SAN JOSE PINULA, Guatemala — Buckner International held a TOMS Shoes distribution to children at the Buckner Community Transformation Center (CTC) here March 22. It is the first-ever distribution of shoes by Buckner through TOMS internationally-recognized One for One™ model.
Matt Asato, Buckner International’s director of humanitarian aid, said the CTC distribution, held in conjunction with [...]

Buckner Missions is currently seeking volunteers to travel to Honduras August 5-9 on the annual mother-daughter mission trip.
Mother-daughter mission trips offer a chance to bond over shared experiences in an environment like no other.
Barb McDonald and her daughter, Annie, went on the trip to Guatemala last year, when a painful diagnosis prompted Barb to start living out [...]

By Lauren Hollon Sturdy
Buckner International

It was a hot, dirty, sweaty and paint-splattered spring break for churches and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship volunteers in the Rio Grande Valley.
This marks the ninth year for KidsHeart, a partnership between Buckner International, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Texas and Literacy Conexus. The annual missions effort brought teams from across the state [...]

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Photo by Lauren Hollon Sturdy
Head east out of Dallas on Interstate 20 and the whizzing cars and tall buildings shrink in your rearview mirror as the pine trees grow taller and life slows down just a little bit.
Longview may not be the big metropolis of Dallas, but it is growing. It is the [...]

My third week in Peru, my team and I served the community of Pamplona at a Buckner Community Transformation Center. I had only been in Peru for two weeks and my most recent Spanish class was in high school. Language was a barrier for me. However, one little girl reminded me that sharing God’s love [...]

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International

SIERRA LEONE – Matilda Conteh, 25, approached Buckner in 2010 desperate for change after years of having to beg for survival and care for her three children.
One of nine children, she was adopted at a young age by her grandmother since her mother could not take care of her. By time she [...]

by Lauren Hollon Sturdy
Buckner International
The island of Roatán, 40 miles northeast of the Honduran mainland, is a tropical paradise. White sand beaches and warm turquoise water greet throngs of tourists in high season who come to spend their vacation in the luxurious beachside resorts.
But stray from tourist areas, and it’s clear that poverty is a [...]

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International

ZAACHILA, Mexico – Fifty Mexican families are working with Buckner staff turn their lives around by participating in the “180 Degree Project” through the Zaachila and Mefiboset Community Transformation Centers. Earlier this year, caseworkers did a census to identify needs in the community, and then identified 25 families from each location who [...]

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International
PENITAS, Texas – Alberto Diaz’s five-year-old daughter used to ask him why it would continue to rain inside their trailer though it stopped raining outside.
And it broke his heart. Especially during hurricane season.
He had to tell her Daddy didn’t make a smart decision when he bought the home. He felt ashamed and [...]

By Chelsea Quackenbush
Buckner International
The Buckner Dominican Republic Community Transformation Center has teamed up with Esperanza Bank in Eduardo Brito to offer families microloans to propel them out of extreme poverty and toward self-sufficiency.
Qualifying families live in extreme poverty with little hope of becoming part of the job market. An Esperanza facilitator and a Buckner social worker [...]