A recent trip to the Holy Land gave me new insight about Jesus’ unconventional life, the dark day of his death, and His victorious resurrection. Read my reflection about this on World Vision’s blog.

May you find new hope and fresh joy this Easter, celebrating the One who has overcome the world!

This week we lost (and heaven gained) Lorraine Pierce, the wife of World Vision founder Bob Pierce. I met her in 2000, when she joined World Vision’s 50th anniversary celebrations. Though delightful and encouraging to all, she had a special message for organizational leaders like me that she delivered it in no uncertain terms: “Keep Christ at the center of World Vision.”

Lorraine Pierce, 1917-2011 (Greg Schneider for WV)

Sometimes I’ve looked back and wondered, what made World Vision special? How was it that this ministry survived the lean years and thrived to become what Christianity Today coined “The Colossus of Care,” a relief and development organization with 40,000 staff and a strong commitment to our Christian faith? One school of thought owes it all to Bob Pierce’s passion. But there’s another theory that it was Lorraine Pierce and her fervent prayers. 

Both Lorraine and Bob were ordinary people—they had no advanced degrees, nothing to prepare them for what they accomplished. So why did God use them? It’s simple: They had willing hearts. Jesus chose ordinary people for His earthly ministry, not the learned and celebrated folks of His day. The disciples were willing to serve. And more than that, they were willing to pay the price, which for most of them meant their lives. 

The Pierce family also sacrificed—Lorraine even more than Bob. And yet she never emphasized this; her constant refrain was how faithful God is, how loyal is God’s Word, how great is His love. 

Lorraine’s legacy is that obedience to God, while not painless, offers no better path in life and no greater reward in the end. This week I’ve often smiled while imagining the joyful chorus of saints welcoming her home. 

Please lift up the Pierce family in your prayers today as Lorraine is laid to rest in California. I will attend her memorial service and say a few words about what she meant to us at World Vision.