“You see corporations like Apple and IBM that are business icons in this country. … I believe that there is going to be a time when Feeding Children Everywhere will become an iconic mission organization that will have a major national and international footprint,” Krall adds. “God is blessing Don and FCE because what he’s doing is embodying the life of Christ; he’s incarnational. Jesus just loved people, found needs and met them. That’s exactly what Don is doing, and he’s such an inspiration.”
Johnson agrees. “Don is someone who has a heart after God,” he says. “That’s why he is someone that can put a plan into action that God can bless. He’s a man with vision, and that’s an explosive combination.”
Shared Vision When devising FCE’s innovative business strategy, Campbell says he heavily researched and reviewed the models of similar ministries and even volunteerism. He then combined those concepts with the above-mentioned kingdom principles, and the ministry quickly took off. Now FCE sets the standard for ministries that feed hungry children, although Campbell says the goal for each ministry is the same.
“Other organizations have come to us and asked us what we are doing, and we’re happy to share what we’ve done because it’s all for the glory of God,” he says. “We’ve been given to freely, and now freely we give back. It’s the greatest level of flattery. … You don’t want to be in competition with others when it comes to feeding the hungry.
“For us, we’ve adopted the mindset of the Bible that God is never going to run out of blessings. We’re ever mindful that if every other hunger organization in the United States worked together for a month and gave all of its resources collectively, we still couldn’t feed the hungry in the world for that same month. That’s simply unacceptable to us, so we keep working harder for the ultimate goal—to eradicate hunger altogether.”
Jeff Nene, Convoy of Hope’s national spokesperson, echoes Campbell’s sentiments. In addition to disaster relief response and community outreach, Convoy of Hope has made an impact feeding hungry children in the U.S. and around the world for more than 19 years.
“Like Convoy of Hope, [FCE’s] goal is that no child around the world goes hungry,” Nene says. “And that is a very lofty goal. We don’t stand around and simply talk about it. We get our hands and feet dirty feeding one hungry child at a time. Don and his organization are doing the same, and it’s a wonderful thing. It’s wonderful to see them doing so well and reaching so many kids.”
Future Hope With the initiation of its U.S. Hunger project in October 2012—an effort to combat hunger right here in the United States—FCE continues to expand its operations and seek new corporate sponsors in its quest to eradicate world hunger. Campbell says he believes FCE has barely scratched the surface of its potential and that he expects the ministry to provide as many as 25 million meals in 2014.
But what about Marie Louise?
Since 2010, FCE has continued to work with Open Door Haiti to provide meals for the hungry in Haiti, including more than 1.5 million in 2011. In the last three years, with FCE’s help, Open Door Haiti’s feeding program has expanded from 250 kids to more than 1,200.
“We are able to feed those kids every day—kids that were accustomed to sitting in the dirt and eating handfuls of dirt because they had nothing else—because of the efforts of Don and Kristen and Feeding Children Everywhere,” says Holliday, who is now an FCE board member.
“Literally, those children were living like animals,” he adds. “But now, to see the transformation in these kids in just this short amount of time is nothing short of miraculous. They are happy and healthy. To see them sit down for at a table with a plate and a spoon and a cup for their first time in their lives, it melts your heart.”
Shawn A. Akers is an associate editor for Charisma Media.
Watch a video explaining FCE’s new initiative to eradicate hunger in America at feedingchildren.charismamag.com
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