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...

When I interviewed for this position last year, I was intrigued by the fifth bullet point in the job description: Articulate the spiritual values and policies to execute the mission of International Samaritan and develop an internal culture that supports those values....

A year ago this morning, I walked in for my first day on the job at International Samaritan.  When I mention this fact to friends, old-school Catholics are quick to tell me, “Ahh, All Saints Day, that’s a good day to start your new job.”  For those of you who are not...

This past Friday morning, I was with Dan Weingartz, one of our board members at International Samaritan, on a tour of a medical clinic we helped to renovate in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital city.  Just as we were finishing our tour, Selam Terefe, our inspirational...

"Lift your head, Isabelita.” “You can do it!” “Come on, Titi!  We need you to lift your head…” I stood in awe, watching my wife, her sister and their aunt encouraging the matriarch of their family to lift her head off the pillow of her bed in an intensive care unit to...

I’ve written before about the best job I ever had, but the worst job is a whole different story.   The worst job I’ve ever had has been the work of finding a job.  Twice in my life, I’ve lost a job. Both times came as a complete surprise, not only to me but also to my...

If you haven’t done so already, take two minutes to check out the performance of the Detroit Youth Choir on America’s Got Talent last week.  Just click on the picture below for almost instant joy:I don’t know any of the young people in this choir, but I’ve spent most...

I recently returned from a week visiting with our scholars and partners in Nicaragua and what stunned me more than anything else about Nicaragua was the silence.  Since the death of more than 300 protestors in the streets last year, it feels like half the nation has...

My heart aches for the times we live in.  The atrocities committed in Dayton and El Paso this past weekend don’t seem like isolated events.  They seem like the inevitable result of living in a world consumed with glorifying oneself on social media, with demonizing...

Last week, a 15-year-old girl named Coco became the youngest person ever to win three matches at Wimbledon, including an awe-inspiring comeback after being down 6-3 and 5-2 in the second match.  The thrill of that victory, and the beautiful bond so evident between her...

One of my strengths is that I never see a glass as half full;  I see it as mostly full almost all the time.  My natural optimism helps me in my work, but I've learned that it can also hurt me.  Sometimes the glass can actually be half empty—or even completely empty...