The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International has been saving gorillas, primarily in Rwanda, for more than 50 years. But it takes more than removing snares, protecting habitat, and conducting good conservation science to save an endangered species from extinction.
DFGFI understood that helping people is a key part of saving gorillas, so they built clinics and they built schools. They employed people. They created economic impact projects. They showed the people who lived where the gorillas live that they care about them, not just the apes.
The result was that people began to trust DFGFI, and they understood that their long-term well-being was tied to that of the gorillas.
In Acts 5:12-16, we see that our impact on others comes from the combination of what they hear us saying we believe in and what they see us doing. We can't influence others with our words and philosophies alone, but we also can't change people without explaining why we behave the way we do. It takes both action and understanding to create real change.