Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor
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Do you see Jesus in Susana’s face?
Care for her. Care for Him.
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That was the perspective of Saint Teresa of Calcutta, who often spoke of “recognizing Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor.” Susana lives in Mozambique, a country hit hard by Africa’s HIV/AIDS pandemic. 2.2 million people were infected — leaving a devastating number of children orphaned and living on the street.
To be Christ’s hands and feet to these and other precious children, Cross Catholic Outreach works with priests, religious and lay workers in developing countries around the world. Your gift helps our ministry partners, including Association Cross Mozambique, meet basic needs such as food with the love of Christ — and you can be part of this rescue mission!
Answer our heavenly Father’s command to love — not just in word, but in deed — by providing food to hungry children.
Erika is a child served by the ministry of Association Cross Mozambique.
Mozambique’s Orphan Crisis
Vulnerable Children Struggling to Survive
Since its independence from Portugal in 1975, Mozambique has been battered by civil war, famine and the social consequences of the HIV/AIDS pandemic — leaving an estimated 2 million children orphaned. Most neighbors or family members are too poor to care for these children, so they fend for themselves by working odd jobs or begging on the streets to survive.
“Someone who sees me on the street would never imagine that I am an orphan of father and mother, because we actually have father and mother, which is ACM. My outreach worker is my mother, even though she is not my birth mother, she is my mother at heart.”
– Erneldo Massango
Your support can help rescue children like Laurence.
What's an Orphan?
Traditionally, a child had to lose both parents to be classified as an orphan. Today, we refer to “single orphan” as the loss of one parent, and “double orphan” as the loss of both parents; doing so helps quantify the growing number of children in need of a new family, shelter or care.
There are an estimated 2 million orphans in Mozambique, and 700,000 children at risk of being left to fend for themselves due to a guardian’s old age, poor health or extreme poverty.
Source: UNICEF
Ivenia: Rescued for a Purpose
As a young girl, Ivenia Bendita was educated through ACM’s Girl’s Rescue Ministry; this helped her graduate from high school. The ministry equipped her for success, and today she’s a staff member at ACM. Thanks to the ministry, Ivenia is able to support her family. “I have to give many thanks for all the support, for all the help and I ask that you keep supporting other girls,” she said. “We need help so that this project can save the lives of more girls.”
Your support can make more stories like Ivenia Bendita’s possible!
Association Cross Mozambique
Meeting the Needs of the Most Vulnerable
Association Cross Mozambique is based in Mozambique’s largest city, Maputo, near South Africa and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland). The ministry was founded by a group of local Catholic women, dedicated to rescuing a generation of AIDS orphans. ACM provides orphan care in the form of food, water, education, medicine, spiritual formation, a girls’ rescue ministry, safe housing, elderly care and microenterprise programs.
God’s Rescue Mission
Change the Lives of Mozambique’s Orphans
With over 2 million children who have lost parents, Mozambique’s orphan crisis is overwhelming. That’s why Association Cross Mozambique is dedicated to rescuing orphans and vulnerable children in the name of Christ. Your support will help our ministry partners in developing countries around the world provide food and care for children in need.
Loving the Vulnerable in the Name of Christ
One Woman’s Calling to Care for Widows and Orphans
As the director of ACM and a committed Catholic, Doroteia Balane knows God’s heart breaks for children who suffer. That’s why she’s dedicated her life to ministering to orphans. To help destitute children, Doroteia and ACM take a holistic approach, ministering to the whole person by meeting each child’s material and spiritual needs.
“I am so happy because I am doing the job that I like, looking for people who are suffering and helping the children who need a mother.”
– Doroteia Balane
Your gift supports ministries that feed hungry children.
Rescuing Children With the Gospel
Sharing God’s Love With Orphans Desperate for Hope
Our ministry partners keep Christ at the center of their work because they recognize that Jesus is the only one who can heal broken hearts. At ACM, the staff offers spiritual formation classes, teaching children the Catholic Catechism, prayer and the Bible. By introducing children to the Gospel, ACM and other ministry partners build God’s Kingdom and evangelize the next generation developing countries around the world.
Through Bible study, prayer and Catholic catechism classes for children, the staff at ACM points each child toward the joy of the Gospel.
“The most important thing is that this work is done inspired by the Word of God — which is our strength. It is our way. It is our light. It is in his Word that we find the reason for our action and the soul of our missionary work at time like these.”
– Father Anastácio Jorge, Spiritual Director of ACM
The Massango siblings stand in front of the home built for them by ACM’s ministry.
Meet the Massango Siblings
When Erneldo, Maina and Celilia Massango lost both of their parents to the AIDS pandemic, Erneldo assumed responsibility as head of the household. But when ACM got involved, they provided everything the siblings needed: food, education, spiritual formation and safe housing.
Our ministry partners can continue helping children like the Massango siblings with your generous gift!
Recognize Christ in the Faces of the Poor
Be Part of God’s Rescue Mission When You Feed the Hungry
The need for nutritious food is especially great in places like Mozambique, where civil war, famine and the HIV/AIDS pandemic have devastated children and families. Your act of kindness will bless those in need of lifesaving food.
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
– PSALM 82:3
Change Even More Lives
Giving monthly is a small way to have a big impact. Your regular support empowers our ministry to respond to urgent needs and fulfill our long-term projects across the world.
Become a monthly donor today and experience the joy of impacting lives every month.
Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures incurred through June 30, 2024, the close of our ministry’s fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.