It’s going to be an exciting year!

We began the mosquito net program to reach pregnant women – the most vulnerable to malaria. The program has been so successful, we’ve been asked to expand it to include all children 5 and under.

In Pakistan, we helped empower over 5000 homebound women to earn a living as embroiderers. Now, we’re expanding this award-winning program to include even more women struggling to make ends meet.

Children working in Egypt were given training opportunities, safer workplaces and community mentorship. The program worked so well, we’re taking this same model to Middle Eastern countries and Africa. We want to improve the lives of children and give them a future about which they can be excited.

Our partnership with Mennonite Disaster Services in New Orleans has already begun and we are beginning to see results as men and women who have lost everything are rebuilding their lives. Stay tuned to the Marketplace to hear more stories about this work.

We will launch an incredibly exciting and innovative home-garden program in Afghanistan to bring income to home bound women – watch future news items from MEDA for more information.

Jesus told a parable of a wise man who built his house on the rock. When the rain poured down and the rivers flooded the house did not fall because it was built on a solid foundation.

The foolish man built his house on the sand and when the rains came, the river rushed against the house and it was smashed to pieces.

While the parable directly relates to building our spiritual foundation on the rock of Jesus Christ – there is much wisdom in building on a strong economic foundation.

As we plan for the future, we are constantly evaluating the long term sustainability of our work.

For 53 years, we have created sustainable systems bringing stability to families around the world. We are excited about building people’s skills and laying the groundwork for generations to come – a future built on the rock.

This month marks the start of MEDA’s new year and we’re set to continue building on the foundation we’ve established. Vulnerable groups of people around the world need an opportunity and we want to provide them with one.

We have set a challenging goal for this year. Last year we brought economic hope to over 2.5 million families and we hope to raise that number to 3.5 million people this year – that’s an increase of more than 30%!

The working poor are gaining a future with dignity and hope.