The Power of One Life and Legacy By Tami Heim

The Legacy of One Echoes Through Time

In my role at Christian Leadership Alliance, I recounted how one man, Ted Engstrom, believed that Christian nonprofit leaders have a call to a higher standard and that when we work together, we find strength in unity. Consequently, he was inspired to invite others to make it happen. On March 20, 1976, 20 Christian leaders assembled for the inaugural meeting that would one day become the Christian Management Association. During that first gathering, each participant shared their best practices, and that glorious exchange has continued to mark the next 49 years.

In 2008, the Christian Managment Association joined forces with the Christian Steward Association to emerge as one movement called Christian Leadership Alliance. Because of that union, over 11 million Christian nonprofit leaders have developed mission-critical competency and cultivated Christ-like character.

A Story of One More

I met Raj at my first Outcomes Conference in 2012. He came from India with a grand dream of establishing churches. When I met him that year, he shared that God had called him to plant 1,000 churches. I spent time with him throughout the CEO Forum, and by the end, I realized I had made a new friend. I was genuinely excited to be on the journey with him and looked forward to our annual updates.

He attended the following seven Outcomes Conferences and shared his progress report with me each year. By the 2019 Outcomes Conference, Raj had successfully planted 1,776 churches in India! The 2019 report touched me so deeply that I asked him to sit in front of a camera and share his story. He took the seat without warning or preparation and spoke straight from the heart. I had no idea how God would use his story to change my life profoundly.

The Difference One Year Makes

One year later, God used Raj’s story through that one video to affirm the Alliance’s call to launch the Outcomes Conference Global Digital Experience. During that event, Raj broadcasted four live leadership sessions from India for his pastors and leaders worldwide. He worked tirelessly amid a global pandemic to ensure his community of pastors could experience the same training that had significantly impacted his effectiveness as a Christian leader. In that one experience, those leaders had access to all the training it took Raj years to acquire. And I had the enormous blessing of seeing each one of their faces. The theme of that conference was TRANFORM. Witnessing that event transformed me.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Romans 12:1-2, NIV

Writing the Story for 2025

Thanks to the generosity of many, the Alliance community has been blessed to equip over 10,500 leaders from more than 100 countries outside of North America since that first digital experience in March 2020. Now, we are preparing for how God will write the story of 2025. Our theme this year is SEEK FIRST. And we find ourselves standing on a glorious promise.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13, NIV

God’s vision exceeded Raj’s imagination. And as we seek him first, we know he will do it again. With the launch of the Outcomes Conference Global Digital Experience 2025, we desire to provide scholarship funds to support 2,500 global leaders on a 10-month learning journey.

Every $50 contribution offers a scholarship for one global leader.

On this Alliance Day of Giving, we celebrate the power of one and legacy. We trust in God’s perfect plan and know that immeasurably more is possible. And we rejoice in the outcome because we know it belongs to him.

Today, I invite you to partner with us and be part of the story of 2025. Perhaps what you will do today for one person may be part of your legacy that echoes through time.

PARTNER WITH US