Let’s Stand with Gen Z… for Life.
By Mike Tenbusch | September 24, 2021 I have the utmost respect for my three children, and for all their peers in Generation Z, for having to develop their own “personal brand” as teenagers growing up under today’s relentless, unforgiving glare of social media. Social...
How to Face Failure and Win
By Mike Tenbusch | August 31, 2021 Many people are joining the great IntSam 5K to get people the food they need to survive this global fight against the pandemic. Others are running because it’s a fun way to get in shape with friends and family. Not me. I’m...
Lessons from Kati and Willi
By Mike Tenbusch | August 13, 2021 In our most recent book club meeting, I was floored by the memories of Ron Salcer about his parents, Kati and Willi Salcer, two survivors of the Holocaust. Ron's parents never discussed their experiences until he was a young man and...
You’ve Got Me Head Over Heels
By Mike Tenbusch | July 09, 2021 Please accept my apology for not writing you in over a month. I’ve missed you! As much as I enjoy sharing these reflections every couple of weeks, I had to step away for a bit to meet with supporters of our mission around the nation...
Women Fighting For Life
By Mike Tenbusch | May 28, 2021 Just before the pandemic was declared last year in March, a team of students from University of Michigan’s campus chapter of International Samaritan served on our organization’s first service immersion trip to the garbage dump community...
The Power of a Good Book and Good Friends
By Mike Tenbusch | May 18, 2021 This week, I’d like to share with you a little bit of what our mission feels like when we say we are walking hand-in-hand with people in garbage dump communities, along with those with a calling to help, to break the chains of poverty...
On Basketball, Friendships and Life
By Mike Tenbusch | April 30, 2021 The story you are about to read is true. The names have not been changed to protect the innocent… With a few minutes to go in the 1986 high school district semi-finals at Redford Thurston High School, just west of Detroit, U of D...
A Tale of Two Sons
By Mike Tenbusch | April 13, 2021 Last week I received an email from Kevin Lopez, our team leader in Nicaragua, about Mateo, one of our scholarship students in Managua. One picture he sent of Mateo instantly reminded me of a picture taken years ago of my own...
Finding Light in Loss
Finding Light in Loss Presented in collaboration with the Catholic Foundation of Michigan By Mike Tenbusch | March 30, 2021In August of 1927, President Calvin Coolidge visited the construction site of Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota. While there, he...
What’s Causing “The COVID Conundrum?”
By Mike Tenbusch | March 11, 2021 There was a fascinating article by Siddhartha Mukherjee in the New Yorker last week about the wide divergence in how the pandemic has affected different nations. Some nations are continuing to show inexplicable resilience to the...
How Banana Bread Changed a Life—and Could Change Yours
By Mike Tenbusch | February 26, 2021 When she was in grade school, Racquel wanted to be a soldier when she grew up. In a few months, she will be graduating from Excelsior College in Jamaica with a dream of one day owning her own hotel. Her vastly different life...
What’s Missing in our Mission?
By Mike Tenbusch | February 12, 2021 Our international team and board discussing our mission over Zoom. Our team took this call from rooms in six different countries! Thank you, Tucker, for this photo. When you have a really good mission statement, I’ve learned...
