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Partners in Ministry for Nicaragua’s future

January 30, 2020 by Cross International

The country of Nicaragua has been a priority for Cross International since 2006, when we expanded our reach into Central and South America. A stunningly beautiful country, Nicaragua is also a place of tremendous need. It is the second poorest country in the western hemisphere with severe poverty and lack of services to meet basic human needs, like clean water, education, health care, and a sustaining working wage. Almost half of Nicaraguans live below the poverty line, and protests and unrest in 2018 have made the last several years particularly difficult.

But to Cross International, Nicaragua is also a place of tremendous opportunity. Zach Oles, Cross International’s Director of International Programs, sees the potential for change when he looks at the strong partnerships with local ministry partners there. “What makes these projects in Nicaragua so exciting to me is seeing these larger, long-term, holistic, community-based programs working to solve generational issues,” he says.

Looking at Cross International’s partners in Nicaragua—Amigos for Christ, Arms of Love, Agros, and Rainbow Network—it is easy to see why their work is so inspiring.

Amigos for Christ
A Cross International ministry partner for more than 10 years, Amigos for Christ is based in Chinandega, in northwest Nicaragua. They practice being vecinos, or “good neighbors,” building trust with rural communities in order to develop local leadership, build infrastructure, and provide critically important education.

Last year, Cross International partnered with Amigos for Christ to address a startling need in La Danta, a village of 96 families where 100% of the drinking water supply was contaminated. Together, the project funded a new well, provided a 10,000 gallon water tank, hand-dug 5-miles of trenches, and installed pipes enabling clean water to flow to all 576 people in the village.

Clean water is only one part of Amigos for Christ’s “Plan 7,” a community development plan that also focuses on healthcare, education, and economic development to systematically support communities toward sustained prosperity over a seven-year period. Their slogan? Juntos, or “together” in English. It’s an approach to partnership that Cross International is proud to support.

Arms of Love
Arms of Love is another ministry Cross International is proud to have partnered with since 2006. Located in Jinotepe, an old coffee plantation located a little more than an hour from the capital city of Managua, Arms of Love has created an orphanage and community center that are an oasis for abandoned and vulnerable children.

In addition to a residential program for orphans, more than 50 local children attend daily after-school activities, devotions, and supplemental educational training. Arms of Love seeks to show Christ’s love to every child, many of whom come from abusive and traumatic situations.

Often, staff members like cooks and security guards have as much free time to talk with the children as social workers do, so every staff member is trained in how to deal with kids healing from traumatic experiences. As part of Cross International’s ongoing commitment to helping kids thrive, we are partnering with Arms of Love to train their staff to provide the maximum level of services to children.

Agros International
While Agros International is a newer Cross International partner, their work is just as exciting. Agros provides livelihood assistance to families struggling to break the cycle of poverty. Often, hard-working couples in Nicaragua are only able to find work as day laborers, earning a fraction of what they need and unable to gain a financial foothold.

In partnership with Cross International, Agros builds communities, complete with a school and health clinic, where families have access to land, housing, and education about climate-smart farming and how to sell their harvests to larger markets. This enables families to double and triple typical yields and income through what they’ve been taught about crop selection, irrigation, and other techniques. As a result, families are able to pay their modest mortgages and eventually own their own homes and farms for the first time.

That was the story of Nolan, a husband and father of two who had been struggling to make ends meet. Before joining an Agros village, the most he had ever made was $1000 a year. Now, he makes 3 times that amount, as he lives and works on his very own four acres of land. It’s exactly the kind of success the Cross International and Agros partnership is designed to support.

Rainbow Network
The Rainbow Network is a long-term Cross International partner in Nicaragua. Their focus is long-term engagement and support of local community efforts, and their outreach expands into dozens of communities throughout the country. They provide housing, clean water, education, and microloan assistance to populations who wouldn’t otherwise have access to these vital services and opportunities. In the past, Cross International has been able to partner with Rainbow Network in a variety of ways, from buying land and providing small mortgages to encourage first-time home ownership, to providing free healthcare, to education support that ensures all children are attending school, to stocking pharmacy shelves so communities have the medicines they need.

In each partnership, Cross International sees a confident hope in the future of this nation. “The need is great, and in order to make a true difference you need to have a long-term investment and vision there,” Zach says, “and that’s where we want to be. It’s why we partner with who we partner with in Nicaragua—those who share our focus.” By giving to Cross International, you have the opportunity to join in this partnership and be part of long-term transformation for the people of Nicaragua.

In the battle for forgotten children, Cross International is fighting back

January 6, 2020 by Cross International

On paper, Kevin is typical preteen. He gets A’s in English class, is social and kind, loves his family and consistently offers to help others. However, Kevin’s life is anything but typical. He lives alone in a small plastic tarp structure in Jinotepe, Nicaragua, the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, because his home wasn’t safe.

From trauma to triumph

Like over 700,000 other children in Nicaragua, extreme poverty leaves Kevin vulnerable to trafficking, abuse, neglect and malnourishment. At 12 years old, Kevin made the heartbreaking decision to leave his mom, sister and home for a place of safety, security and refuge: Arms of Love. Where some see despair, Kevin found hope.

Kevin finds healing, encouragement, nourishment, friendship, safety and education for both mind and heart at Arms of Love, a Cross International Partner. Arms of Love gives orphaned, abandoned and abused children in Nicaragua a home, a family and a future, with the hope that they will become the leaders of tomorrow in their communities and churches.

Kevin is thriving in school today. He receives trauma therapy, is more outgoing and has meaningful, Christ-centered relationships. Kevin volunteers to help out whenever he can, and depends on Arms of Love every day for lunch and dinner.

Empowering Thriving Kids to impact the world

Nicaragua was one of the fastest-growing economies in Central America until political unrest and violence exploded in April 2018. Today, over half of the population lives in extreme poverty, without access to clean water, electricity, education and medical care. Children are most affected, putting them at risk to human trafficking, abuse, malnutrition and child labor.

Arms of Love seeks out needy children like Kevin to care for: vulnerable, separated from their parents due to death, abandonment and/or abuse, and victims of oppression, exploitation and injustice. Today, Arms of Love is home to 30 orphaned, abandoned and abused children. 51 kids from 45 families in need find support through the Community Development Program and 15 students are learning to break the cycle of poverty in the Independent Living Program. Yet there are over 700,000 vulnerable children in Nicaragua.

With your ongoing support, more children will have a safe place to grow and flourish, more students will create a better life for the next generation, staff will be better equipped in trauma therapy, and Kevin’s community will reach the next level of growth and care.

Fighting for the forgotten children

We believe every child deserves a safe place to live. When you support Arms of Love, you help create a loving, Christ-centered environment for children who have experienced severe trauma. Together, we can live out God’s command to love thy neighbor and help transform neglected children into Thriving Kids.

Through God’s adoptive and unconditional love, Nicaragua’s forgotten children can become Thriving Kids. We pray you’ll consider monthly support so kids in need like Kevin can feel value, purpose, equipped and empowered to lead communities, churches and the world.

Bringing Life-Giving Water to Zambia

December 17, 2019 by Cross International

It’s the middle of the night. Your child wakes you up to tell you she’s thirsty. What do you do? Most likely you stumble to the kitchen, turn on the tap, and fill up a cup. Too often, we take our ability to easily meet our basic needs for granted.

Eunice, a mother in eastern Zambia, doesn’t.

She still remembers getting up at 2 a.m. every morning to line up in the dark at her local open well. If she overslept, there wouldn’t be water left to bring home to her children. The worst part about this arduous chore? The water she and her neighbors competed for wasn’t even clean. It made her children sick. It made their friends sick. But it was the only water they had.

Eunice is not alone in her daily quest to find clean water for her family. Only 44 percent of rural Zambians have access to basic safe drinking water services. Only 19 percent have basic sanitation (toilet) facilities. And only 5 percent have easy access to soap and water to wash their hands.

This lack of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) resources is the leading cause of death for young children in sub-Saharan Africa, because it causes diseases like cholera and diarrhea. Poor sanitation is also partly to blame for Zambia’s high child stunting (impeded growth and development) rates. And the lack of WASH facilities in schools keeps students, especially girls, from attending, leading to more teen pregnancies, earlier marriages and limited access to quality jobs.

Health, education, employment—clean water affects every area of life.

That’s why Cross International supports partner organizations like the Kachere Development Program, a church-based ministry that installs community water systems, trains female entrepreneurs, and distributes Bibles in local languages.

Thanks to Cross International donors’ generosity, Eunice’s village now has a working well with clean, drinkable water.

She no longer has to get up in the middle of the night to fetch water. She doesn’t have to give her children dirty water to keep them alive today that would only make them sick tomorrow.

In light of this gift, Eunice gave back, too. She joined her local V-WASH (Village Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) Committee to help maintain the well and teach her community healthy WASH practices. They also gather to study the Bible and give thanks to God, the Source of both clean water and “living water.”

Because of the generous gifts of believers like you, Eunice’s children—and the children of her entire village— are growing up healthy, hopeful, learning and loved. Can you help us share God’s love with more children like Eunice’s? We’re raising $515,000 to reach 15,000 children and their family members this holiday season.

Help bring clean water—and “living water”—to other villages by donating to Thriving Kids Africa campaign.

Sources: “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene,” Unicef. Accessed 12 November 2019.

Ministering to African Women Through Microenterprise

December 10, 2019 by Cross International

As we continue to raise support for Thriving Kids Africa, we want to highlight one way these effective programs are changing the lives of 15,000 children and their family members: Microenterprise.

What is a microenterprise? It’s a small business run by one person with a limited number of employees. These small ventures make up a large percentage of businesses in Africa, and they are potential paths out of poverty for many families. But African women who want to start their own microenterprises face significant challenges.

In many African countries, women have limited rights to own property and open bank accounts on their own. Cultural expectations can be a hindrance, especially in rural areas, where women are often expected to rely on their husband or extended family for support instead of going into business for themselves. If a woman does succeed in launching a start-up, lack of information, mentorship and/or training can limit her ability to choose more profitable business models or expand their ventures.

Even though there are currently more female entrepreneurs in Africa than their male counterparts, studies show that female business owners have access to just ⅙ of the capital male business owners do. And those woman-owned enterprises’ profits are 38 percent lower than those owned by men!

Helping female entrepreneurs access business training, finance programs, technology and social support systems can help them overcome these barriers—and lift their families out of poverty.

Thriving Kids Africa is funding two microenterprise projects that offer essential economic and spiritual support.

In Malawi, our partner Ambuya Development Center is ministering to women in the village of Thanganyika. They estimate 60 percent of women there are the sole providers for their families because of their husband’s neglect. Cross International donors help those women learn entrepreneurial skills and join an empowering network of female business owners. The program gives these women access to a two-year cycle of microloans that give them the capital they need to start a new microenterprise. This support helps women in rural Malawi, feed their families, send their children to school, leave abusive marriages and ultimately escape poverty.

Read Esther’s entrepreneurial success story.

In Zambia, our partner Kachere Development Program brings together female heads of households into self-help groups where women can brainstorm solutions to their community’s social and economic issues. They also gain the profitability training they need to grow their small businesses along with access to three rounds of low-interest microloans, which the group self-manages. The generosity of Cross International givers makes it possible for these women to care for their families and better their communities. Nutrition, education, safe housing, medical care: All of this becomes possible with microenterprise support.

Help empower female entrepreneurs in Malawi and Zambia by giving to Thriving Kids Africa.

How meeting basic needs help vulnerable kids thrive in Malawi

December 5, 2019 by Cross International

Roderick was born in the southern Malawi village of Thanhanyika with his future ahead of him. When he was three, that quickly changed. His parents died, leaving him in the care of elderly grandparents that could not afford to feed him. Roderick did not attend school because he was either too sick or working for food. In March 2019, his village encountered cyclone Idai, the worst tropical cyclone on record. Roderick’s family lost their home … twice.

A promising future was hard for Roderick to see.

In 2013, Roderick joined Ambuya Development Centre (ADC), a local Thriving Kids Africa partner. Rooted in Christianity, ADC’s mission is to empower vulnerable women and children of rural Malawi through formal education, workshops and training.

Today, Roderick is 10, and because of the love and support of generous Cross International givers like you, he is in grade four, receives food six days a week, lives in a safe, warm home, and has a thriving future ahead of him.

A village of opportunity.

Thanganyika Village is home to more than 5,300 people, many of them women and children. 85% of villagers are living on less than $1 a day. As a result of this severe poverty, the village struggles with drug and alcohol abuse, an HIV/AIDS pandemic, overcrowded homes due to the influx of orphaned children, drought and lack of access to education, food, clean water and safe homes.

When basic needs are met, children can thrive.

Together with ADC, we have built a holistic, integrated, multisectoral approach to helping the children of Malawi thrive. Our approach brings together clean water, education, a feeding program, safe housing and community centers and microloans.

Since its inception, ADC has been able to provide Thanganyika with life-changing resources like a solar-powered water system, organic vegetable gardens and the sharing of Christ’s love. Your continued support provides ongoing nourishment for the children in Roderick’s village, which supports overall health, improved school attendance and learning.

Our goals are big. Our God is bigger.

Today, our vision is to continue feeding 300 children six days a week, rebuild 335 homes and build a fellowship hall that includes a cafeteria, community event space and evacuation center. And because there are more female-led households in Africa today than ever before, we hope to offer microloans to 200 women so more mothers can feed, take care of, and send their children to school.

Through the power of Jesus, we know it’s possible!

As we look to the future in Thanganyika, southern Malawi and for all Thriving Kids Africa, we are prayerful that we can continuously grow programming year over year. Please consider monthly support to give families like Roderick’s hope for a future of possibility.

Empowering Girls in Uganda: the Project Princess Initiative

November 22, 2019 by Cross International

In Uganda, a special group of girls gather to pray, greeting each other with a friendly smile before bowing their heads to thank the Lord for what He has done for them. This “Big Sister Circle” prays for God to continue working in their lives, and they also encourage younger girls to look to God for hope in the future. These ‘big sisters’ have been changed through the work of the Project Princess Initiative, a Cross International ministry partner committed to supporting, educating, and empowering girls to become responsible leaders of the next generation in Uganda.

Girls in Uganda are desperately in need of the kind of support the Project Princess Initiative provides. According to the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative, 4 in 5 girls in Uganda do not attend high school, around half of girls between ages 15-24 are illiterate, and more than 700,000 girls between the ages of 6-12 have never attended school. Poverty is a leading contributor to this problem, as the expense of school uniforms and supplies are often prioritized for boys. Early marriage prevents many girls from continuing in school, with around 35% of girls dropping out of school due to marriage and 23% due to pregnancy. For those who try to stay, inadequate infrastructure for girls’ hygiene at school results in prolonged gaps in their education, as girls stay home during their monthly cycles.

The Project Princess Initiative is determined to change this reality, one girl at a time. The initiative was started in 2009 by Fiona Miremba Kiggundu, a Christian Ugandan woman concerned about the abused girls who sought help at her preschool. From the beginning, the focus has been keeping vulnerable girls in school, providing an education which will empower them to thrive economically and build stable families, which, in turn, builds stable communities.

To do this, the Project Princess Initiative uses multiple approaches. Through school partnerships, “Talk Sessions” are offered after hours so girls can learn more about topics such as career choices, self-esteem, decision making, hygiene management, and body changes. Sessions are designed to challenge, inspire, and equip vulnerable young women to stay in school. Girls also receive counseling, tutoring, and health services at the Project Princess Initiative’s own center, a safe place to make friends in group sessions that include Bible study and psychological support. For girls outside of school—either raising siblings or as a result of teen pregnancy—the program offers vocational training and start-up equipment to help girls generate ongoing income and make a decent living in trades like bead making, tailoring, hair dressing, cooking, candle- or soap-making. This year, Cross International is partnering with the Project Princess Initiative to reach as many as 1,000 at-risk girls with scholarships, supplies, life and work skills to provide them with hope for the future.

In all this, the most important element is the spiritual emphasis, where girls are taught from scripture about the love of God and the hope He brings. As they read the Bible and attend church regularly, girls learn to place their trust in God. The strength of this hope and trust is deeply empowering for the girls of Uganda, enabling them to take initiative in their growth and development. This is how the “Big Sister Circle” prayer group was formed, as older girls sought to connect in prayer and encourage younger girls to continue in the program. It’s the kind of momentum the Project Princess Initiative and Cross International plan to build upon in the years to come.

Clean water helps communities thrive

November 20, 2019 by Cross International

“In the developing world, water is either a source of life—or a source of extreme illness and death,” Cross International President and CEO Kelly Miller explains. “The ability to access clean water is transforming for villages and individuals.”

That’s why Cross International supports Christian partners who bring clean water sources and training to their local communities. It’s one of the key impact areas for the Thriving Kids Africa campaign, which is aiming to raise $515,000 to reach 15,000 at-risk children and their family members.

“We’re firm believers in holistic, integrated development,” Kelly says. “There’s no one panacea. Water doesn’t change everything, but it does trigger a lot of other things to get changed, as does education, medical services, microenterprise, and economic development. Those are all integrated services needed for a community to thrive, and water is one of the core components.”

Cross International doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all approach to development. Instead, they listen and respond to what those in need are asking for.

“It’s not us coming in and defining their needs; it’s the village or community who defines what their greatest needs are and how to tackle those needs in a planned way.” Kelly says. “Water is oftentimes at or near the top.”

In many of the communities Cross International serves, women and young girls bear the brunt of collecting water. Water sources are often up to an hour away from their homes, so women and girls can spend two to six hours a day transporting water. They lug up to 50 pounds of water at a time from open wells, shared with domesticated and wild animals. Snakebites are a common occurrence for these water-gatherers, and water-borne diseases and parasites plague their communities.

Beyond the health risks caused by limited access to clean water, the social costs are astronomical. Carrying water for hours on end keeps women from paid work and keeps girls out of school. That lack of education leads to early marriages, limited employment opportunities, and a continued cycle of poverty.

“When a culture wants to break that cycle—and most do—and you provide opportunity through one simple intervention like clean water, it has a springboard effect to other things,” Kelly says.

For example, after Cross International’s partner Kachere Water for Life installs hand-pump wells in a community, they help the women in that community form a Self Help Group. Twenty to 25 women band together to form a small savings and loan program. They each pitch in small amounts as they can, and Kachere and Cross International add funds, too. Their revolving loan bank helps them start small businesses that meet their community’s basic needs, build their local economy and provide for their families. In just five months, one self-help group managed to double the average number of daily meals per household for the majority of their members (from 1 to 2).

“All of these things work together in terms of integrated development,” Kelly says. “And the Gospel plays a big role in that in the hope and inspiration it gives them.”

In addition to their Microenterprise efforts, these Self Help Groups also talk through their community’s social issues and bring men into the conversation to improve their villages.

“The men are so supportive,” Kelly says. “The reality is women and girls have less opportunity, so when you create more for them, it helps the entire family and the whole community.”

That integrated, community approach underpins the Thriving Kids Africa campaign. Every project addresses one of those key community needs that leads to children who can grow up healthy, hopeful, learning and loved.

“When you have a stable family, a stable community, and a stable faith, children can thrive,” Kelly says.

The Sights and Sounds of Uganda’s culture

November 8, 2019 by Cross International

Uganda offers a rich sensory experience, full of sounds, sights, aromas and flavors of a culture that draws from dozens of ethnic groups. The diverse population means you’ll hear the sounds of more than 32 languages spoken throughout the country. Two official languages, English and Swahili, bring some unity to the varied peoples, as does religion. Uganda’s population is 85 percent Christian and 12 percent Muslim.

To complement these sounds, Uganda offers vivid images—rainforests, swamps with dense tree cover, volcanic mountain ranges, fertile coffee plantations, and the blue waters of Lake Victoria. But no picture of Uganda is complete without images of its people. Children in all areas enjoy playing soccer, a very popular sport. Men are often seen wearing the kanzu, the traditional national dress. The ankle-length tunic of white or cream color is typically made of silk, cotton, poplin, or linen, and often worn with a suit jacket, blazer, or sport coat. Many women wear the gomesi, originally a form of traditional dress for the Buganda, but now adopted by many ethnicities. The floor-length dress is brightly colored with short, puffed sleeves and a square neckline accented by two buttons. A sash is tied below the waist, over the hip area. Made from silk, cotton, or linen, gomesi are worn for special occasions in cities and urban areas but considered daily attire in rural areas.

Flavors and aromas of Uganda’s cuisine add a delicious cultural dimension. With English, Arab, and Asian influences, Ugandan food typically has a starch base with sauces of beans or meat. Matoke, a starchy variety of banana, is used especially in the south, boiled or steamed and mashed before being served with sauce. Groundnuts, or peanuts, are considered a staple and form the basis of several common sauces. Fish, pork, beef, chicken, goat, and mutton are all used for protein, but most rural Ugandans do not eat meat every day. Slaughtering an animal is saved for special celebrations. Yams, cassava, and African sweet potato are regularly eaten with a variety of vegetables, like corn, tomatoes, and peas. Fruits are usually served for dessert and include oranges, pineapples, papayas, and lemons. Sim-sim, or sesame seeds, are widely enjoyed as a paste mixed into stews of beans or greens, or a candy made by roasting seeds with sugar or honey. Meals are prepared by women and girls, usually over an open wood fire in a kitchen separate from the main house.

Cross International is proud to partner with the Project Princess Initiative to support girls in Uganda, helping them stay in school to gain a complete education and valuable training. Through working with these girls and their communities, our goal is to invest in a bright future for this nation, which offers a fascinating cultural experience to fill the senses with tastes, sights, and sounds not soon forgotten.