50 Stories ~ A Retrospective
 For 50 years CRWRC has been following God’s lead, responding to the needs of people who suffer from poverty, hunger, disaster, and injustice. We hope that in the generations to come God’s plans will continue to be realized through CRWRC, our partners, and our participating communities.
During CRWRC's 50th Anniversary year, an anniversary story will be shared each week... we look forward to sharing this retrospective with you!
Week Twenty One
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Throughout the past 50 years, the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) has proven to be a key leader in agricultural programming around the world. In 1999, CRWRC added a new resource to its legacy of agricultural success: a plant called amaranth... >>more
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Week Twenty
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Business as Ministry for a World without Poverty: The Story of Partners Worldwide
Active in over 20 countries today, the vision for Partners Worldwide began in 1992 in Nairobi, Kenya, when a group of North American business people travelled to see first-hand the community development work they were supporting financially through CRWRC. >>more
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Week Nineteen
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The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee’s (CRWRC) legacy of life-changing agricultural programs began with milk and a board member.
In 1965, at an annual CRWRC board meeting, Peter Feddema learned about a great shortage of milk in South Korea. >>more
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Week Eighteen
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Part of the mission of the Christian Reformed Church is to “transform lives and communities worldwide,” but what does it really mean to transform a community?
The Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC) has been exploring this important question as part of its community development ministry for the past 50 years. There have been trials and mistakes, as well as awe-inspiring successes along the way. The community of Agua Caliente, along the North coast of Honduras is a prime example... >>more
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Week Seventeen
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“We’ve taken the bold step of offering hope to the poor in Cambodia,” CRWRC stated in their 1996 annual report, introducing supporters to its newest ministry field.
At that time, Cambodia was one of the poorest countries in the world. One in every five children died before reaching his or her fifth birthday, the average life expectancy was only 49 years, and two out of every three people could not read or write... >>more
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Week Sixteen
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"This is one of the most enriching and amazing experiences of my life!" enthused Sarah DeGraff on her blog recently. The 24-year-old Grand Rapids native wrote from her new home in Managua, Nicaragua, where she is volunteering through CRWRC for on eyear with CRWRC's partner, the Nehemiah Center. DeGraff is assisting with a pilot project focused on preventing human trafficking... >>more
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Week Fifteen
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When residents in Vancouver, British Columbia, turn on the morning news, they might see Ann Luu, a traffic specialist for CTV. While Luu easily guides them through the day’s traffic congestion, the journey of her own life is one with many complicated twists. It started with a flight from war-torn Vietnam and included a childhood as a newcomer to Canada who didn’t speak the language or know what to expect. >>more
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Week Fourteen
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On February 4, 1976, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake rocked the Latin American country of Guatemala. Because the quake occurred in the early morning hours, most people were still asleep in their adobe style houses. These structures came crashing down: many were completely destroyed and more than 23,000 people lost their lives. >>more
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Week Thirteen
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“There is nothing like living for a time in a different culture to broaden your horizons or change your value system,” said Fred Schuld who served with CRWRC in the Philippines from 1970-1974.
Schuld’s mission in going to the Philippines was to help local families increase their household income...>>more
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Week Twelve
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When CRWRC Disaster Response Services volunteers completed work on the home of Joan Alvarado and her son, Dennis, they held a celebration ceremony.
The Alvarado home had been damaged by a tornado in April of last year. While the family received some financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it wasn’t enough to repair everything that had been damaged. CRWRC stepped in and sent teams of green-shirted volunteers to scrub, paint, install a new roof, put in new windows, replace damaged floors and walls, and even build a wheelchair accessible bathroom. >>more
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Week Eleven
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“The seed rice will be eaten!” was the worried greeting I received on one of my visits to Sierra Leone in the mid-1990’s. I was CRWRC’s West Africa Regional Director at the time, and while no one was yet admitting the country was at war, rebel attacks were growing more frequent growing more frequent even in the communities where CRWRC... >>more
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Week Ten
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In the fall of 2011, Bill DeBoer looked over the 100 acres of land that he and other local farmers had harvested and a smile crept onto his face. Together with about 20 community farmers, as well as local agribusinesses in the Lambton County area of Ontario, DeBoer had planted and harvested 70 acres of wheat and 30 acres of soybeans to help people in need... >>more
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Week Nine
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It all began with a storm.
On June 11, 1972, a huge rainstorm dumped 11 inches of rain within a few hours on Rapid City, South Dakota. Flash floods poured through the city. A dam collapsed, sending a wall of water through the streets. More than 300 people died. >>more
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Week Eight
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They came from different parts of North America, with different backgrounds and interests, but the experiences that Roxanne de Graaf Addink and Janet Phillips (nee Vliegenthart) would share over a two year period in Kenya 23 years ago would unite them for life. >>more
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Week Seven
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“I thank God when I stand on the porch of my three-room shack watching two of my six children go to pre-school,” one woman wrote to CRWRC in 1986. “I am 26 years old, and I want them to have a better life than I’ve had. Thank you for providing Mississippi Christian Family Services with the resources to help me.” >>more
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Week Six
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In December 2011, hundreds of men and women gathered together and waited in line to be tested for HIV at an event organized by CRWRC and a local church and women’s group in Dakar, Senegal. This is just one of many examples of how the Church worldwide has become engaged in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
Yet, it wasn’t always this way. >>more
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Week Five
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“Christian Extension Services has helped our communities like no other organization,” said a resident of Seriah-Karawani village in Sierra Leone, “We’ve learned not to look at our differences anymore, but what do we have in common and work for a common goal together. Unity is important.” >>more
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Week Four
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Ileana Lamberts remembers the two flights that would change her life forever. The first was from her grandparents’ home in Havana, Cuba, to an unknown future in the U.S. The second was from the warm southern city of Miami to a new home in the land of the “white monster." The white monster was how the Cuban refugees referred to snow. >>more
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Week Three
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In 1959, Fidel Castro led a revolution to overthrow the government of Cuba. In the succeeding years as Castro adopted a philosophy of communism, hundreds of thousands of Cubans left Cuba and came to the United States to begin a new life. As they arrived in Miami, Florida, many were greeted by and received assistance from members of the Christian Reformed Church through a ministry known as the Good Samaritan Center. >>more
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Week Two
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For many years, CRWRC’s name was synonymous with the Christian Adoption Program of Korea (CAPOK). Following the Korean War (1950-1953), many Korean children were left orphaned. Some were children of the estimated two million Korean civilians killed during the war. Others were “GI babies” fathered by western soldiers and Korean women. >>more
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Week One
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“I was about nine or ten years old when CRWRC came to my hometown of Pignon,” said 42 year-old Christian Jean-Pierre. The Haitian man now lives in the Leogane area of Haiti, where his path crossed with CRWRC’s earthquake response team in 2011. As he talked with CRWRC staff, his love for CRWRC and the impact that the organization had on his life was easily apparent. >>more
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Celebrating Free a Family
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“I still remember Babu Ali standing with his mom the first time we met the family,” recalls Kohima Daring, staff member in Bangladesh for the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC).
“He was so skinny and malnourished, I didn’t think he would live. Now he’s 23 and finishing his master’s degree in management in Jamalpur. God has really blessed that family.” >>more
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