Award winning truth cuts through the haze,
confronts the darkness in these end times days.
A single match struck against the fear, hope ignites, drawing redemption near.
Can you feel the trembling in the ground?
A buried heartbeat making sound.
We all live in Dead America, but the dawn's creeping across the Panorama,
this dead awakens, change begins, from broken places, hope unpins.
Yeah, we all live in Dead America.
One healing spark starts the pyre, burning brighter, taking it higher.
Today we're speaking with Craig Alsup, he is with Manna Worldwide.
We are going to record for Podcasthon today.
Craig, could you please introduce yourself?
And let people know just a little more about you, please.
Sure.
Yeah, I'm, uh, I'm Craig Alsup.
I'm a full-time missionary with an organization called Manna Worldwide.
Uh, we are based in Fort Worth, Texas and working in about fifty
different countries around the world.
Uh, we have about, probably about, I think three hundred ongoing projects in all
of those countries serving about twenty thousand kids and families every day.
Uh, married to Jennifer.
Uh, I have two biological kiddos, Sarah and Jude.
And then we have four kids in Nepal that, um, that we've sponsored and
sort of adopted without officially adopting over the years and they
range in age from ten to twenty-five.
That's pretty awesome.
So what got you into missionary work?
Fell into it a little bit.
Um, my wife and I went and did an around the world trip in
2008 that changed our lives.
Um, we, uh, had grown up in central Mississippi, southern Mississippi,
and uh, always wanted to travel but never got a great opportunity.
And so after we got married, we decided that we were gonna
go travel and see the world.
And so we worked for about two and a half years.
We just, we worked every job we could possibly find to work to make extra
money and, uh, saved all of our money.
And then went and traveled and we ended up traveling to seventy-six countries
over, uh, sixteen months or so.
Uh, six continents, little bit of everywhere.
And we were in Asia, in, uh, Southeastern Asia, and we saw
poverty like we'd never seen before.
Uh, poverty of, of stuff, and food, and all those things, like physical poverty.
But we also saw a lot of spiritual poverty in people that were just searching
for God but struggling to find Him.
And, um, and so we began to see the need.
We saw some child trafficking and some, some real rough stuff down
there and uh, God used that to grab our hearts and to say that we were
supposed to step into something and, and do, do the next thing, right?
And, uh, so we made it home from this crazy trip.
And with a heart like never before for missions, we thought it was just to give.
Um, and so we started to do that more, uh, faithfully.
Uh, we got friends involved in giving, we started leading mission teams and
one thing led to another and our pastor introduced us to, um, the founder of
Manna Worldwide, his name's Bruce O'Neal.
And, uh, told us that, you know, we should go and talk with him
and just kind of pick his brain.
And we did and it was a setup.
Uh, basically our pastor, our pastor saw it in us before we saw it in us, right?
That we were supposed to do this thing full time.
And so, um, I stepped out of being a therapist, uh, working with kids
and teens, uh, in private practice.
My wife was, uh, head of a public health program and, uh, we stepped out of
those roles and stepped into the mission role, uh, just over ten years ago.
So right at the end of 2015.
How did that feel transitioning out of corporate into missionary work?
You know, that was interesting.
Um, we never expected to be missionaries and, um, so it was, that
was, you know, all of a sudden I was put on stage speaking at churches.
I was meeting with pastors and stuff all the time.
I mean, I was Christian, but I was like, you know, back row Baptist
Christian a little bit, right?
So, um, I never sort of expected that to be my life.
Um, it was a little bit scary, uh, because we had to step away from
salary jobs, we had to step away from, you know, uh, guaranteed finances,
almost guaranteed finances, and we had to go raise our personal support.
And, um, that was a little bit, uh, a little bit crazy and interesting.
And so it, uh, you know, it took some, took some convincing.
Uh, actually my wife, uh, was more on board than me in the beginning,
and she was like, You know, I, I feel like God's saying that we do
this and we don't wanna be, uh, against what God's calling us to do.
And, uh, so wise counsel, right?
Uh, I, uh, definitely a complimentary wife, right?
Um, and, uh, and so we stepped into this role and, uh, really God has
provided the whole time and our, our personal support was the biggest
thing I was concerned about as, as the provider for the home, right?
Um, you know, I had two small kids at the time and, uh, the personal support was
the nerve wracking thing for me, right?
Um, but in the first month of meeting with people, of talking with people
about supporting us, we ended up having about twenty-five percent of our overall
budget filled, um, which was crazy fast.
And then over the next several months we went on up and, uh, it's
been, it's been good ever since.
And so we have ups and downs with budget, but it's been good.
Yeah, that's, that's a big part of missionary work is that budget
and that's kind of why I wanted to reach out and do this today.
Uh, helping that budget because you can't do a lot without having something.
And intention and, you know, this, this need to do something, it,
it really can't go forward until people step in and help support the
role that you're trying to play.
And you, you said it, basically you have to let go and let God and believe
that He will provide that manna for you.
And that, that's why it, it really reached out to my heart, was Manna Worldwide.
That, that's, that's a very interesting name.
Could you talk to us a little bit about, do you know why
they landed on Manna Worldwide?
Yeah.
I think, um, when Manna started, uh, just over twenty-five years ago now,
so we're on our twenty-fifth year anniversary stuff this year, um,
Manna, uh, was started by a missionary, Bruce O'Neal and his wife Pam O'Neal.
Uh, they were in the Philippines with their kids and they kind of
went there and they planted a church.
Um, and they started to look outside the doors of the church and they saw
kids without shoes, and kids without education, and kids without food in
their bellies and they began to say like, Hey, you know, who's gonna
help these kids, if not us, right?
Um, because Jesus went around feeding people, and serving
people, and loving people.
And so they said, Well, you know, let's help a few kids and see what happens.
And they did.
And those kids' parents took note, those kids' parents got
connected with the church.
Um, I had a friend long ago that told me that sometimes people can't hear the
gospel over their stomachs growling and, um, and I think that's very true, right?
And a lot of places that we work are poverty stricken places,
physical poverty's a thing.
And, um, Bruce and Pam, uh, were alert enough to notice that in their
community, and they were caring enough to do something about it.
And so Manna came about first because they were feeding kids.
And so the Manna named just stuck with like, okay, God is
providing this food for these kids.
And um, and we just get to come alongside and, and try to help to make that happen.
So how does that make you feel when you see actual results?
Because going to another country, especially where you've been,
you've seen some pretty impoverished people, especially children.
And the acts that they do sometimes is not, you know, what we expect to
be right, but it's what they know.
Sure.
Yeah.
Um, I mean, we are working, obviously, like I said, like fifty countries, right?
So we're working in Muslim countries, we're working in Hindu countries,
we're working in Buddhist countries, we're working in more animistic, you
know, uh, tribal kind of religion countries, um, we're working in
places that are hard places, um, and so you do see a lot of struggle.
You see a lot of difficulty, you see a lot of obviously
spiritual and physical poverty.
Um, but, uh, but God, right?
Um, we get to see, uh, lives change.
Uh, one of our little girls, uh, Sun Depa, um, she's fourteen now.
She is, uh, I say our little girl, she's kind of one of our, one of
our semi adopted kids in Nepal.
Um, she grew up, you know, for her, you know, initial years of life were in a
very impoverished village situation, um, with parents that couldn't, um,
afford to take care of her in the way that she needed to be taken care of.
Um, with a witch doctor casting, you know, curses and, and, and, and bad juju over
the kids of the village, especially the girls, not wanting them to go to school.
And, uh, Sun Depa, man, she, she actually, every time they tried to take her to
school, for a while, she would be sick, and would have all kinds of issues, and,
you know, would be all stressed out, and all like, like these major things.
And we found out that it was like this witch doctor tried to like do a curse
on her and we're like, What is this?
Um, but then, fast forward, right?
She gets to our children's home at like eight years old.
Um, she really has had little to no formal education up to
that point, she's way behind.
Um, but she gets to our, uh, children's home, we start to take her to school.
She, uh, starts to get sick a little bit at first and struggles, and then it
was like a light switch, she heard about Jesus in our nightly worship sessions.
Uh, she began to place her faith in Jesus, she began to sing Christian songs that
she didn't even know what all they meant, but, you know, God was just surrounding
her with these people that were serving and loving and protecting her.
And then all of a sudden it was like, man, a light, you know, switched on and
baby girl stopped getting sick, going to school, she started to excel in school.
Um, now six years later, she's two grades ahead of where she's supposed
to be because she literally got in school, became top of her class, top
of the school, leapfrogged all of her peers to shift up two grades,
and she's just absolutely killing it.
She's brilliant.
And we get to see stories like Sun Depa's play out across Nepal,
and India, and Thailand, and Cambodia, and the Philippines,
and Mongolia, and all throughout Asia, where I specifically focus.
But also we're seeing it, you know, in thousands of kids in Africa, and
the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, and South and Central America.
We're seeing it literally all over the world where we're seeing lives
changed and impact happen and God just showing up in these kids' lives and
doing something absolutely incredible.
And, um, that makes seeing the need and not, you know, not always
being able to help even, um, but it makes it all worthwhile, right?
It makes it palatable when you go, You know what?
Um, I can't help 'em all, but I can help one, you know?
I, I can't help 'em all, but we are helping like twenty
thousand a day somewhere, right?
In, in the world.
Um, it kind of reminds me, I, you know, everybody's probably heard this story
by now, it's kind of, you know, a pastor story, uh, about, you know, the kid
walking on the beach and he's throwing the starfish back into the ocean.
And there, there's thousands upon thousands on the beach, and some guy walks
up and says, Dude, what are you doing?
This is a waste of time.
And, uh, the kid picks it up and, you know, he throws it in and he
says, Well, not for that one, right?
Like, like that one, I, I could save that one.
And, um, and that's kind of what we have to remind ourselves, man, when
we're doing anything missions focused.
Um, that man, we, it's, it's not our job to, to save anybody, it's not our job
to provide salvation to them, it's not our job to, uh, you know, to, to make
sure that they have all their needs met.
It's not up to us, it's up to God.
And we just step into it and go, Okay, God, we're gonna do everything
we can with, uh, you know, all these fishes that you provide us,
and we're gonna watch you multiply these fishes to the thousands, right?
And the tens of thousands.
And, um, you know, we just bring our, we bring our loaves and fishes, right?
And we go, God, here's the thing, I got five and two, let's, let's do something.
And God goes, Well, you got way more than five and two.
And so that's what we see, man.
Yeah.
You know, He, He always provides, that's for sure.
Even when we don't think it's coming, it's already there.
And I, I really enjoy that starfish.
I like the footprints, uh, analogy also.
And so, you know, on the website it says there's 2.2 billion children, or about
forty-five percent live in poverty.
And I, I was raised in what we perceive as poverty here in the United States,
but I, I really kind of chuckle at that in a way, and I don't mean to
diminish anyone's circumstance at all, but, you know, when, when you see other
places, it, it can really shake you up.
And, you know, those people are thankful when they get something.
And I, I really think that we need a lesson in humility and being thankful for
what we receive here in the United States.
And how, how do we shift the mindset back to that giving
principle that we talked about?
Because there's a stigma with churches or ministries now where so many are
taking advantage and, you know, you're not there to change lives or save lives,
you are there to provide what the Lord asks you and you highlighted that.
How does that work in the real world?
Yeah.
Um, my pastor, actually, I, I, we base here in Fort Worth, Texas, um, which
is where Manna's headquarters is.
And then we, we're back and forth around the world, right?
Um, but my pastor always says, he says, You know, if, you know, if you
haven't been, um, if you haven't been frustrated or angered, if you haven't
been disappointed by people in a church yet, you didn't go long enough.
Um, he said, you know, he says, The thing is, we are not perfect in the church.
Nobody is.
Nobody but Jesus, right?
Um, and so sometimes the church gets a bad rap because of what some individuals do.
Um, and that doesn't mean that God is not at work in that church, it doesn't mean
that God's not at work in this situation,
it doesn't mean that God, um, can't, uh, you know, make miracles happen out
of, uh, out of what's happening, right?
Um, and it also doesn't mean that we get to escape our, um, God given, uh, duty.
And, uh, you know, those commandments, uh, that Jesus gave us to, to love
God and to love other people, to serve people, to give to people.
And yes, that means financially too, right?
It means our time, it means our talent, it means our treasure,
and all of those things.
And, um, so we don't get to shirk the responsibility, um, that God has
given us, um, to do those things just because some people let us down because
people are always gonna let us down,
right?
Um, and so that's the first thing.
Um, I mean, I grew up in Mississippi.
I grew up in the, you know, the most impoverished state in
the nation in a lot of ways.
Um, and I thought that I grew up seeing poverty.
And then I started traveling and I expected to find that poverty was
mostly what I was used to seeing in Mississippi, um, and that it was very
localized to small areas of the world.
Um, and that, you know, those kids in Africa, you know, shirtless with
the potbellies and, and, and the flies landing on them was just a
very small part of Village Africa.
And then I started traveling and I went to Thailand, and I went to
Cambodia, and I went to Vietnam, and Laos, and I went to, uh, uh,
Indonesia, and I went to, um, Mongolia, and I went to Nepal, and India, and
I started to go into the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, and Africa, and
Central and South America, and I began to see that far more people live in
far greater states of poverty than I had ever seen before in my life.
And I started to think, Man, we've got it all wrong.
We should be, like you said, we should be grateful for what we have.
We should be grateful that we live in a country where God is still spoken about.
We should be grateful that we live in a country that was built based
off of Judeo-Christian values because it turns out the countries that were
built off of Judeo-Christian values are doing better than any other
country, just about, in the world,
right?
And, uh, we should be grateful for those things and shame on us if we're not.
Um, now not to demean anybody's poverty, you know, here in the United
States, obviously, or anywhere else.
Um, but, uh, when you look across the world, the, uh, the world is a bit
different than what we picture it often.
Um, the struggle is real for people.
And, uh, I think, you know, I think we have a responsibility, like Acts
one, eight tells us that we have a responsibility for, for Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
And I often preach, um, in churches, get to teach a little bit, and,
and that's one of the verses I use really often because I say, you know,
Like your Jerusalem is right around you, right?
And you can't neglect that, you shouldn't neglect that.
It's, one of the questions we get when we speak in churches very often
is, What are you doing here at home?
And we say, Well, here's the thing, we're connected with churches all
over the United States who, we are helping to encourage missions in their
church and outreach in their church.
We're taking people around the world on mission trips, they're coming
home more on fire for missions.
And they're looking around their community and they're saying,
Man, we need to do more here.
And so in a big way, we are actually helping what's happening at home
because we're getting people fired up for missions overseas.
Um, and so what we see in churches is that when they connect with us,
when they go and they give, and they serve, and they, uh, support projects,
and they go on mission trips, is that their giving increases for
their church, for those members and the people that those members tell.
And so overall, it lifts the church, right?
And so it's not an either or, right?
Our Jerusalem, super important.
Let's get it, let's go, right?
There's tons of organizations here helping in the United States.
And then Judea a little bit further out, right?
Um, I, I like to say that Samaria, um, to them, when this was spoken,
uh, by Jesus, um, to them this would've said go to the people in
the places that you're scared of.
Go to the people in the places that you don't like, go to the people in
the places that maybe don't speak your language, don't worship like you,
don't do the things you do, the people that it's easy to, you know, snub
and walk around, go to those people.
And, uh, and I think, man, that speaks so much truth to us today is that
if we look around with all the crazy division in the world today and we
look around and go, You know what?
All those people that culture tells us to hate are the people
that we should love because Jesus said, Go to Samaria too, right?
And then He says, And to the ends of the earth.
And so it's not an or, it's an and so let's do something for
here, there, the people we don't like, and literally everywhere.
And, um,
you know, that's what we try to do with Manna.
That's what we try to facilitate, um, through our work with churches,
and businesses, and individuals here in the United States who
come and support our work.
They can jump on board to obviously support our family and the mission work
we do, but honestly, um, it's, for us, it's about, you know, getting you plugged
in and connected with an orphanage, or a nutrition center, a medical clinic, um,
an anti-child trafficking type project.
Um, it's, it, it's getting you connected with these centers where we've got awesome
leadership running these centers day after day after day that are there, you
know, 24/7, 365, doing the hard work.
Um, and me being able to plug you in to support some of that work and
then hopefully get you on a trip and, uh, get you over there to meet the
people that are there 'cause you give.
Um, nothing changes your life like supporting an orphanage and then
going and meeting a little baby girl or a little baby boy who gets
to live there because you give the money so that they can live there.
And, um, man, that changes your life.
Yeah, that, that's huge.
You know, it brings to mind a couple things here.
The first is, I, I always look at the very last words Christ spoke, you
know, some of those were, Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.
And I, I, I base my life off of that.
Those people that are doing those things that we don't necessarily
agree with, they need the help to show them how to live right.
And this is why you have to reach out to the thieves, the killers, the, you
know, prostitutes, all of these sinners in the world because we are all sinners.
And, and a little sin is just like a big sin, it's a sin.
And then another thing is Ephesians six, it talks about, you know, we
fight not against flesh and blood, but spirits, and these principalities, and
powers, you know, these are big words that a lot of people just overlook.
And yeah, uh, mission work is a big part of doing just that.
So how do you see Manna helping in the world?
What type of missionary work are they performing in the world?
Yeah, so in the past twenty-five years we've helped to launch over
a hundred churches alongside our, um, sometimes missionary partners.
We've got partners that are missionaries that have come from the United States.
Uh, we've got partners that are missionaries from South Korea, from
the Philippines, um, from some places in Kenya, um, as well as Central and
South America now we're partnering with.
And then we've got pastors that are local to a place, right?
So we work with a bunch of people in Nepal and India and, you know, the rest
of Asia that are from a place and then they look around and they go, Man, I
wish somebody'd plant a church here.
And then they realize, Wait a minute, it's me.
And, uh, and so they plant a church and they have, you know, typically
these guys and, and, and they have barely any support financially.
Um, there's living on, you know, dreams and prayers, right?
And, uh, God is providing.
And so we come alongside these pastors, these missionaries, um,
to help plant churches, to help, uh, launch orphanages, nutrition
centers, medical clinics, schools.
I mean, we've got schools with hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of kids in
multiple places around the world, um, that are getting educated so that they
can get themselves out of poverty so that they can have opportunity, um, right?
That their families and their parents probably for generations
and generations before have not had.
Um, nutrition centers that are putting food in the bellies of kids who are
hungry, who are often so in need of food that they can't go to school
because they have to work to try to come up with some extra money for
their family to be able to feed them,
right?
And, um, or, or parents are having to make decisions between, like, do I feed
my kids or do I send them to school?
Uh, because I only have money to do one or the other, right?
And so our nutrition centers come alongside and they help these kids
in schoolwork and they help to feed their bellies and they're teaching
'em about Jesus every single day.
Um, and these parents are then getting connected with these pastors
and the local churches that these centers are connected with and they're
coming to faith in Jesus in droves.
Um, we've got medical clinics, like we've got big medical clinics in
Cambodia, Central America, and Africa, and, um, in Eastern Europe that are
supporting villages and communities that had literally zero access to medical
care in their communities before.
But Manna is stepping in to say, Hey, you know what?
Jesus cares about that too.
And while we're helping you with your medical, we're gonna tell you about
Jesus, we're gonna give you the gospel, we're gonna connect your kids with a
nutrition center, or a school, or, you know, for like further assistance, right?
So we're building out this like holistic community, um, you know,
support system in communities that have no support system and, um, and
we're seeing God do incredible things.
Uh, we've got orphanages, right, that are taking in kids off the street, that
are taking kids that have been taken out of their family by some sort of,
you know, social services type system.
Um, you know, we're supporting kids that have been trafficked, and that
have been abused, and that have been not fed, and that have, um,
you know, that have no other option.
And so, you know, that, those are the things that we're seeing and
all of those things work together to build up the local church, right?
Um, we are a local church organization.
I mean, really, really focused on how do we build up the local church?
How do we connect the community with the local church?
How do we make sure that what is done in a community gets seen by the community
as, this is what this church is doing here to support our kids and our families.
And uh, when we do that, when we can do that, what we see is people come to
Jesus and people look and go, Wow, there is something different about this Jesus.
And, um, and we got, we gotta know, right?
And, uh, and that's, man, that's the name of the game for us is, uh,
getting people connected to Jesus and making sure that they have their needs
met in, in all the spiritual ways and all the physical ways as well.
So what are some of the programs and ways that people can get
involved with Manna Worldwide?
Yeah.
So, um, one of, uh, my, my big jobs is traveling around the United States
speaking, getting on podcasts like this one, speaking in churches,
meeting with businesses, uh, business leaders that want to get involved,
um, meeting with individuals, um, either online or in person.
They want to get involved.
And so the ways people can get involved is really to connect with me to, to find
out about the projects that need support and, um, and to begin to support projects.
We are a 501C3, so it's tax deductible and all legitimate, and all that stuff.
Um, but really to partner with a project long, long term is really,
really, really what, what we're after, what we want to, uh, to do to, to
allow people more impact in the world.
Um, and then, next steps to that, uh, would be hop on a trip with us.
Man, we've got, we've got a Nepal mission trip the beginning of June, 2026.
Uh, we've got another Nepal trip, the end of August, 2026,
um, beginning of September.
Um, and then we've got, what else?
We've got, uh, Thailand and Cambodia, um, sometime in the
fall, likely October or November.
Um, and then, uh, Nepal and India the end of December, uh, to
the beginning of January, 2027.
Um, and so that's just the trips that I have available.
Um, Manna has about a hundred trips total that we're leading this year.
Uh, there's a lot of people out there just like me that are leading trips
to Central America, South America, Middle East, Eastern Europe, um,
Africa, and everywhere in between.
And, um, and so the best ways to, to get connected is to connect
with me, uh, through email.
Uh,
my email is c.alsup, c.A,L,S,U,P@manna, that's M-A-N-N-A, worldwide.com.
Uh, shoot me an email, tell me you heard me on the podcast, tell me you, uh,
would like to know more information.
Um, I can send you a list of projects that need support currently, either
projects that we're wanting to start, needing to start, or projects that are
currently going that are underfunded for one reason or another, uh, that you
can jump on to, uh, to support and help.
And, uh, I can also send you a list of trips and things like that.
Get you connected in, uh, to be able to go and see the need, see what Manna's doing.
Listen, I get it, like there's a lot of people asking for money, right?
And, uh, there's a lot of places that you could put your money.
And you, you earn your money, I get it.
Um, but, uh, I, man, I'm an open book.
Ask me any question you want to ask me, uh, go on a trip with
me and see what we do first.
Um, lay eye, you know, lay eyes on the kids that are there, uh,
that, that need the support.
Um, meet the leadership and the pastors and these missionaries that we work with
and, uh, and I promise, uh, you'll, you'll want to get involved,
especially if you go and meet them.
And, uh, these guys, these guys are doing a great job and, uh, man, it's,
it's a good work to get involved in.
So yeah, there are, there are tons of orphanages, nutrition centers, schools,
medical clinics, stuff like that around the world that we either have that need
a little extra support, that we want to launch and we're just waiting on the
right people to come along to say yes.
Um, if it's a church, uh, here in the US, I'd love to meet you.
I'd love to travel and come and speak, and share, and, you know, set up
at a missions conference, or maybe just a regular weekend or an event.
Um, if it's a business, man, I can come, I can come sit down
with your team and talk about it.
Uh, if it's an individual, let me know, we can try to schedule a call,
video chat, something like that.
Or if I'm in your area, we could stop by and, and have a chat in person.
Yeah, that's always good.
Uh, I like what you're doing out there.
There's a lot of help in the world that is needed, that's for sure.
So is there anything else that you would like to discuss or highlight
today before we let you outta here?
Let me think.
Uh, yeah, I, I mentioned my email address a minute ago,
just c.alsup@mannaworldwide.com.
Um, obviously you can go on the Manna website, find a
bunch of information as well.
Um, it's just manna, M-A-N-N-A worldwide.com.
And if you go on there, you'll be able to see some of the countries that we work in.
You'll be able to see some statistics and you'll be able to
see a list of all the trips and stuff like that that are going on.
Uh, you can get, go on our team page and you can email myself or, or any
of our other leaders from different areas of the world and, uh, and be
able to find out more information, see some videos and stuff like that.
Um, man, let me think, man.
Uh, I, honestly, uh, you know, I just wanna challenge people to take the next
step and, um, you know, whether that's towards supporting Manna, uh, supporting
our work, or whether it's supporting your local church more, whether it's
getting involved in your local community or somewhere else around the world, um,
whatever it is, um, your listeners, uh, should understand and should know, um,
that uh, Jesus places good works in front of us that we're meant to walk into.
And, uh, and the more we walk into them, the better life gets, I promise.
Um, and the more we walk into them, the more people we get to
help and the more people we get to see come to faith in Jesus.
And the more people we get to see with food in their belly, and shoes
on their feet, and clothes on their back, and education in their minds
to make this world a better place.
And so, yeah, man, I just wanna challenge people to, to do the next thing to
be, be, do something Christian, right?
Um, you know, then not to just be hearers of the word, listeners of the
word, but to be doers of the word.
Yeah, Amen.
I like that a lot.
You know, the good book of Jeremiah outlines it well, that He
wants good things to come to us.
And if, if you're accepting of that, it, it happens.
Craig, I wanna say thank you for sharing today.
Uh, it's a good ministry that you're doing out there, the world needs more of it.
So I hope in some little way this helps out.
Yeah.
I appreciate it, man.
Hey, I'm, I'm super thankful.
I'm getting on a bunch of podcasts this year, really trying to kinda
get the word out more about what we do, and who we are, and, and how
people can, uh, can get involved.
And so, um, I appreciate you letting me come on and, uh, letting me share a
little bit about Manna and my heart and, uh, what God's doing around the world.
Um, it, uh, it never ceases to amaze me.
And, uh, and delight me that I get to, uh, do the work I do.
And, uh, and that I get to share these stories of these people that, that I
love so much and, um, and that, and that more importantly that God loves so much.
And so, man, thank you for allowing me the, the platform,
um, to, to say that they matter.
And, uh, to make, to, to make Him known more, hopefully,
and to make them known more.
And, uh, to be able to represent them means the world to me.
Yeah, I like that a lot.
Uh, we all matter.
And, uh, it, it's, thank you for being here today and I wanna say thank you
to Podcasthon for having this event to help boost charities around the world.
And this is a great charity to look at.
And if, if your tax deduction needs to go someplace, why
not here to Manna Worldwide?
They help children build a brighter future for tomorrow.
Thank you, Craig.
Hey, man, I appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
Spreadsheets glow in neon light, pixels painting purpose bright.
While orphans sleep in moonlit night beneath the bamboo's sway, He walks
the line where numbers meet the sacred call to serve and feed with calculator
in one hand, the Bible in his way.
Where balance sheets meet prayer sheets in leather bound communion.
Faith and finance intertwine like rivers merging deep, boardroom doors and
chapel floors both echo with His wisdom,
every pivot table whispers of the souls He came to keep.
Not either/or but something more- a loom where heaven's weaving a tapestry of grace
and trade in golden thread and steel, where every deal and mercy meal become
redemption's breathing and quarterly reports show lives transformed and healed.
Building with both hands, steel and spirit rise, skyscrapers of compassion
touching eastern skies.
Not just a venture, it's a sacred, lasting space, where profit funds the
orphanage and salaries show grace.
Building with both hands, leaving more than gold, rice fields turned
to churches, stories bought and sold.
The markets
roar like ocean waves against the Manila piers, while quiet prayers in mountain
towns lift souls from hungry graves, a lone star light through Shanghai
nights, through Bangkok's neon tears.
Where spreadsheets become altars and business cards save.
Ledgers
filled with lives redeemed in columns wide,
in nutrition centers built where hopelessness had cried.
From Dallas desks to Asian streets, The calling never wavers mentoring
young leaders with Solomon's own hands, teaching dads to father
while the markets test their favors.
Planting seeds of Kingdom where the desert meets demand.
Building with both hands, steel and spirit rise, Kingdom come
in business, burning
in their eyes.
Not just a venture, it's a harvest in it's prime, where revenue
means rescued kids and dividends are time.
Building with both hands, leaving more than gold, a legacy of
faithfulness in every share controlled.
Column A,
a child fed with rice and living bread, Column B, a spirit led from darkness
into dawn, the bottom line in light divine where earthly work and heaven wed.
Where every business meeting
becomes a Pentecost.