The headline stuck in my head. “Malnourished 5-year old girl found locked in closet under stairs.” It was like a second round of mortar piercing my heart following a news story I happened to read a few weeks earlier: “Thousands of child sex abuse photos...
“The arc of a moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I have found myself in a number of discussions about the two narratives in our current political debate. Some have described it as the difference between a narrative...
Let me start with a clarification: This post is neither a criticism of single parents, nor a condemnation of their status as “single.” I know single parents love their children just the same as married parents do, and that many of them make immeasurable sacrifices...
The death of Trayvon Martin more than four years ago highlighted the highly-dangerous world many young people in the United States must negotiate every day. Often these cases make the headlines, and they are forgotten as new headlines emerge, or they move to the back...
It was 3 a.m., and I sat straight up in bed awakened by a cry. It was my son, my only child at the time. I went into the room to get him. I knew the sound of agitation in his cry. In fact, I...
Several years ago, I was on a site visit of World Vision’s work in D.C. We visited one of the hardest hit wards, ward 8, to see a summer school program. The students and the teachers were quite impressive. They were doing fascinating things with...
On any given day, there are approximately 415,000 children in foster care in the United States. While meeting with two friends a few weeks ago, one of them mentioned a young woman with whom they had recently reconnected after a long break. This girl, Sandra...
Your work focuses on the real, daily needs of children right here in our own neighborhoods. But sometimes it seems easier to think about the needs outside of our borders, like focusing on the hunger faced by children in far-off countries. Why do you think...
One of my favorite things to do with kids is ask them why they are thankful to God. They give the best answers, in my humble opinion. I remember a particular answer that has stuck with me for years, like an ebbing tide that rises...
I had the most unusual experience a summer or so ago at a camp where I met a young girl who told me she didn’t like her last name. Now, I’m not so naïve that I’ve never heard someone say such a thing. But until...