Changing the World Through a Lemonade Stand

There are 150 million orphans in the world.

Every six seconds a child dies because they don’t have access to food or water.

What are you going to do about it?

That’s a daunting question, isn’t it? The scale of poverty in the world is so overwhelming that we feel paralyzed … and do nothing.

I suggest a change in perspective. No, you can’t fix the world’s problems. But you can do good right where you are.

God uses normal people every day to make big differences in the world. He works through people who say yes to the opportunities He sets before them. He works through the wealth of resources and talent within the local church to make a positive impact around the world. It all starts when we say yes to doing good (Gal 6:9), to loving our neighbor (Matthew 22:39), and to serving one another (1 Peter 4:10).

Chris Marlow said yes with a lemonade stand. He’s a former pastor who founded the organization Help One Now, a ministry that helps local leaders care for orphans and vulnerable families and works to break the cycle of extreme poverty in places like Haiti, Peru, and Africa.

He was seeking ways to raise money for 33 orphans in Zimbabwe when his seven- and five-year-old daughters asked to sell lemonade. They set up shop near a new neighborhood under construction. When the construction workers learned that all of the funds would care for orphans in Zimbabwe, they came by in droves. Some paid $20 for a small cup of lemonade.

That experience taught Chris that people everywhere really want to make a difference. Each of us has passion, talent, resources, and a network. But a lot of us don’t know how to leverage those things to do good in the world.

Chris is with us on our Focus on the Family Broadcast “Changing the World Through a Lemonade Stand” to share why you don’t have to move to another country or take a mission trip every year to be used by God. You can serve Him right where you are through your day-to-day rhythms of life.

Find out how on our on your local radio station, online, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, via Google Podcasts, or take us with you on our free phone app.

Chris Marlow’s book Doing Good Is Simple: Making a Difference Right Where You Are is available for a gift of any amount to Focus on the Family as a way of saying thank you for partnering with us. (Click here for more information.)

And if you’ve been praying about adoption as a means of ministering to kids, I encourage you to explore our ministry Wait No More (or call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY for information). There are 100,000 orphans in the United States waiting for a forever home. Let us help you discover a place to start in stepping into the life of a foster child in the name of Christ.

Topics: Family and Home Tags: broadcast, family, parenting July 3, 2023 by Jim Daly with Paul Batura