Two Secret Pathways to Prosperity

How do we break the chains of poverty? This is the last in a three-part series on how we achieve our mission. The primary lever we use, thanks to your support, is a holistic scholarship, costing $3,000 per year for almost 1,000 students this year—or a $12,000 commitment to help a young person receive an education and a degree. Here’s the amazing news, the college and trade school graduates you have supported since 2019 earn $3,240 more per year than the entire households of our current scholars! They are breaking out of poverty, and that gap should only grow larger as they grow in their careers.

In addition to education, there are two other important pathways to breaking the cycle of poverty that people don’t talk about much. Both research and common sense support the power of these approaches—and so do you when you support International Samaritan.

The first is marriage. Households with a united team have twice as many people who can contribute to the health, wealth, and well-being of the people in the home. Conversely, when a spouse leaves the home, it automatically cuts earning capacity and social capital at least in half, immediately. 

A healthy, joy-filled marriage doesn’t just bless the people in that home; it blesses the homes around it. Tragically, the great majority of Samaritan Scholars grow up without an opportunity to see the beauty of a loving marriage. Many are living in the conditions they are because of the abuse or abandonment of the man who was supposed to protect and provide for them.

To rectify this, your support helps our teams train our scholars to form healthy habits and families—the ones they are in now, and the ones they will start one day. A healthy marriage is so important to our scholars that we hope to build a family life center in every community in which we work.

The second, often overlooked way to help people get out of poverty is the church. Research shows that there are benefits to attending church regularly and that people who do contribute more to the well-being of society. How could they not? At least once or twice each week, they voluntarily meet with other people who share a commitment and hear a message devoted to serving and loving God and other people better.

When you support International Samaritan, you aren’t only supporting the most powerful holistic scholarship program I have ever heard about in the entire world, you are also supporting extremely talented and loving teams of people helping Samaritan Scholars become good spouses and parents one day who are contributing leaders in their churches too.

As our teams and board of trustees prepare for our annual retreat in a couple of weeks to set our direction for the future, please keep them in your prayers for discernment on how to find more people and organizations interested in supporting this irresistible mission.

International Samaritan is a Christ-centered organization built on Catholic Social Teaching. Our mission is to walk hand-in-hand with people who live and work in the garbage dumps of developing nations to help them break out of poverty.

We provide holistic scholarships for students from kindergarten through college, and we’re currently supporting nearly 1,000 scholars in Central America, the Caribbean, and East Africa.

Would your church or school group like to partner and travel with us? Learn about our Learn, Serve, Grow program.

Empower our scholars to change their lives. Become a monthly supporter.

Mike Tenbusch, 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.