Recent Posts

Hunger at home: Five surprising facts on child hunger in America

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Lindsey Minerva in Conversations

Recently, a woman approached me and asked if I could spare change for a meal. Without thinking, I said, “I’m sorry, I don’t have any money.” My cheeks automatically flushed with embarrassment, and my heart sank. I had meant to say I didn’t have cash to give her. It was completely obvious that a lack of money wasn’t something I was dealing with. It was my birthday. I had spent the day exploring downtown Seattle and shopping with my friends. We were just leaving a restaurant, shopping bags in hand, when the woman approached. Walking back to our car, I was ashamed at the thoughtlessness of my comment. But the uncomfortable pit in my stomach wasn’t just that. I was...

PHOTOS: When empty shelves threaten lives

Posted on July 2, 2012 by World Vision social media team in Causes, Partnerships

When empty shelves threaten lives | World Vision Blog

Here in the United States, when our little ones come down with common childhood illnesses, we have relatively easy access to over-the-counter medicines and supplies that can treat them and ease their suffering. Rarely, if ever, do such ailments become life-threatening. Tragically, the opposite is often true in developing countries. Children who become ill with treatable conditions — such as worms, diarrhea, pneumonia, and malaria — seek treatment at local clinics, but the shelves there are frequently empty. Poverty renders basic medicines and supplies unaffordable or inaccessible, and children’s lives are needlessly placed at risk. World Vision works with pharmaceutical companies and other corporate partners, who donate medications and medical supplies that we can ship and distribute to clinics around...

Gaming for a greater cause

Posted on June 28, 2012 by Guest blogger in Partnerships

World Vision recently announced an exciting new partnership that reaches into territory we’ve never been before: online gaming. Verge Games created Grumpy Goats with the aim to provide an online gaming experience with a greater purpose: donating a real goat to a family in need through World Vision’s Gift Catalog. Today’s guest contributor, Bob Regular, president of Verge Games, shares his vision and heart for this idea....

How much is a life worth?

Posted on June 27, 2012 by Rich Stearns in Conversations

In the news business, there’s a saying that goes, “One dead fireman in Brooklyn is worth five English bobbies, who are worth fifty Arabs, who are worth five hundred Africans.” I quoted this in my first book, The Hole in Our Gospel. It’s understandable that we identify and sympathize with the people closest to us. We have a harder time empathizing with people who are somehow removed — whether geographically, culturally, religiously, or nationally. It’s normal. But it’s not okay....

Before disasters strike

Posted on June 25, 2012 by Jeff Wright in Disaster Relief

There’s a common misconception that, whether we’re ordinary citizens or professional disaster-responders, we’re all helplessly at the mercy of unexpected, random disasters, both natural and man-made. The truth is, it’s rare for disasters to be totally random — and they’re almost never totally unexpected! Organizations like World Vision and professionals who engage in disaster response are increasingly investing time and energy into what we call “early warning/early action.” The more we can predict when and where a disaster will strike, the more we can prepare for it. And the more we prepare for it, the less traumatic and devastating it will be when it actually happens. There are a number of different tools we have available to assist in the...