This New Year, Pray It Backward and Forward
The new year is an opportunity to be persistent in our prayers, just as the Apostle Paul instructed the Thessalonians to “pray continually” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This month, let’s look back at a few situations we prayed about in 2011. Then, let’s pray about matters we need to lift up every day in 2012.
Looking Back: 2011
Children pray during World Vision's National Day of Prayer in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Seyha Lychheang/World Vision)
Pray for those still struggling to recover from disasters.
Natural disasters turned millions of lives upside down in 2011. News headlines may forget these people, but their needs remain critical.
Horn of Africa: The United Nations estimates that more than 13 million people are in need of humanitarian aid in drought-ravaged Horn of Africa. More than one-third of the region’s children face emergency levels of malnutrition.
Japan: Last March, the strongest-ever earthquake to hit Japan produced a lethal tsunami and a nuclear reactor meltdown.
United States: Soon after the Japanese disaster, thousands of families across America’s southern states were affected by a series of powerful tornadoes.
Haiti: As we mark the two-year anniversary of Haiti’s devastating earthquake this month, more than half a million people remain homeless and living in temporary camps. A cholera epidemic has claimed more than 6,700 lives, and rising food and fuel prices have threatened hundreds of thousands of Haitians with malnutrition and economic hardship.
Dear God, on behalf of our brothers and sisters whose lives are impacted by disasters, we claim the promise of Psalm 46:1. Be their refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Pray that children in poverty have better access to clean water, healthcare, and the other life essentials.
(Abby Metty/World Vision)
Today, more than 20,000 children younger than 5 will die mainly of causes that can be easily prevented and treated. Undernutrition contributes to more than a third of early childhood deaths. Waterborne diseases, such as diarrhea, also remain a leading cause of illness and death among children in the developing world.
We thank the Lord that some progress has been made. Globally, the mortality rate for children younger than 5 has dropped by more than one-third since 1990. Millions of additional children can be saved with measures that already exist and are not expensive.
Dear God, thank You for the lives of these precious children. Guide their families to the healthcare, clean water, and other necessities they need to grow up strong and be healthy.
Pray that children are no longer forced into sex trafficking.
Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. Today, an estimated 2 million children — most of them girls — are enslaved and abused in the global commercial sex trade. Many children are sold into prostitution to pay off family debts or abducted from the streets and forced to work in brothels. Children who escape or are rescued face a difficult physical and emotional recovery process.
Dear God, there are times when it is right — and righteous — to be angry. It is right to be angry about people who sexually exploit children. Let that righteous anger fuel action, Lord. Don’t let it fade into complacency.
Looking Forward: 2012
Pray that significant advances in eliminating malaria worldwide will be made this year.
Malaria is one of the top killers of children in sub-Saharan Africa. The parasitic disease, already eradicated in some parts of the world, kills one child every 48 seconds. World Vision is distributing millions of insecticide-treated bed nets, reducing the incidence of malaria. The efforts are working. In sub-Saharan Africa, the lives of 1.1 million children younger than 5 have been saved. Praise God! The Roll Back Malaria Partnership goal is to reduce malaria deaths to near zero by 2015.
Dear God, foster a spirit of continued cooperation and sustain a sense of urgency among the partners working to eradicate malaria. We pray this year for breakthroughs in the fight against malaria.
Pray that families worldwide will have the resources in 2012 to grow or buy enough food.
(Le Thiem Xuan/World Vision)
Poor nutrition is the single biggest underlying cause of ill health and death among pregnant women and children in their first two years of life. Insufficient nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life — from conception through age 2 — can cause stunting and poor cognitive development. Without adequate nutritious food, these children will not be able to reach their God-given potential.
Dear God, help us to never forget that nearly a billion people around the world go hungry every day. Please help those who are malnourished, and guide families to resources and long-term solutions.
Pray that children and their communities will know and be transformed by God’s love for them.
Christianity is rapidly growing in the developing world, reflecting a deep hunger for the love of Jesus. Church growth has exploded, yet many churches desperately need programs and materials for the spiritual nurture of children and families. Opportunity abounds for us to demonstrate the love of Jesus among people facing disaster, disease, poverty, and violence.
Dear God, thank You for the local church. Bless World Vision in leveraging its relationships with thousands of local church leaders in developing nations. Cause churches to thrive as they share Your love with the children and families in their communities.
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A Christmas focus on Jesus Christ
The glitter and excitement of the holidays can leave us harried and breathless. But the gleam of anticipation in a child’s eye — reflecting the magic and wonder of the season — reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus Christ. And as we focus on Him amid the barrage of worldly noise and commercialism, we remember how much Christ in His earthly life identified with those who are hurting.
A sponsored child with a Christmas card. (Nguyen Thi Phuong/WV)
Suggested prayer points
In your quiet times this month, or as you bow your head to pray before a meal, remember to intercede for:
The millions of children and families who are homeless.
A heartbreaking 1 billion people worldwide lack adequate housing. Millions live in health-threatening conditions, in overcrowded slums and informal settlements, or in other conditions that do not uphold their human rights and dignity. Jesus knew that feeling of isolation and displacement. In Luke 9:58, He says, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Dear God, You knew what it was like to be without a home. Guide to spaces of safety and comfort those who don’t have a place to call their own.
Those who are hungry.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the number of people who experience hunger on a daily basis — about 925 million — is close to the number who lack adequate housing. Hunger is one of the leading child killers around the globe. Worldwide, a child dies from hunger-related causes every 15 seconds. In Matthew 25:35-40, Christ says that when we feed a hungry person, we are feeding Him.
Dear God, help us see You in the faces of the hungry. Give us courage to reach out when they lift up their hands in need.
A Somalian mother and son sit in a displacement camp. (Jon Warren/WV)
Those forced to flee their homes because of natural disasters and war.
According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 47 percent of refugees and asylum seekers are under the age of 18, and 80 percent of the world’s refugees in 2010 were in developing countries — nations with the fewest resources to meet their needs. Jesus started His life on Earth as a refugee. Born far from His home, He and His family fled persecution and lived in Egypt.
Dear God, the psalmist wrote that You are our safe refuge, a fortress where our enemies cannot reach us. Be that safe refuge for those who must flee their homelands.
Christians who are persecuted for their faith.
When you live in a place where Christmas is widely celebrated, it might be hard to imagine being restricted from openly worshiping Christ. Human rights experts estimate that approximately 200 million Christians are living in countries with severely restricted religious freedom and are partly suffering discrimination or persecution. Revelation 2:26 tells us that Christ will give authority over all the nations to those who are “victorious, who obey me to the very end” (NLT). He will give a crown of life to those who remain faithful even while facing death (Revelation 2:10).
Dear God, we claim the promise of Your Word for our brothers and sisters in Christ who are persecuted for their faith. Help them hold on to You and obey You to the very end.
Children who are unprotected and exploited.
Around the world, hundreds of millions of innocent children are forced into labor, armed conflict, early marriage, and sexual abuse. They are especially at risk when they are orphaned or separated from their parents. Christ is very clear that children are close to His heart, and there are consequences for those who would seek to harm them. “See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:10).
Dear God, don’t let us ever become complacent about our responsibility to protect children from exploitation. Bring us to our feet to rush to their aid.
>>Sign up to receive monthly prayer emails from World Vision.
Praying through the day
Scripture tells us that prayer should be as natural as breathing, a running conversation with a Creator who loves to talk to us. As we prepare for Thanksgiving this month, let’s use the ordinary things of our day to remember to be thankful for them and to pray for those who can’t even imagine having the things we take for granted.
Each time you …
- Turn on a faucet, thank God for clean water. More than 880 million people worldwide only have access to unsafe water sources. And 4,110 children in developing countries die every day because they don’t have clean drinking water. Claim for them the promise of Isaiah 41:18: “I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus. I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.”
Dear God, You are Living Water, and I thank You that I have constant access to clean water. Protect those who walk miles daily to gather water for their families, and please give them sources of clean, healthy water.
- Read a book, a sign, or an email, thank God for your education. Around the world, some 67 million elementary-age children are not enrolled in school. Many are denied an education because their parents can’t afford their school fees and uniforms. Millions are put to work to help feed the family.
Dear God, You are the beginning of all knowledge. Thank You for the gift of an education that has made such a difference in my life, and make a way for the millions of children who want to go to school to be able to attend.
- Open the medicine cabinet, thank God for access to health care. Every day more than 20,000 children younger than 5 die from causes we can easily prevent, including diarrhea, measles, malaria, and malnutrition. Pray for children born into unhealthy living situations.
Dear God, You are the Great Physician, who gives my body its ability to heal. Touch the bodies of those who are sick and suffering, and give them Your perfect health.
- Put away an item you’ve just bought, thank God for His overflowing generosity to you. Today 1.4 billion people in the developing world live in poverty on less than $1.25 per day — even though most are willing to work. Millions of families in developing countries have no opportunity to earn income. Pray for these families that struggle to survive. Proverbs 14:31 tells us: ” … Whoever is kind to the needy honors God” (NIV). Contemplate what it means for you to be “kind to the needy.”
Dear God, if I am honest with myself, I probably waste more money every day than most people in the world have to live on. Help me to remember just how blessed I am because of who I am — your child — not what I have. And help me be sensitive to those who struggle to sustain their families.
- Read your Bible, be thankful for access to Bibles and other materials that help keep your Christian faith strong and focused. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.” In some of the 100 countries where World Vision works, political, economic, or social values severely restrict churches serving as beacons of hope to their communities. Pray that church leaders and congregations will be equipped to demonstrate God’s unconditional love to families in need.
Dear God, thank You for loving me so much that You reveal Yourself to me through Your Word. Help me keep Your truth close to my heart, so that I can grow closer to Yours.
>>Become a part of World Vision’s Hope Prayer Team and receive a monthly email of prayer requests.
The Autumn magazine marks the 9/11 anniversary by explaining what stayed the same for World Vision despite the attacks.
"Christ of Peace" statue in Cochabamba, Bolivia. (Jon Warren/WV)
Many things changed after 9/11, including here at World Vision. Security tightened at our U.S. facilities and even more so at our offices in conflict-prone countries. Ten years later, like everyone, we’re more cautious and vigilant.
But the thing that never changed at World Vision is who we are as Christians in the world. God’s command to love our neighbors is no different; no caveats added—we are not to “love neighbors in safe places” or “love neighbors who believe the same things we do.” Instead, the call of Romans 12:21 became only more clear: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Dr. Ray Norman
One colleague who exemplified this was Ray Norman, who in 2001 was the head of our office in Mauritania, West Africa. I remember hearing, just weeks after the terrorist attacks on the U.S., that Ray and his daughter had been shot. This fresh horror suggested that some places had become too dangerous. But World Vision’s Mauritania office remained open, and once Ray and his daughter recovered, they met with and forgave the Muslim man who had attacked them. Ray shares his compelling story in our Autumn magazine.
This weekend’s 9/11 anniversary was in our minds six months ago as we started working on this issue. It struck us as an opportunity to talk about what it means to be “Christ’s ambassadors” to families and communities living in poverty around the world (2 Corinthians 5:20).
In this Autumn issue, Rich Stearns echoes past World Vision presidents in his passion for our Christian commitment, and his January trip to Bolivia inspired him to tell stories about what that commitment looks like in sponsorship communities. Marilee Dunker adds the historical perspective about how God used her father, World Vision founder Bob Pierce, to invest in and influence a young Indian Christian who went on to become a powerful witness in his country and beyond. This kind of seed-planting continues today.
I remember where I was when 9/11 happened. But what’s more important is where I am now—serving in a ministry deeply committed to overcoming evil with good.
Ed note: Jon Warren just returned from Kenya to document the ongoing drought and famine in the Horn of Africa. Here’s a few of the images he saw.
One-year-old Zam Zam’s name means “pure water” in Somali, but he is malnourished. I worry if he’ll live long enough to see the drought’s end. His mother, Layla Mohamed, 23, who fled to Puntland from Mogadishu, Somalia with her husband and five children said, “I don’t sleep enough because I am so worried. I wake up in the night and give drink to the baby.”
Thousands flock to places where there might be food, water, and safety. Isnino Siyat, 22, had to borrow materials to shape some kind of shelter on her second night in Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world, situated outside of Nairobi, Kenya. "We don't have enough food now. The last time we ate was this morning. Our food is finished,” she said. Isnino's husband couldn't help build the shelter. He had to attend the funeral of his 3-year-old nephew Ibrahim Haret who died in the hospital soon after they arrived at Dabaab.
In Dadaab swirling sand and intense heat adds to the misery of the refugees.
Life in the Dadaab refugee camp is difficult for children, especially if they have lost a father like Alihassan Hussein, 13. “We beg people for what we eat since we are newcomers. My mother begs. She borrows food from our neighbors. I only eat once a day,” he said.
Workers dig their third child’s grave of the day in the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya. This time it was for 3-year-old Ibrahim Harett, who was to weak to survive the 10-day trek to escape the drought in Somalia. He was the nephew of Isnino Siyat.
World Vision’s response includes health screening and nutritional feeding in Puntland, Somalia, on the border with Ethiopia. Two-year-old Mohamed Abdi isn’t happy to be examined, but his mother listens carefully when the doctor explains that he is malnourished and has a fever.
Communities surrounding the Dadaab refugee camps in Kenya aren’t neglected either. World Vision is trucking in clean drinking water to some groups and drilling or repairing boreholes in many others.
My colleague Robert Coronado traveled to the Dadaab refugee camp in eastern Kenya after I left. He was there to witness a 5,000-tent extension provided by World Vision in partnership with Shelter Box International. Despite the grim circumstances Robert said, “What I realized in photographing the situation at the Dadaab camp was the hope that the people we met have. These refugees know they'll get food and water once they reached the camp. But what really gave them hope for a better tomorrow was knowing that the have a simple structure to call home."
More photos from Jon’s trip to the Horn of Africa.
Photo Journal: Somalia, from worldvisionacts.org
Horn of Africa — Hunger, drought, hope, from worldvision.org
>>Visit faminenomore.org to learn more about the Horn of Africa famine and support World Vision’s efforts to save the lives of malnourished children.
In Chennai, India, “home” is found in unexpected places.
Families live on the sidewalks of Chennai, India. (Marilee Pierce Dunker/WV)
Have you ever seen a homeless person on the street and wondered where they came from? Where were they born? Where is their family? Most importantly, how did they end up living in a doorway or sleeping under a bridge? On a recent trip to India I had the chance to actually ask that question of a group of homeless people and the answer was both heartbreaking and shocking.
I traveled to India to visit with Rochunga Pudaite, an evangelist from the mountains of Manipur whom my father loved like a son. World Vision helped support Rochunga as a student, and he in turn went on to help thousand of tribal children as he had been helped.
When I left Manipur, I went on to visit several World Vision projects in other parts of India. One of my stops was the city of Chennai, home to India’s largest urban homeless population. For the 40,000 men, women and children who live on its streets, Chennai is an easy place to be born, live and die without anyone ever noticing. As one street-dweller told me, “People pass by us without really seeing us. It is as if we don’t exist.”
But World Vision has seen the need and is effectively changing the world for thousands of Chennai’s invisible poor.
A stretch of sidewalk that a family calls home. (Marilee Pierce Dunker/WV)
I went with Christiana Paranjothy, a World Vision India staff member, to see a program that is offering hundreds of families the opportunity to move off the street and into apartment buildings. Our first stop was to visit families still living on the street, waiting for a chance to be relocated.
“Seventy-one families used to live right here,” Christiana informed me, pointing to a stretch of sidewalk. “Fortunately, we have already moved half of them into small apartments.”
I couldn’t imagine 71 people living on that narrow strip of dirty cement, much less 71 multi-generational families. There just wasn’t room. As my eyes ran down the length of the walk-way, I noticed piles of household belongings neatly stacked against the wall: boxes of pots and pans, clothing, blankets—everything these people owned.
A single stunted tree had broken through the pavement, providing the only spot of green in the landscape of cement. About 30 women and children gathered to sit under its sparse shade to talk with us. One woman kept busy breaking beans into a pot for supper, and I realized that we were sitting in her “kitchen.”
“I’d be interested to hear where you all came from originally,” I asked, addressing the adults, hoping to hear some interesting stories. “Did you come to the city to find work? How did you end up living here?”
My question fell into a sea of blank stares as my audience pondered my question. Finally a voice spoke up. “We were born here. This sidewalk is our home. This is where our parents and grandparents were born … right here … on this sidewalk. This is where we are from.”
Families pull together and care for each other while living on the street. (Marilee Pierce Dunker/WV)
Now it was my turn to ponder as the full meaning of her words sank in. The idea that the filthy, noisy, exposed patch of dirt and cement upon which we sat was the only home any of these people had ever known had not occurred to me.
During my time with World Vision, I have met many who were forced to live in doorways and alleyways…abandoned street children and youth running from abusive situations. I have met men and women made homeless by war or natural disaster, and people sick with AIDS or other diseases that made them outcasts. Others left their home to find a better life and discovered only greater hardship.
Almost everyone I have ever met came from somewhere else. But these people came from here. This was their home.
The daughter of World Vision’s founder walks on a street honoring her father’s legacy.
Marilee Pierce Dunker at Dr. Bob Pierce's Road.
When I wrote our World Vision staff in India to say I was coming to visit Dr. Rochunga Pudaite in Manipur and then hoped to see some of our World Vision work, they immediately wrote back with a surprising declaration: “You must visit Tripura to see Bob Pierce Road.”
I was impressed. Somewhere in India there was a stretch of highway or perhaps a city street named after my father, and I was going to see it.
I flew to Agaratala, capital of the Indian state of Tripura, where I was met by two of our World Vision staff, Stevenson and Kanto.
“We will have to leave early in the morning if we are going to reach the road by noon,” Kanto told us. “It takes a long time to get there, and the people are very excited to meet you.”
He was right. It took nearly four hours to drive the treacherously narrow highway over the steep mountains to Raipassa, the village where Bob Pierce Road begins. I knew we were getting close when the land seemed to relax into rolling hills and valleys dotted with planted fields, fruit orchards, and grazing livestock.
We turned off the main road onto a smaller road, one of hundreds we had passed. “Is this it?” I asked.
“Not yet,” Kanto said, “but we are close.”
Marilee visits with children from the Ripassa Baptist Church and school near Bob Pierce Road.
We wound our way up a sloping hillside, and I spotted the Riapassa Baptist Church and school sitting on a rise to my right. As we got closer, I saw dozens of smiling people, many of them children in dark-blue school uniforms, waiting for us. I was so busy waving and smiling that I actually missed what I had come so far to see.
Once out of the car, we were surrounded by greetings and warm handshakes. A couple of children came forward with great ceremony to present me with a bunch of flowers and, of course, pictures were taken. Then Kanto said, “So, let us take you to the road.”
We walked back down to where we had veered toward the church. I could see the expectant smiles all around me as Kanto pointed toward a sign that had been nailed to a tree.
“Welcome to Dr. Bob Pierce’s Road” read the brightly colored sign. “Riapassa to Boratola. To God be the glory!”
I smiled through my tears as I looked down the lovely, tree-shaded lane that had been cut into the hillside. Sloping gently toward the valley below, Dr. Bob Pierce’s Road is two kilometers long and wide enough for a car. As we walked, Kanto told me the story. World Vision began development work in this area in the late 1990s, and today more than 1,700 children are enjoying the benefits of sponsorship: clean water, education, healthcare, and malaria nets.
For generations, Riapassa and Borotola villages had nothing but a narrow walking path to connect them. Winter rains would wash the path away, cutting them off for weeks at a time. In 2002 World Vision partnered with the local government to build a proper road, cutting into the hillside and laying brick to ensure that the rains would not wash the road away. The road is so stable that many people have built houses on either side.
Dr. Bob Pierce's Road in Tripura, India.
“So why did they call it Bob Pierce’s Road?” I asked.
“When a village is blessed in a significant way, the people believe that it must be honored with a name that is equally important,” Kanto explained. “This road was life-changing for them, and when the village leaders sat down to decide on what to call it, they asked us what the founder of World Vision’s name was. They wanted to honor the memory of the person who had caused so many good things to happen for their people.”
“You should see our road after a good rain,” one young woman proudly shared as we walked the road together. “The dust that is covering now washes away and you can see the brick. It sparkles in the sun. It is a beautiful road.”
My dad would agree.
Sponsors from across the United States share how they pray for the children they support.
A few months ago, we asked a question on Facebook. How do you pray for your sponsored child?
More than 100 people responded, and we chose a few to run in our print magazine (see image above).
But we still want to hear from more of you. Tell us how you pray for your sponsored child in the comments section below.
Sponsor: Melissa Turi / Shorewood, Ill.
Sponsored Children: Ana and José / Guatemala
“I pray God keeps [Jose’s] belly full and his bed warm at night and that he will live in a town with a school someday; for [Ana] I pray she keeps enjoying school and is blessed with food and shelter and that both sponsored children are loved every day.”
Sponsor: Janice Krug / North Plainfield, N.J.
Sponsored Child: Sumitra / Bangladesh
“I keep [Sumitra’s] picture on the refrigerator as a constant reminder to pray for her. I pray that she learns to love the Lord and lean on him and know he loves her.”
Sponsor: Joshua Legas / Des Moines, Wash.
Sponsored Child: Moteng / South Africa
“I have an orange World Vision rubber bracelet … that I wear 24/7. Whenever I glance at it or am aware of it, I say a prayer for [Moteng] and World Vision’s work: I pray for safety, health, and courage as he grows up being the oldest man of the house to his mom and siblings. Most of all, I pray that he will continue to hear about God and strengthen his relationship with him.”
Sponsor: Karla Foster / Jefferson City, Mo.
Sponsored Child: Edwin / Bolivia
“I pray for God to meet [Edwin’s] physical needs and help him grow strong and healthy. I think my main prayer now is that as he prepares to be a young adult and leaves being a sponsored child, that he will continue to walk with God and be a man of God for his family.”
Sponsor: Jeanie Smith / Sagle, Idaho
Sponsored Child: Michel / Lebanon
“I pray that God will guide [Michel] as he enters adolescence, and that he and his family will be protected by God as they live in a conflict-prone area of the world.”
Sponsor: Jettie Hathaway / Howell, Mich.
Sponsored Children: Dio / Indonesia Nas hka / Haiti Betengwa / Rwanda
“My 5-year-old daughter always sweetly prays that [Dio, Nashka, and Betengwa] would have ‘food, water, and clothing … and that they would come to know [God] more.’ ”
How do you pray for your sponsored child? Tell us in the comments section below.
Instead of walking two miles for water, Sabina now has clean water at home.
Sabina Riwo now has a water spigot at her home (Abby Metty/WV)
On my latest international trip, besides my normal two-week allotment of camera gear, socks, and granola bars, I had also packed a thick stack of World Vision magazines.
I was headed to Marich Pass, a small community in northwest Kenya’s Rift Valley, where World Vision magazine chronicled the story of a woman named Sabina who walked two miles every day, carrying 70 pounds of water for her family. Sabina’s photo graces the cover of our Spring 2011 issue, which focuses on water. Since my team would be visiting the same area, our magazine staff had asked me to take a few copies for the World Vision office there, hoping that they would eventually reach Sabina and her family.
What I didn’t expect was for Moses, the community manager, to tell us that we’d be able to give the magazines to Sabina and meet her face-to-face.
Sabina now smiles because she no longer has to walk two miles carrying 70 pounds of water. (Abby Metty/WV)
Just two weeks prior, Sabina and her neighbor, Christina, had each received water spigots in their backyards, providing clean water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and irrigation. Moses was eager for us to see this for ourselves.
Sabina’s megawatt smile makes her look like a celebrity. She greeted us with a huge grin and sang songs as she filled buckets of water from her new spigot. She and her family were excited to see their story in the magazine and in a video on Moses’ laptop.
The local World Vision staff had brought a case of soda to share, and a dozen kids gathered around just as the sun was setting. The village elders and Sabina’s family drank Cokes under the stars and watched a video in a language they didn’t understand. But Sabina knew the story well—of one small spigot that had turned her whole life around.
That spigot means that her children can go to school. “They won’t be late,” Sabina told me. “They will be clean always.”
That spigot means that her family can have good food, because she has the water and the time to tend a garden. “Water is now near,” Sabina’s husband Jacob said. “We can grow vegetables and maize.”
That spigot means that their animals won’t die of thirst.
And the bonus for a hardworking mom? Sabina said her back doesn’t ache like it used to.
“Thank you very much,” Sabina said. “We are seeing the goodness of this place.”
Sabina (center), and her family and friends see the World Vision magazine featuring her story. (Abby Metty/WV)
The latest World Vision magazine puts the world’s most critical crises back on the agenda.
Devastation in Haiti far exceeds that experienced in other recent natural disasters. (Jon Warren/WV)
The Summer issue of World Vision magazine will be hitting your mailbox soon. On the cover is a little girl I met outside a World Vision health clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Two-year-old Ellerenchise is one of about 800,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps following last year’s devastating earthquake. She was brought to the clinic after suffering from diarrhea—in the developed world, usually a minor complaint; in Haiti, possibly the first signs of cholera, which can kill a child within hours. The plight of little Ellerenchise illustrates just how far Haiti has to go to recover.
But why are we still talking about Haiti? After all, it’s been more than a year and a half, and the world has seen more recent quakes in Japan and New Zealand, where World Vision is also responding.
Our Summer 2011 cover
It has to do with scale. More than 220,000 died in Haiti—a figure 20 times the number killed in more recent disasters. Additionally, Haiti is one of the most poorly equipped nations to cope. Sometimes it’s easy to forget this when more recent calamities dominate headlines.
Writer Julian Lukins picks up this theme in another feature “Still Suffering”—a snapshot of conflicts in Darfur, Colombia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries seldom lead news bulletins, but millions continue to suffer. It’s easy to let these situations slide off our radar screens. But hope comes when concerned people stay informed and engaged.
Sound all rather serious? Well, yes, but this issue features some fun stuff too. A former sponsored child becomes a top broadcast journalist; Casting Crowns’ lead singer does something amazing with his magnificent “Star Wars” collection; and a former drug dealer becomes an on-fire evangelist. I hope you enjoy the Summer issue as much as the team did putting it together.