Nearly 3.5 million children and youth participate in World Vision discipleship and values education to strengthen their faith, their relationships, and their sense of self-worth. (©2018 World Vision/photo by Jon Warren)

At Christmas, we celebrated the birth of Jesus — the Light of the World. Through all of our work and throughout the year, we follow Jesus in spreading his light, to “shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, NIV).

Our work to reduce material poverty goes hand-in-hand with our work in Christian discipleship to overcome spiritual poverty. Children cannot truly experience fullness of life unless they have the opportunity to experience and deepen their understanding of God’s love.

In the next five years, World Vision has a plan to expand our work to engage at least 2.5 million people in activities that strengthen the Christian faith of children and youth.

There are five main areas in which we help children experience the love of God:

In Bangladesh, Shohug’s father died when he was 5, leaving him to help provide for his family. Through World Vision, Shohug, 10, can still go to school, even while he helps his mom sell homemade lentil chips. Please join us in prayer for children like Shohug. (©2017 World Vision/photo by Laura Reinhardt)

Children are a precious gift from God. As adults, we have the privilege and responsibility to care for them and help them live the full and abundant life God desires for them. Tragically, love and security are not the reality for three-quarters of the world’s children who experience some form of violence every year.

It is hard to accept, but the reality for the majority of children is a life of violence, and for some, exploitation. At least 1.7 billion of the 2.2 billion children in the world experience violence every year, in their homes, schools, or communities.

Global leaders have committed to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030.  And for the first time in modern history, the world is coming to the collective realization that it is possible to completely end extreme poverty in our lifetimes.  World Vision is leading the charge on a variety of fronts, including equipping, educating and empowering smallholder farmers break the cycle of generational poverty that has held their families back.  Until now.

The evidence is indisputable.  When girls and women have better access and opportunity, progress is accelerated.  Children are better cared for, families are stronger, and communities are more prosperous.  World Vision has been deeply engaged in gender equality work for decades.  It’s integrated into everything we do—  at every stage of a girl’s life.  

World Humanitarian Day, celebrated every year on Aug. 19, is a global celebration of people helping people. Elsie Gomes, a longtime World Vision Bangladesh staff member, deployed earlier this year to Cox’s Bazar in southeast Bangladesh to help with the Myanmar refugee crisis response. Here is her perspective on her time working with refugees in the camps.

Essential human rights, liberty, and dignity are being torn from millions of people today. They’re sexually exploited, forced into labor, domestic servitude, and thrown into begging and stealing in an illicit multi-billion-dollar enterprise known as human trafficking.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Every year on July 30, World Vision observes World Day Against Trafficking in Persons by highlighting the importance of protecting vulnerable children and adults from all forms of exploitation and violence.

Nearly 25 million people worldwide are trapped by trafficking, including 5.5 million children. In Guatemala, World Vision is working with parents, pastors, teachers, children, and youth to make trafficking history by ending violence and restoring hope.

Around the world, 65.6 million people — 1 of every 113 people on the planet — have been forcibly displaced, either in their own country or across borders as refugees. That’s almost as many people as the combined populations of California and Texas, the most populous states in the U.S.

On World Refugee Day, June 20, World Vision recognizes the responsibility we have as Christians to care for people in need. As a child-focused organization, World Vision is strongly committed to serving refugees, more than half of whom worldwide are children. Humanitarian crises always deliver the heaviest blows to the poorest — especially children — in the most underdeveloped, unstable parts of the world. Our faith calls us to reach out to God’s children in need, to protect lives, restore dignity, and renew hope.

Estella and Augustine Nsabika’s story is one of family and faith, a strong demonstration of how World Vision is helping vulnerable households in Zambia climb the rungs of the economic ladder and increase their economic stability. This strong framework is the basis of THRIVE (Transforming Household Resilience in Vulnerable Environments) - growing families through education and faith.

On the International Day of Families, the United Nations highlights the importance of caregivers in the family — parents, grandparents, and siblings — and of educating and empowering them to protect and invest in their children.

World Vision is committed to preserving families worldwide — helping them not just to survive, but to thrive in some of the world’s most broken places.

About 10 percent of the world’s workers live below the extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day. In emerging and developing countries, 30 percent live under the moderate poverty line of $3.10 per day. For these families, shocks like ruined crops or armed conflict can have a severe impact on their ability to meet daily needs.

Two World Vision program models — THRIVE and Empowered Worldview — are proving invaluable in delivering lasting impact in helping families out of poverty. Paired together, they can create a stabilizing effect in communities that have historically struggled with food insecurity and a lack of economic opportunities.