Letter from the Founders

At the Abundant Life Foundation (ALF) we are passionate about helping people help themselves. Too many people live their lives on the sidelines when God needs them fully engaged so they can in turn reach out and help others.  Wherever we find God leading us in our lives, we seek to make a difference by meeting people where they are at, helping them with their physical needs first, and then striving to empower them by helping them overcome the emotional and spiritual barriers holding them back from living life to their fullest potential. By building self worth in individuals, we can effect positive, enduring change in families and communities.

Although ALF started as a small family foundation providing scholarships to Discovery!, we have grown to serve in the following three areas: (1) Discovery! Austin (2) Woodville, Texas and (3) The island of Roatán , Honduras

Discovery! Austin - the individual:  Discovery! Austin is a life-changing program where individuals remove what’s not working in their lives and discover the greatness that lies in themselves and become personally empowered with greater self-worth and purpose. Having volunteered our time and service with this program since 1996, we have seen thousands of lives changed and believe this training is a gift that everyone can benefit from. It is our desire to make it available to all by providing scholarships for those who would not otherwise be able to afford it. David Dachner (Founder and President) and Bob Posey (Vice President) are operators and facilitators of the program and serve monthly, as do many of our board members. For more information on Discovery! Austin, go to: http://www.discovery-austin.org

Woodville, Texas - the community: Our family work has taken us to the oil fields of Southeast Texas and a town called Woodville. While working in the oil industry there, we were passionately motivated to give back to this small, rural town that was not prospering from the new found wealth. Since January of 2006, we have been traveling to Woodville to get to know the people and how they can best be served. It was decided by the people of Woodville to build what is being called a “LIFE” Center to revive the town’s optimism and hope and bring the community together in the manner of an old-fashioned barn-raising.  While this LIFE Center will be a place where everyone from the community can come together to serve and be served, the community has specifically targeted providing an opportunity for the youth to have healthy options for after-school activities to prevent them from getting involved with drugs, alcohol and the temptation of gangs.

Roatán, Honduras – the island: Through the invitation of a friend, we have begun frequenting the island of Roatán off the mainland of Honduras in Central America. The island is roughly 4 by 40 miles with about 70,000 inhabitants. The people live largely in poverty and we have begun working with the Majken Broby Children’s Home on the island that can house up to 25 children from infants up to 18 years of age. We personally frequent the home every 2-3 months and spend our own time and money helping with the basic physical needs of the children as well as the emotional and spiritual support needed. We are also working with the home’s leadership for larger scale projects that will provide the highest benefit to the children and maximize their personal gifts, talents and potential for their future.

There are some important and unique points for our supporters to consider:

• No Salary Compensation: Our officers will never take salary compensation;
• Accountability: We are physically present every 2-3 months in Woodville and Roatán, and monthly for Discovery!;
• Leveraged Donor Funds: We marry our own money with outside donations. A portion of our own funds will be invested in each project.

ALF’s mission, simply stated, is to help people help themselves. When people help themselves to overcome obstacles they are empowered to do much more than they ever dreamed possible, and the world becomes a better place. This is our way of contributing to the excellence of the human spirit.  Your donation helps make this happen.

We encourage contributors to get involved and see the results of their financial donations. Join us in Woodville to meet the people and see the LIFE Center as it is being built; take a vacation or plan a personal mission trip to Roatán and meet the children; attend the Discovery! program and experience first-hand what it can do for you as it has done for so many others.

We hope and pray that being involved in our mission will help empower you to greater levels of giving, inspiration and growth. To keep updated on what we’re doing in each of these ministry areas, please check back frequently and read our blog. This mission is not about us, but all of us working together as a team to make a difference in the world.

Sincerely,

David and Brenda Dachner
December 20, 2008
West Bay, Roatán, Honduras C.A.