Quenching Their Thirst

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Tony M

Elisa and two of her daughters show off their new kitchen water faucet.

God is doing great things in Nicaragua! Since last fall, 551 families have been rescued from chronic dehydration and the threat of waterborne illness – thanks to the tireless work of Cross ministry partner Amigos for Christ. And now, trenches are being dug and pipe is being laid so that hundreds more will enjoy virtually unlimited access to clean water.

I previously wrote about the inauguration ceremony for the water system in El Chonco, where a pregnant woman celebrated by lifting the bottom of her shirt and exposing her bulging belly to the gushing stream of water.

Since then, the woman – whose name is Elisa – has given birth to a precious baby girl. I met Elisa last month at her home and was introduced to her new arrival, sound asleep in a hammock and blissfully unaware of the struggles that once plagued the village.

For Elisa, the technicalities of water tables, filtration systems, PVC pipelines, and gravitational and electrical forces all boil down to one thing: her love for her children. Now, she will never have to look her daughter in the eye and tell her there is no water. She will never have to stand by helplessly as her little girl faints from chronic dehydration. She will never be forced to rely on contaminated water she knows will make her family sick, because there’s no money left to buy good water from the well three miles down the road. No, those hardships will just be stories, vaguely remembered by the next generation, which will grow up with all the clean water they could ever need for drinking, bathing and meeting their daily needs.

That’s what this project is really all about – hope for the future. It’s about a baby in a hammock, sleeping without a care in the world while her mother thanks God for the gift of clean water.

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The Moses Project

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Nola B
These kids are getting ready to go to school, but first they’ve stopped by the Moses Project, our ministry partner in Ecuador. Here they get a hearty breakfast, Bible studies and much-needed tutoring. They also get help with school supplies. You’d never know to look at their clean, smiling faces that these kids come from extremely difficult circumstances: Abuse, neglect, deplorable living conditions, malnutrition — and the list goes on. Thankfully, the Moses Project is feeding them, helping them stay in school, boosting their self-confidence, and changing the way they think about their lives and their futures.

These kids are getting ready to go to school, but first they’ve stopped by the Moses Project, our ministry partner in Ecuador. Here they get a hearty breakfast, Bible studies and much-needed tutoring. They also get help with school supplies. You’d never know to look at their clean, smiling faces that these kids come from extremely difficult circumstances: Abuse, neglect, deplorable living conditions, malnutrition — and the list goes on. Thankfully, the Moses Project is feeding them, helping them stay in school, boosting their self-confidence, and changing the way they think about their lives and their futures.

-Nola B.

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Franklin

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Nola B
After experiencing the death of his mother and being abandoned by his grandmother, Franklin finally has a stable home and a ‘family’ who cares for him.

After experiencing the death of his mother and being abandoned by his grandmother, Franklin finally has a stable home and a ‘family’ who cares for him.

When Franklin’s single mom died of cancer, his grandmother took him to a neighbor’s house – and never returned. Eventually Social Services placed him at Arms of Love. A home for orphaned and vulnerable children, Arms of Love provides a family-style home (one for boys, one for girls) with house parents and a wholesome environment, outside Managua, Nicaragua.

With help from Cross International, Arms of Love gives children food and shelter as well as personal counseling, health care, field trips, sports and recreational activities, computer classes, one-on-one tutoring and vocational training. The orphanage also sends the children to local Christian schools.

Through love, care and prayer, Franklin has adjusted to life at Arms of Love. He likes school, and he loves to read, paint and play soccer. He says he wants to be a policeman when he grows up – and he wants to continue living at Arms of Love.

-Nola B.

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Photo Blog: Haiti

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Annie W
On my recent trip to Haiti, I saw the desperate need for food in places like the squatter’s settlement of Jubilee—a community where dirt cookies, a concoction of dried mud, butter and salt, is a reality for many poor children. But I also saw this need being met through our many Cross-funded feeding programs. Thank you to all of our generous supporters—please know you are making a difference in the lives of some of Haiti’s most destitute children!

On my recent trip to Haiti, I saw the desperate need for food in places like the squatter’s settlement of Jubilee—a community where dirt cookies, a concoction of dried mud, butter and salt, is a reality for many poor children. But I also saw this need being met through our many Cross-funded feeding programs. Thank you to all of our generous supporters—please know you are making a difference in the lives of some of Haiti’s most destitute children!

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Partner Profile: Teresa Susong of FACES New World Christian School

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Cross International

Cross International is blessed to work with many inspirational missionaries around the globe — and we are always excited when one of them stops by our office headquarters in South Florida. On one such visit, I sat down with Teresa Susong, founder of FACES New World Christian School, a Cross-supported project in Ecuador offering evening classes to child laborers.

Teresa, along with her husband Dan and daughter Lydia, became missionaries to Ecuador in 2003. The Susong family was greatly impacted by the number of children who spent their lives shining shoes or selling candy on the streets instead of going to school. They felt God’s call to help eliminate the problem of child labor by helping children and teens obtain an education. Most of the youth served by this ministry have left their indigenous villages to come work in Quito. They often don’t have anyone to live with and have no time for school because they are working to help support their families back home.

We bring children hope through a personal relationship with Christ by providing basic needs like health care, nutrition and education,” Teresa said. “We are working toward the progressive eradication of child labor.”

Thanks to the support of friends like you through Cross International, Teresa Susong and her family are able to help get child laborers in Ecuador off of the streets and into the classroom.

The Susong family started their ministry with 15 shoeshine boys. Teresa would bring them bread and yogurt, while taking the time to learn their names and pray with them.

“I started by building relationships and that developed into the opportunity to set up programs,” she said.

Today, the Susongs serve 1,000 children from the poorest families in Ecuador. Cross helps cover the salaries of 13 certified teachers at FACES School, which offers evening classes to child laborers so they can still benefit from a Christian education and vocational training.

“You don’t know how much it means to have Cross support each month,” she said. “Cross is behind us. Without you, what would we have to offer?”

Teresa asked me to tell you, our faithful supporters, “thank you!” for joining them in their ministry of love to some of Ecuador’s most vulnerable children.

“We want these children to know they are in the hands of God. They have meaning and God has a purpose for their lives,” she said. “It’s about restoring dignity.”

-Annie W.

Categories: child slavery, children, human rights, poverty | Leave a comment

Healing the sick

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stephanie J
healing the sick

“When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14). The New Testament contains scene after scene of Jesus healing the sick and infirm. In our support for Christian medical programs for the poor in the developing world, we hope to model our work after Jesus. His compassion led to an outpouring of healing, and we pray our humble efforts will also result in healing and restored hope for the poor.

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Great News in Mozambique

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Stephanie J
Lidia Before

Lidia Before

Lidia After

Lidia After

Great news from the field! Reencontro, one of our ministry partners in Mozambique, recently sent us the story of 10-year-old Lidia Parruque. Orphaned by AIDS, Lidia found blessed refuge through Reencontro’s programs. It’s a story I simply must share with you!

Lidia’s parents died several years ago, leaving her and her older brother to fend for themselves. Until Reencontro discovered them, they survived on their own. Not even their extended family or neighbors helped them at first. “Since the death of our parents, we lived alone and our relatives never came to see us,” Lidia said.

The loving Reencontro volunteer in their neighborhood discovered the siblings struggling to feed themselves.  They lived in a flimsy shack and had difficulty attending school. Reencontro immediately provided school supplies, clothing and school fees so they could stay in school on a regular basis. The volunteer also provided food so they had enough to eat and counseled them as they wrestled with the trauma of their parents’ death.

Seeing how dangerous it was for the two young children to live alone, Reencontro volunteers sought out one of their aunts, who agreed to live with them and care for them as a foster mother. In this way, they helped reestablish a family for the children. “We love her very much because she has a mother’s heart,” Lidia said. “She is really a mother to us; she takes care of us as her own children, and no one could imagine that she is not our real mother.”

The house their parents had left them was nothing more than sticks, so Reencontro built a new home for the siblings. This sturdy new home provides warmth, comfort and safety for these children who have been through so much. It’s also a place for them to pray and study their Bible lessons, and it’s a tangible sign God is providing for them every day!

-Stephanie J.

Categories: Africa, orphans | Tags: | Leave a comment

Signs of Thanks

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Tony M
At Divine Grace School for the Deaf, students sign their greetings to the camera. These children are in good hands with Pastor Genada, who is very thankful for Cross’ support. “The Lord has blessed us through Cross to get a new school,” he said. “God is faithful. Whenever we need something, he’s provided. We’ve been praying for three years for the school…and Cross came through.”

At Divine Grace School for the Deaf, students sign their greetings to the camera. These children are in good hands with Pastor Genada, who is very thankful for Cross’ support. “The Lord has blessed us through Cross to get a new school,” he said. “God is faithful. Whenever we need something, he’s provided. We’ve been praying for three years for the school…and Cross came through.”

-Tony M.

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Progress in Haiti

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Tony M
A Cross-funded MEBSH house under construction.

A Cross-funded MEBSH house under construction.

In light of the many setbacks experienced by international aid organizations that rushed into Haiti after the 2010 earthquake to rebuild the country, it’s refreshing to hear a positive report from a ministry who got it right.

Last week, I met with Dan Shoemaker, a house-construction contractor who worked with Cross partner MEBSH to provide homes for earthquake survivors. Cross has poured a lot of time and energy into solving Haiti’s housing needs, which were serious even before the quake destroyed thousands of homes and displaced 1.5 million people.

Dan told me that before he began to build, his first order of business was to sit down with two Haitian community leaders and ask them what they wanted. Their answer: a stable, secure home in which families could begin to rebuild their lives. At the time, you didn’t have to travel far to find quake survivors living in temporary, hastily-built shelters that were barely an improvement over the tent camps set up immediately after the disaster. Though good-intentioned, these crude houses failed to provide the sense of security and stability that so many Haitians longed for. They were stiflingly hot, had no lockable doors, and the walls were essentially tarp wrapped around a frame.

By contrast, when Dan’s houses went up, the families – and their neighbors – reacted with enthusiasm. It’s easy to see why. These culturally-appropriate homes are sturdy enough to last for as long as 20 years, they are earthquake and hurricane resistant, and they come with a porch, two lockable doors and two lockable windows with glass panes and screens. In addition, each family is presented with a Creole Bible as a special gift and a reminder that this outreach is an expression of God’s love for the needy.

While many aid agencies have run into supply shortages and have horror stories about clearing goods through customs, Dan has experienced few problems. By God’s grace, he’s been able to purchase the materials he needs at a reasonable price and build the houses in a timely manner. MEBSH selected the 20 neediest families, and Dan promptly fulfilled his commitment to provide 20 new homes. What a blessing his work has been for these poor Haitian families who now have the dignity of being homeowners!

-Tony M.

Categories: Haiti, housing | Tags: , | Leave a comment

Great News from Guyana!

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Nola B
Here’s “Sandy” getting baptized. I’m so happy for her!

Here’s “Sandy” getting baptized. I’m so happy for her!

The kids I met at the Ruimsvelt Children’s Home & Care Center in Georgetown, Guyana were a happy bunch—normal, well-adjusted kids from tots to teens. You’d never know they were all either affected or infected by AIDS. I got to know a set of siblings there who I’ll call Sandy and Roger (not their real names), and learned they had quite a rough time early on. Their alcoholic mom left them alone a lot and one day the house caught on fire. Sandy’s brothers escaped, but she suffered 3rd degree burns. After several months in the hospital, no one ever came for her. Her mother had died of AIDS; so she and Roger were given a home at RCHCC. Roger was only 9 months old and Sandy was about 8 at the time.

Anyway, I was delighted by recent news from RCHCC that five of their older girls decided to accept Jesus and be baptized—and 13-year-old Sandy was among them! “The girls have hope for the future, they have come into real purpose for living,” said Marva, the executive director. She said the girls are active in church ministry, whether singing, dancing or ushering, and now they’re attending the New Believers class on Sundays. And when visitors come to RCHCC to donate goods, the girls pray for them. According to Marva, “These young ladies have certainly learned to communicate with God!”

-Nola B.

Categories: AIDS orphans | Leave a comment