Passions of the Soul

"Drop Jesus to Appeal to More People!"

That was, in essence, the recommendation of marketing consultants to the executive leadership team of Compassion International, some years back. But the executive leadership team, being made up of believers who really believe, did just the opposite.

At that time, the "tagline," or whatever it might have been called at the time, said simply, "Releasing children from poverty." No "Jesus" there, just in the Mission Statement, the 4C's of Compassion, and in the day-to-day work of releasing children from poverty. So what did these executive-types do with the recommendation?

They changed all of their marketing materials, letterhead, business cards--everything that the old line appeared on was changed, all the way to the sign in front of the building. The line now reads, "Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name"! Read why and how, and the affect on the children and their families, when they are loved, developed and cared for in Jesus' name. Shaun Groves has laid it all out beautifully.

Oh--the Epilogue: Compassion International has done nothing but grow, in sponsorships (phenomenal growth!) and financial support, in the years since that infamous recommendation was made . . . even through our Great Recession, from which we are still recovering.

Through the Eyes of a Child

In my mind, this started out as a book review, but I'm not sure I can strictly call it that, as I'm still doing a lot of processing. The book in question is a now-popular little paperback titled Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back, by Todd Burpo, with Lynn Vincent. Thomas Nelson published the book in 2010. If I had set this up as a book review, I would have needed to give the number of pages, but mine is on Kindle; I don't have page numbers.

Todd Burpo is a Wesleyan pastor and business owner who wears several other hats, not the least of which is the one he wears as the father of Cassie and Colton Burpo (Colby came along later). The story is primarily about Colton's illness due to a ruptured appendix; about his out-of-body experience, which he confirmed by stating where in the hospital he saw his dad, where in the hospital he saw his mom, and what each of them was doing--all while he was in surgery; and about his time in heaven. Colton did not come out of surgery talking about heaven, but over a period of at least a couple of years, as he remembered things, he mentioned them to his parents.

Keep in mind that Colton was not yet four years old, when his appendix ruptured and continuing spreading poison into his body for five days, before his parents could get a good diagnosis. By that time, Colton had the look of death about him, a look his pastor-dad had seen on many elderly people, as their lives on this earth were coming to an end. Doctors had to operate twice to get him cleaned out.

Later, when Colton began talking about sitting on Jesus' lap and began describing Jesus and his clothes (or, for King James readers, raiment), his dad thought, Wow. Our Sunday School teachers are really doing a good job! But as Colton's revelations of his time in heaven began to include other people he met--Jesus' cousin (John, of course), a great-grandfather who had died long before Colton was born, and a sister who had died in utero (also before Colton was born)--his parents knew they were receiving a gift of monumental proportions.

Other descriptions included angels and what they wore; seeing the Holy Spirit ("He's kinda blue"); seeing angels wielding their swords--yes, swords, in heaven--in the ongoing battle with Satan and all his fallen angels; and seeing the very throne of God. Much that not-yet 4-year-old Colton described we can read in scripture, which the author cited in Notes at the back of the book.

I found real comfort--not pablum, not an opiate, but comfort in much of what Colton experienced, with one exception: Satan--the fact that he continues to fight to dominate heaven, and Colton's reaction when his dad asked what Satan looked like.

Big news at Compassion!

Compassion International Opens Sri Lanka

This makes the 26th country in which Compassion International is working to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. The difference with this opening is that they have started with the very youngest children, many of them still in the womb! Compassion's Child Survival Program is helping to reduce the mortality rate of children under the age of 5 years.

"You don't matter; you're just not important"

This video, narrated by Wess Stafford, tells us that poverty is so much more than what we typically hear: a lack of food, a lack of education, homelessness...poverty may include all of these factors, but it is so much more. But the worst part, for poverty's children, is the message they learn, very early: "You don't matter; you're just not important." Here we see how Compassion addresses the whole of poverty and, in that process, tells children the truth: They do matter; oh, yes, they do! The video lasts a little under 10 minutes, and it's well worth the time. Please watch. 

After you've watched, consider what you might do to help fight poverty. Some suggestions:

*sponsor a child for $1.25/day ($38/month)
*sponsor a Child Survival Program Project in Haiti for $20/month
*Donate to Help Haiti

There are other possibilities, and I'll be happy to answer any questions. Just leave a comment. And if you want to sponsor whatever child's photo shows in the widget (left sidebar), just click through.

Haitian children are not currently available for sponsorship, until Compassion has identified all of the children who survived the earthquake. If you specifically want to sponsor a child there, just send me an e-mail with your name and contact information, whether you prefer a boy or a girl or a particular age range, or if you just want to help a child. I will send you either a packet or a link for you to use to choose your child.

UPDATE: I have revised the first paragraph.

I am a volunteer child advocate for Compassion International. None of the money given to Compassion comes to me for finding sponsors or donors.

This video was created by David Hames, who was killed in the earthquake in Haiti on January 12, 2010. It is only one of many videos put together by David. His family and friends waited approximately three weeks until he was recovered from the rubble, ending their hopes for a miraculous rescue. They need our prayers.

Haiti - 10 days later

The 7.0-magnitude (some reports said 7.3) earthquake in Haiti on January 12 is now old news. Sure, there's still some coverage on TV, but there were no rescues to report yesterday. Meanwhile, Scott Brown won in Massachusetts, the President is going after big banks, and life in the U.S. is returning to what passes for normal.  Haiti will soon be a distant land, again, in many people's minds.

Meanwhile in Haiti, people are still sleeping in tents or counting stars, instead of sheep; even those who could find shelter are afraid to sleep in any kind of building. Supplies are flown into Port-Au-Prince and bottlenecked at the airport. In their deep hunger, thirst and fear, some turn to violence to try to get what they need. And the frequent aftershocks do not encourage calm.

I have been privileged to sit in on two listen-only telephone conferences, this week. On these calls, I have been able to hear about the situation in Haiti from people who have been on the ground, there; about the role Compassion International is playing, there; the role of the Church in Haiti, and around the world; and what Compassion's staff and church partners in Haiti need most from us, now. Here's some of what we heard:

From Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion: This is "perfect time for God's people to shine . . . and for the Church to be a beacon of hope in Haiti."  As I heard him say on the phone and have heard him say, before, "The Church is God's Plan A to serve the world; He has no Plan B."  You can listen to his words to us on the call, here.

The Compassion staff in Haiti have been operating from the parking lot outside their office building. The building is still standing, but it is not safe. They, too, have been working tirelessly to help those they could help, despite injuries and deep personal losses. Many lost homes, family members, friends; one, a parent to five children, lost them all. That's just unfathomable, to me. And still, through their grief, they are doing what they can to help to reach all of the church partners that were affected (more than 30 have been reached) and assess their needs, and to locate the children.

Please, please pray for David Hames, who was with Compassion employee Dan Woolley, when the quake hit. You may have seen Dan's rescue on TV, or any of the interviews he has given, since then. But unless David has been found in the past hour, he is still unaccounted for. Truly, only by a miracle could he still be alive.

Haiti Earthquake Updates

Haiti Earthquake Updates - The content will simply be updated at this link. Continue to check there.

If your heart is moved to sponsor a child who lives in extreme poverty, please either click on the widget in the left sidebar or go here.  Haitian children do not appear on Compassion's website, right now, because several thousand live in the area so devastated by the earthquake. I will try to remember to update this, when they are again available.

Meanwhile, we have children in 24 other countries who are also in desperate need; some are in countries that also experience too-frequent natural disasters. None of them ever has "enough"--which is the opposite of poverty.

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Priority Children

I currently have packets for five children who need to be sponsored.  Three of the five are considered Priority children, because they have waited for at least six months to be sponsored, and they may have been waiting as long as 18 months (or even more).  I heard a year or so ago about a boy in Africa who had waited for three long years, before he was sponsored.  Can you imagine how that feels?

Compassion International has 18,000 children who are registered in Compassion-assisted projects (aka student centers).  Well, no--somewhere around 1.1 million children are registered, and most are sponsored.  The 18,000 children have been waiting 12 months or longer to be sponsored.

Sponsorship costs $38 per month, and the benefits to the child (and her/his family) and to the sponsor far out-weigh the cost.  It can literally mean the difference between life and death for the child.  How can you help?  Thanks for asking!  Here are several ways:

1) Click the widget in the left sidebar to sponsor the child pictured there.

2) Go here to select a child.

3) Select any of the children pictured below and tell me you want to sponsor him or her.

UPDATE:  These first three are Priority children:

Yolanda (Yola), 9 y.o., lives with her parents and two siblings in Indonesia. She enjoys playing with friends.

So often, these children do not receive the encouragement they need from their families. Whether that is true for Yola, I don't know, but I do know that a sponsor often becomes more important to a child even than her own parents. Yola needs a sponsor who will love, pray for, write to and encourage her.

 

Selvakumar is 15 years old. He lives in India with his parents. He enjoys soccer, singing and art and also regularly attends church activities, Bible class and Vacation Bible School.

Because of his age, we know that Selvakumar has had and lost at least one sponsor. Losing a sponsor is huge, for these kids. No matter the reason, and even if the sponsor has written a most loving letter of explanation and to say "Goodby," the child wonders: "Did I say something wrong? Was it my fault? Will anyone ever choose me, again?" Selvakumar needs someone to see him through graduation from secondary school and the sponsorship program, so that he doesn't grow discouraged and drop out.

Four-year-old Alonso lives in Peru with his mother, father, and two siblings. He enjoys soccer, playing with cars and playing with marbles. He is at a great age for being registered in a Compassion-assisted project and for being sponsored. Given the love and encouragement of a sponsor, Alonso is young enough to thrive, in this program. But he does need a sponsor who will give him that love and encouragement and pray for him.

Waiting less time, so far, but in need of sponsors are these two kids:

Aishwarya lives in India with her parents and one sibling. She is almost 9 years old (February). She enjoys playing house, reading and playing group games.

She sounds like millions of American kids, doesn't she? But Aishwarya lives in extreme poverty. Her hope for a future outside of poverty lies in Jesus Christ, and she needs a sponsor who will represent the love of Christ to her; who will reinforce the message that she is vitally important to Him. Letters of encouragement and love will reinforce that message and help her to become a productive and fulfilled Christian woman as God intends. 

Jordy lives in Mexico with his mother and one sibling. He is nearing his 12th birthday (February). Jordy enjoys soccer, playing with cars and bicycling. Drugs and crime beckon to him on a regular basis, as they do so many, many of the children Compassion serves.

With no father in the home, Jordy could especially benefit from a strong male sponsor, although any Christian sponsor can love and encourage him. He is no doubt surrounded by strong male influences, but many of them are not good and would rob him of the life God has planned for him.

Please let your heart be moved by these kids and by the millions like them. Even if you don't sponsor any, please don't forget about them.  Pray for them and consider their needs.  And remember the words of Abraham Lincoln:  "No man stands so tall as when he stoops to help a child." (That's true for women, too.)

Happy Thanksgiving!

May all of you experience God's very best in your lives, in your hearts, in all that you do.

God gave me the very best of husbands when He gave me Bruce, and I am profoundly and deeply grateful for this gift that keeps on giving. Bruce is my husband, my best friend, my strong support, my partner, and so often my perspective-adjuster. I love being with him, living with him, working with him (when there is work coming in), enjoying life with him, and above all, worshipping our Lord with him.

I am grateful for the opportunities we've had to spend some time with my mom, this year.  Yes, for previous years, too, but this may be the last year that she is able to enjoy our times together.

I am thankful for the love of my sister Judy, my niece Heather, other family whom I've not seen in far too long, and my friends, all who share life with me on one level or another.

I am so thankful that God led me to a Compassion table, almost 7 years ago, where I found two little girls to sponsor. Being registered in a Compassion project and then having a sponsor has changed life in such profound ways for Tausi and Denisse, and for Maria and Uwizera who joined our "family" later.

What I did not know, when I began sponsoring, was that in sharing life with my girls, even by long distance, my life and my world view would change so profoundly. I had no idea how God would bless me, as He allowed (and allows) me to bless each of them.

As you give thanks today, or whenever you read this, please consider what you can do to share your blessings with someone in need. Opportunities abound to help someone in greater need than what most of us are experiencing, and it may not take much to bless someone, near or far. 

If you want to be part of something that lasts longer than the latest gadgets, the latest styles, consider joining Compassion. You might sponsor a child; just click on the link to choose a child for yourself, or on the widget to the left to sponsor the child pictured there. (See video linked to, below.) But please don't do either, if you want only a financial commitment. True child sponsorship through Compassion is about building a relationship with a child who desperately needs your love, your prayers and your encouragement. (If you really want to sponsor a child but, because of serious time constraints or other reasons, know that you will not be able to handle the correspondence, you can ask Compassion to find a correspondent sponsor for your child.)

If you cannot--or are not moved to--make that monthly commitment of $38, you might consider sponsoring a Child Survival Project for $20/month. There is no letter-writing involved, no relationship-building, but you will receive updates from or about the project you sponsor. And you will truly help to save the lives of children under the age of 5 years, who might otherwise not survive. That is fact, my friends, not hyperbole.

And then there are the Complementary Interventions, including (but not limited to) the Bite Back! campaign against malaria, the HIV/AIDS Initiative, Disaster Relief, and support for the Unsponsored Children's Fund, which enables Compassion to care for children who are registered but not yet sponsored. If you want to see still more options, go here.

*BONUS: Watch and listen to four of the graduates of both the child-sponsorship program and the Leadership Development Program as they talk about how their lives were changed. The video is just over 5 minutes, and it will take a couple of minutes for it to load. If the video screen is too large for your monitor, click on View (top left) and choose Fit to Screen, Half size, or another option, until you can see it all.

"If you think one person cannot make a difference, you've never spent a night in a closed room with a mosquito"--African proverb.

Maria

Maria will be 13 years old in about 3 months.  On my last visit to the Dominican Republic, she did not look much older than she had almost two years earlier.  I can't help wondering how she looks now--still like a young girl, or is she beginning to take on the look--in her face, even--of a pre-teen or young teenager?

I began sponsoring Maria in 2005 (photo at left was the one I received), two weeks after my first sponsor tour to her country.  Our group had been to her project, although I did not meet her, there; I'm not even sure she was there.  When I came home, I called Compassion and told them I wanted to sponsor a girl, aged 6 to 10 years old, from her project.  Two weeks later, I received her packet and fell in love.

On my next visit, in January 2007, I saw Denisse, again, and met Maria for the first time.  Denisse is very gregarious, where Maria is quiet and shy.  Denisse blatantly, even physically, inserted herself between Maria and me, several times, before I sat them down for a talk.  Up to that point, Maria was overwhelmed and decidedly not having a good time.  After we had talked--actually, I did the talking--we moved to the play area, where they gradually began to interact with each other.  When Maria, who is accustomed to swimming, nudged a timid Denisse down the slide into the pool, I knew Maria would be okay.

On my third and latest visit (10/08), the two girls acted like sisters, which was really fun to watch, and Maria had come more out of herself.  Their only connection is through me; they live too far apart to see each other, unless I go to visit.  She said she wished she could see me at least once a year, even suggesting that I should just stay there.  I did not tell her I wasn't sure I would ever be able to go back; the idea hurt too much.

Yesterday, I received a letter from Maria.  "I want to see you very soon."  And several lines later, "When will you come back to my country?"  My heart dropped.  I have mailed a reply, commenting on other things she told or asked me, and then letting her know that I have no idea when, or even if, I will be able to return.  I left the question in God's lap:  "If God wills it, I will be there!"  That's not a cop-out; it's the truth.

I could blame this on Compassion.  After all, they do everything they can to encourage the building of relationships between sponsors and their sponsored children.  They make communication possible; they funnel gifts (money) through for the children's birthdays and Christmas, and even gifts for the children's families.  They provide tours so that those sponsors who desire and are financially able can go to visit their kids.  The tours are well planned and executed, and as long as we follow some guidelines designed to protect us and our kids, we have nothing to worry about.  Besides the day spent with our sponsored kids, we also meet, eat with and hear from graduates of the sponsorship and Leadership Development Programs; meet the country-office staff; and visit several child projects (aka student centers).  If we are really involved sponsors (even those who are not able to go visit, and that covers most sponsors), our hearts are hooked, so that we ache with wanting to meet them or see them again.

I have two other girls (plus one in the LDP) whom I've never met, and sadly, I don't expect to meet them, in this life.  All but one of my girls have given their hearts and lives to Jesus Christ, so we will all meet, one day.  Meanwhile...I pray for them, they pray for me, and we continue to write to each other.  Each of our lives is forever changed by the relationship made possible through Compassion and through the grace of Jesus Christ.  I wouldn't trade these relationships for anything.

If this all sounds good to you and you would like to help release a child from poverty in Jesus' name while building a relationship with him or her, just leave a comment or send me an e-mail.  Other ways to accomplish the same:
    - Click on the widget in the left sidebar to sponsor the child shown there; or
    - Click on the "sponsor" link in the second paragraph and choose a child.

Just know that your life will never be the same...in so many good ways!

Meltdown

Ever wonder whether sponsoring a child really makes their lives much different from the way they would have been? If you were to hear any graduate of the program speak, you would no longer question. If you were to hear any graduate of the Leadership Development Program (LDP) speak, you would wonder no more. They often talk about what their lives were like before they were registered in a Compassion project, and they may mention the importance to them of the education they were able to receive, as well as the spiritual training, the reality of Jesus Christ in their lives, as a result of being in Compassion. But unless they have had a sponsor who never wrote to them, you will hear a lot about how important the sponsor was in their lives; just to know that someone far away loved them, believed in them, prayed for them and encouraged them carried them through all the challenges of their lives. They are usually articulate (not always fluent in English) and poised young adults.

But if you want to see one of them dissolve into tears, watch them as adults, when meet their sponsor, for the first time. Watch this classic example of such a meeting. (If you know how, move the slide (bottom of video) to about 3:45 (minutes); otherwise you'll hear various people talking about Compassion's effectiveness. The whole video is about 18 minutes, but this part takes only a few minutes.) Jimmy Wambau's story begins at the point I gave you, and then his sponsor is introduced.

When you have dried your eyes and pulled yourself together, ask yourself whether $38 a month really might be possible for you. Ask yourself--better yet, ask God--whether you can be a real hero to a child. If the answer is yes, either click on the widget in the left sidebar, or go here to choose your own special child.

Revised 10/16/09