Recent Posts

Train. Pray. Run. (6 questions with a 100-mile runner)

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Lindsey Talerico-Hedren in Causes, Child Sponsorship

Superman can defy gravity. Captain America has superhuman speed and endurance. Spider-Man can scale walls. For practically every law of nature, there is a superhero who can break that natural law. Michael Chitwood is one of those guys. Where no single person in their human physical condition should be able to do what he is about to do, Chitwood and three others are going to do just that. They’re going to run 100 miles in 21 straight hours — 74 miles through the night starting this afternoon, October 8, and then they will join 1,000 Team World Vision teammates for the final 26.2 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. When Michael first told me he was running 100 miles,...

Should we pray for our public leaders as much as we pray for ourselves?

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Robert Zachritz in Advocacy

Should we pray for our public leaders? | World Vision blog

Should we pray for our public leaders as much as we pray for ourselves? When praying for our elected officials, what should we be praying for? These are the questions I ask myself every year around this time in October as the first of the month marked the start of a new fiscal year for our federal government. That means some reflection on the past fiscal year, including major accomplishments and major deficits regarding federal policies. In my position at World Vision, these are especially important. October 1 is also the first day of a new fiscal year for World Vision offices. To appropriately honor the day, our staff members, volunteers, and World Vision supporters from all around the world...

Where are they from? A World Teachers’ Day pop quiz

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Heidi Isaza in Causes

My grandmother was a teacher. My mom taught special education. My brother teaches middle school math. My sister is on the school board. Clearly, the importance of a good education was instilled in me from a young age. Still, the teacher gene is not dominant in my DNA. I think it might have something to do with my patience — or lack thereof. Although teaching is not in my vocation, I understand and value the work of teachers across the United States and around the world. These dedicated servants are molding the future generations, often in difficult circumstances. In my time working with World Vision, I have had the privilege of meeting and interacting with many teachers around the world....

Mission above mammon: Charting a course for success

Posted on October 4, 2011 by Rich Stearns in Christian Witness, Partnerships

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...

On prayer… (LINK UP)

Posted on October 3, 2011 by Nish Weiseth in Conversations

I thread the glass beads between my tired fingers in my left hand. My right hand holds the pen to paper. I scratch out prayers in the quiet morning over coffee. God and I meet best in the early hours, my mind needing awakening and my bones still heavy from sleep. I suppose He’d meet me anytime, but I’m most sincere in the morning. I’ve never done well with prayer. It’s always been a hurdle to jump, my brick wall in the marathon of faith. Putting me in a group of people who speak whispered prayers makes me uneasy, and I clam up tight and choose to be quiet. If I speak my prayers, my language changes. I don’t sound...