Mission India’s indigenous partners teach Adult Literacy Classes to men and women throughout India. These year-long classes primarily provide a fifth-grade education level in reading, writing, and math. Attendees also learn about important topics like finance, hygiene, nutrition, and small business development.

But that’s not all. Bartholomew* with Mission India says, “The whole goal really is to introduce individuals to the love of Jesus and showcase who He is and what He’s done for them — but also help these adults go from really no education at all and get them over to a fifth-grade education level at the end of that year.

An Adult Literacy Class with Mission India. (Photo courtesy of Mission India via Facebook)

“In John 10:10, Jesus says, ‘I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.’ At Mission India, we focus on a holistic change of those we serve just like Jesus did so that people in India can look forward to eternity and live life to the full here on Earth. This integrated impact is seen in all of our programs, but especially in our Adult Literacy Classes.”

Nazila is a wife and mother in India who recently attended an Adult Literacy Class. Growing up, Nazila never received a formal education — something that is, unfortunately, not uncommon for girls and women in India.

“She didn’t really know the basics of how to keep her family healthy [with] food and hygiene,” Bartholomew says. “Nutrition was an issue and her children were malnourished and always sick. She knew something was wrong, but she didn’t know what and how to adjust that.”

Once Nazila joined an Adult Literacy Class, her world opened up with her new literacy skills! She also learned about health and nutrition through the class.

“She started to plant a garden at her house and started eating vegetables and feeding her vegetables to her children. Over time, her kids became healthier, which was fantastic and she was so excited.”

A lack of rain in Nazila’s community presented a horticultural challenge, but she got creative and began using kitchen wastewater to continue growing her garden.

“She’s not only helping feed her family, but she’s helping supply vegetables to her community.”

(Photo courtesy of Mission India)

As Nazila learned how to plant and grow a garden, the Gospel seed was planted in her heart. But as the Apostle Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3:7, only God can make it grow.

Bartholomew says, “She still hasn’t received Jesus as her Savior yet, but she’s learning about it and is very inquisitive about who He is and what He’s done for her. So we are, as a team, praying for her to understand and come to know Jesus and accept Him as her Savior. But we’re just so excited to see Nazila’s life change on the physical side as relates to education and nutrition for her family.”

Please be “praying that the partner leading that class and living in this community can continue to invest in Nazila and continually share the love of Jesus each and every opportunity they get.”

You can support an Adult Literacy Class student like Nazila for a full year! The cost, amazingly, is just $40.

Give to Mission India’s Adult Literacy Classes here!

*Last name omitted for security.

Kidnappings in Haiti have greatly increased over the past two years. Over 1,200 people were taken in 2021 alone.

Fighting between gangs

Fighting between gangs has severely disrupted daily life in Haiti, says Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach. “It has caused some issues with traveling from one place to the other, especially in Port au Prince, but even going out to some outlying areas near Port au Prince.”

The fighting once spread to a CWO ministry site. Yoder says, “One of the seminaries had to move its location because the gangs were fighting. They were on each side, sort of fighting across the seminary. So they needed to move.”

Shootouts between the gangs have closed 1,700 schools in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas. After the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the gangs fought each other and the local police in a power struggle.

CWO

CWO has operated in Haiti since 1978. They work with eight churches, training and strengthening leadership. The ministry also provides vocational training for women and meals for children. Since 2010, CWO has worked in a tiny farming community called Laluene, offering healthcare, nutrition, and Bible studies.

Pray for the safety of CWO staff. Yoder says, “They do need to travel, especially in Port-au-Prince, and out to the feminine training centers. Pray for the safety of the church there. We’ve ministered in that neighborhood for a long time. We’ve got a good reputation in that neighborhood because we’ve helped a lot of those families.”

CWO hasn’t been able to visit the churches in Haiti since before COVID-19. Pray for peace in Port-au-Prince.

Header photo courtesy of David_Peterson on Pixabay.

Eva DeHart of For Haiti with Love says outbreaks have concentrated in southern parts of Haiti, away from the areas where they work. “You don’t just hop on a bus and ride to Cap-Haïtien unless you really have a purpose. Because it’s a six- or seven-hour drive. The buses don’t go through the mountains very fast, and they keep stopping along the way. And so even though they’ve got fairly nice buses now, the trip is still grueling, and you’ve really got to have a reason to do it.”

Medical care

For Haiti with Love provides medical care to Haitians in the name of Jesus. Recently, they started taking this care out into the remote countryside. DeHart says children in these areas suffer badly from parasites. Even if they have enough food, they don’t get nutrition because it all goes to the parasites.

Thankfully, certain medicines can take care of this problem. Dehart says, “You’re bringing what most of them consider to be miracle medicine. And you’re delivering it in the name of God. It’s evangelism at its greatest because people feel better. They’re physically and spiritually renewed when you leave the site.”

(Header photo courtesy of Alex Proimos from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons)

(Image courtesy of Andre Arana)

The Comprehensive Community Center is more than a building in the city wrought with violence, drug wars, and prostitution. It is a ministry that offers holistic support for families struggling to survive.

Rey Diaz is the Executive Director for Orphan Outreach, and he celebrated with the families as a new tutoring program was launched for students in elementary school.

A similar program for middle- and high school students was piloted during the summer, and the results have been promising. “The energy and the excitement in the room was, like, palpable,” he beams. “It was just really exciting to be there on opening day for all these families.”

Education is a significant challenge for the indigent poor in Chimaltenango. Though schools are free, children are not allowed to attend if they don’t have supplies. And helping the family with basic necessities often means school is abandoned.

Diaz shares, “Middle school and high schools are impossibilities for most of these kids, especially young girls. We were looking at some schools we work with outside of the city. At elementary, it’s about a fifty-fifty split. Afterwards, in middle school and high school, girls just drop out at a staggering rate. “

(Image courtesy of Andre Arana)

Orphan Outreach mission teams met the families of the Ravine years ago — with shelf-stable groceries and prayer.

The first year, they stood outside the fence. The next year, the families welcomed them inside their lives, and friendships were established between the people who dug through refuse to find sustenance and the people willing to give time, talent, and resources to help.

Today, family preservation is at the heart of Orphan Outreach’s work in Chimaltenango. Needs are addressed, hopes are held high, and dignity is restored. Clean stoves, drip water filtration systems, and home repairs improve living conditions. Medical assistance strengthens bodies and spirits. Diaz says the impact of holistic care for a few families brings hope to an entire community.

“They’re wonderful parents. They love their kids, they’d do anything for their kids – in fact, they’ll work in a garbage dump for their kids. So the fact that they’re able to receive all these blessings – the stove and the clothes and the education and the spiritual development – it just means so much to them. And we believe it’s going to change the cycle that these families have lived in for generations.”

(Image courtesy of Andre Arana)

Diaz says the CCC ministry’s primary focus is living out the hope of the Gospel in word and deed.

“Our staff is going to every single home, they visit every home. They’re sharing the Gospel, being a shoulder to cry on, just telling these people they matter, they are created in the image of God. And because of that, that means they have value, they’re important, that Jesus died for them just as much as He died for us.”

There are many ways to join Orphan Outreach in their efforts to care for the families of the Ravine in Chimaltenango.

Mission teams help the families install new stoves, deliver food, and help teachers with lesson plans. Sponsorship of the children is essential to the success of the program as it ensures resources are available.

And Diaz says prayer is key as well. “These are real people, these are kids with names that matter, and if you can take time to pray a few minutes a day for these kids, who knows what God’s going to do through these kids – in their lives and in the families.”

Learn more about Orphan Outreach’s family preservation program at the Comprehensive Care Center, and join the ministry by sponsoring a child.

In the summer of 2015, members of Orphan Outreach’s auxiliary organization Women for Orphans Worldwide (WOW) had a dream for the town of Chimaltenango, Guatemala.

A lot of work had already been done to provide education for the children, and clean stoves and water filters were installed in homes once filled with the choking smoke of open fires. But the women dreamed of a community care program that would provide more extensive support.

(Photo courtesy of Orphan Outreach)

Orphan Outreach began its work in Chimaltenango because of the town’s unique struggles, and because of the isolation of many families who find their life and livelihood at a place called the Ravine – a city dump.

“Chimaltenango has a lot of churches, but it’s also known for a lot of things that aren’t so good like gangs, drugs, prostitution,” shares Dan Ucherek, who oversees the Community Care Center, Orphan Outreach’s newest ministry.

“About half the families we’re serving work in the garbage dump, and the other half of the families are at the same poverty level as those working at the dump. There’s such a need to connect the local churches to the families we’re working with.”

(Photo courtesy of Orphan Outreach)

Grocery distribution and the installation of clean stoves remains a priority of the work being done in Chimaltenango, and is now part of a new expanded community care model. Ucherek says, “Last year we installed 26 stoves in the community, and then this year we’re going to do 46 stoves and water filters.”

The Community Care Center is a dream come true for Orphan Outreach and the members of WOW. Ucherek shares, “We had been working in this community for about five years, and we saw the need to prevent orphans, keep families together, and help families grow in Christ and also be able to thrive where they’re living.”

Programs at the Community Care Center are set to begin later this summer, offering tutoring, workshops, and other resources to children and their families. A crisis relief center and library have been provided by the members of WOW. Special activities are planned throughout the summer to introduce the center to those who will benefit from the full scope of services.

(Photo courtesy of Orphan Outreach)

The Gospel is at the heart of what is being done in Chimaltenango through Orphan Outreach. Dan says engaging the local church is a priority, and he and his team are working “in congregations and [with] pastors to mentor these families, provide training for them – even marital training and conferences.”

Dan invites individuals to participate in the new Orphan Outreach program in two ways.

“Pray that God will just give us guidance on how to best serve these families – and you can come on a mission trip and personally meet these people, and allow God to use them to change your life.”

International (FH/MNN) — In Ethiopia, a country of more than 90 million people, an estimated more than 10 million are suffering from extreme drought brought on by El Nino weather patterns that are predicted to last for months to come. The impact of the drought is far-reaching: businesses are closing, children are unable to attend school, and disease is spreading.

Food for the Hungry CEO Gary Edmonds says it’s a situation where literally 10 million people are fighting for their very survival.

“You know, people created in the image and likeness of God, image-bearers of Christ, right now are fighting for their lives in the country of Ethiopia.”

(Food for the Hungry)

Food for the Hungry has worked in Ethiopia for more than 30 years, focusing primarily on the development of water irrigation systems and hybrid crops able to grow in harsh conditions, helping to create a sustainable environment for communities. However, in the present drought conditions, even that is not adequate.

The ministry, with partners including the U.S. Agency for International Development, has set up emergency relief programs to help move foodstuffs like wheat, beans, and cooking oil to thousands of Ethiopian families. Food for the Hungry is also ferrying water in two ways. The first is by trucks that are being purchased to reach some families. But trucks alone can’t reach everyone in need. 

“Many of the areas to which we’re going are unable to actually have trucks go there, so we have to get donkeys and move the water there in Jerry cans to be able to get it to these people.”

(Food for the Hungry)

Edmonds expresses the heart of Food for the Hungry in meeting the needs of Ethiopians in crisis. “All of us know what it’s like to be vulnerable. And that’s why I believe we can help the people of Ethiopia. I believe that’s the heartbeat of Jesus.”

Strengthening families physically also aids in strengthening the country as a whole. Edmonds shares that without help, countries in crisis could become subject to militant ideology.

“They become environments that actually radicalize children and youth who are struggling for very life itself.”

You can be part of Food for the Hungry’s work in Ethiopia by both praying and contributing to its crisis relief efforts. Learn more about all of Food for the Hungry’s ministry programs around the world here.

(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)

A kitchen has come to Madeleine School in Bungoma–a commercial kitchen with sinks and electricity and a place for a stove. It’s a first for the community, and it replaces a metal shed that has been an oppressive and dangerous hotbox for all who work diligently, providing both breakfast and lunch six days a week to more than 200 students, faculty members, and village children who peek curiously through the fence.

The kitchen is the latest in a list of improvements at Madeleine School through their partnership with Orphan Outreach. Since the partnership featuring a child sponsorship program began in 2012, the school has added the nutrition program, a greenhouse and livestock, a nurse, and Elizabeth Ayumaah, a full-time social worker.

(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)

The change she has seen in the students through the addition of all the programs–including group and individual counseling–is nothing short of life-changing. “Now they are bold enough and confident to be and feel like they have a place where they belong, and that has improved their education.”

And the impact made on the children is fueling even greater desire in every member of the faculty. A list is growing of programs Madeleine School wants to offer to not only the students, but the community at large. Elizabeth smiles as she shares, “I believe there will be a day we will have regular workshops that teach parents and guardians how to be better caregivers.”

(Photo courtesy Orphan Outreach/Ronne Rock)

Elizabeth says other schools are taking notice of what is happening at Madeleine School, and several have asked for assistance in developing similar programs for their students. “Our goal is for lives to be changed through our children, for Bungoma to be changed. We believe we are beginning to see that. We are thankful to Orphan Outreach for helping us.”

According to Steve Peifer, the book's author, readers might be in for a surprise.

"There are sad parts in the book, but [also] things that you might not associate with missionaries, like junior high gas," states Peifer, laughing.

You'll have to read the book to see what that's all about, but it mostly covers Steve's and his wife Nancy's work in Kenya.

Peifer says, "I was a really unlikely candidate to go on the mission field."

He was much more inclined to corporate management, where he once oversaw 9,000 computer software consultants. But everything changed for the Peifers after the tragic loss of their infant son, Stephen.

"After you lose a kid, everything kind of goes back on the table," says Peifer. "And I felt like the Lord told me in the quiet time, 'Make your wife's dream come true.'"

Steve says Nancy had wanted to be a missionary her whole life, and she had a passion for Africa. When friends serving with AIM at the Rift Valley Academy visited the couple, more pieces seemed to fall into place.

The Peifers' friends showed them an informational video and invited Steve and Nancy to come spend a year in Kenya. Steve agreed, but he says Nancy had a slightly unexpected reaction after their missionary friends left.

"My wife is the nicest human in the planet; when she walks outside in the morning, birds fly to her fingers and little children dance around her," Peifer says.

He continues jokingly with a laugh, "But when our friends left, she grabbed me by the throat and said, 'Don't play with me!'"

Upon arriving in Kenya for their short-term mission assignment, Steve and Nancy found a "niche" in community outreach. Steve vividly recalls one of their visits to a nearby school, where all of the children were laying on the ground.

"I asked the headmaster, 'What's going on?' She said, 'Well, it's Thursday, and they haven't eaten since Monday. And when they sit up straight, they faint,'" he recounts.

"That kind of changed everything for me."

When the Peifers returned to Kenya in 2001, they worked alongside local schools to begin a feeding program.

"Our deal with the schools is 'I'll bring the food, you've got to prepare it; you can't charge the kids, and I get to share the Lord whenever I feel like it'," states Steve.

Today, the Peifers' program works with 35 schools and feeds 20,000 children.

"The introduction of food has made a huge difference in terms of how they perform academically," says Steve. "The drop-out rate used to be 50% in those schools, and there's virtually no one dropping out now; they stay for the food."

Students are also scoring higher on standardized national tests and facing brighter futures thanks to another Peifer addition: solar-powered computer labs.

"We got old shipping containers and gutted them, and put solar in. We had 20 of those operational," says Steve.

It's all part of a bigger mission.

"If we can get a generation through high school with proper nutrition and learning technology, and they know Jesus is the One responsible for it happening, that's when we really impact the country," Steve says.

Steve and Nancy's book, "A Dream So Big," highlights how God used the couple to orchestrate change for kids in Kenya. From each of its chapters, Steve says a central theme arises: "God longs to be strong in our weakness."

Click here to see the book's profile on Amazon. But, says Steve, don't read it unless God has called you to read it.

"I'm happiest when somebody comes up to me and says in a polite, Christiany way, 'Wow, if a schmuck like you can accomplish that, imagine what I could do!'" he says with a laugh. "I really want that to be my story.

"I hope people read it and go, 'Wow, our God is good!"

Don't forget to pray for Kenya.

"Praying for Kenyans should come out of your relationship with the Lord," says Steve. "As you seek Him to pray for them, He's going to identify things that are exciting to you, [so] that you can be passionate about praying.

"It may be that He leads you to pray for missionaries on the field that you know. It may be your heart is for communities to get fresh water, or little kids to be educated.

"Whatever your ministry is, leave room for calling out to the Lord that we don't forget kids that are in such need," Steve implores.

"Don't make peace with the fact that there are hungry kids."

Help create a brighter future for Kenyan kids through the Peifers' feeding program.

For example, Food for the Hungry ran child health and nutrition programs in Bolivia from 2002 to 2008. During these years, stunting among children in Bolivia's Potosi and Cochabamba areas decreased 25%.

Stunting happens when a child doesn't get the right kind of food or nutrients in their first 1,000 days of life. The damage is irreversible, and around 180 million kids under the age of five suffer from stunting worldwide.

In addition to the success in overcoming stunting, mothers seeking prenatal care rose from 50% to 84%. The number of moms who exclusively breastfed their infants increased from 67% to 93%.

According to a recent study from Tufts University, health improvements in these areas are continuing today.

Three years after that FH child health and nutrition programs ended, stunting had gone down another 15%. Mothers seeking prenatal care rose to 91%, and 100% of moms were exclusively breastfeeding their children.

"These results reflect the essence of the FH mission," says Food for the Hungry U.S. President Dave Evans. "Our role is to walk with communities to a place where they no longer need our assistance — to a destination where communities continue the process of transformation after FH has exited."

The Tufts study is the second examination of FH work in Bolivia that's having a positive impact. Earlier this month, we told you about a study examining the connection between a mother's worldview and child malnutrition. You can read about it here.

Pray that as families learn about Christ through FH, they will turn to Him for salvation.

Since 1971, FH has been walking alongside local churches, leaders and families to overcome poverty through a healthy relationship with God. Whether it's spiritual or physical hunger, FH seeks to end them worldwide through child development programs, agriculture and clean water projects, health and nutrition programs, and micro-enterprise loans.

Click here for more on how FH works in Bolivia.

The WFP confirmed earlier this week that while they see the need, they lack funds even for programs already running in Haiti.

WFP has a take-home ration plan for 200,000 school kids in Haiti, but it won’t lift off the ground without donated support.

In addition, U.S. Congress may reduce funding for Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole, programs that bring aid to Haiti.

There are currently 6.7 million people in Haiti facing food insecurity this summer. 1.5 million people are dealing with severe hunger. Many of these people—and some of the most vulnerable—are children.

How does malnutrition affect a child’s future? Eva DeHart with For Haiti With Love (FHWL) says, “Drastically, because you need proper nutrition to properly develop the brain, and if the brain is not properly developed, they don’t have the mental resources to think through their problems and provide for themselves. Nutrition in a young child is very important for body development, muscle development, and brain development.”

According to the Famine Early Warning System, this food insecurity is a layered issue. "Despite the evident readiness of local farmers, poor seed availability is threatening the success of this year’s crops…. Poor households in many rural areas could still be facing a food shortage directly after the July harvest."

Ultimately when Haiti does have crop success, WFP wants to stock their feeding programs with Haitian-produced harvests and support the economy.

DeHart says, “I love the part that the goal of the WFP now is to provide the program entirely using local produced food. I think that’s going to be Haiti’s answer. We’ve got to get the children in the fields taking pride in the fact that they’re helping to feed themselves and helping to feed their country.”

While bureaucracies are gridlocked on funds, FHWL has a solid record of ministry in Haiti since 1982. One of their programs is a burn clinic, and they have a lot of children come in for burn treatments.

Eva DeHart says they especially see a need for nutrition in their burn clinic ministry. “The [children] can’t heal unless they’re getting nutritionally balanced food. If they are not in a home structure that can provide adequate nutritional food for them, they’re automatically put on our food program while they’re being treated to make sure that their little bodies have enough nutrients to do the healing.”

It’s ministry with the heart of the Gospel. “Everything is done as a gift from God through His people, every recipient is very aware that they thank God for their help,” according to FHWL’s Web site.

DeHart asks, “Pray that, like this country, we get back stronger with God and more reliant on God and seeking God’s direction for what we need to do to solve some of our earthly problems…. The farther we drift from Him, the less focused we are on our real solutions.”

Click here to contribute to FHWL as they bring aid and Christ’s healing to Haiti.