The twin boys had similar agonized expressions, protruding bones and weak limbs. Their skin was stretched tightly over their thin faces and taut, hungry stomachs. Clearly, they were both about to die of malnutrition.

Marco Antonio and Marco Tulio before receiving care at the emergency nutrition center.

Mother and twins are happy, healthy and full of God’s love!

Fortunately, these suffering boys, I learned, had become wards of missionary Carlos Vargas. He operates an emergency nutrition center in a rural mountain area of Guatemala where poor families live in squalor and children often suffer from malnutrition. When he saw the level of need in the area years ago, he immediately began a ministry to help the suffering people.

When I eventually saw the “after” photos of Marco Antonio and Marco Tulio, I was as stunned as I had been by the “before” image. Their faces were bright and healthy! Their bodies were full of life! It was a miracle only God could accomplish, and I believe he did it through his disciples on earth like Carlos and Catholic friends like you. In this case, I saw hope and God’s healing power — doubled!

-Stephanie J.

Drought. Famine. Ethnic violence. Political unrest. The news coming out of Kenya is often discouraging, but then you see a child’s smile and it fills you with hope that things can be different. Cross Catholic Outreach is working through trusted mission partners in Kenya and throughout Africa to build a better world for the next generation – both materially and spiritually.

-Tony M.

Mother Joan and the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor have rescued Mary from starvation and given her a safe, loving home.

Mary, the Filipino girl in this photo, is deaf and blind, but she compensates for her handicap with an acute sense of smell. She often uses this special ability to track down Mother Joan Clare when the elderly nun is out of hand’s reach. As soon as Mary finds her, she tugs on her, signaling to Mother Joan – who is now in her 80s but still full of energy – to sweep her up into her arms. And of course, Mother Joan happily complies, giving Mary the same enthusiastic attention she gives to all the children at Queen of Peace.

We’ll probably never know the tragic circumstances behind Mary’s abandonment at the doorstep of Queen of Peace Orphanage. But what we do know is this: Mother Joan and the Compassionate Franciscan Sisters of the Poor have rescued her from starvation and given her a safe, loving home.

The basic facts about Queen of Peace are praiseworthy, but they do not begin to convey the mission’s true value. It’s the intangible things – the love, the joy, the family atmosphere, the sisters’ Christ-like spirit – that really make it special. This is a ministry with a thriving heart and soul, and we are proud to have them as a partner!

Cross Catholic Outreach provides Queen of Peace with food, vitamins and staff salaries so that approximately 60 orphans and abandoned children – some with physical disabilities – can be sheltered and cared for in this amazing way.

-Tony M.

Thanks to our generous supporters, Cross Catholic enables 800 poor Kenyan students to receive a valuable education that will one day lift them out of their poverty.

Veronica Kageshi only had two years with her parents before they passed away and left her as an orphan. Her grandmother lovingly took her in, but it’s been a constant struggle to survive because she has no source of income. They live in a dilapidated house made of corrugated tin and food is often scarce.

In a country where half of the population lives below the poverty line, now seven-year-old Veronica could have been another statistic struggling to get by on Kenya’s streets. But thanks to Cross Catholic’s support of Brother Beausang Catholic School, Veronica and 800 other poor students are now receiving a valuable education that will one day lift them out of their poverty.

Generous benefactors of Cross Catholic provide this primary and secondary school with everything from teacher salaries to classroom materials to food. Without this support, the majority of these students would be unable to go to school because their poor families can’t afford to pay tuition fees.

Catholic values are an integral part to the school’s philosophy, and teachers work to impart those values to students to help them become faithful, moral individuals. The school also serves a daily meal—and for many children like Veronica—it is the only meal they eat all day.

May God bless those of you who have joined Cross Catholic in bringing education and future hope to Kenya’s poorest children. You have not only blessed these young lives, but have also encouraged their families and caregivers who are working hard to provide.

“Thank you Cross Catholic and your supporters for making it possible for Veronica to attend Brother Beausang School,” said her grandmother. “Now she is able to be in a caring learning environment where daily lunches are making her strong.”

-Annie W.

Cross Catholic is proud to support Catholic missionaries like Ana Aleman as she tirelessly works to bring nutrition and God’s love to the people of El Progreso, Honduras.

Ana Aleman is a trusted Cross Catholic mission partner who tirelessly works to bring nutrition and God’s love to the poor in El Progreso, Honduras.

She first came to Honduras more than 10 years ago on a short-term mission trip. Overwhelmed and convicted by the poverty she saw, God put a burden on her heart for the scores of malnourished children in the area. So it wasn’t a hard decision to make when the parish priest came to her with an urgent request.

“There was a huge need for a nutrition center, so I opened one,” Ana said. “There was no hesitation.”

Almost immediately, Ana learned Spanish and moved to El Progreso with her two children and opened Las Mercedes/ Prince of Peace Nutrition Centers. The three nutrition centers rescue babies and young children from the brink of starvation and provide essential medical care to ensure their ongoing health. They also include a residential feeding program, nutritional counseling, a clinic and a school. Cross Catholic funds cover operating costs, so Ana can focus on the needs of the children in her care.

The majority of mothers who bring their frail, malnourished children to the center live in utter destitution, barely surviving on less than $1 a day. Ana addresses their physical need for food, but also meets their spiritual needs through Christian training grounded in biblical principles.

Since moving to El Progeso, Ana has completely immersed herself in God’s call to nourish and heal the children of Honduras—so much so that she has recently adopted three Honduran children.

Cross Catholic is proud to support caring and committed ministries like the Las Mercedes/ Prince of Peace Nutrition Centers, and supply Catholic missionaries like Ana with the strength they need to reach out to the poorest of the poor with the arms of Christ.

-Annie W.

Baby Raphael with his mother

The baby in this photo was the first child to be born at the new St. Raphael maternity ward in Matisi Village, Kenya. Appropriately, his mother chose to name him Raphael!

Cross Catholic funded the construction of the maternity ward because of the urgent need for better care for infants and mothers. Kenya has high infant and maternal mortality rates, and the area where the ward was built is extremely poor. The ward was completed around the beginning of last year, but due to legal issues was delayed from officially opening until October. Since then, with ongoing support from Cross Catholic, the professional medical staff has been saving lives. We met one young woman named Carolyn whose first pregnancy had ended in miscarriage and whose second child would most assuredly have died from being tangled in the umbilical cord if not for the expert care provided by the maternity ward staff.

During the blessing and opening of the maternity ward, a physician assistant spoke about the importance of motherhood:

It is a call for a woman to fulfill a longing in her heart and body for children and to come closer to God through love of her children. Many women here in Kenya struggle through trials and tribulations, but so many of them keep on persevering out of love for their children, family, and love of God…So many women – Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Madam Curie of France, Mother Seton of the United States, Kenya’s Nobel Prize winner, Wangari Mathai, and even my own mother who raised ten children – all gave their lives in dedication to mankind and children to alleviate suffering and replace it with love.

So we celebrate today all women and especially pray for the women present today and future women who will bear their children here. May they live in the light of God’s love and comfort and care for their children.

-Tony M.

Through Christ-centered community transformation and Bible studies, Cross Catholic is helping Gawad Kalinga change the lives of thousands of Filipinos from the inside out.

“My whole life has changed,” says 18-year-old John Michael Montilla, one of thousands of Filipinos benefiting from Cross Catholic’s support of Gawad Kalinga, a ministry that revitalizes old, impoverished slums into new, Christ-centered communities. We help replace shacks made of tin and wood scraps with beautiful, concrete homes; clean up polluted streets; and turn a slum culture rife with gangs and violence into a community defined by fellowship and peace. The renovated neighborhoods also offer everything from free medical care to education to Bible studies—things previously unavailable in the slums.

“This is a group of people with a burning passion and love for God,” John Michael says. “This group has helped me become more faithful to God and thankful for the gifts he has given me.”

He also says he has finally met new, true friends—friends who never let him down and who are there for him in times of need. This is a big change from the gang culture that dominated his old neighborhood.

“My life has meaning now,” says John Michael. “This program strengthens my spiritual life, the career sessions develop my self-confidence, and the tutorial sessions are helping me improve my studies and reach my dreams.”

Stories like John Michael’s—of incredible physical and spiritual transformation—remind me of 2 Corinthians 5:1: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”

What joy we as Catholics have in this promise—that Christ takes us out of our sin and squalor and changes our lives with his love and light. At Cross Catholic, we know that this level of dramatic transformation only occurs when Christ is at the center. That’s why we support projects like Gawad Kalinga in the Philippines, who share our commitment to provide long-lasting, holistic change for the poor.

Praise God that the lives of Filipinos like John Michael are being changed from the inside out!

-Annie W.

A Family receiving a food-kit during a home visit

A simple plastic bag filled with food. It’s something I take home from the grocery store each week without really thinking about it. While I’m by no means rich and don’t buy extravagant grocery items, I’ve never had to worry about whether I have enough money to buy the food I need.

For the deathly ill single mother and her two children pictured here, however, having enough food was never a guarantee—until our ministry partner Reencontro stepped in.

In Mozambique where Reencontro ministers to orphans and single mothers, food insecurity wreaks havoc both mentally and physically on thousands of families. Children are malnourished; mothers never know if they’ll have enough resources to buy food; entire families go to sleep at night with empty stomachs.

For these members of God’s kingdom, the plastic bag filled with food that they receive from Reencontro each month is anything but simple. It’s a life-line. And it’s all possible because caring Catholics like you helped us provide it.

I like to think of these bags of food as humble gifts from one Catholic in America to a fellow believer in Mozambique. I imagine Cross Catholic and Reencontro as the hands transferring that gift from America across the world to Africa and into the family’s reed hut. It’s not gift-wrapped, but it’s wrapped in love.

It’s quite a picture, one that illustrates how a plastic bag of food can become so much more than what it seems. When you think of it that way, it becomes an offering of love made in the name of Jesus. And that, we know, is one of the most beautiful offerings of all.

-Stephanie J.

More important than beautiful houses are the beautiful souls of the people living inside of them.

Whenever I see the results of Cross Catholic’s Gawad Kalinga house construction projects in the Philippines, my first thought is, “Wow! This used to be a slum?” The newness, the cleanliness, the bright, cheerful colors are a visual repudiation of poverty.

This is the tangible part of ministry. It’s also, in some respects, the easy part.

The Gawad Kalinga team tells us the more difficult – and more important – part of their work is bringing that newness and that brightness into the human heart. If the values and attitudes of the people are not changed, then even if you build new houses and clean up the dirty streets, in a few years their community will deteriorate back into a slum. That’s why the houses come packaged with a program of community outreach services aimed at transforming people’s lives, on the outside and the inside.

This is not a unique perspective. Cross Catholic’s Filipino friends at the Center for Community Transformation (CCT) also have made it the crux of their outreach strategy, and if you spend a little time with them, you discover they just can’t stop talking about it.

We asked Karl Ombion, an engineer employed by the self-help and microfinance focused ministry, why he joined the organization. His answer: “Because of its commitment to long-lasting, significant transformation, starting with heart change from knowing Christ.”

But, we reminded him, hadn’t he previously worked with an award-winning charity organization that was helping Filipino farmers? Wasn’t that transformational?

“Not really,” he admitted. “It was just technical. Without the heart-change, it wasn’t long lasting or significant.”

No matter the time, no matter the place, Jesus is still the answer!

-Tony M.