By Andrea Vogt | International Director Operation Mercy
Dear Friends of Operation Mercy,
Yesterday, I returned from our annual Country Directors' Meeting, where 18 of us—representing our country projects and support staff from the international office—gathered to review the past year, learn from one another, and celebrate the transformative work happening in our nations.
We also introduced a new three-year project proposal form and other tools to help us better plan, implement, and evaluate our projects. I’m excited to see how these resources will enhance our impact.
One of my favorite stories from the week centered around crossing ethnic and religious boundaries. Perhaps this theme stood out to me because some of us had just attended a conference on peacebuilding right before our Operation Mercy gathering.
In North Macedonia, our Albanian staff—who typically focus on empowering Albanian women in difficult life situations—joined a food bank initiative to distribute food to homeless and impoverished Macedonians. This role reversal, where those who are often recipients became the givers, had a profound impact on both sides. As a special bonus, the President of North Macedonia volunteered at the food bank that day and was deeply impressed by the Muslim women assisting in the effort.
A similar story unfolded in Jordan, where Arab Christians—who have maintained their traditions for centuries—attended Operation Mercy seminars on community mapping, identifying problems, and finding solutions. Inspired by these sessions, they began engaging with Muslim Syrians and Jordanians—communities they previously had little interaction with. This minority group, which often felt the need to care for themselves due to a lack of external support, began serving others in remarkable ways.
These are powerful examples of our principles of Peace-making, Perseverance, and Partnership in action!
On the fourth of our five 'Ps'— Professionalism which includes our Program Design, Monitoring, and Evaluation—we spent several sessions working on enhancing our approaches. It was inspiring to see how eager all our leaders and project managers were to embrace the new system and improve their work. The peer learning around our vision and values was also incredibly impactful.
I want to extend a special thanks to several of our board members who spent time engaging with both project teams and international office staff over the last 10 days. It was a true joy to witness their hands-on involvement with our people and programs.
Finally, our fifth 'P' is Prayer. For us, listening to God is crucial in all our work, even in the midst of busy meetings like this one. We took time to lament the hard things we witness in our communities—like 400 clinics closing in Afghanistan due to USAID cuts, and the rising conflict and polarization despite our efforts.
Yet, we also recognize that true transformation often starts with small seeds. Even on hard ground, we are beginning to see the first blossoms and fruits of our labor—and that is something to rejoice in.
I hope you can celebrate with us and continue following our journey. If you would like to learn more about Afghanistan and the situation there, please have a look at our Maternal and Child Nutrition and Health project on GlobalGiving.
Thank you,
Andrea
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