I’m thinking a lot today about legacy – heritage – the story that we leave behind.  It’s not just because it is the holidays. No, I am thinking about it because this has been a year of loss for my family.  My last two remaining grandparents passed away this year and my great uncle, Roscoe Brewer, passed away just this past week. As I sit here watching his funeral streamed live on my computer, I am touched by what a rich heritage I have been given. My grandfather was a pastor all of his life and my great uncle Roscoe was a missions...

What do pigs, chickens, goats, and cows have to do with Christmas? In most developing parts of the world, owning livestock means everything . . . from having a dependable source of food to operating a sustainable business. Each animal offers the chance for stability and serves as a foothold out of poverty. To receive an animal is to receive a life-changing gift . . . and Christmas is the perfect time to take a look at how our gifts can truly make a difference. Meet Mama Dora, an elderly widow living in Northern Uganda. Although she worked...

Last week, I was with a World Help team in Haiti, a nation still recovering from the devastating earthquake of January 2010. This natural disaster has produced some of the most complex and debilitating circumstances for a country already struggling under the weight of intense social and economic poverty. Haiti is a place where help has come and gone and where rebuilding is slow, frustrating, and tedious. Since the earthquake, World Help has been actively working in Haiti, providing $27 million of initial emergency assistance for thousands of...

The end of AIDS . . . could it really be? After reading the headline on the cover of a magazine, it was hard to believe that this could be true. June 5 of this year marked the 30th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS. Back in 1981, few people realized how much AIDS would become a part of our lives and how many people would die from its devastating effects. I first learned about AIDS in high school. In fact, as AIDS was gaining national attention, I chose it as a topic that year for some speech competitions. It was possibly the most...

Roscoe Brewer is my dad’s younger brother and my uncle, although we are only eight years apart in age. But Uncle Roscoe is more than just a family member or even a role model for me—he is one of my greatest heroes. My passion for missions and reaching those around the world with the Gospel can be traced back to my very first mission trip at age 17—a trip Roscoe led that has profoundly shaped my life. We were in Mexico with a team of students, and I was young, inexperienced, and eager to learn. On the very first day, Roscoe taught me...