When we began asking our families to shelter in place two months ago, we didn’t know how they would do that in such close quarters.  When we told them we would get them the food and supplies they needed, we weren’t quite clear on how that would happen either. Thank...

Just over a month ago, we asked you and 2,900 other people like you in the International Samaritan community across the world to give money during a time of economic uncertainty.   The dual threat of COVID-19 and of starvation hovered over 621 families of our...

Just over a month ago, our team leaders in five nations began telling 621 families who have children in our scholarship program: Stop going to work. Stay home and stay safe.  You have friends around the world who will pitch in to make sure you have the food and water...

Last week I wrote to you about the pressing need for food and water for all 621 families we support around the world.  Eighty-eight people have responded so far with a total of almost $30,000 in donations. This is amazing and beautiful to me, but it covers the cost of...

Over the past year, I’ve written this reflection 22 times, and I’ve never written with as heavy of a heart as I do now.  The Coronavirus has spread across the world and through entire cities like New York and Detroit so quickly and so devastatingly, I shudder to think...

Every two weeks, I send this email to reflect on challenges and victories in our mission together.  Today I thought it would be helpful to simply send updates on how each nation is doing in our shared goal of defeating the Coronavirus. Ethiopia Ethiopia, like most...

“We would get to the dump at 4:00 in the morning to get food to eat.”  We hear this frequently when talking to families in the garbage dump communities.  Invariably, they say this as a simple matter of fact, much like we might say, “I leave the house at 7:00 in the...

Our team gathered recently for a two-day retreat to update our strategic plan.  One of the questions we were trying to answer is what we should do in Costa Rica and smaller communities in Guatemala where we have been sending student immersion teams but do not have...

The death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others last Sunday stunned me, as it did the world.  As I read and watched the stories about his legacy over this past week, what struck me most is that he went to Mass at 7:00 on Sunday morning, shortly before boarding...

We have good news and great news. The good news: Over the last few months, we have asked for your support in every way that we could—emails, voicemails, and letters in the mail.  The good news is that people showed up in a big way. Our base of supporters grew by 14%...

This past Tuesday night as I was doing the dishes, my daughter called.  She’s a freshman living on campus at a nearby college, and she asked if I wanted to meet her for breakfast the next morning.“What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned, “Did you run out of...

In a letter we sent out to our supporters this week, I wrote about the “awe” that our scholarship students show in approaching their studies as a way out of a life of working in the garbage dump that lies waiting outside their door.  I have found that that same sense...