace’ or a ‘point-of-need’ ministry that places faith, compassion and skill at the intersection of real need. When that occurs, amazingly transformational things can happen.” Through the efforts of the project it was determined that resources would be stronger leveraged by expanding relationships with local emergency management operations. Operations have ceased. The leadership lesson learned that there is less efficiency in duplication.
