Cross supports education and microenterprise programs that promote development.

There is an old saying that goes: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The second part of that saying is the goal of much of the work we do to help the poor here at Cross.

However, during staff devotions this morning we were reminded of how important the first part is, as well. Our newest projects officer recently returned from Central America. It was his first time visiting some of the projects we support there, and he was struck by the impact of our elderly feeding programs — those meeting an immediate need rather than supporting development.

Cross also meets the poor’s more immediate needs through feeding programs for the sick, elderly, and vulnerable children.

“These programs provide palliative care to deal with the effects of poverty. As we minister to the more immediate needs of these people, we are expressing the love of Christ in a very real way,” he explained. “Yes, it is important to teach people how to fish, so to speak, but what about the people who are too old or sick or unable to learn how to fish? Should we just forget about them?”

It is clear from Matthew 18:14 — “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” — that every person is important to God.

Giving an elderly woman a daily meal is just as meaningful in God’s eyes as supporting a scholarship or microenterprise program. Both are meeting important needs of the poor and, in the process, sharing the gospel of Christ with them.

Click here to learn more about what Cross is doing to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of the poor in Latin America.

Our project officers must travel to incredibly remote places to reach some of the projects we support—but they’re well worth the effort. Take the Chikankata catchment area in Zambia, for example. That’s where our ministry partner is spearheading the Chikankata Water Project to give wells, latrines, and health training to each of 35 villages.

Villagers cleared and widened a footpath by hand to make way for a borehole-drilling rig so they could finally get clean, safe, water in this remote area of Zambia.

Getting there, however, is quite an ordeal. The 80-mile drive to the Chikankata mission is the easy part. Reaching the remote villages from there is another story. Villagers don’t own cars, so there are no roads. But they cleared and widened footpaths by hand to make a “road” of sorts into each village so a borehole-drilling rig could be driven in. Driving a car over these hand-hewn roads “is like riding on an old wooden roller coaster, only worse,” said Tony Mator, a staff member who just returned from visiting the project.

But the end result will be worth every lurch, when thousands of people will no longer risk dying of cholera or other water-related diseases. Nor will they have to spend their days hauling water from far-away sources. They will be able to draw clean, safe water out of their own village well.

Last year, the United Nations projected a rise in world hunger to 1.02 billion people – more than one-seventh of the global population! Statistics on hunger are always rough estimates, and the results can vary greatly from one study to another. But one thing seems clear: the U.N. number is no exaggeration. In fact, it may be too conservative!

The United Nations projected a rise in world hunger to 1.02 billion people!

For starters, the U.N. study only tells us how many people are undernourished; not how many are malnourished. In other words, a person who is eating regularly and getting more than enough calories, but who is too poor to afford the variety of foods necessary to meet basic vitamin and nutrient requirements, would not have been counted as “hungry.”

The definition of hunger was restricted even further by a very low standard for minimum energy needs. The number of calories was based on a “sedentary lifestyle” or what is needed to live a healthy but inactive life. But many poor people work very hard to support themselves and need more food to maintain a healthy energy level.

Whatever the true number of the hungry, it’s encouraging to know that there are many dedicated Christians doing what they can to meet the nutritional needs of the poor around the world. Cross International is blessed to be working alongside a number of fantastic ministries, such as the Moses Project in Ecuador and the Rainbow Network Feeding Program in Nicaragua, that are bringing both physical and spiritual nourishment to the hungry on a daily basis. Click here to see our complete list of Cross International feeding programs, and get involved today!

Three brothers, along with their wives and children—12 people in all—lived together in one tiny makeshift shack in a slum in Manila, Philippines. The place crawled with mice and roaches. When it rained the house flooded in knee-deep dirty water. The only table in the house doubled as a bed because space was so tight.

Lani and her husband, Zoilo, are grateful for their new home. They no longer share a cramped, roach-ridden shanty with two other families.

The brothers worked hard for their meager incomes, but there were so many mouths to feed they could not afford a decent roof over their heads. Then came a group of fellow Filipinos—Christians who wanted to help. They offered a project called Gawad Kalinga.

Housing is only one component of Gawad Kalinga’s holistic, sustainable approach to community development. Programs teach values, train in livelihood skills, and encourage accountability, and foster neighborly cooperation. Eventually, the dog-eat-dog slum mentality of self-preservation is replaced by the Golden Rule.

Today the three families live together as next-door neighbors, but they each enjoy their own homes, sponsored through Cross International. The sister-in-laws recently told us how they felt about their homes:

According to Lani, her youngest son said, “Oh, Mommy! We don’t have to run with cockroaches anymore!” Fredelynn said, “Now I can have both a dining table AND a bed!”  And Mari Lu told us, “Thank you for the materials to build a dream come true!”

Click here to learn more about how Gawad Kalinga turns dirty, dangerous slums into bright and friendly communities, through the transforming love of Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:28 is one of those Bible verses that is easier to believe when life is going well. But when tragedy comes our way, that’s when we really need to hear that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

Moise Vaval (center) and Cross Projects Officer Claudio Merisio (right) have worked together to organize aid distribution in Haiti.

This verse was a recent focus of our morning devotions here at Cross, and a very relevant one in light of the suffering we’ve been encountering in Haiti. God doesn’t promise us a carefree life, but he gives us hope in the midst of hardship and strengthens us to do everything to his glory.

One person who has displayed this supernatural hope is Moise Vaval, a Haitian pastor and long-time friend of Cross International. Moise lost his son Jean-Marc to the earthquake when a school building collapsed on top of him. Moise spent two full days digging through the rubble to find Jean-Marc, who was just short of his ninth birthday, but to no avail.

It would have been easy to succumb to despair, but instead Moise jumped into the disaster relief effort, all the while thanking God for sparing his other three children who had been in the same school. Moise’s volunteer service was crucial to our work, as he tirelessly coordinated the distribution of Cross emergency supplies to mission partners and refugee camps throughout the country.

God’s people very often shine brightest when times are darkest. Moise, like so many other compassionate Christians who work with us around the world, has been an inspiration to all of us at Cross. We can approach the difficult task of long-term recovery with cheerful hearts, knowing there is real hope for Haiti and for all who seek refuge in Christ.

On Wednesday, many Christians began observing Lent, a time of prayer and fasting during the weeks leading up to Easter. Although some denominations don’t recognize Lent, the practice has a long history among both Protestants and Catholics.

There’s a tradition that during Lent, Christians will give up a particular luxury they enjoy, such as unhealthy foods or even television. But this year, some pastors are calling on their flocks to take a slightly different approach: don’t just give something up – give it away.

The Rev. Bill Hewitt from the Church of Scotland encouraged his congregation this week to reach out with their time and talents to others in need: “I prefer the idea of Lent being a time of giving of ourselves in service to others. This runs contrary to a culture that suggests that the only thing that motivates people is money.”

Lent is a great opportunity for Christians to bless others while denying themselves. We can turn our thoughts not only to the needs of the neighbor across the street, but also to the poor and downtrodden around the world. Of course, not everyone can personally travel to a faraway land to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, but those of us who stay home have an important role to play in supporting those who go.

Our Cross International mission partners simply could not do what they do without the generous giving of our Christian donors. Whether you choose to feed orphans at the Kondanani Children’s Village in Malawi or build houses for poor families in the Philippines, your gifts make a real difference. Check out our online project catalog to see how you can be a blessing in someone’s life today!

While traveling through Haiti, Cross International Projects Officers Mike Wilson and Claudio Merisio visited the camps where our mission partners are continuing to provide medical care for earthquake victims. They got to see firsthand the incredible work that so many doctors, nurses, and volunteers are providing on a daily basis in tent facilities or even outside.

Cross Projects Officer Claudio Merisio visits a Project Medishare health clinic in Haiti.

Now that more than three weeks have passed since the quake, our partners are beginning to transition from trauma to general health care for the many displaced men, women, and children who are trying to rebuild their lives in the aftermath; and Cross is working alongside them to ensure success.

For instance, our Cross partner Arc en Ciel is providing care for about 4,000 people, including 1,600 children, in five refugee camps. They plan to send health workers to fifty additional camps to train their peers on general health issues such as hydration, nutrition, vaccination, and psycho-social support.

Another Cross partner, Project Medishare, is increasing the number of women and children receiving care, and plans to double the number of mobile clinics from one to two per week.

Gladys Thomas, who runs Hopital Espoir and Village Espoir, is shifting her focus to rehabilitative care for people needing physical and occupational therapy and post-traumatic support.

To help our mission partners provided the best possible health care under the strained conditions of disaster-stricken Haiti, Cross has given food, medicine, medical supplies, and in one case even a container to be converted into a clinic. To learn more about what Cross is doing in Haiti, check out our latest updates at www.crossinternational.org/relief.

Between serving as a guide and translator for an NBC news crew and personally delivering pillows for all the beds at the main Project Medishare hospital in Haiti (as he put it, “My vehicle looks like a giant cotton ball!”), Cross International Projects Officer Michael Wilson has successfully established a food distribution network in the greater Port-au-Prince area and the badly damaged cities of Leogane and Jacmel.

Cross International arranged for this C737 cargo plane to airlift supplies into Port-au-Prince

The food recipients include long-term Cross partners such as the Bethsaide short-term shelter in Jacmel, as well as internally displaced persons (IDP) camps where many earthquake refugees are now living. These groups will benefit from a $1.3 million shipment of emergency supplies that Cross arranged to be airlifted to Port-au-Prince in two C737 cargo planes over the weekend. The shipment includes 50,000 lbs. of fortified rice/soy casserole, bagged corn, water, an electrolyte replacement drink, tarps, and diapers, and is now being stored in a partner’s warehouse near the airport, where the goods are already being picked up for distribution.

Michael also reported that one of the orphanages Cross supports has now relocated from Leogane to an open field in Tabarre, where the children are living in tents. On Monday, Michael visited CBC’s Butte Boyer School to offer our condolences to the widow of Pastor Guy, who was killed when the building collapsed, and to assure her that we will help the school and church recover from their loss.

Get more of the latest Haiti updates at www.crossinternational.org/relief

There’s a unique difference between the prayers and goals of people in developed nations and those born into abject poverty:

Sign posted on the wall of an orphanage in Haiti, where children are rescued from the ravages of poverty and raised to know God’s love through Christ Jesus.

“I resolve to lose weight” vs. “I am going to trust God for a meal today.”

“I resolve to live a healthier lifestyle” vs. “I pray that I might live long enough to raise my children.”

“I resolve to better handle my finances” vs. “I pray God will bless those with money so they can continue to help others.”

As you contemplate your physical, spiritual, and financial goals for 2010, won’t you resolve to join us in being instruments of God’s love for the poor?

Sometimes, serving others means doing something as simple as telling them God loves them. That’s the purpose of our current Cross Campaign. We’re giving our donors a chance to connect with a needy child in a special way and share the hope of Jesus’ unconditional love, by sending a cross necklace with a personalized message. We’re not asking for more money – just a moment of your time to encourage one of God’s children.

CLICK HERE TO SEND A CHILD A FREE CROSS AND MESSAGE OF ENCOURAGEMENT TODAY!

Give a child hope by sending them a free cross and personal note of encouragement.

You’ve read how Cross International is improving the lives of many children throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, and Asia through a variety of Christian outreach programs including food, medicine, and housing. But their deep spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by the Bread of Life. They need a relationship with Christ, who became poor so that they might become rich.

To a child who has so very little, the gift of a cross with a personal message written by you means a lot! The crosses are a small token of the great hope they have in Christ – hope that transcends their poverty. Click here to bless a child with the greatest gift of all: the Gospel of salvation.