World Vision began in 1950 as one man's dream and passion to help some children in need. That dream, born in China, has blossomed today into a family of 9,500 committed men and women, working in 88 countries to serve 1.3 million sponsored children, supported by more than a million worldwide donors.

This coming year World Vision marks its 50th anniversary, a celebration of this extended family and the continued faithfulness of God. World Vision exists to help families and their children realize their hopes and dreams, even when they must overcome difficult circumstances to do so. This past year, 1999, was a difficult year for families around the globe, but despite the difficulties, there are triumphs to be celebrated.

Rich and Rene Stearns (far left) with their five children. The family is dressed in garments Rich and his children Andrew and Sarah brought back from their trip to Ghana this summer. Andrew worked with one of World Vision's well-drilling teams.

A Year of Crises
October 1998, the month our fiscal year began, saw the Category 5 Hurricane Mitch pound the Central American countries of Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, causing widespread death and destruction. It was followed by heightened conflicts in Kosovo, Angola, Sierra Leone, and East Timor. Other natural disasters included drought in Ethiopia, a devastating typhoon in the Philippines, earthquakes in Turkey, Colombia, and Taiwan, and tornadoes in Oklahoma.

Time and again the World Vision family marshaled full-scale relief efforts in response to the crises, while continuing to carry out our ongoing development activities in these and other nations. This work places us in relationships with people who share the same hopes and dreams for their children and families that you and I do. My travels this year to 10 different nations have shown me how much people have in common with one another, no matter where we live.

Since becoming the head of the United States' arm of the World Vision Partnership, I've often been asked: "Don't you ever grow discouraged by the enormity of the task involved in helping the poor and suffering?" Truthfully, the answer is "No." Working with people impacted by wars, poverty, or disaster is a tremendous privilege. It is challenging, but not wearying, for World Vision staff like myself draw strength from our faith.

A Year of Blessings
It is that commitment that fuels World Vision's work, supplying staff with wisdom and ability, giving donors the resources to share, and enabling recipients to work toward the fulfillment of their dreams. For example, through a 15-year partnership with local communities and the donations of generous people, we drilled our 1,600th well in Ghana this year, bringing health to thousands of people along with the gift of safe water.

From the very first child, sponsorship has blessed generations of donors and recipients alike. On my trip to Honduras this year, I was able to meet Ivis Lineth, one of my family's sponsored children, and learn about benefits she and her community experience as a result of World Vision's work. The privilege of sharing in this young girl's life has changed my family's perspective about all we have been given, and we continue to learn that it is a blessing to be able to give to help others.

This year World Vision also celebrated when sponsored child Samuel Raj of India met his U.S. sponsors, Don and Laura Lindahl, while touring with the World Vision Youth Ambassadors this summer. In California, Samuel shared with the Lindahls how they had impacted his life. The Lindahls met the "son" they supported and loved for nearly 15 years, finding great joy in seeing how their faithful giving has helped this young man begin to realize his dreams.

Miriam Kombe, 10, carries her sister, 2-year-old Josephine. Miriam is a sponsored child in Tanzania who now attends school. "Reading is my favorite thing," she says. "I can't write yet, but I'm learning Swahili letters."

• World Vision worked in 88 countries, helping nearly 85 million people through child-focused relief and development projects.
• Total revenues in 1999 reached an all-time high of $407 million.
• World Vision was awarded more than $69 million in U.S. government grants and approximately $6.1 million in grants from foundations, trusts, and funds.
• World Vision distributed gift-in-kind donations--such as shoes, clothes, blankets, medicines, and food aid--totaling $128.1 million to needy children and families, many in relief situations.
• World Vision worked in the United States to equip 12,672 faith-based groups to impact poor children, families, and communities.
  
  There was a time when the children from the Sitsatasweni preschool in Swaziland had to walk more than three miles to collect water in buckets so they would have something to drink. Now they step a few feet from their classrooms to a metal tap that gushes clean water into their cups. This is possible because World Vision introduced a borehole well and a pump system powered by a huge windmill.
  
  The Years Ahead
  As we stand at the beginning of the millennium and look back over 50 years of demonstrating God's love to the poorest of the poor, we must look forward and ask: "What kind of life and future will the next millennium's children experience?"
  
  World Vision dreams of a world where all parents can expect to see their children grow up with adequate food and water, where no child will perish for lack of health care, and where everyone will experience the future a good education ensures. We dream of a world that offers opportunity and hope for all in an atmosphere of peace and security. We dream of a world in which all families will find their joy in the One who created them. You can read World Vision's entire list of 10 Urgent Issues for a New Millennium on page 48, enumerating our dreams for the world's children.
  
  World Vision believes that if everyone works together, we can succeed in offering all people a chance to realize their hopes and aspirations, assured of receiving their basic human rights. At the heart of our 50th celebration is a deep thankfulness to God for what has been accomplished and our dream to continue to build a world that nurtures the lives of children and families, wherever they reside.
  
  
  Rich Stearns
  
  
  
  "They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune;
  For they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them."
  Isaiah 65:23 (NIV)
  
  Next (Being a good neighbor)