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!
In the extremely poor village of Kijabe, Kenya, there lives a crippled widow named Mary. After her husband died of AIDS a few years ago, she struggled to find food. While she suffers from HIV, too, Mary’s greatest challenge is a nerve problem in her legs. She has to use crutches
It started with a simple nudge—a last-minute feeling that I was forgetting something important. Rushing through the airport, I couldn’t shake the urge to buy a Bible. I didn’t know why, or who it was for, but I trusted the feeling. A week later, in a small village in Ghana, that Bible found its way into the hands of Talata, a girl who had never heard of Jesus. This is the story of how God’s quiet whispers and a small act of obedience became part of something much bigger than we could have imagined.
When you think of the word freedom, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Free speech? Pickets and rallies? How about a soldier in uniform, fireworks, or even the American flag? As Westerners, the idea of freedom often leads us to the rights of every individual. Because every
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
9 yrs. old
Entered the Program: February 2025
Livia lives with her parents, older brother, Onésimo (also in the program), and great aunt in her great aunt’s home. The home is a two-bedroom adobe house with a tin roof and concrete and dirt floors. The kitchen is in a separate room from the house and the bathroom is outside. They cook with wood and get water from a hose on the property. Their home is right next door to the church. Livia and her brother started coming to Saturday Bible Club and then showed interest in attending church services; they haven’t missed a day since.
Livia’s parents are both from the community; they’ve been married for 19 years. Her mother and father both work farming and her dad also builds wood stoves. The family struggles financially because they have two older daughters in high school that they need to support in boarding school during the week. They own a piece of property but cannot afford a house.
Plus bonus group fundraising ideas!
