God hears their cries

A devotional by Sherree Funk, World Vision partner and National Leadership Council Member.

God hears the cries of children. When Jesus said, “Let the children come to me,” (Matthew 19:14) he was speaking for God, who desires all of us, no matter how small, to go to Him when we are sinking, in trouble, in distress. 

In our world today, more than 151 million children ages 5 to 17 are subject to exploitation by adults who profit from their work, who cannot see a way out of the poverty trap. Sadly, often it is parents who see no option but to offer up their children for a small amount of money. The children have no choice in the matter. They have nowhere to turn.

Read the rest of the devotional.

From tears because of child labor to smiles and hope

Our Christmas theme this year is focused on empowering kids for a future filled with choices. Pictured above, Ima at age 11 cried as she told visiting World Vision partners about her days spent crouched in a dark and damp factory in Bangladesh, peeling shrimp until her fingers bled. Forced to support her family, she had no choices. She said "When I worked at the shrimp factory, I could not dream. I felt that I should not dream."

Then World Vision opened a Child Friendly Learning and Recreation Center in Ima's neighborhood allowing her to catch up on missed lessons after work. We also provided her mother with fabrics to start a business. Now 13, Ima is back in school full-time and studying hard toward her dream of becoming a doctor! God heard her cries and through the support of partners like you, her family is leaving poverty behind.

Please pray that we are able to empower more children like Ima. Will you also consider making your year-end gift to support the Child Protection Fund? If so, click here to visit our donation page. You can also view a special update video from Ima that was filmed just a month ago.

Thank you for a successful 5,000 Bibles Challenge!

In November, we challenged our faithful partners to help us send 5,000 Bibles to families who had none. You came through in a big way! By the end of the month, we had raised enough to send over 5,800 Bibles. And since on average, a Bible is shared with 6 people, over 35,000 people now have a chance to grow in their faith through the reading of God's word. THANK YOU!

Our International Bible Fund will remain open as long as there are families who need Bibles, so it's not too late to give.

Insider Spotlight: World Vision partner Ashima Mehta and her personal representative, Lisa Moran

Our Philanthropy officers are blessed to have personal relationships with many of you. We were moved by the story of the gift that helped us make it to the 5,000th Bible in the challenge mentioned above. We asked Philanthropy officer, Lisa Moran to write that special story. Here it is in her words:

Ashima Mehta is a long-time partner of World Vision. I recently had a call with her about our International Bible Fund and I am thankful to God about it! This is our story.

Ashima grew up in India where she studied and became a doctor. At the young age of 21, she came to study abroad in Vancouver, Canada. She is very passionate about helping children around the world. “Charity has always been part of my heart” says Ashima.

Read the rest of the story.

Creating better health with double-digit improvement

In 2016, World Vision began three-year Mother and Child Health projects in Uganda, Somalia, and Zambia. The core strategy in these Phase 1 projects was to deliver life-saving health education and care to underserved communities through proven interventions addressing the underlying causes of preventable deaths. We’ve focused on training community health workers, adding capacity to health facilities, and equipping women with the critical information they need during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.

After just two years, 642,691 women and children under 5 have been reached and impressive double-digit improvements have already been made on key indicators resulting in healthier mothers and children in the project areas including:

85% of births in Uganda were attended by trained nurses and other healthcare workers – compared to 56% before the project started.

Breastfeeding increased from 67% to 85% in Uganda and reached 90% in Zambia compared to the national average of 73%.

94% of the children we treated for severe acute malnutrition in Somalia made a full recovery, far exceeding the international standard of 75%.

Infant mortality was reduced by 26% in the Hoima District in Uganda.

• Please pray for more resources to come in as we begin Phase 2 projects in the even higher need areas of Northern Zambia and Niger.
• Support the Mother and Child Health Fund.

200 World Vision partners gather in New York City to support women and girls

On December 6th, World Vision celebrated the 15th anniversary of Strong Women Strong World at its annual event in New York City. The movement began in 2005 at a Prayer Breakfast on World AIDS Day at the height of the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. The purpose? To bring awareness of, pray for, and raise support for the most devastating global humanitarian crisis of the time. At this year’s gathering, the spotlight shifted to what many are calling the most pressing crisis of our current time.

An unprecedented 70.8 million people have been forced from their homes due to armed conflict, violence, unrest, and economic upheaval. Among them are more than 25 million refugees, over half of whom are women and children. The program highlighted the devastating impact on women and girls in these fragile contexts, in particular, gender-based violence, of which 70% of these women and girls have reportedly been victim. President Edgar Sandoval shared his experience in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh just weeks before, and the story of Anwara (VIDEO). He thanked those who have come forward already, and challenged the audience to once again take action. “What will you do so that she can?”

Other highlights

Finishing the job in Rwanda: In March 2018, World Vision and our partners committed to reach everyone, everywhere we work with clean water in the entire country of Rwanda in just 5 years. This means reaching an estimated 1 million people. The effort on-the-ground is well underway and our Rwanda team is confident that we will be able to finish the job. We have secured 70% of the needed funds, and need to secure another $9.3 million to get our team the funds they need. On a recent trip to Rwanda, we received this important update on the effort (VIDEO).

• Pray that we're able to secure the remaining funding needed to achieve this goal.
• Support the Rwanda Clean Water Fund.

THRIVEing in Honduras: THRIVE in Honduras started in the middle of fiscal year 2017, and in two and half years, progress has been considerable. Through THRIVE we have already reached 17,020 smallholder farmers and 44,277 household members. For these families, saving capacity has increased by 68% through savings groups, and productive capacity has increased by 52% through producer groups. Through an Empowered Worldview, participants are also addressing family and community needs, with a special focus on children rights and gender equality.

• Pray for our work in Honduras, that we might be able to equip more families to be able to stay in their communities instead of migrating for work.
• Support the Honduras THRIVE Fund.

Engage your family

Did you know that World Vision offers many ways for you to involve your family in your charitable giving and volunteering? Visit our Engage Your Family web page to get ideas of activities you can do together such as the Matthew 25 Challenge or volunteering at a U.S. Warehouse. You'll also find stories of how other families are working together to bless children across the world.