thriving kids Archives - Cross International

Christian Education Paving Pathways in Haiti

February 28, 2025 by Cross International

Energy fills the classroom as the teacher patiently instructs her exuberant young students. The kids are learning, laughing, and growing. They’re acquiring knowledge and skills that will be foundational to their success later in life. A variety of classroom settings around the world would fit this description, but there’s something special about this particular classroom and the school it’s a part of.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The Haitian people have endured a myriad of hardships that have further weakened an already fragile economy, from natural disasters to cholera outbreaks to the rampant gang violence and political instability plaguing the nation today. Yet amid the adversity, there is resilience and hope.

In Haiti and elsewhere, a quality education is typically inaccessible to impoverished children. Nearly half of all Haitian children never get to attend school.

But at Cross International partner Divine Shelter Schools (DSS), a network of twelve Christian schools across Haiti, kids are welcomed in, regardless of their family’s income level. Thanks to the generous giving of Cross International friends, fees for tuition, uniforms, and supplies are waived or steeply reduced for families of DSS students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to send their kids to school.

Seven-year-old Christ-Naïda is one of those kids. Like most of her fellow first-graders, she comes from a family stuck in destitute circumstances. Her father is not around, and her mother struggles to provide, to the point where Christ-Naïda was sent to live with her godmother. Christ-Naida still dreams that one day she and her parents will be together as a family. In the meantime, school is a refuge, a place of belonging.

Each day, Christ-Naïda and her classmates receive a hot, nutritious lunch, which in many cases is their only substantial meal of the day. The nutrients are vital to their overall health and also give them the energy they need to focus on their studies.

In the classroom, Christ-Naïda is eager to learn. She wants to be a nurse when she’s older, so she can care for those in her community who are sick. Christ-Naïda has taken to heart Jesus’s instruction to “love your neighbor as yourself,” which she’s heard during regular Bible lessons at school. She finds the account of Jesus’s life “fascinating” and enjoys memorizing Bible verses. Every DSS location is connected to a local church, and along with providing a nationally-accredited education, communicating the message of the Gospel is a primary objective.

While there are no simple solutions to the challenges facing Haiti, progress is being made. Christian education is helping break the cycle of poverty, and opening doors for the next generation of Haitians, for kids like Christ-Naïda. Cross International remains committed to fueling lasting change in Haiti. Will you join us?

Bryan’s Story: A pathway to flourishing in Ecuador

February 20, 2025 by Cross International

Bryan’s family situation is complicated. His six-year-old mind is incapable of analyzing the complexities. He just knows he misses spending time with his dad. Bryan loves his mom, who has always been there to care for him. But he doesn’t get along with his stepfather. Plus, Bryan is tired of his baby half-brother getting so much attention.

It’s been two years since Bryan’s parents separated. They were only teenagers when he was born. Bryan still remembers when his dad was a constant presence, and longs to regain that closeness. Visits are now rare, leaving an aching void in the boy’s life. Such relational loss can be brutal for a young child. Meanwhile, Bryan and his family, who live in the Ecuadorian capital Quito, feel the harsh daily effects of poverty. While his mom works hard to provide and Bryan’s stepfather also contributes, it’s a stretch to afford even the bare essentials.

For those in extreme poverty, sacrifices must be made in order to survive. Education is often one of those sacrifices. Though free public education is available in Ecuador, impoverished families generally cannot afford the required school supplies and uniforms for their children. Even when these kids do attend school, they frequently fall behind academically due largely to instability and lack of support at home. The cruel irony is that education is crucial to breaking the cycle of poverty.

Despite his family’s circumstances, Bryan not only gets to be in the classroom, he receives regular academic tutoring and spiritual guidance at an after-school program run by Cross International’s local ministry partner, The Moses Project. Through the program, Bryan’s school-related fees are covered, and he enjoys a hot, nutritious meal each time he attends. The extra academic assistance is pivotal in ensuring Bryan is able to keep pace in his studies. Beyond that, he now has positive adult role models teaching him Bible lessons and sharing about the love of his Heavenly Father, who has promised to never leave.

The Moses Project has made such an impression on Bryan that he wants his whole family, including his stepfather and half-brother, to know Jesus. And when he grows up, Bryan says he hopes to help others the way people have helped him.

Thank you for joining with Cross International to create brighter futures for children like Bryan!

Advancing through Agriculture in Nicaragua

February 14, 2025 by Cross International

Ulises is undeterred by adversity. A farmer in an impoverished region of rural Nicaragua, he’s always been determined to do whatever he can to improve his family’s circumstances. Although Ulises and his wife Daysi have never been surrounded by material abundance, their faith in God runs deep. After all, they’ve witnessed a miracle. Their daughter Deymerin was only two when she was diagnosed with bone cancer. The shocking news left Ulises and Daysi fearing their precious little girl would soon be gone. But instead, God restored Deymerin to full health! She’s now a healthy and active 8-year-old.

For day laborers like Ulises, exhausting work in the fields brings in desperately needed income, but perpetuates the cycle of poverty because the wages are scarcely enough to survive on. Ulises pressed on and searched for ways to earn more on the side. He tried renting land where he could grow his own crops and also invested in a small neighborhood store along with Daysi. Even with all of those efforts, the returns were minimal and his family struggled to get by.

To his surprise, Ulises was presented with an incredible opportunity. Cross International’s local ministry partner, Agros, makes land available to poor Nicaraguan farmers and provides training on modern agricultural techniques. Ulises jumped at the invitation. “I thought: ‘It’s an opportunity, let’s give it a try!’ I’ve always liked challenges, taking the initiative and not leaving the work halfway finished.” In just a few short months since joining the program, Ulises has observed steady growth of his crops. This form of sustainable farming will generate long-term income while also creating a regular food source for Ulises and his family.

As Ulises gazes across the rows and rows of green plants climbing upward, he sees limitless potential. He pictures Daysi’s smile and envisions Deymerin thriving like never before. His heart is filled with gratitude to the Lord, who once again made a way when it seemed hopeless. Ulises has been recruiting others to join the agricultural program and enjoys sharing his knowledge with those who are just starting out. Meanwhile, he and Daisy are both actively involved in their church, where Ulises leads the construction team.

Increasing access to key resources plays a pivotal role in ending extreme poverty. Thank you for sharing the love of Jesus with families like Ulises’ through your generosity. Your partnership with Cross International is opening countless doors!

The example of Jesus: a healing touch for the hurting

March 5, 2020 by Cross International

A healing touch—that’s how so many people were introduced to the compassion of Jesus when he walked on earth. In the Bible, gospel stories show how Jesus was moved time and again to touch and heal those who were physically hurting: the blind, the lame, the lepers…even those at the point of death and beyond. He understood the toll of pain, and he used his ability to minister to people’s bodies as a way to introduce them to the ultimate healing he could provide their souls. This biblical example guides our work in the area of medical aid and healthcare services.

In Luke, chapter 10, Jesus told one of his most remembered parables, of one person being moved by compassion to help another in pain. The healing touch in the parable came from the good Samaritan, someone who didn’t have any relationship with the wounded man. They had never met, and the circumstances of their day would have actually created quite a distance between them, socially. But despite that, the Good Samaritan felt not only empathy for the other’s pain, he felt a responsibility to care for him. Jesus described this man tenderly dressing the wounds of the injured man, bringing him to a place of safety and rest, and paying for his ongoing care to ensure he would find his way back to health. The beautiful image Jesus creates in the story is one of sacrificial giving and true concern for a stranger.

Through His stories and His example, Jesus calls us to reach out to the world around us, offering hope and meeting others’ needs as we are able. Just as Jesus was attentive to the physical ailments of those around him, we believe it is our responsibility to understand the medical and health challenges of those we serve and to respond in compassion. It doesn’t require changing the world; it’s as simple as seeing the pain in someone’s eyes and moving forward in love. Often, those in deepest need of our help may be strangers to us, living in places of the world with challenges far greater than those we face. Even in these cases—and perhaps especially in these cases—we believe in following a simple motto: “When you can, help.”

We invite you to join us in responding to those in need of medical aid and physical healing, following Christ’s example of compassion. Would you pray for those facing disease and illness in areas around the world where barriers to healthcare are often insurmountable without the help of others? Pray that God would send the care and medicine they need. As you are able, we also invite you to join us by giving generously to the ministry of Cross International and its many local partners throughout the world, who provide much needed services, like medicine and healthcare, to those who need our help.

Our Philosophy: Strategic, Integrated, and Compassionate Medical Aid

February 27, 2020 by Cross International

In everything we do, we seek to serve the whole person: physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. Whether addressing the needs of a vulnerable child, the challenges facing a family in poverty, or the issues preventing a community from thriving, we deal with specific problems with the understanding that each issue interacts with and impacts others. In this series, we focus on one specific facet of the complex challenges facing those in need around the world.

In seeking to help those in deepest need, few issues are more challenging than health and medical conditions. According to the World Health Organization, half of the world’s population lacks access to essential health services. In the developing world, the barriers to healthcare are discouraging. Availability of healthcare services is limited, physically reaching healthcare providers can be difficult, healthcare workers are inadequately trained, and the cost of medical services is very high. These barriers are intimidating–even for someone in good health.

Unfortunately, most of the world lives with these barriers. Almost 800 million people worldwide spend at least 10% of their household budget on healthcare for someone in their home. Caring for a sick child or loved one would motivate anyone to spend sacrificially to help them get well. This same dedication forces many people around the world to face tremendously hard decisions. In fact, for almost 100 million, those health expenses thrusting them into extreme poverty.

From our experiences in areas of deep need around the world, we understand that resolving health issues is critical for other services to be effective. The most thoughtful educational or vocational training programs will stall if students aren’t well enough to learn. Efforts to provide clean water and nutritious diet are also tightly interdependent with the medical issues in a home or community. This is why medical aid will always be an important component of the services we promote and advance through our work with local ministry partners around the world.

We believe medical aid for those in need should not only provide treatment, but also include disease prevention and health education. Treatment rightly focuses on existing conditions needing compassionate intervention. But sustained good health requires battling preventable diseases before they occur. Through healthcare education and sanitation best practices, we can promote the ongoing health of families and communities. We also believe in working closely with local ministry partners who best understand the needs of their own communities and the type of support that will be most effective. These partners are deeply rooted in their communities, providing a sustained support that is often key in tackling systemic underlying issues surrounding medical needs. Finally, for a thriving community, we believe it is critical to integrate medical aid efforts with other programs promoting educational, social, and spiritual well being.

These beliefs guide our three main approaches to medical aid. First, we provide ‘in-kind’ donations of medicines and medical supplies for those who may receive a medical exam or consultation only to find that the medicine they need is not available in their area or too expensive to purchase. Our local ministry partners help us identify essential medicines that are needed most, and Cross International does our best to solicit donations of those crucial supplies to provide to our local partners who serve the most vulnerable. These local partners may run medical clinics themselves, or they may provide them to regional medical network partners who also serve those who are in need. Second, when our ministry partners run medical clinics as part of their overall programming, we often support those operations. Many times, these services are not only for children in our partners’ care, but also for the community around them. Finally, as we support the vision and planning of other local partners, we encourage them to always consider medical aid and ministry in their scope. We help them understand the role of health-promoting services in their overall program success, and we help them navigate the process of assessing or developing this aspect of their ministries.

Medical aid challenges are broad-ranging and widespread, but the impact is as individual as every life that is changed through this work. As we advance services like these, we’re encouraged by the stories and faces of those children and families touched by a healing hand or strengthened by a life-giving medicine. Our goal of transformed lives is only possible when people are able to grow and thrive physically. If you haven’t yet joined us, we invite you to be a part of this exciting and meaningful partnership.

Thriving kids start with a healthy home

February 11, 2020 by Cross International

Chances are the floor beneath you right now is a soft carpet, beautifully stained kitchen hardwood or smooth tile, right? That solid ground within your home gives you warmth, safety from disease and danger, rest, and peace of mind for body and soul. That stable foundation is everything.

Today, 1-1.5 million Guatemalan children and their family members live in homes made of dirt floors, cornstalks, mud, sticks, and any other materials they can find. These makeshift structures leave them vulnerable to violence, theft, and diseases such as asthma, tuberculosis, influenza, anemia, and diarrhea, as well as decreased mental health.

God is helping kids thrive through your generous giving!

Thanks to generous donors like you, Cross International is doing more than just replacing dirt floors. With help from our ministry partners in Latin America and around the world, we’re providing entire, safe and secure homes for marginalized families. For example, at Hope of Life in Guatemala, we’ve already built more than 20 concrete block homes, impacting over 200 people.

As we celebrate the good your giving has provided, we cannot ignore the work still left to do. Cross International relies on local pastors and Christian leaders to help us identify which families are in the greatest need of a new home, creating the opportunity for God’s love to be shared. Telling families this help is in Jesus’ name opens their hearts and minds to receive the Gospel.

What’s under your feet matters.

Replacing a dirt floor with cement can be as good for a child’s health as nutritional supplements and as helpful for brain development as early childhood development programs. Cement reduces parasites, resulting in 13% less diarrheal disease, a 20% reduction in anemia –both life-threatening –, 30% higher scores in language and communication skills and 9% improvement in vocabulary in children under six. Not only are children better off on a strong foundation, but studies find that their mothers are less depressed, less stressed, and happier.

The impact of your donation to Thriving Kids is huge: healthy housing stabilizes lives in unimaginable ways. A lockable door protects against danger and theft. A nearby latrine reduces parasitic infections. A roof gives a family rest and shelter from driving rain. When basic needs are met, an entire community is impacted. For children and families around the world, housing is health.

Stable homes, stable families

Healthy homes change lives by creating income opportunities, advancing education, improving health, reducing crimes against women and children, strengthening faith, supporting mental health and much more.

We pray you’ll continue to support Cross International’s Thriving Kids initiative as we build homes and provide other life enhancing services for families. We believe that thriving kids need a safe home and the knowledge of God’s love. Please join us!