Greetings!

Recently, a friend stopped me in the local church and said, "Sam, don't ever stop telling the story of how Charlie's Lunch began in such a simple, humble way without any plans or corporate schemes on the drawing board." Indeed, the works we do in Christ's name that begin as an act of kindness, given in His love, are foundational and have eternal consequences. And so, after nearly 7 years of sharing Charlie's lunch with hungry children around the world, I take this opportunity to share again about a little boy who, just like the boy recorded in John 6 who gave his lunch to Jesus to feed the multitudes, also gave away his lunch to a friend on his first day of kindergarten. He watched with pure delight as his new friend ate his lunch. On went his sharing and giving throughout his short life, always with a smile for what giving brought his complex, difficult, weak heart of flesh. But spiritually, it was a heart in tune as a little child with the heart of God.

When Charlie was born in February of 1983, the works to a new song became a declaration of faith in what God could and would do with Charlie's sick heart. They were:

"Bless the Lord who reigns in beauty. Bless the Lord who reigns with wisdom and with power. Bless the Lord who reigns my life with so much love, He can make a perfect heart." (In Charles Sterling Stewart, we would add.)

Ah! That's what God did. Not like we had imagined. God was making a perfect heart for heaven and earth that would give double glory to Him! As his mother began giving Charlie's lunch to a few beggar children, the heart of a giving, loving God, was putting into action the missionary call to reach children and their families to the far ends of the earth with a hot, nutritious meal and the message of His unconditional love. Many, like you, are sending that message. And so, i can hear those words from heaven saying, "Dad, it's worth it ALL. All my pain, all those hospital stays, all the time I was afraid of dying; just to see those kids being saved and given hope." The complex making of a perfect heart, made in the Master's hands, and expressed through a little boy's lunch gives the eternal message of salvation and is consumed by some of the hungriest in the world.

All the glory belongs to God and God alone for His mighty works!

Following are excerpts of how Charlie's Lunch is impacting lives for the kingdom of God around the world:

In Santa Lucia, Los Ocotes, Guatemala, Pastor Luis says, "With a Charlie's Lunch feeding center over the last 4 years, God has done exceedingly, abundantly above all we can even imagine, ask or think with our family and our village. We've started a second church in the village because of Charlie's Lunch."

Children, moms, dads, uncles, aunts, cousins and gang members have come to know Jesus Christ as this church uses the tool of Charlie's Lunch to feed the hungry children and share God's love.

In Guatemala, a village called El Aguacate, the humble pastor's wife, Anobeia DeLeon shares that with Charlie's Christmas the children couldn't believe the size of those toys. They hide them and guard them putting them away carefully to last all year long until next Christmas.

In El Salvador, Charlie's Lunch director, Moises Ramirez says, "Many pastors are seeing thhe effective tool that Charlie's Lunch is to reach their communities for Christ. They are all asking how they, too, can have a Charlie's Lunch feeding center in their village."

In Juarez, Mexico, Pastor Hector and Gloria say, "Before Charlie's Lunch was here, doors were slammed in our faces and nobody in the neighborhood wanted us or our church. Now we walk by and they open the door and invite us into their homes." They add, "Our church exists because God brought Charlie's Lunch alongside us when we didn't even have a church building."

In Chiapas, Mexico, children are guaranteed a hot meal for the first time in their lives on a regular basis. At one of the Christmas celebrations, 8 responded to the call of salvation as it was presented along with gifts. At the other feeding center in Chiapas another new family was added to the church.

In India, Shravan Kumar, Charlie's Lunch director says, "Children were excited to have a tooth brush and tooth paste. 'Never did I taste toothpaste before in my life,' exclaimed a boy.' What a powerful tool it is in the hands of a pastor to reach out to the hungry children both physically and spiritually."

Pastor Steve Walker from El Paso, Texas, accompanied Sam Stewart to India in December. He says, "Going to India was like entering a world I never dreamed existed. What we saw was like what I imagined the world would be like if the gospel had never come. Charlie's Lunch can make a great difference in india by reaching the children with the gospel of Jesus Christ."

By God's help in 2004, we have plans to expand into this predominantly Hindu nation with 9 new feeding centers in India. God is leading the way into the slums of Hyderabad, Nomadic villages in Wardha, in Kakinada and at the Vijayawada railway station. These, at least 70 orphans live on the trucks finding scraps of food to eat from the passenger trains. They walk and live along the "feces-covered" tracks. At night they have no one but themselves. No adults to care for them, help them, teach them or love them. They find a tiny space of sidewalk to lay their heads at night. Pastor Sharath has a small Bible School and a vision that with Charlie's Lunch he can reach these abandoned kids. At first he will offer them a hot meal, then a home and always the message of new life and hope in jesus Christ. He told me, "15 years down the road, I see them graduating from our bible School. Some will pastor churches and some will establish Charlie's Lunch feeding centers in other parts of India."

To begin this work the cost is only $0.25 per meal!

In Razule, the Nathaniel Campus Home for Handicapped Children houses 30 children, many who contacted childhood diseases from malnutrition. This ministry of compassion needs help from Charlie's Lunch to provide a hot lunch for these precious children.

And so the need goes on in India, second largest population in the world. We have pastors, missionaries, and workers in place ready to go to work providing Charlie's Lunch and sharing God's love. We believe that God has called Charlie's Lunch to begin feeding 400 children in 9 slums, villages and sites. Please pray about contributing to "Mission-India." :Never has there been a greater opportunity to make a difference in india." Besides the Charlie's Lunch Children's Home, in January we began feeding 100 kids in Kadali.

In 2003, Charlie's Lunch served over 150,000 meals, added 7 NEW feeding centers feeding nearly 1,000 children on a regular basis, helped with constructing 4 churches and feeding centers, provided free medical care to over 2500, hosted 3 teams, provided vehicles to 2 pastors, shared the message of God's love with thousands. At Christmas at 11 different Charlie's Lunch feeding centers, we gave out 1500 toys, 2300 meals, gifts to 250 cooks, workers, poor pastors and their families and shared the Christmas message with over 4000. In 2004, we will be expanding further in Mexico, Central America, and India. The need before us is enormous, but our passion and calling remains fervent.

In hundreds of cases, Charlie's lunch is restoring a lost childhood to the innocent and helpless. Charlie's Lunch is entirely dependent upon your financial contributions. There are children to rescue from starvation, abuse, false religions, neglect and great poverty. There are workers ready to serve Charlie's lunch to these children and to be "God, the Father's" loving hands extended. Please join us as we work together with pastors and missionaries around the world to feed the hungry in body, soul and spirit.

Sam and Janey Stewart
Charlie's Lunch Ministries

"He had compassion on them because they were hungry and had nothing to eat." Matt 15:32