MANCHESTER, N.H.—Children’s laughter bouncing off the walls: New Life Home has that sound, and typical long-term drug recovery programs don’t. A shy, smiling 2-year-old runs around the white clapboard home with peanut butter on his chin: His mother had escaped a gang and planned to abort him before meeting a New Life graduate. The mom is now a graduate of the program and became a Christian in the process.

GREENWOOD, Miss.—Our Hope Awards Southeast Region winner is Delta Streets Academy (DSA), a 5-year-old Christian school in Greenwood, Miss. You might wonder why: Hundreds of Christian schools exist south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi. Some, born in the 1960s, are not five years but five decades old. So why spotlight a relative newcomer?

Abortion advocates still use the old gibe about evangelicals being pro-life only up to birth, but that’s always been hype attempting to slime hope. Christians two centuries ago were in the forefront of the fight against slavery. Christians now are creating orphanages, foster care homes, and schools as well as pregnancy care centers—and even opioid recovery programs for those whose lives have gone sour.

Fourteen years ago, one unlikely donor made it possible for an overwhelmed Christian medical mission in Kenya to double its caseload of HIV patients receiving antiretroviral treatments: Mark Gerson, 44, a prominent New York Jewish businessman. Gerson, who lives on the Upper West Side with his wife and four children, has given $4 million specifically to Christian medical missions and is now beginning an annual $500,000 prize to Christian medical workers in Africa.

What to do about Aleppo? What to do about Iraq and ISIS? How can we, half a world away, help what nearly everyone acknowledges may be the worst human catastrophe of the 21st century?

These are questions I receive in emails, texts, and in question-and-answer sessions as I’ve been traveling the country speaking about this crisis and the disappearing Christians of the Middle East.

Sometimes, maybe, build a playground.

WASHINGTON—Two senators this week filed legislation aimed at encouraging Americans to donate more money to charity.

“Charitable giving is core to our society and benefits millions of Americans each year,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., one of two co-sponsors. “This bipartisan bill improves the tax code making it easier for families to support their favorite charities and ensures that charitable organizations are best equipped to accomplish their missions.”

Over a 10-day period around Christmas, 75 charities solicited my 97-year-old mother-in-law. My wife and I received just 15. My curiosity was aroused. Why such a difference? What should she and others like her do?

So I read the solicitations, sorted them, and researched each charity at Charity Navigator’s website. Its system rates charities on a zero-to-four scale, with four being the highest rating.