Right now, people in Haiti are busy clearing away rubble from the January earthquake in trucks and wheelbarrows. There’s much work to be done, but Port-au-Prince and the surrounding towns are slowly putting buildings, shops, and homes back together. Yet underneath the surface lies things that are still broken and will take years to heal, like the hearts of the survivors who’ve lost so much.

Caline Brevil and her 7-month-old daughter, Ronese, are just a few of the many earthquake survivors in Haiti who need our help.

The stories of loss coming from Haiti are heartbreaking and almost too much to bear. People like Caline Brevil, 23, are struggling to deal with the emotional scars left by the disaster. Caline, who was nine months pregnant at the time of the earthquake, spoke of her horrifying walk back to her house immediately after the quake. She said that the closer she got to her house, the more bodies there were in the streets. Caline had to step over and on top of bodies on that walk. She would turn around and say “Excuse me” to the people she stepped on, only to realize they were dead.

When she arrived at what was once her house, all she could see was the roof—that was the new floor. The damage was so severe in her neighborhood that there was no one left alive to ask where her husband and twin 5-year-old daughters were. Caline never found them that day.

Three days after the earthquake, Caline gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Ronese. She begged a ride to Kobonal, Haiti, a remote mountain village where she grew up, and she now lives with her grandmother in a crowded mud-walled home. Caline has nightmares often and she can’t sleep at night—she will jolt awake and feel as if the bed is shaking. She also has a recurring dream that she and her husband are together and the earthquake hits. In the dream, he carries their twin daughters and they all begin running. They come to the fork in the road, and Caline goes one way and her husband and children another.

Earthquake victims like Caline will never forget January 12, 2010. But there is something we as Christians can do—we can help them rebuild their lives. Cross International Catholic Outreach has programs in place throughout Haiti to help earthquake victims like Caline. With help from American Catholics, we can work to replace what has been lost.

Click here to find out how Cross Catholic is reaching out to earthquake survivors like Caline—and how you can make a difference!

If you look at Haiti solely in terms of statistics, the picture looks bleak: barely half of Haitians over 15 can read and write, more than two-thirds of the workforce is unemployed, and about 15 percent of Haiti’s children are orphaned. And after the devastating earthquake in January, poverty and homelessness are on the rise.

Judex Mondesir, 18, wants to use his education to help Haiti recover from the earthquake.

But if you look at Haiti at the “people level,” you’ll see a different picture altogether, one of hope that comes from the young people of Haiti.

Take the example of Judex Mondesir, an 18-year-old young man whose life changed forever after meeting Father Marc Boisvert and coming to live at Pwoje Espwa (Project Hope) in Les Cayes, Haiti. Judex comes from hard circumstances: his father passed away years ago and his mother could barely provide for him and his siblings. Life was tough, Judex said. When he heard of Pwoje Espwa, a place supported by Cross International Catholic Outreach where about 750 children live, are fed, go to school, and learn about Christ from a kind priest named Fr. Marc, he went straight there.

Judex has lived at Pwoje Espwa for two-and-a-half years now. He speaks fluent English, teaches Bible school on Sundays for the children, and works as an interpreter at Pwoje Espwa as needed, such as for dentists and doctors when they visit. Judex also teaches English at Pwoje Espwa during the summer in the mornings for ages 3-6 and in the afternoon for ages 11-15.

Judex says Father Marc has helped him greatly, and he plans to go to a university to become a teacher or a computer programmer. More importantly, Judex wants to help Haiti—he says he wants to stay in Haiti after finishing school and give back to his country. “I just want to share what I have with the others,” he said.

Young people like Judex are all over Haiti—and thanks to caring Catholics like Fr. Marc, their talent and desire to help Haiti is nurtured. Places like Pwoje Espwa offer education, a place to live, and the wonderful message to Christ to the next generation of Haitians. Cross Catholic has a long relationship with Pwoje Espwa, and we know that thanks to Fr. Marc’s dedication to the Lord and the children of Haiti, young men and women like Judex are ready to help Haiti recover from the earthquake.

Click here to learn more about how Cross Catholic makes a difference in the lives of children at Pwoje Espwa—and how you can help!

In the midst of despair people around the world have been touched by the faith and resilience of the Haitian people in the months following the devastating earthquake that leveled Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, killing thousands and leaving more than 1 million people homeless.

Cross Catholic staff members working in the field in the days and months after the earthquake saw this display of faith first hand. Our Haiti projects officer, Mike Henry, described this scene just a week after the earthquake:

“While walking amid the ruins of Port-au-Prince, I came across a spontaneous outdoor gathering of Haitian believers who had just watched their whole world crumble, now joined together in prayer and worship. The earthquake could take their homes and churches, but it could not take their faith! I was amazed by the joy, gratefulness, and prayerful resolve these Haitians were showing in the face of such devastation.”

And this wasn’t an isolated incident. NPR did a piece last week in honor of the six-month anniversary of the earthquake that touched on that very subject. A group of doctors shared an inspiring moment they experienced in the midst of tragedy and pain, at a makeshift tent hospital in Port-au-Prince. This happened to be there very same tent hospital that Cross Catholic supported with tents, medicines, and other aid after the quake.

In the piece, the doctors explain what happened: “…a man begins to play a guitar in the corner of the tent, and patients begin to sing.  Soon every Haitian in the tent is singing or clapping or dancing.  The song: “Jesus, thank you for loving us.” (Click here to listen to the full audio segment.)

These doctors were overwhelmed by the experience. As one put it: “It’s extremely humbling to be around a people that, in the worst time of their life, have it in their hearts to give gratitude for what they have left…”

This is reminiscent of the story of Paul and Silas praising and singing hymns to God despite being chained and in prison (Acts 16:25-31). And if you recall, through their worship the jailer came to Christ. Like this story, the Haitian people’s hopeful attitude despite the devastation caused by the quake is an amazing testament to the awesome power of God to overcome any circumstance.

Click here to learn more about what Cross Catholic has been doing in the last six months to help earthquake victims in Haiti.

More than 1 million people were left homeless after the earthquake. The survivors fled Port-au-Prince in search of temporary shelter and food.

This week marks the six-month anniversary of the massive earthquake that devastated Haiti on Jan. 12, killing more than 200,000 men, women, and children and reducing the capital city of Port-au-Prince to a field of rubble. Droves of traumatized survivors fled to the countryside in search of food, water, and shelter, and at least 1.5 million were left homeless.

As photos from Haiti published by the media this week show, the people are still in great need and it will take years for the country to recover. However, we at Cross Catholic are thankful for the progress that has been made with the help of compassionate Catholics who have selflessly given to help Haiti.

Already, with their support we have been able to provide more than $73 million in cash grants and shipped goods to help those hurting in Haiti. This first helped us provide emergency relief — food, medicine, and other supplies — to victims in the days after the quake. It then enabled us to work with our ministry partners in the months after the disaster to provide recovery and relief to thousands of displaced earthquake victims living in refugee camps.

In addition to the food we continue to ship to earthquake victims, Cross Catholic has turned its efforts to recovery with a plan to build hundreds of earthquake-resistant homes.

Now, six months since the earthquake, we have been able to turn our efforts to long-term recovery — clearing debris to make room for new structures and rebuilding schools and homes. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, we’ve also began a plan to build hundreds of earthquake resistant houses in Port-au-Prince and three other regions for families whose homes were destroyed.

Please keep the people of Haiti in your prayers as we continue to work with our ministry partners to rebuild the lives of the earthquake victims.

Click here to read a full report of what Cross has been able to do to help Haiti in the last six months thanks to the generosity of American Christians.

There is an old saying that goes: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The second part of that saying is the goal of much of the work we do to help the poor here at Cross Catholic.

However, during staff devotions this morning we were reminded of how important the first part is, as well. Our newest projects officer recently returned from Belize. It was his first time visiting the projects we support there, and he was struck by the impact of the elderly feeding programs — those meeting an immediate need rather than supporting development.

“These programs provide palliative care to deal with the effects of poverty. As we minister to the more immediate needs of these people, we are expressing the love of Christ in a very real way,” he explained. “Yes, it is important to teach people how to fish, so to speak, but what about the people who are too old or sick or unable to learn how to fish? Should we just forget about them?”

It is clear from Matthew 18:14 — “Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” — that every person is important to God.

Giving an elderly woman a daily meal is just as meaningful in God’s eyes as supporting a scholarship or microenterprise program. Both are meeting important needs of the poor and, in the process, exposing them to Christ.

Click here to learn more about what Cross Catholic is doing to meet both the immediate and long-term needs of the poor in Latin America.

This weekend, many Americans will express thanks for their freedom as they celebrate Independence Day. The idea of freedom means different things to different people: freedom from want, freedom from oppression, freedom to succeed, freedom to say and do as we please.

Seeing children thrive in places like Mozambique is proof that Christians can make a difference in lives around the world.

As Christians, we understand freedom in a very exciting way. Ephesians 3:12 says, “In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” That means God allows us to come to him directly through prayer—we are free to talk to him, share our lives with him, and worship him with not fear, but joy.

Sadly, many people in our world aren’t free in this sense. About 78 million people don’t have access to the Bible in their native language, and about 1.2 billion people have never heard the gospel. What are we as Christians to do about this? Can we do anything at all?

Here’s a story that can help us take heart: In the Tete Cathedral Parish in northern Mozambique, orphans and vulnerable children often have no choice but to beg in the streets, hoping for a meal. Elisa, who lives in Tete, lost her father as a child, and her mother often couldn’t provide enough food for her and her five siblings.

“Our suffering started,” Elisa said. “Some days we had nothing to eat. Sometimes our mother went to her family to ask for food. Other days we went to our friends’ house. To silence the stomach we drank water and slept without food.”

Thankfully, someone came to her aid: the Tete Center, a day center supported by Cross International Catholic Outreach that provides orphans and vulnerable children with meals, clothing, school supplies, and help with medical expenses. A sister from the Tete Center saw the need in Elisa’s family and invited her and her younger sisters to attend the center. Life has improved greatly since enrolling at the center, she says. In a letter she wrote to Cross Catholic, she described the hope she found at the Tete Center: “Our life changed, and we are not suffering so much anymore. We study and hope for a better future.”

God calls us to use our freedom to give in his name, to offer of ourselves when no one else will. Thanks to gifts from caring American Catholics, children like Prince and Princess experience God’s love through us. Galatians 5:13 says, “You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.” God calls us to use our freedom for good, for serving each other in his name. He reminds us that we can’t understand freedom only in the sense of what we aren’t forced to do; he asks us to think of freedom in terms of what we are at liberty to do for others.

Click here to read about how you can serve others in God’s name through orphanages and other programs supported by Cross International Catholic Outreach.

As Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-21, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Father Oscar Camomot, who runs KAMAMA Orphanage in the Philippines, takes this passage literally by placing his treasure in the Lord and in the children he cares for each day.

Father Oscar Camomot trusts that God will provide for the children in his care.

In Cebu City, Fr. Oscar devotes not only his time to the 19 children that live at the orphanage, but also his small personal pension from the Archdiocese of Cebu. If the orphanage falls short from time to time, Fr. Oscar uses his own money to pay the bills. To a man who gives almost everything for the children in his care, amassing worldly treasure isn’t important. Fr. Oscar knows that if he didn’t use his retirement account when necessary, the orphans might not receive the meals and school tuition they need.

Fr. Oscar also lives out Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” Fr. Oscar trusts that God will provide for him and the children at KAMAMA Orphanage. With his faith and leadership, the children at KAMAMA  understand how important it is to store up treasures in heaven, not here on earth.

Cross International Catholic Outreach is committed to helping Fr. Oscar meet his orphanage’s budget. We commend Fr. Oscar for giving so selflessly out of what little he has, and we hope that American Catholics will help us make sure he has enough money each month to keep this important ministry running—without using his whole pension.

Click here to read about KAMAMA Orphanage and other programs for orphaned children that Cross International Catholic Outreach supports around the world!

First the good news: ten African countries are only half as poor as they were two decades ago.

Young children in sub-Saharan Africa face an uphill battle for survival against poverty, hunger, and infectious diseases.

Now the bad news: child mortality rates have actually gone up, rather than down, in six sub-Saharan nations. Sub-Saharan Africa holds the unfortunate distinction of being the only region in the world that has seen an increase in the mortality rate of children under age 5. That’s according to the U.N. Millennium Development Goals Report Card released on Tuesday.

What makes this report particularly relevant to us at Cross Catholic is that most of our work in Africa is in the sub-Saharan region. Two of the six countries listed in the child-mortality report are Zambia and Kenya, where we are providing food, health care, housing, and education to the poorest of the poor.

Waterborne illnesses and other infectious diseases are leading causes of child deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, while HIV remains a major threat, directly and indirectly, to the health of children. In many cases, lives can be saved by simple improvements in home sanitation and by educating HIV-infected mothers to bottle-feed their infants. Good nutrition plays a vital role in fending off disease, and children must be kept in school because they are the producers of tomorrow’s wealth, which will in turn provide the food, medical care, and healthier way of life their society needs. Cross Catholic is promoting all these developments through partnerships with local Catholic clergy and laypeople who understand Africa’s struggles and know how to make a difference, one family at a time, one village at a time.

Click here for a complete list of all our current Africa projects that you can get involved in today!

This past Sunday, many of us took time to honor that special someone who taught us how to ride our first bicycle, change our first tire, catch our first baseball, and get through life without calling a plumber or asking for directions. Father’s Day was celebrated in 52 countries around the world, from Cuba to Greece to Afghanistan.

Reencontro is saving the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Mozambique.

The Bible has some important things to say about the value of godly fathers. “A righteous man who walks in his integrity – How blessed are his sons after him.” (Prov. 20:7) Even the Trinity itself is described in terms of a Father-Son relationship.

Sadly, many children have never known a father’s love. Some are orphans, others abandoned, others imprisoned in a home life wrecked by drug and alcohol abuse. The absence of a father figure helps to perpetuate the cycle of poverty in countries where even healthy, intact families struggle to get by. That includes Mozambique, where Cross Catholic is working with a local ministry called Reencontro to provide shelter, food, clothing, health care, and emotional support for AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children.

Thirteen-year-old Alicia came to Reencontro after her father passed away and her family was thrown out on the street. The Catholic-led program gave Alicia’s family a place to stay, saved her little sister Lidia from severe and incapacitating malnutrition, and enrolled Alicia in a Catholic boarding school, where she has learned to trust in her heavenly father to supply all her needs.

“I used to think that I wanted to become a nurse, but now I feel that my vocation is to become a nun,” Alicia said. “So in the future, I want to dedicate my life to the service of the church and to those who suffer.”

Click here to learn more about how Cross Catholic is reaching out to fatherless and vulnerable children.

Jim Kline, our Africa projects officer, recently returned from a trip to Ethiopia. While visiting a Catholic ministry we support in the capital city that provides physical therapy and education to children with disabilities, he met a little girl named Hewett.

Hewett, a 6 year old with Down Syndrome, has made miraculous progress since she started going to physical therapy at a program sponsored by Cross International Catholic Outreach in Ethiopia.

The 6-year-old, born with Down Syndrome, had spent most of her life bedridden and mute. Her parents, poor and beside themselves with worry, had nowhere to turn for help.

In Ethiopia, as in many developing African countries, children with disabilities are considered cursed. These children are often kept at the fringes of society, held back from school and hidden away from people, and their parents face constant ridicule from friends and neighbors.

Hewett, however, did not become one of those “hidden children.” Instead, her parents heard about a Catholic ministry that helped children like Hewett get better. After a few years of physical therapy and one-on-one attention, Hewett can now stand on her own and she speaks. Her parents could not believe the miraculous change — Hewett couldn’t even hold up her head on her own before the help of the ministry.

“She is very engaged. She makes eye contact with you and wants to touch everything,” Jim said. “Her parents are overwhelmed with joy over the improvement their daughter has made. The ministry really made a difference in this child’s life.”

Stories like Hewett’s are a precious reminder of what can be accomplished when Catholics work together to help the poor. To read about more life-changing programs in Africa that we support, click here.

You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples.
Psalm 77:14