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Gratitude and rice and beans

By on May 24, 2013 in Sponsor Impact

My wife Jennica and I are writing a week-long series about teaching kids about gratitude and giving. During the week, we’ll have a number of lessons, activities and recipes to share. In 1999, I was blessed with an opportunity to visit Haiti and serve at an orphanage. We have a special affinity for the country and [...]

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Guyo plants flowers at the church compound. He is pictured here with FH staff member Mary.

How a child used gardening to serve his community

By on May 21, 2013 in Sponsor Impact, Stories, World Poverty

When God created us, He gave us the freedom and ability to rule over everything else he created — plants, land, animals and organisms. But I have heard people interpret this blessing a variety of ways. Does it mean His creation is at our disposal, to use as we please? Or is it a call to care for living things and steward our natural resources well?

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Ethiopian mother with young son

Making Mom happy

By on May 14, 2013 in Sponsor Impact, World Poverty

What does it take to make Mom happy?  I’ve visited nearly 20 countries in the 17 years I’ve worked with Food for the Hungry (FH), and it seems all mothers want the same things. They want their children to be healthy and happy. They yearn for their kids to finish school. If you probe deeper, [...]

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Tim Smith with FH Sponsored Children in Guatemala

When the light comes on

By on May 10, 2013 in Church, Sponsor Impact, World Poverty

As I am writing this blog, I am on a trans atlantic flight to London. This weekend at Food for the Hungry (FH), we are launching a new endeavor with the Pentecost Festival as the  lead sponsor for this event. The Pentecost Festival is a gathering each year in London to celebrate the birthday of [...]

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Julio’s story: Starting a new child sponsorship

By on May 7, 2013 in Church, Sponsor Impact, Stories, World Poverty

My guest blogger today is Ryan Horn, a Food for the Hungry employee and child sponsor. Ryan shares what it was like to get news that his sponsored child had graduated…and then how he began another sponsorship with a different child…all of it happening right in Gautemala. A couple of years ago, I took a [...]

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Grieving the seamstresses we never knew

By on May 2, 2013 in Sponsor Impact, Stories, Women of Action, World Poverty

Earlier this week, the Her.meneutics blog at Christianity Today invited me to write about shopping. The conversation came out of a terrible tragedy that occurred last week in Bangladesh. An eight-story garment factory building crumbled, killing at least 300 workers and injuring over 1,000 more. On Wednesday afternoon, my friend Eileen called to tell me [...]

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Karla holding her graduation keepsake

Sponsored child writes inspiring letter to sponsor

By on April 23, 2013 in Sponsor Impact, Stories, World Poverty

Graduation season is nearly here! It’s time for so many of us to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments of ourselves or our loved ones, as one chapter closes and another begins. I fondly remember graduating high school six years ago. I began to excitedly prepare for my big move to the university two hours from [...]

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Men installing solar panel on school roof

Let there be [solar] light

By on April 17, 2013 in Church, Sponsor Impact

I never, ever thought to thank God for a light bulb. But for some students in Food for the Hungry’s Burundi program, a simple solar-powered light fixture is their key to a brighter future. Gerard is a sixth-grader in Mufumya, a small town in Burundi. Sundown comes before 6:30 p.m. on any day of the [...]

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She couldn’t hear her mother’s voice

By on April 10, 2013 in Sponsor Impact, Women of Action

She was a frail, young woman who was 22 when I met her. I can’t imagine how her small frame could possibly have given birth at the age of 12. Her story changed me for life.

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Water+soap+hands=alive

By on April 2, 2013 in Sponsor Impact

I could see  a group of mothers and their children standing outside the gate of the turquoise-colored school building, still half-shrouded in the morning mist. The kids were so small and scared – especially terrified of the tall white lady (me) with the camera. It was hard to imagine them starting kindergarten, because they were so [...]

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