Category Archives: Christian Witness

Four things any church can do to address global poverty

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Four things any church can do to address global poverty | World Vision Blog
Churches and pastors are often eager to respond to the problems of global poverty and injustice. Yet before they take steps to address these problems, pastors — like anyone else — want to know how they can make a difference. Because there are so many hurting people whose communities face complex obstacles, I’m frequently asked what one person or one church can do. If you’re a fellow church or ministry leader, you know that God doesn’t promise that the odds will always be in our favor when accomplishing the work He has set before us. When church leaders look today at the scale of global poverty, it’s easy to feel like the numbers are stacked against them. 1 billion people...
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The power of one person’s obedience

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Honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. | World Vision blog
I am continually astounded by the power of individual people to make a difference. After The Hole in Our Gospel was published, readers started sending me letters, telling me how God has used them to do remarkable things. Sometimes they took in foster children or became adoptive parents. Others changed careers or sold vacation property so they could be more useful to the kingdom of God. All of them are changing lives, spreading hope, and making the Gospel tangible to people in need. The power of individuals to change the world has been a theme in our culture over the last year. It was a single person who launched what became the Arab Spring. Protesting corruption and inequality, a street...
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Mission above mammon: Charting a course for success

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As the president of World Vision U.S. and the former CEO of two for-profit corporations, I have spent all of my professional life trying to manage organizations to achieve success. Every organization, whether for-profit or not-for-profit, must have a successful financial model to succeed, but long-term success doesn’t come from just managing numbers. The most successful organizations are mission-driven. In Christian organizations, this truth may be even more compelling. At its core, this is the question of the means versus the ends. In a secular corporation, the goal is to create profits for the owners or shareholders; the means to that end might be selling automobiles, or books, or delivering a service like air travel or lodging. At the end...
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Is Jesus more than a “sprinkle” blessing?

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Is Jesus a sprinkle blessing? | World Vision blog
I’m excited to welcome Mark Hall — the lead singer and songwriter for Casting Crowns, a long-time World Vision artist — to the World Vision Blog. When I received this post from Mark, the source of the passion in his songwriting became immediately obvious. They’re words of experience and depth from his heart. Thanks, Mark, for guest-blogging today and for giving us a peek into Casting Crowns’ newest album. Don’t forget to order the pre-sale of the album online at FamilyChristian.com. —Lindsey Talerico-Hedren, managing editor, World Vision Blog When we went to adopt Hope and bring her home with us from China, she didn’t want me to hold her. I was told that usually when the orphaned children there see...
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But I do not despair

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Poverty and disease leave children vulnerable in Kenya. ©2010 Lucy Murunga/World Vision
Close your eyes and imagine this… Imagine if our culture was taken to the -nth degree, to its logical end. Maybe Lady Gaga is president. Maybe digital devices hang in front of our faces, precluding any unmediated communication. Maybe our nations war over water. Maybe norms about intimacy and privacy have melted. And maybe our speech has deteriorated into grunts, slang, and chuckles. If North American culture keeps it up, we could be in big trouble. Our culture is infatuated with stars like Justin Bieber, and our top TV show is even called “American Idol.” We revel in Charlie Sheen “winning.” Our king is LeBron. Chatroulette and PostSecret spotlight our basest tendencies and hidden shames. College grades are inflated. Polar...
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