Cross International Catholic Outreach

I 1st came across Cross International Catholic Outreach a couple years ago when I saw an ad for the organization in a newspaper. If I remember rightly the ad mentioned that the president was Jum Cavnar. The name rang a bell with me. I remembered him from when he ran Servant Publications. That sparked my curiousity to check it out further. So I went to their website. As I was looking about I checked out who was on the board of directors. There 2 other names leapt out, Bishop Sam Jacobs & Sr. Linda Koontz.
I had heard Bishop Jacobs speak at various conferences I attended over the years. & I had met him when he was here in DBQ at a conference I helped serve on. & I had heard Sr. Linda speak several times as well, including several times here in DBQ. I was also aware of her many years of working with the poor in the El Paso, Juarez area. In itself that was enough to sell me that this would be a solid Catholic group.
As I checked out the website I saw more things that confirmed I was right & this was an organization I could support.
I suppose I should tell you a little bit about who they are & what they do.
The short answer would be to say that they are an organization that helps the poor throughout the world. But then there are many groups that do that. It is certain aspects of how they do it that makes them unique.
Rather than put it in my own words, I'll let them speak for themselves by sharing from their vision/mission statement. (Emphasis mine on the portions that struck me.)

Vision Statement

We seek to reflect God's love for us in the way we treat others - not only with words of encouragement, but through practical actions which comfort, sustain and uplift those in greatest need.The Scriptures clearly reveal this call to action, and its truth will be our guide (1 John 3:16, Isaiah 58:6-12, Matthew 25:31-46, Acts 2:40-47).As believers in Christ's Gospel of mercy, we strive to bring God's promised salvation to men and women of every race, creed and walk of life. Jesus also taught that the needy are rich in faith - a gift which can bless the poor in spirit. Therefore, we seek to create an exchange of both material and spiritual sustenance between the Church in America and churches in developing countries.In all things, we strive to glorify God, revealing His perfect grace to the world.

Mission Statement

In recognition that poverty ravages many areas of the world - victimizing families, children and the elderly, we dedicate ourselves to a ministry of relief and development to aid the poorest of the poor.Wherever possible, our work is not to sustain the needy, but rather to break the cycle of poverty that plagues them. By providing educational opportunities and by focusing on community development, we strive to make impoverished individuals and villages self-supporting.Rather than create new institutions to distribute aid, we will first seek to help existing ministries and churches already serving the poor. In addition to being the most cost-effective way of helping the poor, empowering these ministries allows us to support the Church's spiritual mission and its important position of leadership in poor communities.Through prayer, and in a spirit of obedience, we submit our work to God, seeking His inspiration and leading in everything we do.
In short it has a strong emphasis on evangelical outreach that is done in a way that is solidly Scriptural, solidly Catholic & isn't just a handout that keeps people in poverty. It is a hand up.

Their statement of Core Values confirms that. They have 6 core values. They are (fuller development on the web page):
1. We seek to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, economic opportunities and other such blessings to the poorest of the poor.
2. We seek to help the poor in Jesus’ name and for the glory of God.
3. We seek to give priority to those efforts which empower the local church and Christian ministries which help the poor and which are also dedicated to the furtherance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
4. We seek to give priority to those churches and ministries which employ a community-oriented strategy in helping the poor and which increase the self-sufficiency of the poor.
5. We seek to foster an exchange between the churches of the Third World and the churches of the First World and demonstrate respect for the vision of the churches and ministries with which we work.
6. We seek to maintain a high standard of excellence in our work, not sacrificing the quality of our work for the sake of quantity. And we seek to operate with integrity and honesty in respect to our donors and co-laborers.

They are also very good stewards of the money they receive. In 2008, only 1.76% was used for fundraising. 1.39% went to cover administrative expenses. 96.85% went to program services. They also do everything to "meticulously honor the intent of our donors". They are clearly committed to keeping their administrative costs low and maintaining high standards of accountability and ethics. As they explain: "We recognize that our witness to the Lord is undermined if we do not treat one another, our donors, our vendors, and other persons or organizations with honesty and respect. We recognize that how we conduct our ministry is just as important as what we accomplish because in all that we do or say, whether among the poor or among ourselves, we should do all for the glory of God."
Another thing that impresses me is how seriously they take their faith. They start out every day with prayer & devotions. They "begin each workday gathered together to focus on our faith and look to our true leader: Jesus Christ. Each morning a different staff member takes a turn leading the entire staff in prayer and devotions." In addition, Every Monday they have a Bible study. Every Tuesday & Thursday they read and discuss books written by Christian authors and thinkers (new & classics), Wednesdays they learn firsthand about the work Cross is doing in a specific country from our colleagues in the mission field & Fridays they set aside time to intercede for our friends and supporters across America. Everyone from the mailroom up participates.
They have a huge number of ongoing projects that you can specificly donate to. Thes projects include everything from providing food & medicine to education to housing etc. They have helped with water projects. They provide help for abused women & on & on.
I want to share a little from 1 of their projects in Viloux, Haiti. It is headed by Sr. Irene Clare Duval of the Missionaries of the Poor, Sisters. She started a feeding program at the local school that provides nutritious meals to 200 students five days a week. She pays the salaries of three teachers at the local school so more children could attend. She opened a dispensary so the people would have access to medicine and care when they were sick - something they never had before. She is also planting spiritual seeds, encouraging the villagers to attend mass each week and running a weekly Bible study for the children.
& that is just 1 example. Please go to their website & check out the many other ways that they are working to help the poorest of the poor be feed & cared for spiritually as well as physically. & then please prayerfully consider giving a donation to help them in their work.
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Why have I been spotlighting so many groups & asking you to support them lately?

So often you hear the accusation that all those of us in the Pro-life movement care about is stopping abortion. We don't care about the unborn child, the mother or the poor. Clearly that is not true. That is part of the reason why I have spent time talking about groups like Birthright, Mission to Magadan & this. These groups are all a part of building the "Culture of Life" Pope John Paul asked of us to do.
The "culture of death" promotes programs that destroy families, kill the unborn etc & does it in the name of helping the poor. Their idea of helping the poor is to get rid of them. Also, unlike Planned Parenthood & other groups who support the 'culture of death" they rarely, if ever get any government aide. They are totally dependant on our financial support.