My Kids Are Like Duct Tape

My husband hit a milestone birthday this year. (I won’t tell you how old he is, but here’s a hint: it rhymes with “warty.”) A few months before his birthday, I had given a speech at my local Toastmasters club called “My Kids Are Like Duct Tape.” He said that his only birthday wish was …

Do Mission Trips Help or Hurt Development?

I first discovered the beauty and vast scope of God’s world through short-term mission trips.  For me, interacting with another culture on an overseas trip to the Philippines with my youth group was a critical moment not only in my own discipleship, but more specifically in shaping my life purpose toward holistic development. Of course, …

Two Churches that Inspire

Happy New Year! Over the holidays I wrote on the Food for the Hungry blog about two churches that I visited in December. Both churches were sharing child sponsorship with their congregations for the first time. One Church – Arizona   One Church is a newly planted church in Chandler, Arizona.  The reason I’m so impressed …

This Girl Made Typhoon Haiyan Personal

Sponsoring a child makes everything more personal. This truth hit home for me when Typhoon Haiyan struck, because my sponsored child lives in the Philippines. I wrote about Mariecris, her fate, and how she’s impacting my family on the Food for the Hungry blog.

5 disturbing barriers that keep kids out of school

I’m blogging today over at Food for the Hungry about back-to-school season. We take it for granted in the United States that our kids will go to school, but in developing countries, it’s not as easy. From my experience, I’ve seen five barriers that keep kids from attending school in poor places. To ensure that …

Picture your church in the Philippines

Today I’m posting over at FH about the Philippines. Here’s an excerpt. In Camarines Norte (“cah-mah-REEN-es NOR-tay), over half of the population lives below the poverty line. Children are vulnerable to chronic hunger. They go to school in classrooms that are bursting at the seams, sometimes with class sizes of 60 children or more. It’s …

Free Christmas materials for pastors

Yes, it’s July and I’m talking about Christmas. No, I don’t approve of Christmas displays at Costco and Target in July. But YES, I am talking about Christmas because your pastors are talking about Christmas, and that means this is the time for them to hear about Hope Tree! Here’s an excerpt from today’s blog over at …

Best 3 practices for raising generous children

I am always thinking about how to raise my children to be good global citizens  even though they are growing up in one of the most hedonistic cultures in today’s world. I haven’t figured it out by any stretch of the imagination, but today on the FH blog I shared three ways that I’m working …