When I introduce new people to Forward Edge, I’ll often describe what we do this way: we help children around the world overcome poverty, discover their true worth, and pursue God’s extraordinary purpose for their lives.
I believe these three descriptors are distinct and important. Let me explain a little deeper what I mean by them.
Across the world, about 1 billion children are multidimensionally poor, meaning they lack basic necessities like nutrition or safe drinking water. Moreover, 150 million more children were plunged into poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Haiti, children are being sold as property…in Mexico, teens search for hope through violent gangs…in Africa, AIDS orphans are abandoned in slums…and in Nicaragua, teen girls think pregnancy will put food on the table. My friend, this should not be.
Jesus taught us to always remember the poor (Gal. 2:10) and to let the children come to him (Matt. 19:14). Equipping and empowering children and families to overcome poverty is how we can demonstrate God’s great love to a world in desperate need.
Our dream is to see millions of children around the world freed from spiritual and material poverty and pursuing God’s extraordinary purpose for their lives. We believe that by equipping and empowering them, we’re investing in God’s Kingdom, both today and tomorrow.
Read how Caleb, Hannah and their parents are overcoming poverty >>
Poverty isn’t solved only by meeting external needs. While we can increase a child’s chances of flourishing by providing nutritious meals, safe drinking water, quality education and access to health care, to fully overcome poverty, change must also happen on the inside.
Internal change starts and ends with Jesus Christ. Every human being is spiritually bankrupt without him, and that’s the most important thing we teach every child we serve. Jesus is their only hope, but in him there’s more hope than one could ever need or imagine.
By Christ and for Christ, every child was beautifully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) with immense value and purpose. Until they can truly believe this, the symptoms of internal poverty – fear, self-loathing, apathy, anger, shame, and depression – will continue to hold them back from true flourishing.
Discovering their true worth takes a long time for any child, but especially those coming from oppressive and impoverished environments. We’re committed to the long-term, consistent care of mind, body and soul that it takes to fully break the cycle of poverty for a new generation.
Over the years, children in our programs experience transformation internally and externally, ultimately getting what they need to thrive and carry the Gospel into their families and communities with great influence and opportunity.
But this looks different for each child because each child is unique. There’s no one size fits all. Think about your own children (if you have them). They are likely each gifted in different ways, and as their parent, I’m sure your desire is to help them discover and develop those unique gifts to build a fruitful life.
That’s why our programs invest deeply in each child, discipling them along the way, and helping them each discover God’s unique and extraordinary purpose for their lives.
To do this well, we must provide opportunities for them to jump the final hurdle in overcoming poverty: entering the workplace. Helping children obtain marketable skills through vocational training or university education – whatever fits best for each unique child – is an extra layer of support that sets Forward Edge apart from many other relief and development organizations serving children.
All poverty breaks God’s heart. In fact, that’s why Christ came – he became poor so that in him, we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9). By joining together to help children overcome poverty, discover their true worth, and pursue God’s extraordinary purpose for their lives, we join Christ in His great work to redeem this world, for His glory and our good!
Though generally joy-filled, one of the difficult aspects of the Christian life are the troubles we encounter in the midst of following and trusting God. Jesus and the apostles tell us in God’s Word that this will be a common experience for us, and it raises the question of how
The past two years have been particularly hard for children in Uganda. Schools remained shut through most of the pandemic. Light a Candle, our program there, worked tirelessly to help these children succeed in their education despite the seemingly impossible situation. Despite school closures, children have remained committed to pursuing
Ever wonder if you’re really making an impact in the life of the child you sponsor? The very fact that your child knows you chose them shows them they are special and that they matter. They know they’re important to you and also to God, you may even be an
In his book, “Empowering Children”, former Forward Edge board member, Dr. Ravi Jayakaran, shares the importance of involving children in the process of their own development. When a community invests its resources in its children, it invests in its own future. Just as Forward Edge values all children and believes
5 yrs. old
Entered the program: October 2023
Fatima lives with her mother, father, and 2 older sisters. Her parents met when growing up as neighbors. Fatima’s mother is a housewife who makes and sells tortillas; her father has a labor job at a lumber yard. The family used to live in their grandparents’ home, but in 2019, one of FEI’s teams helped them complete their own home by building a roof and a
concrete floor.
Fatima’s sisters Lenyz and Julia are also in the Trigo y Miel program.
