Founders Tich and Joan Smith have an inspiring story, of overcoming great adversary, pain, and loss through which a ministry was birthed. In 1997 when Tich asked God for direction, what followed was a ‘download’ of a village with homes for orphaned children, with a mother to love and care for them, a school to educate them, a clinic, vegetable gardens, and in the centre, a church. In 2008, Tich and Joan felt the call of God to start LIV village, which would become the urgently needed residential facility, for orphaned and vulnerable children in South Africa, mostly due to HIV/AIDS.