"Schools." That was the consistent response I got when I asked leaders from the Nuba Mountains, a war-torn region of Sudan, the question, "What's the most important way we can we help?" That request came before food or healthcare or other forms of humanitarian assistance. Even in contexts of extreme poverty, parents use whatever means necessary to pay school fees so that the [...]
The newest member of the First Fruit team is a 20-something North American recently back from a stint in the Philippines. We asked her to try to put to words what her initial "baptism by fire" has been like as an employee of a 40-year-old foundation privileged with relationships with thousands [...]
In the early hours of April 2, 2015, gunmen took over 700 students hostage on the campus of Garissa University College, freeing Muslims and killing those who identified as Christians. 147 people were murdered and at least 79 were injured. As in the Westgate shopping mall attack in 2013, the [...]
Earlier this month, Pope Francis released an historic encyclical calling for a “revolution” in how humankind relates to the environment. In making his plea for radical changes in “lifestyle, production and consumption” that has pushed the planet to a “breaking point”, Pope Francis draws upon theology, science and history. He [...]
I made a new friend the other day. He was in Bed A and I was in Bed B of Room 14 in the small hospital here on the island, near Seattle, where we live. I was recovering from abdominal surgery and was loopy from pain drugs. He had a [...]
If only the murderous rampage at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters were an isolated incident. It may have garnered worldwide attention because it occurred on French soil, but rising radicalism has been cutting a wide swath, most relentlessly in places like Syria, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. The initial reaction for [...]
For our first post of 2015, we invited a trusted friend, Stephan Bauman, President of World Relief, to be our guest blogger. Mixing in personal reflection, Stephan reminds us that real change — beautiful, winsome, and profound — happens in those seemingly unimpressive communities of people who live with a sense of a "constant need [...]
I came to faith, at the age of 33, advanced for most converts to Christianity, through the loving actions of my stepbrothers. They spent time with me, helped me during a rough period in my life, and they witnessed to me about the new life I could have through faith in [...]
Before becoming an organization that in 20 years helped make God's Word available to 1.3 billion in their heart language, the Seed Company (TSC) was merely an idea. Faced with the enormous task of giving access to the Bible in the heart languages of a billion more people, TSC's culture of innovation continues to accelerate [...]
An Olympic athlete, a World War II hero, a prisoner of war survivor, a Christ follower, an inspiration. Louis “Louie" Zamperini lived one of the most remarkable lives imaginable, and today I join thousands at his public memorial to pay tribute to his extraordinary life in the stadium that bears [...]