Category Archives: Stories

Now, the work begins

Editor’s note: The World Vision family is comprised of thousands of staff members from various personal, professional, and spiritual backgrounds — each of whom has a unique story of being led to our ministry. To highlight this diversity, we’re starting a monthly series in which a different World Vision staff person will share “what working at World Vision means to me.” Growing up as one of the only Asian Americans in my predominately white neighborhood, I was often on the receiving end of racial slurs. This left me angry and confused. I often felt misplaced. In college, I began to ask questions about my family’s past. I hoped to find something that would explain all the childhood teasing and bullying....
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‘The Hole In Our Gospel’ inspires football coach to sell his home

My email inbox is notorious for housing second-hand articles from my colleagues about new technology, philanthropy, trends in new media, or nonprofit stories — my typical work-related interests. But last week, several work friends sent me the UGA Sports Blog article, “Mark Richt sells Lake Hartwell property.” When I first started reading it, I was thinking that my colleagues who sent me this must think I’m an avid Georgia sports fan, even though I went to college in California, and have never even visited Georgia (nor do I keep up with college football). My short attention span had just about given up on the article when I read this paragraph about half way down: “Within the last year, I read...
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You are remembered

Editor’s note: This Memorial Day, we honor the sacrifices made by men and women in the military — as well as others whose service and sacrifice is equally worthy of recognition, even if it wasn’t done in military uniform. There’s a movement in some quarters to expand the roster of those honored on Memorial Day beyond the veterans of formally declared wars. My uncle returned from World War II a decorated bomber pilot for 24 completed missions, and my father, his younger brother, came back shell-shocked and on the brink of ruin. But for me, it takes nothing away from their sacrifices to honor others this day who suffered and/or died to make a better world, even if they didn’t...
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‘We refuse to be enemies’

It was one of the most memorable meals I’ve ever had. The location was a hilltop west of Bethlehem about a month ago, and my fellow dinner guests were 30 pastors and church leaders from the United States. That night, our bus parked at a cement-and-barbed-wire barricade, and we hiked about half a mile over two such barricades to have dinner at the top of the hill — in a cave! The prominent sign at the end of our hike proclaimed the slogan: “We refuse to be enemies.” The parcel of land west of Bethlehem is only about 100 acres. It is owned by the Nassar family, a Palestinian Christian family who have lived on and farmed the land since...
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A gazillion steps away

Though my children are getting old for picture books, I can still talk them into snuggling with me on the couch every now and again to read with me. And if I’m really lucky, the kids will ask me to read them a bedtime story. When I got African Heartbeat from World Vision by Barb Christing, I made sure that I gathered up the kids and sat down for......
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