The Adventures Of Jason Miles

Romania 2009 Home & Program visits...

2009-11-19T16:41:00.000-08:00

Friday, Nov 7: We arrived in Bucarest, (RIN Hotel), and had a wonderful dinner with Aurora and Dragos!

Saturday, Nov 8: Devos out of Chapter 5, (The 3 Greatest Commandments), from The Hole In Our Gospel lead by Rosario. It was fun to hear her story of immigration from Bolivia and her perspective on global poverty. Drive to Cluj with a stop in Sighisoara, birthplace of Vlad the Impaler, aka Dracula. Fun times!

Sunday, Nov 9: Devos from Chapter 10 (What's Wrong With This Picture) of The Hole In Our Gospel lead by Kathy. Sponsorship visits! My sponsor family is doing well, although the mom is unexpected pregnant with triplets!! It's been such an honor to sponsor them for 8 years, and visit them 3 times. Wow Triplets! We were all excited, but also talked about the challenges. For a family that only made $70 per month when the mom was working, this is going to be very difficult financially.

We also got in a quick visit to Bannfy Castle Ruins.

Monday, Nov 10:

Morning: Double Devos! Chapter 4 (Towering Pillars Of Compassion and Justice) from THIOG, lead by me, and devos with the Cluj ADP team lead by Vali Sabua, what an amazing leader! He shared about Jacob wrestling with God and losing, but being blessed. The injury to his hip is translated into Romanian as his 'agony' and Vali did a nice job tying it to "The Agonies We Live With".

First Home Visit: Roma family visit demonstrating a nice partnership between the Orthodox church and the World Vision Cluj Team.

Second visit to a father who has liver cancer, and a 11 year old son. The mom is working abroad as a prostitute and sends them money regularly and visits them a couple times a year. They live in a converted pigpen/horse stable. We all wondered what would happen if the father doesn't make it. Obviously poverty/desperation can rob people of respect. This was a very hard story to hear. I won't show pics of this one.

Third Home visit and lunch: Pentecostal dairy farmers. Wonderful success story of a family that was responsible for 18 cows under communism, and now basically do the same thing, but reap the rewards of their hard work.

(Mary with the Grandmother)

Monday Night: Overview of Youth In Transition program with Edit the program manager & psychologist so that we are ready to meet with the teens Tuesday. Remember the 1990 20/20 show? Yeah, these are the teenages & early twenty year olds that were raised in that system. She explained the attachment disorders/trauma associated with institutionalization, and how the program works with teens to prepare them for life on the outside, and how to deal with the issues they face. She is a saint. These kids are in such desperate need of help. They call World Vision their 'mom & dad'. We discussed the program funding challenges for a long time and how we can all help her get the resources she needs to continue this important work.

Tuesday, Nov 11: Devos from chapter 25 (Time, Talent, Treasure) of THIOG with Phyllis. Her perspective is profound because of her life experiences.

Morning home visits with the Bus(h) family (spelled Bus, pronounced Bush). The girls walk 3.2 miles to school through the beautiful Carpathian Mountains (we clocked it on the odometer). Their dogs go with them to protect them on the walk because there are wolves (wow). We were all amazed to hear their struggle for education. They are in the sponsorship program but have never had a sponsor - we all agreed to fix that problem!

Lunch with a sponsor family (wow) what a lunch (6 course meal).

Tuesday Night: Youth In Transition program visit. We had a great time with the teens from YIT. They asked why we cared and how we were able to come so far to help the people of Romania. We each shared a short version of our testimony and tried to encourage them to have a goal, stay in school, and trust in God.

Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009

Devos with Kevin, Chapter 8 (The Greatest Challenge Of The New Millennium) of THIOG. The family visit today was particularly compelling. Annie Maria is a 26 year old mom, with 6 beautiful kids.

Her husband left her, and she has no income. The local Church has helped her by giving her a small 2 bedroom house to stay in for the winter, but it has to be used in the spring for another situation. There is no running water. The babies (twins) are just 4 or 5 months old. The highlight was seeing her excitement when we asked about her sponsor. She went and got the letters from Nicky Strang. (wow) great sponsor. (postscript - I spoke to Nicky tonight and told her all about the visit and sent her a link to the pictures. She said it was the highlight of her year). Our heart went out to Annie Maria.

Thursday: 9 Hour Drive Day! Instead of long devos we all just read and considered Psalm 103.

"The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed...

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love...

Friday, Nov. 12, 2009. Devos with the Bucarest (WVR Headquarters) Staff. We lead devotions by sharing about what we had seen. Sam Vorhees was also there and shared a bit about leadership challenges. We prayed for Anna, a girl abducted from one of the WVR program sites. They had credible evidence that she had been abducted and taken to italy (likely for prostitution).

Morning visit - Sector 5 Placement Center (Orphanage). WOOOWWWW! What a miracle. 2 years ago we visited this same location. It was a very tired and sad facility. One person on the trip even had to walk out during the tour because it was so difficult to see, smell, experience. World Vision had just gotten approval to partner there with the staff and overhaul the facility and programs. Did they ever! You would never imagine it was the same place. The facility is beautiful, the programs are well staffed and organized. They showed us what they called their continuum of services, starting with a maternal shelter, and then a preschool, then counseling and services for parents of Children With Disabilities, and then the residential living area for 60 children. This was spectacular, and I'd imagine as good or better than anything we could do in the U.S.

I told Mariana the program manager that...

"We underestimated your ability to perform miracles"

She laughed and said it was all God.

For the afternoon visit the team broke up and saw different things. My group went to a very dangerous area of Sector 5 (the most impoverished sector of Bucarest) and visited a family that has 9 children (and the mom is pregnant). The apartment was roughly 10 feet by 6 feet (incredibly small). No bathroom. The fathers first comment was, "no one would help us until World Vision did". Both parents and the youngest child have Hepatitis C, and the government, because of confusion about their address, would not provide them with any services. World Vision stepped in and is actively working to get their paperwork straightened out so they can access governmental services. When we prayed for the mom she began crying loudly and thanked us. The sponsorship worker said they became aware of this family because one of their program beneficiaries said, "I'm poor, but this family needs your help more than me". And she took the World Vision worker to meet the family.

Saturday, Nov. 14 2009. Debriefing Day!

The schedule included:

A. Trip schedule recap & review (Wow, it's amazing how you can forget whole sections of your itinerary from just a few days prior. The hole in my short term memory)

B. Personal Reflection Time, answering 8 questions:

1. My experience has been...

2. For me, Romania means...

3. I will be going back home to...

4. When I go back home my prayers will include...

5. An area I have seen God work in my life is...

6. I see the Gospel differently because...

7. The thing about my experience I want to share most is...

8. I have seen God at work in (list each team-mate and give an answer)...

C. Follow-Up Items - what promises did you make, (or decisions) to who?

1. A wall adapter for my sponsor girl's new electronic toy (done)

2. A new (GN ) for my sponsor family

3. Orchestrating full funding for the YIT Program & visit of Olga & Edit

4. Contacting Nicky Strang the sponsor of Annie Maria and her 6 kids (Done, that was fun).

5. Get the trafficking DVD for Trinity off the Meero site

6. Get video greeting of Edit & Olga & Kristina finished for donors

7. Send a copy of all my pics and video to Trinity

8. Finish the expenses

9. Bring a track jacket to Johnathan next time I come

Romania 2009 Trip Slideshow

2009-11-16T18:52:00.000-08:00

The Trinity Presbyterian Team visited Cluj Area Development Program from November 5th to 15th 2009. This is the 6th trip to Cluj for the church, and my 3rd! Here are the highlights in picture, enjoy:

Find more photos like this on Cluj Partner Pages

A Month To Remember - October 09, Microsoft's Redmond Campus...

2009-11-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

Talking to hundreds of Microsoft employees in October was fun! Here is a nice Article ...
http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/east_king/bel/community/68924092.html

My favorite pics from Esther's Needs Care Center

2009-04-11T14:55:00.000-07:00

(Yes, I took all these pictures, (the best work I've ever done)...

Zambia March 2009

2009-03-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Find more videos like this on MPPC Lusaka 2009

Find more videos like this on MPPC Lusaka 2009

Find more videos like this on MPPC Lusaka 2009

Find more videos like this on MPPC Lusaka 2009

Find more videos like this on MPPC Lusaka 2009

My favorite pics from the Pacific Medical Kit Build

2008-09-12T14:50:00.000-07:00

Favorite Pics Berkeley 1st Pres Kit Builds

2008-09-12T14:31:00.000-07:00

Favorite Pics RNC Kit Build

2008-09-12T14:25:00.000-07:00

Favorite Pics From The DNC Kit Build

2008-09-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

My Tijuana pics from August 08

2008-08-25T23:12:00.000-07:00

More of what I thought I wanted, but realize I can't handle...

2008-04-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

More home visits with Caregivers...this time in Lesotho - the Mountain Kingdom.

First home, we visit a widow that is HIV positive. We meet her four beautiful children - all of them are also HIV positive. We hear her story, and try to encourage her. We pray for her, but the whole time each of us were trying not to cry (at least it seemed that way to me). Her caregiver helps her a lot. And all five are on medication.

Second home, a child-headed household situation. The older sister is 22 and has AIDS. She cares for four younger siblings, and three cousins. All the parents are dead. She was so down emotionally, but we spent a lot of time there, helped stack up her firewood, and plant cabbage seedlings in her garden. She was really grateful. She said she has wanted to plant something in her garden for a long time but has been too weak. When we left she told us she loved us. That broke my heart. The caregiver, in this case, lives right next door, and checks on them every day. But is that adequate?? I guess it has to be.

Third home, a young man 26, full blown AIDS. We walked up carrying a blanket as a gift and the Caregiver smiled and said, "he was just saying how cold he was this morning". We had also brought an umbrella for the caregiver, then it started raining pretty much as we handed it to her. Amazing.

Fourth home, a 28 year old lady. Dying. She had been released from the local adventist hospital for home based care. The caregiver was in charge of that. She had 2 children that were not with her. Her story was sad. Her husband had died, and when her in-laws found out she was sick too then pretty much stopped helping her in any way. So she returned to her home village to receive care from her own people - her mom and the caregiver were doing everything they could.

Basically, for several weeks I've been deeply troubled emotionally. I think a couple afternoons of walking in the shoes of a caregiver was too much for me to handle. I pray for them more now. Realizing that God has gifted them for what they are doing. I pray that God will do miracles and keep them encouraged. It's amazing to think that there are 59,000 Caregivers doing this right now, just through World Vision's ministry. I pray that I'll be able to share these stories so that people care...

Care that in just 3 'wards' of the Umzimvubu area there are 800 full (meaning both parents are lost) orphans that World Vision works with. And there are 17 wards in Umzimvubu in total. No one is working in the other 14 wards. No charities, no missionaries, nothing (that we are aware of anyway).

Care that by 2010 there will be 53 million orphans in Africa from all causes including AIDS.

Care that the life expectancy in South Africa is 46

Care that the life expectancy in Lesotho is 36

Care that the average income in Lesotho is $700 per year.

A few highlights from Umzimvubu South Africa - recent trip

2008-04-05T08:25:00.000-07:00

My March trip to South Africa and Lesotho was hard. Have you ever asked for something you thought you wanted, then when you got it, you realized you couldn't handle it? Yeah, this trip I asked very specifically for the chance to walk from house to house (actually hut to hut) with Caregivers, and meet their clients. We did it for a couple days, one in South Africa, one in Lesotho. The caregivers are the heroes of our story here, not the Americans, (that's for sure).

The first home was a man dying, probably had a few months to live. He was coughing uncontrollably. He had been treated for TB already, but we (all 9 in the group) were worried about being exposed. Everyone was too scared to talk. The man was happy to great us, and have us pay him a visit. He was told that "Americans" had heard about the Caregiver ministry and wanted to come and encourage Caregivers and clients. We told him the same thing, and he was very quick to say wonderful things about his caregiver, between fits of coughing. We prayed for him, and chatted with him in an affirming (hopefully) way. This was pretty much hospice care type stuff, a difficult thing for anybody, let alone strangers, but we did it in a way that felt kind to him. His eight year old daughter watched it all quietly. We wondered what would happen to her after he's gone.

Second home, Mother of two children, widow, HIV positive. The babies aren't. She is on medication and is strong enough to even serve as a caregiver to others, and to work in the community garden. In fact, we met her a day earlier as one of the caregivers, so when we got to her home, we were confused. They explained that she was a client, (and still is), but had gotten strong enough physically to want to help, so she's a caregiver now too. That's pretty cool.

Third home, a mother of three children, one of them is severly disabled. She just found out she is HIV positive. She was devastated, wondering what was going to happen to her son. We all joined her in that concern, comforted her, prayed for her, then left.

You can see AMAZING pictures of our trip from one of the travelers, photographer Mark Kuroda. He is my hero too - for his ability to capture a moment, and share it so powerfully. Here's a link to his amazing work...

Trip visit video of South Africa and Lesotho

2008-03-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

Wow I love the singing!!

My Favorite Pics from the Palo Alto High Kit Build

2008-03-12T14:43:00.000-07:00

April / May Initiative - Equipping 30,000 looks possible...

2008-02-17T09:21:00.001-08:00

If you're reading this you already know the stuff I'm into - equipping caregivers, mobilizing people - connecting locals with the global AIDS Crisis. Yeah team.

So, here's an update on our Bay Area Caregiver Kit Initiative - as of now, we are set to have about 30,000 kits built this year through some amazing local partners including individuals (big cash gifts) companies, churches, and schools. Based on the partners so far we will mobilize about 5,500 people as we do this.

Last year we mobilized over 4,000 people locally, and generated 22,000 Caregiver Kits. If you don't understand how this program works, or want to put on your 'let's criticize this idea instead of getting involved cap' then check out the ning site and watch all the videos. Make sure you watch the educational vidoe too. And email me, I'll show you precisly why this is a GREAT program that is absolutely helping combat the global crisis.

If you want to get involved in the April/May Initiative to equip caregivers - email me. On Friday we got pledges for about 8,000 kits, which gets us to 30,000, but sadly, we need much much more.

World AIDS Day - 12/1/07

2007-12-01T18:48:00.000-08:00

Yeah, today in partnership with the Journey church we had over 300 people assemble 1,000 Caregiver Kits to equip HIV/AIDS frontline responders aka Caregivers through (who else) World Vision. Having Mayor Chuck Reed endorse the effort was awesome! And we made the San Jose Mercury News...

Romania 2007

2007-11-21T22:27:00.000-08:00

Yeah, another great trip to Romania! Visiting the work in Cluj and Bucharest was outstanding. This year we set up the pictures and video on a social network site so everyone could share easily. Cool stuff, check it out at ClujPartnerPages.ning.com

Here's the team video...

Laura Bush Builds Caregiver Kits In Zambia Good Morning America Interview

2007-06-28T15:52:00.000-07:00

Wow, check this out - The First Lady visited the World Vision's HIV/AIDS work yesterday & today and helped distribute Caregiver kits. There is about a 50% chance that the kits she helped distribute originated here in the Bay Area since half of all kits completed to date are local. Fun! Here's the Good Morning America Interview clip and one from CBN.

450 In Berkeley Battle AIDS!!

2007-05-05T20:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah Berkeley First Presbyterian - Way to go!! By mobilizing 450 local volunteers to spend today building Caregiver Kits, you've helped equip 2,250 frontline responders in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Great Job!

Flexing Our Compassion

2007-04-24T07:48:00.000-07:00

This weekend I was privileged to participate in Menlo Park Presbyterian's Compassion Weekend 07 - Wow, the Woodstock of Caregiver Kit Builds! Together we completed 8,000 kits! Young and old, boys and girls, teachers and students. All doing our best to equip Caregivers battling the AIDS Pandemic. Yeah Team!!

Watch a bit of the chaos below...

Ethiopia: Friday Morning - Visiting Sponsor Children!!

2007-04-13T21:48:00.000-07:00

This morning was really fun as I visited sponsor children in Adama. What precious kids!

Ethiopia: Friday - BioGas!!

2007-04-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

On Friday I had the chance to visit an innovative program being funded by an Australian Grant. It was specifically designed to improve the lives of women in the village of Wakemiya Tiyo. The project was a bio-gas cooking system that was very clever. It was just being installed for 25 families. I visited 2 of them. It was a simple system that did a lot of good!

First, it allowed the women to cook without requiring them to gather firewood, which has been a traditional chore for them. Gathering wood could take hours out of their day and deforested the local environment leading to a dryer, dustier village.

Now with the biogas cooking system - the ladies can simply turn a valve, and fire up their stovetop. Life simplified!!

The husband/farmer gets 3 big benefits - first, improved fertilizer as the biproduct of the system helps improve his farming production, second, milk from the cows involved improve the health of the family, and finally, the system uses 2 young cows - and once they are mature and fattened, they are taken to the local cattle yard and sold. The money - big money - is used to buy 2 young replacement cows, and there is cash left over to improve the livelihood of the family and pay off the cost of the system.

Financially, the system is self sustaining, the family only starts by paying 10% of the cost upfront -roughly $US20. Then the rest of the money is paid off from the sale of the cows at the cattle yard. With the system repaid, the funds can be used to assist another family. The communities goal is to have the system installed in 100 families homes.

Here's the video clip of how the methane production works...and the wife lighting the burner. Warning - This is sort of gross - but also strangely cool...

Ethiopia: Thursday morning devotions with the ADP staff

2007-04-12T21:43:00.000-07:00

This morning was fun! We started with devotions with the ADP staff - here's a brief sample, (the song says - "there is no one like Jesus"),

Ethiopia: Thursday - Visiting Communities in Adama ADP

2007-04-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today we had a chance to host a group from Menlo Park Presbyterian in Adama ADP. Together we visited 2 communities to learn about the Community Care Coalitions, meet children, and tried to comprehend what life is like in rural Ethiopia. 3 stories stand out!

First, in Awash Melkasa, the Community Care Coalition - with a total of 5 home visitors - were caring for 505 Orphans & Vulneralble children. Their greatest joy was the fact that they were able to take 10 of the children to run in the 'Great Race' in Addis, and one of their kids won his age bracket! He was a local star! His poster was plastered every where. He was now in Addis and had joined a top running club.

Second, in Adulala Koshe, the Community Care Coalition decided it was going to focus on combating harmful cultural traditions. The first 2 children we met were supposed to be married to older men - they were 13 years old. The CCC group intervened and got support by the local police department to ensure the girls didn't have to marry. Yeah! (As a side note, I met with one of the girls and her older brother on Friday morning just before they were set to go before the local judge to discuss the situation. Our staff was there walking alongside them. We tried to encourage them and tell them we were proud of them for being so brave.

Third, in the same village, the CCC group heard about 2 orphans who were getting their land stolen by a distant uncle. The CCC group intervened - stopped the land-grabbing - and ensured the girls were looked after. It was great to meet the girls and hear their stories. The CCC group was on a mission to care for children, stop the cultural practices that were causing harm, and ensure their community grew stronger over time.

Finally, that afternoon I had the chance to sit in a rural hut and meet a young mother. 24. She was a victim of the early marriage practice. She had an 11 year old son, and 2 other younger children. Her husband had divorced her, and she was struggling to survive. The World Vision staff and CCC group had begun helping her and were working with her to get her kids into school. She served us coffee as she told us her story. It was a struggle to understand what seems like cosmic unfairness. We get a nice life - she gets this.

Ethiopia: Wednesday - Time To Meet CCCs!!!

2007-04-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Today I drove to the town of Nazreth, also called Adama. Our program staff met me there. They were terrific!! The Area Development Program Manager for Adama - Meskerem, looks like LL Cool J if you ask me. He was a terrific host! We met Community Care Coalitions and heard about how they were making a difference. Both groups we met with were passionate about assisting the Orphans & Vulnerable children in their communities. Too many great stories to remember!

Ethiopia: Tuesday, A Terrific Day With Getenesh

2007-04-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hey you old Pathways friends - Be Jealous, Be Very Jealous!! I got to spend a day with Gete!

For you non - Pathways people - Getenesh and I started in an Eastern University graduate program together. She's the Director of Finance for World Vision Ethiopia, and a wonderful and kind friend. We met in Toronto for four summers in a row from 2001 to 2004 and graduated in 2005. If it hadn't been for her (and several other finance pros), I'm sure I wouldn't have passed accounting! It was really fun to visit the World Vision Ethiopia office - meet her team - and have coffee Ethiopian style with the employees in their cafeteria.

Of course during lunch we couldn't help but talk about overhead issues, cost accounting, and the difficulties of compensation practices in countries with disperate costs of labor, and other fun topics

Ethiopia: Monday Morning - Reality Check with Dr. Doug

2007-04-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

This morning I sat with Dr. Doug a Pediatrician from Davis as he worked in a Pediatric AIDS Clinic.

The first child - Kirby - seven years old - He's HIV positive and has just contracted pneumonia. I played with him while the Dr. explained things to the father about the pneumonia medication.

Second child - Danny - 10 years old - came in with his mom to have the results of his HIV test told to him. There was an intense moment as Dr. Doug held the results of the test in his hands - and took a deep breath before speaking...we were all on the edge of our seat. But - the result was negative - no HIV - the mom cried and cried and thanked us - we all celebrated together.

Third child - an adorable little girl - Tsion - 5 years old. She was raped 3 months ago. They are still not sure if she's contracted HIV or not. They'll test her for HIV again soon. I emotionally disconnected after this one - that was all I could take. I hung around for a while, but only until a ride showed up.

These kids, roughly the same ages as mine, are the reality.

Ethiopia: Easter 2007 In Ethiopia

2007-04-08T19:17:00.000-07:00

Wow, first day in Ethiopia. My friend Getenesh took me to church - The International Evangelical Church in Addis. Great time! Then her and her lovely family hosted me for an authentic Ethiopian Easter meal.

Larry Jones - Feed The Children

2006-12-29T08:23:00.000-08:00

In 1979, Larry Jones attended a conference in Port Au Prince, Haiti, the poverty capital of the Western hemisphere. While there he met a small, thin boy named Jerry.

Larry’s brief encounter with that hungry child was something he would never forget. He began to wonder how many other children in the world were hungry and what he could do about it.

Returning to his home in Oklahoma, Larry compared the abundance of food in America’s overflowing grain elevators to the empty bread basket in a country just two hundred miles away.

Larry began to tell Jerry’s story on television, asking the simple question, “Why should children be starving to death while we have surplus wheat in America?”

Feed The Children was born.

By 2002, the organization distributed 63 million pounds of food and 24 million pounds of other essentials to children and families in all 50 states and in 51 foreign countries. The organization supplemented over 484,453 meals per day worldwide.

Larry Jones - I admire you!

George Williams - YMCA

2006-12-29T08:19:00.000-08:00

In 1841, George Williams moved to London to work as a salesmen in a draper’s shop. He was just 20 years old and was shocked by the immoral lifestyles he saw lived out each day. (Wow, I wonder what he'd think of modern day America?)

He and a group of like-minded Christians organized the first Young Men’s Christian Association to substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets. The idea caught on quickly and just 10 years later, there were 24 YMCAs in Great Britain, with a combined membership of 2,700.

In 1854, the first international convention was held in Paris. At the time there were 397 separate Y’s in seven nations, with 30,369 members total.

In 1894, George Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria for his YMCA work. He passed away and was buried in 1905 under the floor of St. Paul's Cathedral, among that nation’s heroes and statesmen.

Today, the YMCA and its counterpart for women, the YWCA, continue as global movements, touching the lives of millions.

George Muller - The George Muller Foundation

2006-12-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

George Muller was born in September of 1805 in the kingdom of Prussia. He was the son of a tax collector. He was a bad kid. By age 10 he was regularly stealing government money that was entrusted to his father. At age 14 his mother passed away unexpectedly. That night he stayed up until 2 am playing cards with his friends, then went to a tavern for drinks. By age 16 he was a convincing young con artist and thief. He had the habit of visiting luxury hotels and inns pretending to be an upstanding citizen, then skip out without paying. Finally, that year he was arrested and sentenced to prison. A year later he was released after his father paid restitution. His father arranged for him to finish high school and surprisingly, he was accepted into University. While he was there he began attending a Bible study and committed his life to Christ.

His studies took him to England were he remained most of his life. At the age of 25 he was serving as a Pastor for a small congregation in Teignmouth. He began to be concerned about the churches practice of renting pews to parishioners. In those days, as a form of financial support, the church would rent the pew to families. In this way they would always have a place to sit and the financial needs of the church would be covered. The problem George had with this was that it meant the poorer folks were relegated to the back.

George became convinced that the right thing to do was to give up his salary and live entirely by faith. The church agreed and George and his young wife began living without a predictable income. For several years George and his wife, Mary, struggled with their finances. Time after time, when almost penniless, God would provide. They agreed to never speak about their financial needs to anyone, and they would not send out any type of appeal letter. Instead, they would pray and believe for miracles.

Their work grew and prospered. they established a missionary training school, which had included Sunday Schools, day schools and adult schools. While his ministry was growing and seemingly blessed. Two events occurred that lead George in a new direction.

One day George was presented with a heart-wrenching story about a little orphan boy who had been attending their day school. The boy was shipped to a facility outside of the city and could no longer attend school. The "Poor House" that he was sent to allowed adults to live with children and it meant the boy would likely be abused and mistreated in many ways. On another occasion, George visited a parishioner who was a hard working family man. So hard working in fact, he was spending 14 to 16 hours a day at his job and was physically, emotionally and spiritually exhausted. George pleaded with him to slow down and spend more time with his family and in prayer. His response was that he could barely make ends meet now, and that if he worked less he wouldn't be able to support his family. George told him, 'it's not your work which supports your family, but the Lord'. George did his best to convince the man that by faith, he could trust God to supply the needs of his family. The man respectfully listened to George’s stories of God’s faithfulness, and the conversation ended. George left knowing that the man believed in God, but wasn't trusting in God in a practical way.

George decided the best way to give the town a visible object lesson was to prove in a large way that God could take care of those in need. He began dreaming of opening an orphanage for the town’s homeless children. But he would do it without ever asking for support. He prayed that God would supply all the resources necessary. As George prayed, item-by-item, God came through. First he received unsolicited money. Then a husband and wife who said they felt called to support the project by giving all their household goods, and working for free as house parents. Then he received a house, then another. Money poured in without it ever being asked for.

Eventually, George & Mary's orphanages supported 700 kids at a time, and over the years, thousands of orphans were assisted.

Today The George Muller Foundation is still blessing those in need. Although their activities have changed, the heart of the work is still the same, demonstrating to others that faith in God makes sense.

George Muller - I admire you!

Loren Cunningham - YWAM

2006-12-29T07:57:00.000-08:00

In 1960, a young Christian named Loren Cunningham had a vision. In the vision he saw a map of the world, but it was no ordinary map; it was alive. He could see all the continents with waves hitting their shores. The waves crashed into the continents, going farther and farther each time. But the waves weren't destroying the nations, they were blessing them. In his vision the waves changed into young people. They went ashore and spoke to person after person while going from house to house.

Shortly after Loren had this vision, he decided to start a new organization dedicated to sending young people on short-term oversees outreaches. He named the new organization Youth With A Mission (YWAM). Since then, YWAM has become a movement of Christians working to help make a difference in a needy world. They strive to know Christ and make Him known. By the year 2000, YWAM had over 11,000 staff from over 130 countries.

Loren Cunningham - I admire you

Arthur Ringland and Lincoln Clark - CARE

2006-12-29T07:52:00.000-08:00

By the end of World War II, 30 million people were dead. Europe had over 13 million refugees and its cities were destroyed. Starvation, sickness and disease threatened to sweep through the war-torn continent. Unemployment was incredibly high and families that had once enjoyed a stable, middle class life, struggled for survival. In the US people wanted a way to help their European friends and relatives. No method for delivering assistance was available. The Marshall Plan had not yet been thought of, and average Americans wanted a way to personally assist their loved ones in Europe.

Two friends, Arthur Ringland and Lincoln Clark had a vision to see assistance provided to Europe. They remember how in the aftermath of World War I, Herbert Hoover led an effort to assist refugees. His program was a partnership with the American Banker’s Association. In those days you could walk into any bank in America and purchase a $10 package to be sent to a friend or relative in Europe.

Arthur and Lincoln new it could happen again. But how could they pull it off? Wisely, they approached a consortium of 22 charities in New York and proposed such a program. After months of discussions and planning, the charity agreed to support the venture and on November 27th the “Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe” was formed. The abbreviation CARE immediately began to stick, but the fledgling organization wasn’t without challenges. A well-respected corporate executive was hired to lead the new organization and after one month on the job, he resigned and boldly proclaimed the new organization would never work. Even if the American public would pay for packages to be sent, assembling them, shipping them, and delivering them to an individual would represent a huge expense that could not easily be paid for.

Undaunted, Arthur and Lincoln pressed on with the vision. Then the break that they needed emerged in a surprising way. To prepare for a long and difficult invasion of Japan, the US Government had stockpiled millions of army rations in the South Pacific. At the end of 1945 these surplus rations sat untouched in warehouses in the Philippines. Arthur and Lincoln went to work and after a few months, CARE took ownership of 2.8 million 10-in-1 rations. These were designed to feed 10 men for a day, or 1 man for 10 days. They included canned meat, dried milk, raisins, chocolate and cigarettes. The CARE package was born.

In the spring of 1946 the CARE packages went on sale and by May the first shipment arrived in France. The vision had become a reality. Then something surprising happened. A clerk at CARE’s office in New York received an order for a package, but instead of information about a recipient in Europe with a specific name and address, it simply read, “For a hungry person in Europe”. This anonymous donor, and their act of compassion, revolutionized the work of the organization and transformed the CARE package into a symbol of generosity. Soon a tidal wave of such generosity began to flow from Americans to Europeans in the form of CARE packages, not to a specific person, but to any person who was in need. Americans loved the CARE packages and eventually sent more than 100 million.

The program was so successful that it was expanded to assist those in need in Asia, Latin America and Africa. CARE is still assisting people worldwide.

Arthur Ringland and Lincoln Clark - I admire you!

Larry Ward - Food For The Hungry

2006-12-29T07:45:00.000-08:00

In 1971 Dr. Larry Ward was 50. He had served for years in Christian ministry and had dedicated his life to the poor.

He was a gifted writer, editor and photojournalist. But somehow, he felt that he needed to do more. He was at a crossroads in his life. He was frustrated by the massive loss of life he saw through his many travels.

In a time of intimate prayer he asked God, “I'm just one man, how can I help so many dying people?" He felt God’s clear response, "They die one at a time, you can help them one at a time". The response was enough to compel Ward to found a new charity focused on delivering Emergency Relief to the most desperate of situations. Food For The Hungry was born. Since 1971 Food For The Hungry has grow to become a global organization helping the most desperate people in the most desperate circumstances. They work in many countries around the world.

Dr. Ward, I admire you bro!