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In times of emergencies and disasters, including the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the West Bank, earthquakes in Afghanistan, and the war in Ukraine, children bear the heaviest burden.

At World Vision, we believe each child is made in the image of God and deserves dignity, care, and protection. Our hearts ache witnessing deteriorating humanitarian conditions in conflict zones, impacting not only the most vulnerable children but also women and men struggling through dire circumstances.

Knowing how to help those in need can be challenging. Through prayer, we can “seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14, NIV). Join us in praying for places with critical humanitarian needs, where daily struggles for basic necessities affect children, families, and communities. Let us pray …

For peace in a hurting world

We’ve witnessed increasing conflict and violence in Nagorno-Karabakh, Syria, Ukraine — and the largest global food crisis in modern history. Also compounding the hurt in the world is the Middle East crisis. Our dedicated teams were already in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan and are providing vital support to vulnerable children, families, and communities deeply affected by the crisis.

Dear God, please guide us in our efforts to help bring relief to these troubled regions. Our world is full of hurting people and nations torn apart by war and violence. Please protect, comfort, and heal children and women and men who face unspeakable loss and profound emotional and physical challenges. Unite us in pursuing a world where all can thrive in Your peace, mercy, and abundance.

For restoration in northern Ethiopia

In the northern Ethiopian regions of Tigray, Afar, and Amhara, children and families face severe challenges, including alarming rates of malnutrition and food insecurity, exacerbated by persistent issues like drought, armed conflict, violence, and disease outbreaks.

Dear Father, we cry out for peace and stability for people affected by the hostilities in northern Ethiopia and facing ever-present dangers. We pray for humanitarian aid workers to swiftly reach those who are hungry and malnourished and facing severe food insecurity. We long to see people return to their communities and for the restoration of peace and safety for children.

For hope for Syrians displaced

Syria continues to experience one of the most challenging emergencies in the world. More than half of Syria’s population remains displaced within the country since the conflict began in 2011, leaving many children unfamiliar with a peaceful life. As of October 2023, approximately 7 million children in Syria need humanitarian assistance. The devastating February 6, 2023,  earthquake has added more misery to the complex layers of suffering, with the loss of housing making Syrian children and women more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. In the winter months, hardships will deepen and needs will increase for those who are displaced within the country and far from home.

Dear Lord, bring hope to children and families who have lost everything to conflict in Syria. Many kids have lost their sense of childhood and their ability to go to school. We pray for You to comfort each and every one and surround them with physical warmth and well-being. For the families devastated by the catastrophic earthquake, provide aid workers with the ability to deliver vital assistance needed for their continued relief and recovery. May all the people affected find their peace in You.

For displaced Sudanese families

Sudan’s ongoing unrest has resulted in the displacement of over 5 million people since mid-April 2023. As of December 2023, the conflict has intensified the situation, putting over 6 million people on the brink of famine, according to the World Food Programme. Ongoing violence has exacerbated the hunger crisis and disrupted farming and livelihoods.

Prince of Peace, we pray for the restoration of peace and civility in Sudan so children can grow into all You intend them to be. We ask for an end to hostilities so the nation can begin its recovery and rebuilding. God, please help aid workers reach people who are hungry and starving. For malnourished children, we ask in Your name for immediate nutrition to restore their health.

For protection for Venezuela’s refugees and migrants

Venezuela has faced a decade-long challenge marked by political turmoil, economic decline, and severe shortages of food and medicine. As of December 2023, over 7.7 million people have sought better living conditions in other countries, placing immense pressure on social services in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru.

God, please protect people who have left their homes, especially children, the elderly, and people with disabilities. We ask in Your name to restore communities, reunite families, and repair this country.

For recovery in Haiti

Haiti is in a state of turmoil. One of the poorest countries in the Americas, Haiti faces political unrest, an upsurge in violence, fuel shortages, and high levels of food insecurity. Approximately 5.2 million people need humanitarian aid due to the mounting instability. In 2021 and 2010, deadly earthquakes devastated the Caribbean nation and deepened its dire humanitarian situation.

Oh, gracious Father, our hearts call out to You to heal this beautiful land. We lift up Haiti’s children and families who are suffering from disasters, natural and man-made. We ask that You comfort them with Your love, goodness, and strength.

For an end to war in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has driven 6.3 million people to seek refuge in other countries, as of December 2023. Children, enduring nearly two years of turmoil, have faced immense physical and emotional hardships. As of January 2023, over 5 million children were experiencing educational disruptions.

Dear God, we lift the people of Ukraine who have been affected by the ongoing war. We pray for an end to the conflict that has displaced millions from their homes. May peace prevail in the region, ending the suffering and allowing families to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. Please guide leaders and nations to work toward lasting peace and stability in Ukraine and around the world.

Elizabeth Hendley of World Vision’s U.S. staff contributed to this article.

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After an extensive national search, World Vision U.S. has selected Edgar Sandoval Sr. to serve as its next president, effective Oct. 1.

Edgar, 53, has served as the organization’s chief operating officer for the past three years. He will succeed Rich Stearns, who will retire at the end of 2018.

“I am humbled by this opportunity to build on World Vision’s 68-year tradition of helping some of the world’s most vulnerable children,” says Edgar, who led a distinguished 20-year career at Procter & Gamble that culminated in an internationally acclaimed #LikeAGirl campaign to empower girls and women.

The Rev. John Crosby, search committee chair, says, “Selecting a new president is the most important decision we can make as a board. We clearly felt the Lord guiding us during the extensive and competitive search process.”

A journey and calling

Born in Los Angeles, Edgar grew up in Central and South America, where he first witnessed poverty. With $50 in his pocket, he returned alone to the U.S. at age 18. He worked minimum-wage jobs while pursuing an education that started with courses in English as a second language.

Edgar went on and graduated with honors from the Rutgers School of Engineering and earned his MBA at the Wharton School of Business.

Edgar spent 20 years in various leadership positions with Procter & Gamble, including marketing director of North America fabric care and vice president of North America marketing. In his last role as vice president and general manager of global feminine care, he made it his mission to advocate for girls and women around the world and help empower them to live life to their fullest potential.

Edgar says he and his wife, Leiza, felt a strong calling from God to join World Vision in 2015 and move with their four children to the Pacific Northwest. He regards having been selected as World Vision president, given his humble childhood, “an improbable miracle of God.” He says his travels with World Vision have magnified his feelings of empathy and compassion — creating a strong affinity with the children and families World Vision serves.

‘Collaborative and decisive leader’

As chief operating officer, Edgar deepened the World Vision U.S. leadership team, strengthened the World Vision brand, and leveraged the organization to execute its strategic plan.

“Edgar embodies World Vision’s core values and has demonstrated his commitment to the mission of World Vision since he joined three years ago,” says Joan Singleton, World Vision U.S. board chair. “He has a consistent track record of delivering financial growth and organizational health during his successful corporate career and most recently during his time at World Vision. We believe God has been preparing him to lead World Vision for such a time as this.”

All of this enabled Rich to invest more time in external affairs, including writing, public speaking, and partnership development.

“World Vision staff, management, and the board have been impressed with Edgar’s leadership in his role as COO,” says Rich. “He is a collaborative and decisive leader who brings a fresh perspective and a disciplined approach to the challenges and opportunities we face.”

We spoke with Edgar to hear more about his journey to this new role.

What set you on your personal faith journey?

I was at a Promise Keepers conference in Dallas with a good friend and spiritual mentor. I had never attended such a large Christian meeting before. Walking into a stadium filled with 14,000 men singing felt unfamiliar at first. But it was a worship song that caused me to recommit my life. It was a song I’d never heard before, “Here I am to worship, Here I am to bow down, Here I am to say that you’re my God.” It was at that powerful moment I realized I had never bowed down to anyone. I recommitted my life to Christ and never looked back. He is my Savior and Lord.

What was it like initially coming to World Vision?

My wife and I felt strongly called to serve at World Vision. When I joined, I didn’t know what the Lord had in store for me, only that it was where I was meant to go. God has blessed my family greatly through World Vision. We have collectively grown closer together, and each of us has grown closer to Jesus in ways we could not have imagined. It has been our complete honor to serve the Lord in this way.

What have you learned from the children World Vision serves?

I’ve seen so many kids in the field, and what I see is optimism, is hope, is energy, despite the most challenging circumstances. I don’t know that I could survive a week in some of the places I’ve seen, but the kids, they are incredible. So, do their conditions break my heart? Yes. Do I want to change them? Yes. But the kids are ready — they are eager, they’re waiting for an opportunity. And that helps me to reignite. God breaks your heart not just to be sad, but to help you bring your very best to spur you to action for those children in need.

How do you feel about being the new president?

I’m humbled and grateful. I am so humbled because I am nothing without Jesus Christ. Everything I do, I do to honor him. During the time of waiting and interviewing process, the Lord gave me Scripture and two verses. One is Romans 8:28: that speaks of all things working together for good to those that love God and are called by him. The Lord is working for the good, and I knew I loved the Lord and that I was called to World Vision. Whatever the outcome was going to be, I found so much peace with that scripture.

The other Scripture is Ephesians 2:10: God has created us; he made us who we are. He has created us in Christ’s image to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our purpose and way of life.

How does your family feel now that the news is out?

They’re so excited. The kids had a hard time keeping it to themselves, you know with social media these days. They’re thrilled. One of the amazing blessings of coming to World Vision is that we felt we had each individually grown closer to Christ. When you grow closer to Christ, in a family, in a team, there’s something that happens in that triangle — you grow closer to each other. We’ve grown stronger as a family. There are so many things happening on the home front; I see the hand of the Holy Spirit.

As you move into this new role, what will be your priorities?

My priorities will be to accelerate the impact of our work in the communities we serve with the faithful support of our donors and partners, to strengthen our fund-raising capabilities, and most importantly be a witness to the love of Jesus Christ in everything we do. These challenges and opportunities are both exciting and urgent.

Lauren Fisher of World Vision’s staff in the U.S. contributed to this story.

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World Vision’s 2018 Global 6K for Water united thousands of people to bring clean water to people in need May 19, including one 12-year-old girl who declared it a “life-changing” day.

“There are children my own age who don’t have access to clean water like I do,” says Zoe Potesta, 12, of Seattle. Sporting pigtails and two orange strips across her cheeks, she waited for the race to start at Gas Works Park. “This race changes the life of another child and in doing so, it changes me. I’ve read the Long Walk to Water too, and I’ll do this again to make changes we need to do good. To do this is life-changing.”

Zoe was among more than 48,000 participants worldwide who laced up for the Global 6K for Water May 19. Races were held in 1,075 locations in 23 countries, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, and Australia.

Overall, more than 63,000 people received clean water through the 2018 Global 6K for Water.

Going the distance with heart and muscles

Across the United States, children, parents, couples, and teams wearing vibrant orange T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Global 6K for Water,” streamed out in celebration with orange wigs, tutus, and balloons.

“It’s an important event for families,” says Zoe’s grandmother, Libby McVoy, of Auburn, Washington. “We get clean water from our taps, and I wanted my grandchildren to understand what it means to other children who have to carry that burden and weight on their shoulders to get water.”

Zoe’s 10-year-old sister, Bianca, took her grandmother’s sentiment to heart and carried a gallon on her hip. “I’m here today to help people who are less fortunate and understand what it feels like to carry water for such a long distance.”

Going the distance with a plastic jug filled with water was challenging for Bianca, who joined more than 1,200 other participants at Gas Works Park. Six kilometers (about 3.7 miles) is the average distance that people, usually women and girls, in the developing world walk for water — water often contaminated with life-threatening diseases.

Each day, more than 800 children under age 5 die from diarrhea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation, and improper hygiene. The number of people without access to clean water, however, is shrinking, as World Vision provides a new person with clean water every 10 seconds. Today, 89% of the global population has access to clean water.

Tears welled in Luz Maria Insignares’ eyes as she signed up to sponsor a 6-year-old in Mauritania. The former Miami resident recently moved to Seattle. “I just remembered my mother in that very moment,” Luz Maria says. “She has always instilled in me the importance of giving to those less fortunate because when we’ve had nothing, the Lord always provided. I wanted to give not expecting anything in return. I just imagined for a moment all the smiles and joy it would bring this little girl, and that alone fills me up to know that maybe one day she will, too, grow and help someone in return. That excited me because I know that we are God’s hands and feet on this Earth, and when we feel that tug, we just have to remember to answer the call.”

Chicago’s commitment runs deep

In Chicago, drizzle and cloudy skies didn’t stop the more than 1,000 participants who gathered at Montrose Park. For Mark and Andrea Wittig, the race was more than another run. It was personal; they’ve been running together since they were engaged more than a decade ago.

“I told her on the first date, ‘I’ll never run a marathon,’” says Mark. Andrea added, “Eighteen months later, he ran the marathon with me.”

Now more than 11 years later with a family that has blossomed to include three children, Andrea and Mark think about their middle son, Josh, as they pass the miles and markers to the 6K’s end. Josh was adopted from Uganda when he was 3 years old. When they brought him home, he had giardia, a common parasite for children exposed to unsafe water. “He lived the reality of not having clean water,” Andrea says.

It was also a family affair for HOH Water Technology, a corporate partner for the 6K. The Chicago-based water treatment company is an American success story, celebrating 50 years and three generations of family ownership. They had more than 100 staff members come out to run and walk for clean water, including current president Tom Hutchison and his son Reid, who walked with a hefty jerry can.

“We say our mission is to save water locally and change lives globally,” Tom says. And, he added it’s a chance for team building. “Monday through Friday life can be hard and chaotic. This is a chance not to think about the pressures of work, but instead to think, ‘Hey, we’re making a difference in the world.’”

Kindergarten teacher Beatrice Hall was also looking at the ways thinking globally can help locally. She brought 40 students from Alex Haley Elementary. The school is located on the south side of Chicago in an area with high poverty levels. For all of the students, it was their first time doing a charity walk.

“We’re trying to get the kids to fight for and believe in something. I tell them, ‘You can do anything; you can be anything,’ and this is part of it — showing them they can make a difference globally,” Beatrice says.

Participants ranged from first-timers like the students from Alex Haley Elementary to experienced racers like Tyrone Wheeler who has run multiple marathons with Team World Vision. With his headphones, sports sunglasses, and runners’ build, his joy for the sport was clear as he scanned the crowd.

“It’s beautiful seeing people out and running,” says Tyrone. When asked about advice for new runners, he adds, “Run your race. Have fun. Embrace it.”

It’s advice Alicia Joseph took to heart. She stood out in the crowd in a tiara, veil, and wedding bouquet. “If we’re going to have a walk on the day of the royal wedding, … you’ve got to,” she says laughing.

Altogether the Chicago event raised enough money to bring clean water to more than 1,700 children in the developing world. Some participants, like the Zavala family of Chicago, went one step further — sponsoring the child on their 9-year-old son Isaiah’s bib. His mother, Jenica, says,“We want him to know that love and the love that we have for him, we should give to others as well because the Lord loves everyone.”

Other voices from the 2018 Global 6K for Water:

• “Running this event was a big deal for me,” says Simon Gezai, 14, of Mill Creek, Washington. “It was into the first half mile that I realized who I was running on behalf of. As soon as I saw the little face I ran even harder. We take so much for granted and being able to raise awareness was my first step forward.”
• “This is a worthwhile community event in which each participant leaves with a greater understanding of the water issues facing children and their families,” says Lisa Anderson, a member of Cascade Covenant Church in North Bend, Washington.
• “This year, it’s me and my nephew, but I believe being here for this event will encourage more of my family to participate next year so we can reach more people in our efforts to bring water to families,” says Lisa O’Neill of Redmond, Washington, who pushed a stroller with her young nephew.
• “This is a great way to get our family involved in a cause that changes lives and the world,” says April Lam of Mill Creek, Washington.

Contributor: Lauren Fisher, World Vision staff

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With the wide variety of flowers grown in Chambarak, Armenia, the honey is sweet and an essential ingredient in scrumptious honey cake.  Beekeeping is also helping lift families out of poverty as the honey provides income.

Recipe for Armenian honey cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup honey
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups walnuts
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground nutmeg

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place 1 1/4 cup walnut pieces on a baking sheet and toast for 5 to 7 minutes. Cool.
3. In a medium bowl, mix the honey and eggs into the milk.
4. Add baking soda and mix. Set it aside.
5. Sift together the flour and the baking powder into a large bowl.
6. Toss cubed butter into the dry ingredients.
7. Mash the butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until it’s a more-or-less uniform, tan-colored crumbly mixture.
8. Add nutmeg to the crumbly mixture.
9. Pour 1/3 to 1/2 of this crumbly mixture into a 9″ spring-form pan. Press a crust out of it using your fingers and knuckles.
10. Set aside 1/2 cup of toasted walnut pieces. Once fairly cool, pulse the remaining walnuts in a food processor until uniformly fine.
11. Fold ground walnuts into your remaining crumbly mix.
12. Mix and stir the milk and honey in a separate bowl. Pour into the dry mix and mix well.
13. Pour the batter over the base in the spring-form pan. The batter will be very thin.
14. Gently sprinkle the remaining walnut pieces over the batter.
15. Bake in a preheated oven for about 40 to 50 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the top is a deep golden brown and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
16. Allow to cool in the pan, and then release and serve.

Read more recipes from around the world! Did you make honey cake? We want to see pictures! Send your photos to us at editor@worldvision.org or tag us @worldvisionusa on Instagram or Facebook. 

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What does it take to serve children and families in “the worst of all worlds”? Jonathan Papoulidis, World Vision’s executive advisor on fragile states, breaks down this difficult context for humanitarian work and explains how the organization is uniquely equipped to respond.

What does it mean when we say a country is a fragile state?

A fragile state is a broken place. The social contract between state and society is broken because people don’t see their government as accountable or responsive to their needs or treating citizens fairly.

Public institutions are broken and unable to provide critical services like education, health, and water — making children and communities more vulnerable to disease, disaster, hunger, and malnutrition and also less able to read and write.

Fragile states lack resilience, which means they can’t easily bounce back from natural or human-made disasters, economic crisis, and social upset.

For example, the Haiti earthquake [in 2010] killed more than 200,000 people and displaced 2 million people. The Chile earthquake [also in 2010] was much larger, but claimed at least 200 lives and caused no displacements. Chile is a more resilient state, while Haiti is very fragile.

What happens to those already living in poverty in fragile states?

Fragile states are rapidly becoming ground zero for extreme poverty. By 2018, the majority of the extreme poor will live in fragile states. By 2030, some project that an alarming two-thirds of the world’s extreme poor will live in fragile states.

What’s more alarming is that extreme poverty has a child’s face. The majority of populations in fragile states are made up of youth. For World Vision, as a child-focused organization, our call to help the most vulnerable children in fragile states has never been clearer. We work in the majority of fragile states and will rise to the challenge of addressing this rising concentration of poverty and its impact on the world’s most vulnerable children.

Are there nations that consistently stay in the top 10 list of fragile states, and why?

Yes. A group of the most fragile states, calling themselves the g7+ represent those nations who stay in the top 10, such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, and Haiti.

Most of them have experienced some type of conflict, which has destroyed infrastructure, torn apart the social fabric of society, and eroded the capacity of governments to provide services, security, and livelihoods. These states are starting from a very low point in their recovery.

A key reason why these states remain in the top 10 is that they aren’t resilient. They can’t manage new disasters, whether in the form of instability or floods, cyclones, and earthquakes. Governments don’t have the capacity — nor the will, in several cases — to find lasting solutions to social and economic ills.

What programs are most effective in helping children and their families in fragile contexts?

Programs that directly assist children, households, and communities make a big impact in fragile states, since governments are often unable to provide basic services.

To be most effective, programs need to empower communities and work through partners like local nongovernmental organizations, networks of mothers, and farmer associations to build local capacity while providing assistance. Programs should also help governments assume their responsibility, over time, for service delivery to reach larger numbers of the poor and most vulnerable children and ensure support is sustainable.

What strengths or programming insights does World Vision bring to the table in this work?

World Vision has worked in the majority of the world’s fragile states for more than 30 years. We have a strong sense of what types of programs work in these contexts, and more importantly, we have longstanding relationships and trust with the communities we serve. Contextual understanding and local trust are vital to the work we do in these places.

Our big focus on fragile states is around transitions. We are working diligently to develop new approaches to transition out of fragility. We’re asking ourselves two key questions:

• How do we walk the path with children and families to transition out of humanitarian crisis?
• How do we walk the path with children and families out of extreme poverty?

Part of the answer is learning and innovating on approaches to transitions in the areas of our greatest programmatic strengths: water, sanitation, and hygiene; health; livelihoods and food assistance; and child protection and education. We aim to integrate all these programs to provide communities with what they need most.

Another big part of the answer is that transitions happen best through a wide array of partnerships and support. World Vision partners with churches, donor governments, corporations, and individual supporters across the globe. We partner extensively with local communities, faith communities, civil society, and public institutions in the fragile states where we work. No single group or organization can tackle fragility alone.

The way we provide services is just as important as what we provide. World Vision works to empower children and communities, to help make them more resilient to crisis, economic hardship, and instability. But we must not foster dependency on our support. Ultimately, our programs seek to empower and cultivate ingenuity and resilience, so that communities have the know-how, the confidence, and the ability to help themselves and care for their children.

Can you provide an example?

We are working to expand one of our signature programs, Citizens Voice and Action (CVA), to more fragile states. CVA equips communities with the tools to monitor and grade how well governments are providing basic services like health and education. CVA then brings communities and governments together to find common solutions for improving schools, clinics, livelihoods, and water and sanitation services.

CVA is an essential program for overcoming issues of trust and transparency and for working together to establish or restore social contracts.

How does this affect World Vision’s commitment to improving the well-being of children worldwide?

World Vision is committed to helping the world’s most vulnerable children, and we continue to do so in many of the most difficult and underserved places. I’ve seen our commitment grow significantly on fragile states and keep pace with the disturbing trends we see in these places for the poorest and most vulnerable children.

My hope is that these affected children and families see World Vision as a light in a place of darkness — that they know our leaders, staff, and generous, engaged supporters will be there for them. So many of these children have such hope and dreams of a brighter future, and World Vision wants to nurture that hope. Our work is focused on the well-being of children in the hardest places, as a foundation for their intellectual, physical, moral, and spiritual growth and contribution to the world.

How far and quickly can a fragile nation move toward resilience?

The journey out of fragility and toward resilience can take decades. But we don’t have to wait that long to help change the lives of children. We continue to have impact in local communities for better health, education, livelihoods, nutrition, and gender equality.

And while the road is long, we are seeing that sustained international support is making a difference in the most fragile states.

Afghanistan is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of halving maternal mortality by the end of this year. World Vision’s widely recognized midwives program has helped the country meet this target.

Nepal, Afghanistan, and Myanmar are on track to meet the MDG target of improving access to clean water. World Vision committed 75% of our water programs to fragile states last year.

The West Bank and Gaza, Nepal, Guinea, and Bosnia and Herzegovina have already met the MDG target to halve extreme poverty. This is proof that real change can happen, in even some of the most difficult places.

For recovery to take hold, what factors must be in place?

Recovery is a term that describes the phase between relief and development. We aren’t doing emergency response anymore, but we aren’t doing traditional development. The country is in a gray area — a make-or-break moment that will determine whether people remain dependent on humanitarian aid or whether the country can transcend crisis and lay foundations for development.

To make the transition from relief to recovery and then development, there needs to be a shared plan by the local government and international partners on what is needed for that context. Efforts and resources need to be coordinated among all partners so that we aren’t doing the same kinds of projects or leaving big gaps in health, education, and livelihoods. We need to measure our impact to know what’s working and what’s not.

And we need to steadily move from direct relief services to efforts that raise the capacities and confidence of local communities, local governments, churches, and the private sector to work together to pave a road from recovery to development. We need to empower local communities, restore jobs and livelihoods, build up public services, and foster resilience to future disasters that could throw a country back into a humanitarian crisis.

If recovery is rebuilding a house after a cyclone, resilience is building it stronger, but also knowing your evacuation routes, storing food and water, and knowing that you can call on your neighbors and government for extra support when the lights go out. You could say we want to foster resilient transitions from relief to recovery and onward to development.

How can we pray for fragile states?

Pray for the children in the worst of all worlds. Pray that God’s grace is over them when they must endure hardship, destitution, and unspeakable violence.

Pray for the world’s extreme poor — those who are the poorest materially and socially, but also spiritually. May they inherit the kingdom of heaven and show us the way.

Pray for women, whose powerful voices and energies are restricted in fragile states and beyond. May their persistence in the face of adversity prevail to help bring peace and happiness to their children, families and communities.

Pray for World Vision, that our global ministry in fragile states will not falter. Pray that World Vision is used to its fullest extent in line with God’s will, where we are most needed.

What Bible verses guide you in your work with fragile states?

I look to these passages as guides on calling, love, and resilience in the face of adversity. Oftentimes, these passages just spring to mind through the day.

• Hebrews 12:1-3 (NIV): “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith.”
• Romans 8:35 (NIV) : “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
• 1 John 4:8 (NIV): “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
• Isaiah 2:4 (NIV): “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”

The “plowshares” verse is carved into a wall near the United Nations in New York. It’s powerful to see it there in stone — such a beautiful example of turning the tools of conflict into the tools of development.

Jonathan Papoulidis provides leadership on World Vision’s policy and programming in fragile states, building close, collaborative relationships with the U.S. government, multilateral organizations, foundations, academic institutions, and corporations.

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A plastic bag flutters in the desert wind brushing a desolate Jordan landscape. A Syrian refugee boy grasps a string that not only keeps the bag from flying away but also provides a tenuous grip on his fading childhood.

For Syrian refugee children, kite flying keeps aloft memories of family, friends, and their once-promising future. The children salvage remnants of their war-shattered lives, even if it’s just with a dirty plastic bag that can barely stand up to the breeze.

Now in its fifth year, fighting in Syria has unleashed one of the worst humanitarian crises in modern history, uprooting half of the nation’s population. More than 3.2 million people have sought refuge in neighboring countries, including Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, and Iraq. Nearly half are children.

The United Nations Children’s Fund cited 2014 as one of the worst years on record for children, prompting executive director Anthony Lake to declare: “Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality.”

As many as 15 million children are caught up in violent conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, Central African Republic, and South Sudan — including those internally displaced or living as refugees. Globally, an estimated 230 million children live in countries and areas affected by armed conflicts, according to UNICEF.

If the world continues to turn its back on Syria, it is the children who’ll continue to suffer the most.—Wynn Flaten, director of World Vision’s Syria crisis regional response

The Syrian conflict’s death toll is staggering: More than 8,500 children, including 2,000 under age 10, the U.N. reports.

“It’s heartbreaking,” says Wynn Flaten, director of World Vision’s Syria crisis regional response, covering northern Syria, the Kurdish Region of Iraq (KRI), Jordan, and Lebanon. “These children have come from one of the world’s most dangerous places. Children need so much support to be able to recover from that, but the odds are against them. Children need safe shelter, but that is only the beginning. They need special protection. They need to get into schools. Even when they can get in, often the classrooms are overflowing with extra students, or they are bullied to such an extent that they no longer even want to go.

“If the world continues to turn its back on Syria, it is the children who’ll continue to suffer the most,” Wynn says. “More needs to be done to peacefully stop this conflict, and more support needs to be given to host countries and humanitarian actors. We’re going to be dealing with this one for years to come.”

War’s lasting effects

Children who have escaped violence in Syria and Iraq speak of the brutality — losing parents, loved ones, and friends — and being displaced and out of school.

“All I want is to be with my best friend,” says Sedra, 7, a Syrian refugee girl in Za’atari Refugee Camp in Jordan. “I want to go home.”

“I miss my life, my teachers, my school,” says Hasan, 13, another child living in Za’atari, now the second-largest camp in the world.

Some refuse to speak at all.

“My granddaughter does not talk. She is afraid,” says Sara Hassan Kako, an Iraqi woman who has 29 grandchildren. She and her family fled their ancestral homeland in Sinjar, enduring a 100-mile journey on foot to Dohuk in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. She says the backbreaking trek is nothing compared to her “heartbreak when I see these children who were so alive and are now sad and quiet. They went to school. They were learning. Now, nothing.”

Her grandchildren, she fears, will bear the scars of war for the rest of their lives.

“Many children caught in the crossfire of these conflicts lose their childhood literally overnight. They’re forced to take on new roles and adult responsibilities and pressures. There’s limited opportunities to play with friends, to continue their schooling,” says Lucy Strickland, World Vision’s specialist in education in emergencies, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

She says that without education and safe spaces in which children can be with their peers again and continue learning, they face increased protection risks. Girls can fall prey to early marriage and pregnancy, increased exposure to sexual and gender-based violence, and, of course, dropping out of the education system altogether with a high likelihood of never returning.

On the day of Isra’a’s final exam, warring factions destroyed her school in Damascus, shattering her way of life and dreams of earning a high school diploma. “I was in school when the bombs hit,” the 18-year-old said during an interview in 2013. “The windows were blown out, glass everywhere, and some hit my friends in the face and hands.”

A year later, the former honor student still spends her time locked up inside a tiny flat with at least seven others on the most impoverished street in Zarqa, Jordan.

The decline in education for Syrian children has been the sharpest and most rapid in the history of the region, according to UNICEF. For children inside Syria, the reasons for halting education are many: schools destroyed or occupied by warring groups or displaced families, teachers absent or deceased, and insecurity. For refugee families who don’t live in camps, paying rent and other expenses can make it impossible for parents to afford transportation, books, and tuition for their children.

Khalida, 8, longs for the day when she can run through her cobbled streets to hug her teachers and classmates. “I loved school. I was learning. I wanted to learn how to write. I loved it,” she says.

Now the child spends her days playing with sticks strewn on a vacant lot in Dohuk, Iraq, where she and at least 100 families are seeking shelter. She pretends twigs are pencils, like the ones in school. Her delicate fingers trace Kurdish letters printed on a recycled pink-and-white poster used as a door in the shelter. She used to want to write children’s stories, she says. Now, she shrugs and whispers: “I have nothing to say.”

I loved school. I was learning. I wanted to learn how to write. I loved it.—Khalida, 8

Once living in neighborhoods in middle-class suburbia, millions of children and their families now seek shelter in tented settlements or abandoned and unfinished buildings in neighboring nations overwhelmed by refugees. Khalida lives in a cement stall once used by farmers to sell their vegetables and chickens at the market. More than 100 children and their families live in this place carved out from a concrete structure and parking lot set along a busy thoroughfare.

Khalida’s days are filled with caring for her two younger siblings, as well as cleaning and cooking. Her father, slain by militants in a recent upsurge of violence, has left her mother unable to function.

Families are grateful to escape the ravages of bombings and shelling that flattened their homes and neighborhoods, but they now fear the clutches of poverty and despair.

In Lebanon, Syrians overrun certain border communities, where poverty is increasing at an alarming rate. Tensions rise as overcrowded schools leave Syrian children outside of classrooms.

“Boys become adolescents and, as we’ve seen play out in refugee camps in Jordan, often perpetrators of violence and petty crime simply through limited access to any kind of stimulus or engagement in something more meaningful,” Lucy says.

Other children are forced into roles as head of the family and breadwinner.

Edo is a sole provider — at age 10. He stopped being a child overnight when militants robbed him of his father, killing the man in his hometown of Sinjar, in Iraq’s Ninewah province, in August.

In school, I had a chance to learn, to study and to be able to become someone someday. That is all I want. I want to become someone someday — to do something.—Edo, 10

Torn by violence, Edo, his mother, and younger siblings fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs to an informal camp in Dohuk, Iraq. Their harrowing ordeal of survival is etched in the child’s face where lines are forming across his brow. He worries about taking care of his family, especially his distraught mother.

“I must work selling cigarettes,” Edo says. Men in the shelter pooled enough money to help Edo fill his tray with cigarettes so he could earn the equivalent of US$1 a day, barely enough to buy food or water.

His days of running down the hallways of his school are replaced with cautious steps through traffic. The road back to school is becoming distant, he says. “In school, I had a chance to learn, to study and to be able to become someone someday. That is all I want. I want to become someone someday — to do something.”

In Lebanon, Jordan, and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, World Vision runs education programs in Child-Friendly Spaces to help displaced children learn to read, write, and do math. Child-Friendly Spaces are one of World Vision’s emergency interventions providing children with protected environments to play, socialize, learn, and express themselves during the recovery process. They provide psychosocial programs, an outlet to help children to process the images of war, violence, and loss.

“It’s often really hard to explain to people what education and protection activities look like in an emergency context — people often assume it means building a structure and giving out pencils and books, whereas it’s so much more than this,” Lucy says. “It’s about providing safe, protective spaces in which children can become children again, and over time, resume some sense of normal.”

‘God is calling us to go’

The impact of the crisis on a generation of children is a grave concern, World Vision U.S. President Rich Stearns says. While most will survive the conflict physically, the immediate and long-term well-being of children remains a serious concern for humanitarian organizations like World Vision.

“God is calling us to go farther and deeper into the hot spots of today’s troubled world,” Rich says. “It is heartbreaking to witness the human suffering in the refugee camps and the makeshift communities in these fragile states, where often the absence of basic infrastructure and government services is just the beginning of the problem. And too many of those who suffer the greatest are the children.”

Since the beginning of the crisis, World Vision has helped more than 1.7 million people in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq. World Vision hopes to continue to increase that number and support the needs of many more children and their families.

Aid efforts include distributing personal and household supplies; providing monthly food vouchers, stoves, and fuel for heating and cooking; and facilitating access to clean water and sanitation facilities.

Programs for children include remedial and supplemental education so they can return to school, as well as Child-Friendly Spaces, safe places where children can play and receive counseling to help cope with their difficult circumstances.

“We can make sure refugee communities and their hosts have clean water and shelter,” Rich says. “We can make sure that children, some of whom have already been out of school for up to four years, continue with their education. We can and do provide help for the psychological wounds they have suffered, and we can reduce the risks of being abused, neglected, and exploited. We can help people live productive lives, even while they wait for an opportunity to return home.”

Twelve-year-old Haya, a Syrian refugee living in Jordan whom Rich met in 2013, still clings to the hope of returning to her neighborhood, her school. She had penned a letter to the outside world, pleading, “We fear you are forgetting us.”

She longs to hear news of her father. Her mother fears him dead. Fraught with anxiety and fear, her mother escorts her to school and home. They only have each other. The two sit quietly in the makeshift school in Irbid, Jordan, where World Vision provided Haya remedial education classes to help her and thousands of other Syrian children bridge the gap between schools. She says learning the Jordanian curriculum, which includes English, is testing her patience.

“It’s very hard, and I am trying to keep up. I will stay in school no matter how difficult it is,” Haya says. “I want all Syrian children to stay in school, to return to school instead of going to work, because the future depends on us.”

She says she will advocate for all Syrian children to learn and to dream so that they can grow up to become “someone someday” — even if for many the real meaning of childhood is fading.

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In celebration of World Water Day, March 22, World Vision staff worldwide set out to photograph how water links to all areas of life. From super-soaked kids in Cambodia to clean hands in Bolivia to a pump repair in Zambia, see how World Vision’s clean water, sanitation, and hygiene behavior-change programming are helping provide a healthier future for children.

Cambodia: Overflowing

Children in the village of Srey Pror Ser enjoy the benefits of clean water from a new well provided by World Vision. In rural Cambodia, children often lack access to clean drinking water and proper sanitation facilities, leaving them highly susceptible to disease. These school children often used to play in dirty and contaminated bodies of water, but those days are behind them.

World Vision is working with communities like Srey Pror Ser to improve sanitation and access to safe water supplies and promote improved hygiene. “Having few toys to play with is no longer an issue to these children, thanks to the pump donated by World Vision in their community,” World Vision communicator Chetra Ten says. “Not only is it providing for their daily water needs, it is their favorite activity for play.”

One boy sums up what all the kids think: “I’m always happy when I’m surrounded with water.” These days, it’s a downpour.

Malawi: Praying

Members of a World Vision drilling team in pray with children and their families in Ching’anda, Malawi. Since 2013, teams have drilled 30 boreholes in the southeastern African country. At least 60 more are slated so people can have access to safe and potable drinking water.

In Malawi, more than 1 million children are affected by chronic hunger due to prolonged dry spells, rainfall shortages, and flooding. Child mortality is also of grave concern, with thousands of children dying before their fifth birthday. World Vision is helping farmers install irrigation systems for greater crop yields to combat malnutrition.

Ethiopia: Payoff

A World Vision drilling team strikes water. This borehole at Meti Walga village in Ethiopia is the first of 23 shallow wells that will be drilled this year. On this day, a sanitation committee is on hand to celebrate the team’s success. Befekadu Gebre, a World Vision manager, says sanitation and hygiene education is critical before drilling projects are conducted. “If you do water without sanitation and hygiene, it is meaningless,” Befekadu says, adding, “We work in schools, and we work to change attitudes.”

Research reveals that 58% of childhood disease is related to unsafe drinking water, inadequate hygiene, and defecation out in the open. In this area, Befekadu says, they’re solving these problems. Because of this well, “our children won’t have waterborne diseases.”

Lebanon: Awash in hope

Two women bathe a baby boy in a temporary settlement in Lebanon. In Syrian Arab tradition, aunts help new mothers care for their newborns. Here, Lubaba, a mother of four children, comes to the aid of her sister, Shawwaga, to bathe her son, Abd Al Rahman. “Before [World Vision] had installed the water tanks, my children used to get sick all the time. Now we know why — because of the water,” Lubaba says.

Worldwide, more than 1,600 children die each day from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene practices. The baby’s mother is relieved to be able to care for her child. “Thanks to World Vision, I have the means to bathe my children at least two times per week,” Shawwaga says.

Georgia: Cleansing waters

A woman washes fruit with clean water at a faucet near her home in Georgia. Youth in the community are part of a World Vision program to improve the safety and quality of drinking water. Whenever residents doubt water quality, young people test samples and share the results with officials, including school administrators. “We have to approach the local municipality and show them our laboratory results and advocate for better-quality of drinking water,” says Rezo, 17, a program participant.

Bolivia: Healthy smiles

Five-year-old Cecia washes her hands at a water source. World Vision sanitation and hygiene programs in Bolivia help children develop healthy habits like brushing their teeth and handwashing.

Cecia’s mother, Daria, says she was not as fortunate as her daughter; when she was a child she drank water from a well shared by animals. “Thanks to World Vision we have potable water in the house, which is clean and economical,” she says. Daria’s grateful for World Vision’s assistance in providing “hygiene materials with access to drinking water — now I provide the materials for my children.”

Timor-Leste: Working together

A team moves a water tank closer to their village in Timor-Leste. “Now we do not have to walk one hour to fetch water in the river. My family was able to access clean water close to home,” says Julião Rodriques, a father of four children.

In the last two years, World Vision has quadrupled its capacity to provide clean water in the developing world, making it the leading humanitarian provider of clean water. World Vision now reaches a new person with clean drinking water every 30 seconds.

Zimbabwe: Power surge

Solar panels power the pump that delivers water to a 10,000-liter tank, then on to a fish pond, nutrition garden, clinic, school, and community water point in the Bandimba village in Zimbabwe. Access to these basic resources significantly helps reduce disease, infant mortality, and chronic poverty, while improving school attendance and economic development. The abundant water supply provides the means for people to grow vegetables and herbs for a nutritious diet.

Armenia: Replacing old with new

Old, dilapidated pipes are no longer in use after being replaced by World Vision in the Davitashen and Suser villages in the Aragatsotn region in Armenia. “World Vision has replaced these pipelines with new, plastic pipelines which will not get rusty and are safe for health,” says Babken Haroyan, a World Vision staff member in Armenia.

Zambia: Tip tap

Thirteen-year-old Febby’s inexpensive outdoor technique for washing hands reaps big rewards in hygiene. “I use a ‘tip tap’ to wash my hands after using the toilet. Before, we used the bush to answer the call of nature and never used to wash hands after going to toilet. I did not know the importance of this, but now I know, because my grandmother has taught me,” Febby says. She has learned that a simple act of washing hands with soap can prevent illness and even save her life.

Myanmar: Sanitizing

A World Vision staff member shows villagers of Tharbaung Township, Myanmar, how to get clean water by using water filters and water purification packets. This method of purifying water is vital to the villagers as they face clean water shortages during the annual rainy season, which causes rivers and sewage to flood and contaminate water sources.

Zambia: Pump repair

Maintenance team members, including Victor Mweemba, far right, repair a borehole well at a school in Munjile, Zambia. “I make sure that all the 24 boreholes in Munjile area are all functional. Whether drilled by World Vision or not, my job is to work with fellow community members to inspect and repair all boreholes in our area so that no one goes back to drinking dirty water again,” Victor says. “World Vision trained us to ensure that we look after these boreholes on our own.”

South Sudan: Seeking clarity

John, an officer for his community’s soil and water assessment team in Kodok, holds a vial of water. The key is to be able to see clearly to the bottom, he says. John daily monitors the quality of water and treats it as necessary.

Only 2% of households in South Sudan have water, according to a 2010 South Sudan household survey, the most recent available. World Vision is trying to change this by providing water treatment systems to remote communities in South Sudan, like John’s village, where the organization seeks to train residents.

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