Guyo, a boy in Food for the Hungry‘s child sponsorship program, understands it as the latter. And he takes this calling to heart.

Guyo at the church compound with FH staff member Mary.

Guyo and other children in his Kenyan community participate in weekly Bible studies and club activities facilitated by FH staff. Through these studies and activities, the children have been taught that God’s people are responsible for taking care of His creation, and working to improve the environment around them.

The environmental club that Guyo participates in began to wonder what part they could play in nurturing the land where they lived. The children in this club decided to cultivate a vegetable garden together on their school’s campus. The first year, their plants were killed by drought. But this past year, their diligence paid off as they harvested their crops and were able to share with the entire school!

But Guyo still wondered if he could contribute more.

I looked around for something I could give. I saw that my church compound is very bare and I decided to plant flowers to make the compound beautiful.

All on his own, Guyo sought permission from the church leaders, obtained flower seedlings, and planted them in the church compound. He has confidently committed to tending the flowers every day, and has enlisted the help of several friends to ensure that this garden flourishes.

Through the child sponsorship program, Guyo and a multitude of other children are learning to take ownership of their community and land. They are learning about their God-given potential and the value of all His creation. They are learning how to make the most of their resources and improve their surroundings for everyone. By sponsoring a child, you are helping them to discover their own unique gifts and how to honor God with them. Empower a child and their community — sponsor a child.

The post How a child used gardening to serve his community appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

“. . . it will be ready as a generous gift,
not as one grudgingly given.” – 2 Corinthians 9:5, NIV

Dad to daughter -

“. . . and when you do that, it’s obvious that, at that moment, you don’t care about your sister. It says, loud and clear –‘I don’t care what you think! I don’t care how it makes you feel! I’m in charge and we’re going to do it my way!’ –  You don’t actually say that, but that’s what your sister hears.”   (long pause, no response)

So what do you think about that?

“Ok.” (long pause)

“What’s Ok?”

“What you said.”

“What I said sounded nice? You’re glad I think so? What do you think about what I just explained?” . . .

Any parent can finish the next 5 minutes of dialogue. Getting a child to admit she’s in the wrong is often harder than conducting a tooth extraction. You want your child to readily own up to things. “Just admit it, we’ll give you grace and all will be well again” is our parental yearning. We know that if we pressure a forced confession, it’s basically meaningless, so we dance around trying every way we can think of to peel back the selfish nature and get to a true conviction.

How do you parent exuberant giving?

When it comes to the matter of giving and my kids, I face a similar challenge. How can I nurture an exuberant desire to give. I want to lead the horse to water but not make him drink. I want my kids to discover the true joy of non-compulsory, heart-induced giving.

In our parenting, my wife and I find that the breakthrough moments spontaneously generate more often than they result from our planned interaction. We had one of those sweet moments just this week. A month ago our girls went with their aunt to visit the crisis pregnancy ministry where their aunt volunteers. They learned about as much as 9 and 11 year olds could about the traumatic issues surrounding surprise pregnancy, moms in crisis and abortion.

The baby bottle drive

Then, last week, our church announced a drive to fill baby bottles with coins for mother’s day in support of the moms being served at the crisis pregnancy ministry. Afterwards the girls had questions and my wife spent a good deal of time talking through it with them.

Dad found out about it when they went around scrounging up any money they could find. That bottle was going to be filled! They interrupted my work to ask if I had coins in my pockets. They went to their piggy banks. Searched the house high and low for change. They found some stash of their money we didn’t even know about from allowances long, long ago. They were on a mission! The amazing part was how they were actually running, skipping and singing made-up songs about their mission as they scurried through the house. The quality of their giving was extravagant; their mood – exuberant!

My prayer as a dad

It’s been a long time since I had that much joy in giving. It gave me cause to pause – how stale my giving can become! Whether the focus of my giving is my church, the poor that Food for the Hungry walks with, or the little old lady across the street, the One who owns what I’m giving is most honored when it’s extravagantly done, with exuberance. That’s how He gives to me.

This incident with my girls also spurred me to stay on the lookout for those moments when I can naturally expose them to a need and provide a channel for giving at their level of capacity. Then I can ask God’s Spirit to lead them to respond and trust that He will.

Help me Lord to keep feeding their fires of exuberant giving!

The post Exuberant daughters appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

Leocaide training mothers about nutrition.

My guest blogger today is Alex Mwaura, communications specialist for Food for the Hungry reporting on FH’s work in Africa. Alex recently visited Burundi and shares his experience during a care group training where mothers’ learned to care for their infants.

The sound of rain on iron roofing sheets drowned out the voice of care group leader Nyinyireko Leocaide, forcing the women in front of her to crane their necks to catch her words. Leocaide now delivered her message in an even higher pitch.

“If you notice your baby is not too well, take them to the hospital, don’t take them to the traditional healers,” she told the group of 10 mothers, many breast feeding babies.

Leocade’s job is to train young mothers on good nutrition and hygiene for their infants and toddlers under age 2.

In rural Burundi, the women often take their babies to the farms with them. They strap babies to their backs or lay them on a blanket in the shade as they get on with their work of planting, weeding or harvesting. With no running water nearby, the mothers are more often forced to handle their babies with soiled hands when the little ones demand a feed. The most common illnesses, many connected to bad hygiene, are: diarrhea, vomiting, worms, malaria and other communicable diseases.

Feeding babies with unclean hands is one of the behaviors that Leocade wants to put a stop to.

An additional behavior is feeding children nutritious foods. To support children from getting sick, Leocade taught mothers about nutrition.  Many times mothers weaned their babies with what food was easiest available – which is often not a balanced diet. Mothers were taught about what foods to combine in meals so children get important nutrients.

Another is visiting a traditional healer, or witchdoctors, when illness strikes. With dilapidated health care systems, avoidable deaths do happen. Those unable to access health care due to the distance to the facility or simply lack of money turn to witchdoctors and traditional healers.

This is changing according to John Rusatire, FH Care Group Supervisor, “They (mothers) have learned what to do when a baby is ill. And that is to do all they can to quickly take the baby to hospital.”

Kaburu Concilie, a 25-year-old with three young children says she’s grateful for FH care groups in her community. “The benefit of this program is good health. My children have good health today. We also were taught about hygiene and are practicing more hygiene than before. We have good toilets and compost. So I am benefiting a lot.”

Her children have good health and a better chance at life. During the government’s deworming week, she also takes her children for treatment and vaccinations.

FH’s efforts, deep in the heart of Burundi, are paying off. Communities are now healthier and a step closer to living as God desired them to.

The post Care groups help save children appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

Luisa Llampa shows how hard work has paid off for her family.

With Mother’s Day barreling toward us, I’m reflecting on the topic of motherhood.

We all have our favorite mom stories—tales of how our mothers nurtured us into the people we are today. My own mom taught me I could do whatever I wanted to put the time and energy into learning and achieving. She banished the words, “I can’t,” from our home. She often indulged my voracious curiosity by taking me to see what was on the other side of the next hill. She shepherded my penchant for storytelling.

But today I’m thinking of the resilient women that I meet and read about through my work at Food for the Hungry (FH). These mothers live in remote villages in developing countries where they lack electricity, clean water, medical care and most other amenities that many Americans take for granted.

Like us, they want the best for their children, but circumstances conspire to thwart their efforts every single day.

Luisa Llampa and one of her children

Luisa Llampa in Bolivia is one of those women.

She has four sons and two daughters. In spite of the best efforts of Luisa and her husband, Agustin, Luisa’s heart broke each night when she put her children to bed with empty stomachs. The only crop they could get to grow on their infertile land was potatoes.

When her children were sick, Luisa feared they could die from the simplest of things—even the common cold—because they were so malnourished.

Agustin Llampa with his high-production cow

Then Luisa and Agustin participated in FH water and agriculture projects—part of our efforts to help people create sustainable livelihoods.

Luisa put into practice the same concept that my mother taught me: she overcame challenges by working tirelessly to accomplish the arduous feat of nourishing her children by improving crop yields.

In the process, the family went from barely subsisting to providing enough food to keep the family healthy. In addition to potatoes, their garden and greenhouse provide the family with wheat and a variety of vegetables. They’ve also expanded into dairy farming.

Luisa and Agustin now sell milk and produce in the local market, and they’re considering exporting to other communities. They have built a house that boasts electricity, a latrine for sanitation and clean drinking water. They send their children to school and know they have a bright future ahead of them.

That’s what all of us mothers want … healthy children with optimistic futures. I’m proud to be part of an organization that inspires mothers like Luisa to dare to hope for that kind of future for their children, and then walks with them as they journey toward realizing their dream to end poverty in their lives.

What an amazing Mother’s Day gift for people like Luisa. On behalf of mothers everywhere, I’d like to thank the faithful FH partners who help make these stories a reality.

You can help even more mothers by giving a Mother’s Day gift of farming tools through the FH gift catalog and by praying for God’s provision and grace as FH inspires hope, walks with communities, and works toward our vision of ending poverty worldwide.

Please use the comments section below to share your favorite Mother’s Day story.

The post The inspiration of motherhood appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

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 seven-day trip with FH to the community of Campat, Guatemala.  My wife, Kresta and I, were in our hotel getting ready to leave  for the village of Campat, when I read an email that one of my sponsored children had graduated from FH’s sponsorship program.

It was a great success. The child was moving away to study at a university. My wife and I decided that since one of our sponsored children had graduated, that we would take that opportunity – then and there – to choose a new child from Campat to sponsor.

We literally had minutes in the hotel lobby to find another child before our bus left for our trip into Campat.

So we looked through several different child packets and selected a little boy by the name of Julio. We held onto our new packet and communicated back to FH that we were signing up to sponsor him. A few minutes later, we jumped on our bus and headed into the community. It was about an hour ride up a very broken and bumpy mountain road. Once we arrived, our van was swallowed up with the laughter and playfulness of what seemed to be hundreds of precious little children from the community.

Ryan and Kresta Horn with Julio.

The children took our hands and led us into their school yard. Within the hour, the whole town was on the school grounds. We were being seated to witness a community celebration welcoming team leaders and officials of Campat. With just a few minutes to go before the official kick-off of the ceremonies, I looked up from my seat and saw a little, precious boy standing several feet  in front of me. The boy stared  me in the eyes. I knew that little face.

I looked down and saw the picture of my new sponsored child on my packet, and then looked back up. There was Julio – standing right in front of me! It was amazing. I pointed and with a loud voice, I said, “It’s Julio!”

His little eyes got really big, and he smiled even bigger. The next few days, we had such amazing, God-filled experiences spending time with little Julio, his family and community.

I encourage you to sponsor a child.  In fact, go one step beyond and get your church to support a community. Then plan a trip with FH to go and visit your church’s community. It’s an experience that you’ll never forget. You’ll be blessed beyond any expectation that you could ever imagine.

The post Julio’s story: Starting a new child sponsorship appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

image by jumfer

Often we try to strong-arm our way through life. We wish ourselves strong enough to resist this or that. We will ourselves to be more disciplined. We wake up determined to make better choices but end the day feeling defeated. Each day is a war… with ourselves and with life.

It doesn’t have to be this way. But giving up the need to be in control is the hardest thing we do. It isn’t until we realize that we simply aren’t strong enough to make that hard choice, or resist that temptation that we reach a point of transformation. We understand that we need God.

Like losing 100 pounds, change doesn’t happen over night. You have to work at it… daily. It’s exhausting… I’d rather be on a treadmill.

I read stories of transformation everyday, in a context that isn’t my own. Somewhere in Asia, a farmer turns from ancestor worship and begins to pray to God for his harvest to prosper. Through a series of mysterious events, it does. A mother puts aside everything she knows to be true about feeding her newborn baby and decides to join the mothers who are breast-feeding, ultimately saving her child’s life. These people walked away from control, from what they knew to be true, and in faith followed God.

Through my work at Food for the Hungry (FH), I’ve sat on the dirt floor of the homes of these people. I’ve watched their faces light up with joy as they told their stories. God has transformed them.

Still, I see the result of relying on God with my own eyes, and continue trying to strong-arm my way through life.  But with grace, I remind myself of the story of the butterfly. Long, short body with many legs, the caterpillar crawls through the dirt. Eventually it encases itself in its own jail, emerging a beautiful and free creature. The story of the butterfly is symbolic of our own transformation process. Remind yourself of that when you’re still a caterpillar.

What about you? What are you holding on to? Trying to make things happen through your own strength?

Hand it over. God knows what He’s doing.

The post Like losing 100 pounds, change doesn’t happen over night. appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

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 the news. “It has me thinking about purchasing habits,” she said. “There’s a connection between American consumers and this factory. Most of us don’t think about it.”

Shagorika, age 12, is waiting for a sponsor in Bangladesh.

The TV ad

Eileen got me thinking. And then, in a stroke of irony stranger than fiction, just minutes after hanging up the phone I saw this TJ Maxx ad on TV.

In the commercial a woman quips, “Is it wrong to buy an entire outfit to match your mani-pedi?”

Her response to her own question: “Not if you find something amazing for less than the price of it.”

The ad reinforced what had long been true of my own shopping habits: price was my primary consideration, and justice was not even a thought. Truth be told, I wouldn’t have thought twice about the TJ Maxx ad if I hadn’t heard just moments before of the disaster in Bangladesh. And that’s the problem. We don’t give it a second thought.

Here’s an excerpt from my blog on Her.meneutics.

Even after the tragic collapse, the news that such a factory would be making our clothes didn’t come as a complete surprise. We knew it already. Most of us have heard of sweatshops, where labor laws are violated, wages are unfair, or conditions are hazardous. For decades, clothing manufacturers that supply the U.S. fashion industry have been accused of relying on unethical working conditions for the cheap products we buy. We feel aghast when we hear such reports… at least initially. We might even share a news article with friends. And then, with our most powerful voice—our wallets—the majority of us simply pretend as if we had never heard the news.

You can read the rest of my post on Her.meneutics.

Don’t click away

For any of us hearing a story like what happened in Bangladesh, the most dangerous moment is the split second between our sense of horror and our realization of helplessness. It has happened to me countless times. I feel a spark of outrage, but then I start questioning my ability to do anything to help. The issue seems to far away, too large scale, and too complicated. As a result, rather than drawing near, making a small dent, or seeking to understand a solution, I simply turn away.

Sponsoring a child like Ramjan Ali helps to end poverty for children and their parents.

It doesn’t have to be that way. In the Her.meneutics article, I offer some daily choices that anyone can make to move toward justice in the garment industry. One of those solutions is to support work that fosters entrepreneurship among the vulnerable in Bangladesh.

The more you learn about Food for the Hungry’s work in Bangladesh, the more convinced you will be about its effectiveness in ending poverty.

Before you click away, please look at the photos of children available for sponsorship in Bangladesh. Say a prayer for these children and their parents. Give thanks that through sponsorship their poverty will end!

The post Grieving the seamstresses we never knew appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

Community members gathered to discuss their challenges, solutions, and how to be effective leaders.

After 15 months of serving in the marketing department at Food for the Hungry (FH), I recently was blessed to witness what it looks like when a community in Nicaragua owns its own development. It’s a story I want to share because it fueled my passion for this work, as I hope it does yours.

I was skeptical as we swerved and bumped our way up a steep hill for five hours to visit a community where FH had only begun working two months earlier. I wasn’t sure it was worth the head- and kidney-pounding trip.

Other communities we had visited were buzzing with activities that had brought them clean water, new agricultural techniques, sanitation, education and more. But, this community was in the formative stage of development. I expected to see maybe a half dozen leaders rallying to interest the rest of their community in the improvements they could make if they would only pitch in.

I was shocked as we entered a building where 50 people huddled in three small groups, all dressed in what looked like their best clothing. The clothing people wear when they’re serious.

Community members worked with FH to identify their challenges and their plan to overcome them.

We observed from the back as men, women, pastors, teachers and more wrote on easel pads what it meant to be an effective leader.

It was only their seventh meeting, but what I saw and heard proved that these leaders got it.

As they presented their ideas on how to lead their community’s development efforts, they talked about educating their children so they would have a better future than their parents had. They spoke of helping people improve their livelihoods – as farmers, many would learn how to grow new crops that would provide better yields. They articulated the key aspects of leadership they must embody as they tackle community development together. They presented plans for improving the health of everyone in the community.

One woman summed it all up when she described how it all needed to be founded on biblical principles for it to be sustainable.

Community leaders identified how to accomplish their plan.

FH U.S. President Dave Evans marveled that in 20 years of being in relief and development, he had never seen a community accomplish so much in such a short amount of time.

I agree. I can’t wait to go back in a year to experience what this dedicated group of leaders will have achieved by first identifying their challenges and how to overcome them, and then by learning how to inspire and lead their community.

Thanks to the faithful FH partners who provide financial gifts and prayer to help us walk side-by-side with people like these toward a better tomorrow .

The post Owning their own development appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

Bangladesh made an impression on me – and it’s been a year since I visited the country.

But I still remember the taste of Bangladeshi tea served in a delicate cups and saucers every day around mid-afternoon. The elegance of women’s clothing, creating beauty in places that might otherwise be thought of as dismal.

But the one experience that made the biggest impression on me was the hospitality of the poor.

One such experience was in a home in the country’s capital of Dhaka. I walked through labyrinths of small walkways lined by open sewers to the home of a woman with four daughters. A double-sized bed took up most of the space in the one-room apartment and with clothes, boxes and pans overflowing in the corners.

And in the midst of what they didn’t have, they had plenty of warm smiles and attentiveness. They had love for each other. They exemplified God’s call for us to treat others better than ourselves. So often, living in wealthier countries, we miss understanding the uniqueness and value of people.

We get caught up in the glamour, status and other distractions that have nothing to do with God’s love and purpose for each of us. So let’s take a moment to learn something from the poor in Bangladesh. In their humbleness and need, many Bangladeshi in FH communities show each other love and respect so amazing, it’s worth taking note of.

Here is a checklist of three actions to see how your style of hospitality for peers and friends compares to the poor in Bangladesh.

1. Give your best: In the Dhaka home of the four daughters, even though the home was extremely poor, they didn’t let that deter them. They offered me 7 Up, which was an expensive drink for them. They didn’t know me or my companions, but they held nothing back. When you meet someone new or have people over, do you think of them as so special you want to give them your best?

2. Complete attentiveness: The four daughters and their mother had lots to do, like laundry or making dinner. But they choose to be completely focused on my colleagues and me, to let us know we were important to them. When you give people attention, is it 100 percent? Or do you allow yourself to be divided in your interactions making people feel like they should only get a fraction of your time?

3. Put others first: In the poor Dhaka home, it was hot. One woman had a hand fan, but instead of fanning herself— she began fanning me. It appeared that she saw my need and acted. When was the last time you were attentive enough to someone else that you acted in a way to make another more comfortable while you did without?

Food for the Hungry believes that when you partner with FH to help the poor, you’ll be transformed too. Through a relationship with the poor, you’ll experience basic values that so many of us miss like—the blessing and value of one another.

Please become a partner with FH and begin your journey with the poor to increase your understanding of God’s love.

The post Bangladeshi hospitality: How do you compare? appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.

I fondly remember graduating high school six years ago. I began to excitedly prepare for my big move to the university two hours from home, armed with dreams of becoming an elementary school teacher, joining the Peace Corps, saving the world and wearing tie-dye forever.

Karla, a 16-year-old from Peru, has just graduated from school, and also graduated out of our child sponsorship program. She wrote a wonderful letter to inform her sponsor of her future aspirations, which it turns out aren’t too far off from my own at that age.

Karla proudly displays the graduation keepsake she received from her school

Hello my friend,

I hope you are very well. I hope you pray for me a lot. This year I finish the school and am getting good grades at school. When I finish, I want to study in the academy to get ready and enter the university. I want to study human medicine. I love that career.

The good thing is that I have a professional goal and family goal. My goal is to have a job and with the time, I want to find someone who loves me as I am, but above all that my husband supports my job. I would like to have two babies and educate them, as well as to help my parents because one of their dreams is to have their own sewing workshop.

I want to help needy people and share our love and affection in order that especially needy children know they aren’t alone in this world and there are more people who are worried about them. So they can live happy. That is a part of my goal.  I send blessings to you.

Kisses and hugs! Trust in God! He is the best friend of all.

I love you so much.

How encouraged would you be if you received a letter like this? Being a sponsor is such a wonderful opportunity to walk alongside a child across the world, supporting them, sharing God’s love, building a relationship and watching them grow up. Karla’s sponsor has been a part of her life for six years and now gets to see the fruit of her sponsorship — her completion of school (which is a big deal for a girl in a developing country) and her plans to spend her life loving and serving others.

Do you want this opportunity too? Partner with Food for the Hungry by sponsoring a child today.

The post Sponsored child writes inspiring letter to sponsor appeared first on Food for the Hungry Blog.