Where will we find our niche?

Every successful business fills a void in the economic market. It thrives because it does what others are not doing. Ministries and churches are similar. As I thought about what our niche will be, I thought of all the issues and problems we could address in East St. Louis--education, housing, healthcare, teenage pregancy, absentee fatherhood...the list goes on and on. The dilemma is obvious: Where does one start? Is there a core issue? How do you approach one issue and forsake all others?
It's easy to get wrapped up in all of the issues and not really address any of them. And, it would be easy to think that simply addressing all of the external issues would produce lasting change. But, the reality is that, even if all issues and problems in a society were erased, the people would still be the same. In other words, the real issue is that we are sinful and separated from God, and apart from the restoration of that relationship, anything else is like using a mere band-aid to cover an epidemic.
I have come to this conclusion: We must build leaders for the Kingdom of God. We must build leaders who remain in the city, who reinvest their lives in the next generation, who reproduce themselves, and who reverse the cycles of generational sin. As we build these leaders, we will address many needs, and that attention will be much more effective and lasting as it is coupled with Gospel transformation. Then, through these leaders, we will continue to address the needs of the city--always focusing on the core Need--for generation after generation.