Together with our partners and life-giving local churches, we offer children hope in Jesus, empower them to overcome hardship, and inspire them to change their community from the inside out.
Every child deserves hope. Throughout all the years we’ve been serving children, we’ve encountered countless stories of tragedy. Children literally thrown away by their parents, abused physically and sexually, and robbed of their childhood by desperate poverty and hunger. But by God’s grace and the true source of Hope - Jesus Christ, Himself - we’ve been able to partner with thousands of people just like you to see children transformed into healthy, Hope-filled, dream-pursuing children that are changing the world. With Jesus’ love at the root of it all, and with some truly heroic partners, we want to see every child rescued from hopelessness, tragedy, and hardship. Every child deserves Hope. Every child deserves to dream. Every child deserves the chance to become a world-changer.
Planting seeds of hope.
We’ve found that there is an aspect to hunger that fuels hopelessness. “If I can’t find a meal, how will I survive?” But when a hungry child comes to one of our sites and finds a nutritious meal, a seed of hope is planted. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Frequently when we ask this question to children who are new to Children’s Cup CarePoints, they just simply don’t understand the concept. It seems being in a daily survival mode has left them no room to dream for their future. It is a beautiful transformation when they find the hope that comes with having their immediate physical needs met, and they are able to shift from living just in a survival mentality into understanding the message of Hope for their lives that only Jesus gives.
Teaching the children that God has great plans for their lives.
With seeds of Hope growing in their hearts, we teach the children that God has great plans for their lives. Knowing that His plan for them is beyond imagination, for good, and not disaster – they are able to enter a space where they can start dreaming - for maybe the first time ever. And then we work to make a path where they can begin to tangibly see their dreams come true. We do this by setting up encounters with mentors and employers, helping them learn work traits and skills, giving opportunities to receive the character development they will need to be successful leaders and fulfilling the purpose God has for them. And the children we’ve worked with have quite often been considered the “cream of the crop” by hiring employers.
Instilling life and world changing purpose.
We also teach the children that God blesses people so they can be a blessing to others. We tell them that their dreams have the power to change the world for others. Whether they grow up to become pastors, business leaders, homemakers or whatever their life holds ahead, God has a purpose for them. We let them know that He ultimately wants to use them to spread His love to others. We believe that soon, we’ll begin to see the children we’ve worked with grow up to become political leaders, entrepreneurs that will make a drastic impact in their community, church-planters, pastors, missionaries, and so much more. The beauty of this is that with each victory story, we know that many more will follow soon thereafter.
Worlds are being changed because dreams are being inspired. And that happens because someone like you partnered with Children’s Cup to plant a seed of Hope in a child’s heart.
The Strategy
Jesus said he came to give people life abundantly, and we believe that all aspects of a life - body, mind, and spirit - are in this life He brings.
We have seen that while the need is great, it’s not complicated. All of humanity is made if these three completely interwoven aspects. And the needs we see in the hard places where we serve are always rooted in a breakdown in one, two, or sometimes all three of these areas.
We start with consistently serving nutritious meals, tracking physical development, and monitoring basic health conditions. These simple steps are actually transformative in the children’s lives and give us opportunities to identify and prevent more serious potential illnesses. And when children do have a serious illness, such as HIV, we work to ensure they have access to the life-saving medications and help they need.
Every child deserves the opportunity to maximize their mental development. We help them to that in various ways depending on the community and their situation. We offer Bible clubs, character development, and the nutrition they need to power them mentally. In many cases, we offer preschool classes, English tutoring, and skills training as well. NOTE: As a result of all this, many of the children we have served get selected to attend the most elite schools in their area because of their accelerated development which has come from their participation in our programs.
Spiritual well-being is as important to a child’s development as anything. So we first work to create environments where children can grow up knowing they are loved by Jesus, by our team, by their sponsors, and by a community of believers around them. Our ultimate goal is that they entrust their lives to Jesus Christ – coming alive from the inside out - and then to know the joy of giving love to others as well. When a child commits their life to Jesus at one of our sites, we want to be able to see them grow up as part of a community of believers in a life-giving local church - a place to learn more about being a follower of Jesus, worship God, be baptized, and serve others. With that in mind, our goal is to have everything we do be tied to a life-giving local church in the community. We believe the Church is part of God’s perfect plan for everyone.
While local churches play a vital role in our work, Children’s Cup plays a vital role in the work of these churches as well by providing a great avenue for these churches to be able serve in their communities.
Locations
Eswatini
Only slightly smaller than New Jersey, Eswatini is bordered almost completely by South Africa, with a small portion of the country bordered by Mozambique. Nearly 40% of the population is under the age of 15. English and siSwati are the two official languages of Eswatini. It is estimated that about half of the population integrates Christian teachings with traditional ancestral worship. Well over half of the population lives in poverty, and Eswatini has the highest HIV/AIDS infection rate in the world, causing 100,000 children to be orphaned (roughly 10% of the nation’s population). It is historically one of the most peaceful nations, and we believe it is positioned to be a place from where God will use people to influence the rest of southern Africa.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa, often called the "rainbow nation," makes up the southern tip of the continent of Africa. The country's cultural diversity is displayed partly by the country's eleven official languages and diverse population. On its vast low plains and sweeping mountains, A short distance from major cities are the sights and sounds of any developing nation: tin shanty towns, drastic unemployment, and severe poverty. South Africa is plagued with HIV, and the orphan and vulnerable children numbers continue to grow. There are some truly generous and Jesus-loving leaders in life-giving churches in South Africa, bringing great hope to the future of this great nation.
Honduras
About the same size as Tennessee, Honduras is a diverse country of nine million people in Central America. The country's deep-water ports on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans make it a critical trade partner to surrounding countries. Its strategic geographic position has also made Honduras an attractive way-point for the drug trade between South America and the USA, which threatens the country with systemic corruption and violence. Drastic unemployment and hopelessness fuel organized gang activity present the nation’s leaders with particular challenges to overcome. But the Church is strong in Honduras, presenting great opportunity for the Gospel to bring Hope to these amazing people.
Mexico
Mexico is a large and beautiful country rich in resources. It shares a northern border with the United States, and in the south it borders Central America. Spanish is the official language of Mexico. Nearly half the population lives in poverty, many people living on less than one US dollar per day. The country has been ravaged by the drug trade which has left broken families and crushed spirits in its wake. But the people are resilient and resourceful and there are life-giving churches that are working hard to help make this nation great.
Belize
Belize is situated on the Caribbean Sea, south of Mexico, and is about the size of New Hampshire. Mangrove swamps and cays along the coast give way to hills and mountains in the interior. About 60% of the total population is made up of children and youth. Belize, despite all its natural beauty and loving people, still has challenges with a high murder rate, human trafficking, and gang violence. Fatherless homes are widespread throughout the country and across its diverse cultures. Teenage pregnancy and high school dropout rates are exceptionally high. At the same time, there are some truly Godly leaders in this nation that are working hard to see the Church bring Hope to those in need and to see the challenges Belize faces be overcome.
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic (DR) shares Hispaniola Island with the country of Haiti in the Caribbean region. Approximately 10 million people live in the DR. About three million of them live in the capital city, Santo Domingo. Although the DR has advanced telecommunications systems and a great transportation infrastructure, unemployment, corruption, and inconsistent electric service remain major problems.The opportunity for the Gospel is great in the DR because it truly is the only solution for the hearts of people. We have found that there are strong life-giving churches there that are serving their nation well and given enough resources and relationships, they’ll be catalysts for a revival of Hope in the DR.