Good Things From Tough Places

Can anything good come from Nazareth? This is how Nathaniel, who became one of Jesus’s apostles, responded when he learned where Jesus was from.

It’s a question our scholars often face themselves—either as they interview for jobs or enter schools outside of their community surrounding the city’s dumpsite.

Applying to become a Samaritan Scholar in 2021, Danielle wrote to our team in Jamaica:

“Majority of my life, I was looked down on because of where I am coming from but I am about to prove the doubters wrong. Can anything good come out of Riverton Meadows? Yes, it is possible, one hundred percent, and I am a living testimony to that.”

This is Danielle, last week, living out that testimony, upon graduation to become a professional midwife.

Danielle is also our first alumni network coordinator in Jamaica.  She is leading the efforts on our team to keep all of our graduates in Jamaica well connected with each other and the Samaritan Scholars coming behind them.  

She is one of five we have hired over the last year to maximize the potential of our graduates. The coordinators exemplify our mission; they are living proof of the good things happening in their communities.

I thought it might be helpful to share with you the good news coming out of these communities and to introduce you to our alumni network coordinators, knowing that they will be working with you and for you to help others break out of poverty in the days ahead.

None of this would have happened if not for that man from Nazareth 2,000 years ago.  This Christmas season, may we all experience the love and the peace of Jesus, knowing that He continues to make all things work together for good, no matter how difficult the place or circumstance, for those who love him and are called for his purposes.  

Every year, we get questions on different ways you can give. Here are four unique ways you can make a meaningful impact before the end of 2023.  

Mike Tenbusch, IntSam President

Mike joined International Samaritan in 2018 after two decades of leading social change in his hometown of Detroit, Michigan. He’s a University of Michigan Law grad and author of The Jonathan Effect: Helping Kids and Schools Win the Battle Against Poverty. He and his wife, Maritza, have three children who keep them young.