Earlier this year, I joined our mission team in Africa to see the outreaches firsthand. What I experienced was a mixture of heartbreak and joy.

The poverty we witnessed cannot adequately be put into words. The images help convey it, but even they fall short. You feel the weight of suffering when you hold a malnourished child struggling to open his or her eyes. You sense the desperation of a mother when you pray for her child who is sick due to contaminated water. The pain they endure crushes the soul, and it is tangible. In fact, it is spiritual.

That’s why meeting their needs through food, clean water and medicine is more than just a physical act. It’s spiritual. When a child doesn’t have to worry about his or her next meal, that child can learn, play and dream of a future. That child has hope. When a mother encounters strangers willing to sacrifice their time and resources to help her child, she experiences compassion at a critical time in her life. That mother sees love. And when the families hear of a God who sees them in their need and followers of Christ who demonstrate His love for them, they know faith.

This is sharing God’s love in word and deed. This is what friends of LIFE help accomplish through gifts of love for the outreaches of LIFE. We’re grateful for all our incredible supporters and partners who have stood together with us in this mission.