The first time we met Sophie, she was standing beside a dusty road in rural East Africa, so severely malnourished that everyone believed she would die within a day or two. Her tiny body had been weakened by hunger for so long that even standing required effort. Her grandfather had watched her grow thinner with each passing week, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. There was no doctor nearby. No hospital within reach. No reason to believe help would arrive in time. Then someone stopped. Someone just like you and me. He wasn’t a doctor or a government official. He was simply a man who refused to do nothing. As he knelt beside Sophie, he quietly prayed for her. Then he asked a question that stayed with him long after he returned home: What if there were a better way? Not simply a way to help one little girl survive. A way to help the next Sophie ... and the next ... and the next. At the time, none of us could have imagined where that question would lead. But that’s often how God works. He begins with one willing heart and a single act of compassion. And because of your willing heart, that compassion grew. You helped provide land, a hospital, food, clean water and opportunities for families to build a better future. We are so grateful that you simply gave what God had placed in your hands. And through your faithfulness, He has multiplied it into more than any of us could have imagined. That’s how communities are transformed. Not because one person can solve every problem, but because each of us can choose to be part of the solution.
Today — more than a decade later —
Sophie is alive and well! The little girl everyone believed would soon die is now growing into the future God intended for her.
But perhaps the greatest miracle isn’t that Sophie survived. It’s that her story became the beginning of lasting change for thousands of lives — and a powerful reminder of what can happen when we come together, stand in the gap and simply do what we can. The feeding centers and pediatric hospitals that grew from those early acts of generosity have since become a lifeline for thousands upon thousands of children whose families once faced the same fear Sophie’s grandparents carried that day. Because YOU continue to stand in the gap, new opportunities are taking root. Families receive food while learning to produce their own. Parents gain the skills and opportunities to build a secure future. Churches become places of hope and restoration. Children are growing up healthier, stronger and better equipped to build lives their parents could only dream about. That’s what we mean when we talk about planning for the next 100 years. We’re not stepping away from today’s emergencies. We’re staying for the long haul, helping entire communities become places of hope, thanks to you.
YOU are the difference between relief and lasting transformation. Perhaps that’s why this story has stayed with me all these years. When one ordinary man knelt beside Sophie, he thought he was helping one little girl. He couldn’t possibly have known that his compassion would one day impact thousands of children, strengthen countless families and help shape communities for generations to come. But God does. He takes ordinary acts of compassion and multiplies them in extraordinary ways. He invites us to do what we can ... and then He does what only He can. That’s the story YOU helped write — and it’s still being written today. Thank you for joining us in saving lives, saving souls and changing futures. God bless you, Pat & Sue Bradley Founders, Crisis Aid International
PO Box 510167 | St. Louis MO 63151-0167