On this special episode of Life Today.
>> Betty and I are thrilled to be in your home.
This is going to be one of the most important programs
that we have ever aired.
But Betty, we're going to show our viewers
the first trip we ever made in Mozambique.
And I met a little boy who became my Little Buddy.
But let me just tell you this,
that little boy, he changed our life.
Next on LIFE Today!
♪
JAMES: I want to welcome you
to Life Today.
Betty and I are thrilled
to be in your home.
This is going to be one
of the most important programs
that we've ever aired.
We're going to have
some memories come back
and you're going to see
the parallel between
two of the memories.
But Betty, we're going
to show our viewers
the first trip we ever made
to the mission fields,
of starvation, in Mozambique.
And we're in one of
the largest refugee camps,
and I met a little boy
that we were giving food to
that became my Little Buddy.
And you can see him
right there.
Betty just commented
a while ago, we saw
that photograph for
the first time, and she said,
"We should grow your hair
back long like that."
Let me tell you this,
that little boy,
he changed our life.
And he always will
be "Little Buddy,"
because when I asked him about
the soup they were drinking,
he had a little cup,
and basically, I was
asking him if he liked it
and if it was good.
He said, "Yaw!"
And the thing you need
to know is because of
Little Buddy, we met
millions of little buddies.
And Betty, we basically
never left.
We came home not knowing
if our viewers would help
the starving.
And we sold everything.
And this building
laid on the ground,
tilted up concrete,
laid on the ground
ready to be tilted up
for television.
We didn't have a different
facility because
we weren't going to take
any money to do anything
but save kids.
And we've saved,
now you think about it,
18 million lives.
It was a few years ago
that they reported,
the governments of Africa,
that we had saved 13 million,
and now we've found out
in the last year, 18 million.
Who would have ever thought
that would happen,
Betty, from just meeting
a little buddy and
falling in love with
these precious children?
BETTY: You do, James.
God knew we needed
a Little Buddy.
He needed someone
who would grab our hearts
so that we could see
and feel and know the need
that was there.
Because James,
you know my perception,
especially of Africa
was it's a place far away.
And I couldn't imagine.
And I was a little afraid
when we first went that way.
But it did not take long
for my heart to be touched
and know that there's
something we could do
to make a difference in
the lives of these children.
We could save their lives!
JAMES: And Betty,
we couldn't do it
without our viewers.
I want you to listen
to stories that are going
to be told, Betty,
that are going to kick in
real firm with me and Betty.
And after you've seen this,
you're going to know why.
But I want you to listen
to a mother, a wife,
that is an example
of the millions of people
we've not only touched and fed
but have saved their lives.
“We” meaning you,
just as big to us,
even bigger than any aspect
other than the missionaries.
And the missionaries
will still say you are
the bigger reason
for the saved lives.
Watch carefully, focused,
and prayerfully, please.
>> I'm here really asking for help,
especially for my children
so that they can get a better education.
So that tomorrow they may not be criminals.
ASHTON: My name is Ashton
and I'm a journalist for Life Today.
Recently, in Angola, I met a precious mother named Madalena.
And while it is difficult to convey Madalena's broken heart
to those who weren't there that day,
we made her a promise that we would do our best.
ASHTON: Before Madalena's husband tragically passed,
they had six children together,
including this sweet girl Jenerosa.
As Madalena told us their names,
we saw palpable sadness in her eyes
when she spoke the name of her youngest child, Julia.
Just two months ago, Madalena had suffered
the worst loss a mother could face.
Her daughter Julia had died as a result of malnutrition.
Julia was four years old.
ASHTON: Your other children,
I know we have one of them sitting just over here,
do they remember Julia?
ASHTON: Dear Heavenly Father,
I know that you can see Madalena.
So I pray for her today, Lord
that you would give them all that they need,
more than enough food.
So remember the poor.
Remember the widow.
Remember Julia.
Together we can make sure that another child just like her
won't die simply because they don't have enough food.
JAMES: You see, Betty
and I can really understand
about the little girl,
four years old.
We had our little girl
ten times that long, 40 years,
our Robin, our miracle baby.
She left three teenagers.
She now has
four grandchildren
she sees from heaven.
We know the weight
of losing a child.
We also know the joy
of giving children life.
Betty, when I talked about
Little Buddy's cup
and people watched us
pouring soup, porridge
into tin cans and they would
burn their little hands
because we would have
to heat it;
the water everywhere
is contaminated
so you have to boil it.
And you're the ones
that gave the colored bowls
that you began to see later.
You insisted that we not
let them burn their hands
on tin cans or plastic bags
that would burn through.
And you just never
have stopped loving.
Betty, our viewers
have saved so many
mothers' children,
and so many families.
I just wish they could
understand what that means.
BETTY: I do, too.
And what's important about
these bowls, too
is you can serve more
of a level amount so that
it goes further.
Because in the containers
they had it was hard
to measure how much
we were giving them.
We'd run out so many times,
James.
So I was so grateful
in many ways for the bowls.
It doesn't burn their hands
and it gives them
what they need
for their nourishment.
But you've done that
with us for many years,
some of you have.
For some of you,
maybe it is the first time.
I hope and pray that
God puts it on your heart
to do something to help
these children.
They deserve a chance at life.
These mothers deserve
to watch their children
grow up.
We had three
beautiful children.
One lived for 40 years
before God took her
to be with him,
but we got 40 years.
This mother got four years
with her little baby.
That is so sad to me.
She didn't get to see her
baby grow up, James.
So let's make the difference
for these families,
these mothers.
They watch them
their whole lives.
Let's give and help them live.
JAMES: See, it's really hard
for me not to start weeping
because I still remember
what it was like when
our little girl was gone.
But please, I've said to you
many times, were it not
for you, we would join
the missionaries and all
we could do is weep because
we couldn't do anything
about the problem --
except weep.
Those missionaries
oftentimes move
their entire family
from another country
to a place where
they don't even speak
the language.
And they plant their life
there to save lives.
And they say the worst thing
in the world
is to be empty-handed.
And our hearts are broken.
And we've been able
to help mend their hearts
and give them hands
full of not just love, but
the ability to meet the need.
And you're the ones
that put that ability
in their hands.
You not only put
the food there,
you put the bowls there,
and many times,
twice as many show up.
And if you can't apportion it,
you will run out
halfway through.
But like Betty said,
there are measuring lines here
so you can apportion,
we give this much today,
and then we'll try to be
prepared for more tomorrow.
We know more are coming
because they heard there
is hope and there is life.
Please, I ask you with
all my heart to ask God
to lead you and enable you
to make the largest gift
of life you've ever made
because you'll be giving life
as an expression of love.
Please do it
even as you watch Tammy
expressing love,
and me and Betty showing
the miracle you have become
when you share.
In rural Africa it is extremely rare
to find a mother who has not lost at least one child
before their fifth birthday.
What makes their loss so unbearable
is the majority of their children's deaths
could have been prevented.
Tammy: I mean truly, if I think about it,
I don't think I would ever see that.
When I come to a country like this
and walk into a place like this
and we've got this precious little baby laying here --
laying here so fragile and so tiny
and she is dying because she has no food.
It is ridiculous when I think about it.
And to also know that there's a solution --
there's a solution!
Having little or no food can be devastating for a young child
whose immune system has not fully developed.
The lack of nutrients can lead to severe malnutrition
resulting in critical weight loss,
skin diseases, mental impairment,
and if not treated in time,
death.
James: This little child was born in February.
Betty: Died in May.
JAMES: Do you think
we should just sit here
and weep?
It certainly merits it.
God, I've done lots of that
but I've been able to do
tears of joy and gratitude
because of our viewers
who say we will not leave
the missionaries empty-handed.
We will give them
the porridge mix.
And we have fed at crisis
times when necessary,
“we” meaning you,
a million children a day.
Right now we're focused on
the hardest hit areas,
many of them
terrible droughts,
sometimes war,
sometimes extreme difficulty
from the crisis of
the economy that's
being shattered all over
the world in some ways.
And right now,
we're feeding 350,000 a day.
And “we” means all of us
because we can't.
We can care, we can go,
we can send the lives there
for over 30 years,
Betty and I have spent
our lives there,
and Betty was nearly
paralyzed over there because
she had to ride in jump seats
that nearly destroyed
her back because
she was the smallest one,
and the roads are blown up
and never repaired because
of the misuse of money
and leadership.
But we saved lives
and changed lives
and we win people to Christ.
18 million people's lives
have been saved.
But Betty, 30 million
people have come to Christ
who have signed
some form of commitment
and asked for follow-up.
Without you even knowing it,
with your overflow,
we've translated it
into virtually every dialect
in Africa, of which
there are many and
that was very expensive.
But because you would give
and we said if we get
beyond what we need,
whatever that is,
will go into an equal need.
And we do so many things,
"we" meaning these viewers,
all of you, we save lives.
And right now,
we've got 350,000 located.
And I can promise you
that will grow because
when the word gets out
people begin streaming there.
And so we're asking you
right now for a miracle.
We're asking for
the greatest outpouring
of support perhaps
you've ever given.
Think about this.
We talked about losing
our daughter.
Our daughter was
a St. Louis Cardinal fan
and she put cardinals
all over the house,
not only because
she was a Cardinal fan
but because she thought
the cardinal was so beautiful.
And I think it's amazing
that our staff decided
they wanted to give you
this beautiful gift.
If you make a gift of $1,000
you're going to make it
possible for 100 children
to be fed -- $1,000!
We want to say thank you.
We have some other gifts
for you.
We have this incredible
journal, the LIFE Planner
that you're going to love
the way it's laid out,
the inspiration, and then
the way you can take notes.
And then we have
a beautiful bowl.
It's literally
a "God's Promise"
serving bowl.
It is his blessings
being served,
which is what you're doing.
Betty, I'm praying
and I've said this
for so many years,
God, someday let every person
watching give something.
Could this be that day?
Would you please?
Could you give $30
to feed three children
for the next months?
Could you give $50
to feed five?
Could you give $100
to feed ten?
But Betty, what about feeding
with a $1,000 gift?
Would you do that? Please?
Would you feed 100 children?
Betty, would you ask
our donors to please,
please become the miracle
somebody prays for
and desperately needs?
BETTY: If your heart really
wants to be blessed
you'll give to help us
feed these children.
We have felt more blessed.
We went over there
to see the need and
see what we could do for them.
Yes, we could feed them
and save their lives but
we came away
with so much more.
I feel like you feel
that way when you give
toward this feeding program.
You give and God blesses,
and he blesses you too.
JAMES: It is so blessed
to give.
There is no greater blessing
than becoming a blessing.
And no greater blessing
than giving life itself,
an eternal life
because we point them
to the way of life --
eternal life through Jesus.
And because they've seen
his love demonstrated
they respond.
Please, get your checkbook,
bank card, and use it
like a check.
Dial that number
or go online and you make
the greatest gift you ever
have given even in size
because you're giving
the greatest gift,
you're giving life.
Across the continent of Africa,
children are suffering, facing severe malnutrition
and even death.
With food reserves gone
and many areas experiencing severe famine,
we urgently need to replenish supplies
to keep feeding the 350,000 children
who are counting on us.
Through LIFE's Mission Feeding outreach,
your gift of love can be an answer to prayer
for a hurting and hungry child
in their time of need.
Call now with your lifesaving gift
of $30, $50, or $100 to help feed and care
for three, five, or ten children
for three full months.
With your gift of any amount,
we'll send you the brand-new LIFE Planner
bound in soft-touch leather.
This planner will help you in your daily walk
with space for you to record your appointments,
goals, inspirational notes, and prayers.
With your gift of $100 or more,
please request the "God's Promise" serving bowl.
This beautiful and versatile ceramic bowl
is decorated with 2nd Corinthians 9:8
and will make a lovely addition
to your table or home.
Finally, with your gift of $1,000 or more
to help feed and care for 100 children,
be sure to request our inspiring bronze sculpture,
"Consider the Birds,"
inspired by Jesus' words
in Matthew 6:26.
Please call, write, or make your gift online today.
ISAK: You might have heard me refer before
to malnutrition as "the silent killer."
that's because it comes like a thief in the night
and it steals a child's life away silently,
many times an unknown and nameless child.
Another small little grave but a life --
a life that is lost
because of something that we can so simply solve.
A life stolen away
simply because there wasn't enough food.
The desperation you can see written all over this child
because this little body is fighting a fight
that chances are they'll probably lose --
a fight of life and death.
It is a tragedy of epic proportion
because one in 200,000 of these children die
each and every month
on the continent of Africa.
And it can actually be changed pretty simply.
If we can get to these villages
where this child comes from
and we can get Mission Feeding into those villages,
what we're able to ensure
is that we wind that clock back.
We retell that story.
Instead of going to bed without a meal that day
that child goes to bed having received an orange bowl
filled with the most nutritious food,
nourishing its body and saving its life.
That's why we say Mission Feeding saves lives
because it does!
But Mission Feeding doesn't happen
just by us being here.
Saving this child's life
doesn't happen because of us.
It happens because of you.
Please do whatever you can do
and give the very best gift that you can give today.
Give the gift of life.
[Child gasping and crying]
JAMES: Betty, I want us
to go home today,
and we always give
to every program, every,
by that I'm talking about
whatever it is, water,
Rescue LIFE, everything,
and of course, feeding.
We're going home today,
I want us to write
another $1,000 check.
Some of you may have given,
and I hope you'll consider it
at that level.
I can't imagine anybody
not wanting to save lives
when we're able, because of
what you do, to put
something in that bowl.
And what we put in that bowl
gives life to the children
many mothers are praying
so fervently for.
It gives the miracle
that people desperately
hoped for but couldn't
imagine happening.
And we have watched it
happen to save the lives
right now of 18 million
precious children.
BETTY: You know, James,
I was sitting there watching
those mothers watching
their babies die,
and I think, that mother
would give her own life
to be able to feed her babies,
to give them
the nourishment they need.
But she can't do that.
That hurts a mother so much.
I pray that you understand
and as we give today,
as you give today,
give with an open heart
knowing that you're feeding
a baby for their mother
so she can watch them grow up.
Please do that with us.
JAMES: Many mothers walk
many kilometers trying
to get enough food
to make some milk
for their babies.
They don't have enough to eat.
Not only not enough to live,
not even enough to make milk
for their babies.
God, we've watched
mother's love --
mother's love poured out,
spilled out.
When your love in us
is the answer
so rapidly miraculously.
Listen, love is a miracle --
unconditional,
redemptive God love,
the love that he has expressed
through his family,
through his body,
who are his hands
reaching out in love
to provide life.
Would you be the hands
of Jesus?
Would you give a cup
of soup in his name,
for his glory,
to give life now
and life eternal?
Because the missionaries
will not only proclaim it,
they will first have
demonstrated it
because of you.
Please go to the phone where
people are calling right now
to get right with God,
to be prayed for,
and it is paid for by love.
Go to that number.
Go online right now.
Take your bank card,
and use it like a check.
If you write a check,
make it to LIFE.
If you take your bank card,
use it like a check.
But I'm asking you, please,
please may we see
the greatest outpouring
of love right now that
will just spill over and
provide miracles everywhere,
the miracle of life?
We have gifts for you
but you are giving
the greatest gift.
Please do it.
And I thank you.
Across the continent of Africa,
children are suffering, facing severe malnutrition
and even death.
With food reserves gone
and many areas experiencing severe famine,
we urgently need to replenish supplies
to keep feeding the 350,000 children
who are counting on us.
Through LIFE's Mission Feeding outreach,
your gift of love can be an answer to prayer
for a hurting and hungry child
in their time of need.
Call now with your lifesaving gift
of $30, $50, or $100 to help feed and care
for three, five, or ten children
for three full months.
With your gift of any amount,
we'll send you the brand-new LIFE Planner
bound in soft-touch leather.
This planner will help you in your daily walk
with space for you to record your appointments,
goals, inspirational notes, and prayers.
With your gift of $100 or more,
please request the "God's Promise" serving bowl.
This beautiful and versatile ceramic bowl
is decorated with 2nd Corinthians 9:8
and will make a lovely addition
to your table or home.
Finally, with your gift of $1,000 or more
to help feed and care for 100 children,
be sure to request our inspiring bronze sculpture,
"Consider the Birds,"
inspired by Jesus' words
in Matthew 6:26.
Please call, write, or make your gift online today.
♪
JAMES: You know I want
to just mention again
the cardinals that meant
so much to our daughter.
Love you, Robin!
But would you consider
giving $1,000
to provide food and life
for 100 children?
Would you do it?
You might be able
to do more than that.
But we'd love to send you
the beautiful, beautiful gift
of something precious
and beautiful that God made.
Do you know one of the things
written about cardinals
is that people say
in troubled times,
and heartbreaking times,
and even times of death,
the family,
cardinals seem to show up?
That happened to our friend
who lost a teenage grandson
to fentanyl two years ago
and the cardinals showed up
everywhere all the family
went for days.
Where you receive
this Cardinal,
100 children find life.
Whatever you can do,
$30 gifts,
three children life.
Whatever you can do.
Thanks for helping others
have more -- more life!
Thank you!
♪
LIFE Today is made possible by the supporters of LIFE Outreach International.
Your gift will be used exclusively for the exempt purposes of LIFE.
The ministry features specific outreaches
as examples of the programs it supports and conducts.
Gifts are considered to be without restriction
as to use unless explicitly stipulated by the donor.
The ministry is a member of the ECFA.