"Because Jesus has asked us to do this."

by Kristy J. O’Hara-Glaspie

Growing up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as a child of missionaries, Kathi Simonsen saw firsthand the devastating effects of extreme poverty on children and families around her. While she moved back to the U.S. at age 10, she says, “I left my heart in Congo to a large degree.” That heart for the DRC and the issues that affect it and many other developing nations continued to grow as she got older. Seeing so much hurt in the world made her heart ache in unique ways that she didn’t see many people around her experiencing.

“There are so many things happening in the world, and we’re shielded from it,” Kathi says. “My pastor said, ‘You have dark knowledge — you know what’s happening out there.’”

Kathi attended Wheaton College, where she met and eventually married Ed Simonsen, who grew up in a Christian family in New Jersey and also cared about helping others. From the beginning of their marriage, the couple, now 68, agreed that God calls all Christians to care about the needs of everyone in the world, and they wanted to be a part of that work.

“If you read through the Gospels, there’s so much in there about Jesus helping in all the different ways,” Kathi says. “He didn’t just preach — He helped people in every way. He fed the 5,000. He healed people. He cared about the whole person — mental and physical — so it’s important we do that.”

Two years after they married, the couple moved to southern California. Because they lived very close to World Vision’s former headquarters, they soon learned about the organization’s work around the world. Ed says that because of Kathi’s upbringing, the couple was interested in getting involved.

“We could relate right away and were happy to join with World Vision in a very small financial way,” he says. “Now it’s been more than 40 years that we have been encouraged by the things that God is doing through World Vision for people like those who Kathi knew as a child.”

In the early years, the Simonsens sponsored children with World Vision in the DRC, but over time, as they learned more about World Vision’s work, they shifted to giving to where it was most needed. They most appreciate World Vision’s holistic development approach and commitment to helping all people in need.

“It’s important to care for every aspect of people’s needs and to not go in and just preach, but to be able to go in and say, ‘We’ll help you — we’ll give you clean water, and we’ll help you live,’” Kathi says. “Then people [will] say, ‘Why do you do this?’ [And] you say, ‘Because Jesus has asked us to do this.’”

In 1991, Kathi founded a sales training and management consulting company, of which Ed now also serves as principal for. As their business has grown, so has their desire to help others. “God has blessed us financially ... I think it’s our responsibility to give money — we don’t need so much money,” Kathi says.

As their investments in World Vision’s work have grown over the years, Kathi and Ed have been most passionate about World Vision’s clean water work because of how much water affects other areas of development work, like economic empowerment and child protection. More than anything, they want to see people living fuller lives through long-term, holistic transformation.

“Where my heart is at is creating a sustainable future for people,” Kathi says. “We have to do emergency relief … but then taking it more than that ... How can we help you rebuild your home and be able to farm your crops again? I’m really impressed with a whole village being changed and that after 10 years or so, they’re on their own — they can be sustainable again.”

The couple is thankful to see how God can multiply their investments as they entrust those resources back to Him for His kingdom work.

“I’ve never been a very astute investor, and early on, I asked the Lord to take care of the money because I didn’t know how to,” Ed says. “He has been faithful in that.”

With a desire to invest deeper in the work, in 2023 Kathi and Ed joined World Vision Visionaries, a community of like-minded, compassionate Christians who strive — in the name of Christ — to empower children, families, and communities to transform their lives, recognizing that in doing so, their own lives are also transformed. The couple has enjoyed learning more about World Vision’s work while also meeting other people who “have the same philosophy and care about the developing world,” Kathi says.

Being with these other like-minded people through Visionaries has been an enriching experience that they’re looking forward to deepening.

“Kathi and I are new to the Visionaries community and so happy to be learning how other people are using their resources to creatively support ministries around the world,” Ed says. “It’s valuable to hear how others are stretching their faith as they try to follow the Lord’s leading when it comes to financial decisions and giving. The World Vision community is large, thoughtful, and wonderful!”

As Kathi and Ed continue to deepen their long relationship with World Vision, they hope other Christians will partner with them.

“We are very blessed as Christians in America,” Ed says. “And the Church does a pretty good job with all of the ministries it provides in ‘Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.’ But I think we could do a lot more for ‘the ends of the earth’ — and I haven’t met anyone doing that better, more effectively and efficiently than World Vision.”

Kathi and Ed's story is one of 6 Visionary donor profiles. You can explore the other stories below. Read about how their contributions are helping to end extreme poverty.