Passions of the Soul

4th of July - another cause for thanksgiving

On this date in history, our nation's founders proclaimed our independence from the tyranny of a king.  It was the birth of a new nation, founded on principles of liberty for all.  While liberty for all took more time--and some voices continue to argue that it is not yet fully realized--we are still blessed to live in a land that is free--as one of my favorite bumper stickers says:  "The land of the free because of the brave."

I read over at The Reluctant Optimist that General Patraeus, in Iraq, has sworn in the largest reenlistment group in American military history.  More than 1,200 members of the army, navy, air force and marines, representing all 50 states, raised their right hands and swore to protect us all against all enemies.  I should say, swore to continue protecting us all.

I was moved to tears, when I read that.  There they are, right in a war zone, and they said, as with one voice, "Yes, I'll keep fighting this fight, no matter what it costs me!"

If our nation's founders could have been there, I think they would have been very proud and very gratified.

Letter from a former sponsored child

The following excerpt is taken from a letter written by Ruzamba Niyomwungeli, a 24-year-old graduate of Compassion's Child-Sponsorship Program.  Written in Kinyarwanda, it was tranlated in English at the Compassion Rwanda country office.

I cried in my neighborhood, but no one listened to me.  I called to my neighbors because of hunger, but there was no boon coming to me.  I was sick in my bed, but no one could render a service.  But not far from God's hands, a sponsor, a parent, came to me from the far country that is beyond the sea where my eyes could not imagine a thought  What a blessing and love.  God I am too special in your eyes.  Thank you God.

You can read the entire letter here.  Then, if you would like to sponsor a child, you may click on the widget, in the left sidebar, or go here.

The problem isn't going away; it's getting worse.

Compassion continues to appeal for more funds for the Global Food Crisis Fund, for very good reasons.  From a letter just received from Wess Stafford, President and CEO of Compassion.  While the global staff continues to try to get a handle on what, exactly, is needed, the reports they get from the field look bleaker and bleaker.  Some examples:

- Thousands of children registered in Compassion-assisted projects "in at least six countries are in immediate need of relief.
- Every Compassion-assisted child in Haiti is affected.
- "Rice, a staple at every meal, has doubled in price.  For many of the 11,000 children we help [in Bangladesh], the only meal they receive each day comes from the Compassion-assisted church."
- Compassion predicts "this crisis will spread to each country where we work and has the potential to affect millions of children and families."  This is not sensationalism.  After all, every country where Compassion works is a developing nation; that means many of the people live in abject poverty.
-"In Haiti, a gift of $13 can feed a child for about one month."  Multiply that out to however much money you can contribute to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Please remember:  The opposite of poverty is not wealth; it is enough.  Most of us have more than enough, even if we don't think we do--and I lived in a "notch group" for a few years.  The issue is what we spend our money on.  Can we do without a couple of Starbucks double lattes a month?  Buy one DVD fewer?  Rent fewer movies?

I know we're all feeling the pinch, and I know most of us are tightening our own belts.  Every division, every department at Compassion's Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs is tightening budgets even further in order to free up as much money as possible for this gigantic need.  Compassion International is a ministry you can trust.  (Check 'em out with Charity Navigator or other charity watchdog organizations.)  In fact, you can't make a better investment, anywhere, than to sponsor a child or to contribute financially to Compassion.

More on the Global Food Crisis

This is a link to the Compassion Blog.  It's written by Dr. Wess Stafford, the president and CEO of Compassion, about the Global Food Crisis.

Then, if you and your family have enough, please urgently consider contributing to Compassion's Global Food Crisis Fund.  You can never find another organization that will handle your gifts with more integrity; Compassion's integrity is absolute:  Your money will always be used for the purpose you designate, and Compassion is a 501(c)(3) organization meaning your gift is tax-deductible.

Please.  People are dying for want of food or money with which to buy it.  We feel the pinch of the rising prices; they feel it in the extreme, in their stomachs.  Some of Compassion's children feel something that must be akin to "survival guilt," as they eat one meal each time they are at their Compassion-assisted student center, or project.  They know everyone else in their family is not even getting that much.  Please help!

It's never enough!

I've been conversing, by e-mail, with a new Compassion friend, Kees (pron. "case") about helping to find sponsors for more children.  We've agreed that, no matter how many sponsorships we help to bring about, it's never enough.

While millions of children are still hungry, foraging in garbage dumps for food, drinking filthy water and getting sick from largely preventable illnesses, it isn't enough.  It's never enough, when so many people are so very hungry, many of them starving to death, that some of the children served by Compassion feel guilty for eating the meal they receive at the project, because they know their families are hungry.  It's never enough, when many Haitians eat cookies made of dirt, vegetable oil and salt, in order to "fool" their stomachs into thinking they're not hungry.  It's never enough, when that is so common that those who can afford to buy the bags of soil, make the cookies not only to eat and to feed their own children, but to sell to others!  And it certainly isn't enough, when the cost of the bag of soil rises so much that fewer and fewer people can afford to buy . . . DIRT!

If I were to find (pick a number) 75 sponsors every year, by my own efforts, that wouldn't be enough--and I'm not even close to that.  There is no number that would be enough!!

Maybe you can't afford to make a $32/month commitment to sponsor a child.  Could you contribute to the Global Food Crisis Fund?  I won't ask if you did, because it's none of my business.  Increasing the awareness of the needs, however, is my business.

 

A different kind of tsunami

Please read about "The Silent Tsunami" Compassion's blog.  How much more would people in developing countries have, if the US government encouraged our farmers to produce all the crops they could, for food, rather than either paying farmers to limit their crops (I don't know if that's still done) or earmarking large quantities of some crops for use in creating bio-fuels.  So much of the world is starving, and we're using food crops to burn in our vehicles?

Have you followed that first link, above?  Did you read the post?  Did you notice this sentence:  Our children are feeling guilty for eating one meal a day.  Will you dare to let you heart be broken?

How many ways can you spend $32 in a month's time?  Could you give up a few little things, eat out one time fewer, to help one child in Bangladesh or Haiti?

Compassion International is not a new organization, having begun 55 years ago after the Korean War.  This organization is run with absolute integrity and works to develop a child in all areas of his or her life.  Your money is always used for its stated purpose.  CI is highly rated by several charity watchdog groups.  I've been to several student centers in one of the countries where we serve, and I can tell you that Compassion is helping to break the cycle of poverty for many, many children.

And yet, the current food crisis is taking a toll on even the children we serve.  If you cannot or don't wish to sponsor a child, but would like to do something to help, go to CI's website and look toward the bottom of your screen.  There you will see an invitation to donate to the Global food crisis fund.  Any amount will be welcome, any amount is needed, and it will be used as stated.  Thank you, and God bless you.

Global Day of Prayer

Until about four months ago, I had never heard of the Global Day of Prayer.  Yes, we have the National Day of Prayer, which occurred 10 days ago (May 1), but the GDOP began more recently.

I'm still a little fuzzy on the details, but I know it began in Africa in 2000, spread to all 56 nations in Africa, and in 2004, an invitation went out to the rest of the world to partner together in prayer.  You can read the full history, as I intend to do, today.  The whole idea is based on one of my favorite verses of scripture, in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and seek my ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

We need to do this in this country, for this country and for ourselves.  I need to do this, for the country and for myself.  And for the world.

Did you know that Christians in Africa pray for America?  They see our materialism, our consumerism, our arrogant self-reliance, the way our society is systematically shutting God out; they see our stressed-out lives, that we don't know peace within our borders or ourselves, and they pray for us.  Thank God.  Somebody needs to pray for us!  We need to pray for us!

You can learn more about the GDOP here, and here, and read the prayer which is being prayed for the world today, May 10, 2008, in any of 39 languages.  And elsewhere on the GDOP site, you can read about the 90 Days of Blessing which will start tomorrow.

Many Christians in Tucson have been building toward this day, probably since the GDOP last year, and began 10 days of prayer on May 1 (the NDP).  The Tucson event will be held tonight, in one of the city parks; I understand that about 3,000 people participated last year.  I cannot be there tonight, because our Compassion Sunday begins, tonight, at my church, and I need to be there.  But two of the advocates on our southern Arizona team will host a Compassion table at the event, which is really exciting for us, too!

So if you're a praying person, there is much to pray for, today.  Our world, our country, and we ourselves are broken, and we need to turn to the Great Healer, our God, our Lord.

Expelled

I've now seen Ben Stein's film, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, and I cannot recommend it strongly enough.  It is a documentary and does not showcase the famous Ben Stein sardonic humor.  It is serious, both in tone and in import.  See it.

A challenge for you!

On Compassion's blog is a post about listening.  Read it, and then consider this challenge:

For one week (not less than one day!), listen to yourself, your spouse/significant other/family, listen to people around you wherever you are, wherever you go.  Listen for conversations, questions, statements, comments--anything that you would not hear among people who live in real poverty.

I read the post on Compassion's blog and immediately thought about some of the conversations at our house having to do with vacations.  Vacations give us a break from work and, depending on how we plan them, a chance to catch up on some rest, time to just sit and reflect, time to go deeper into God's Word, to watch in leisure as boats and sea planes go in and out of a bay...as we plan to do in June.  Vacations give us a chance to have some fun, whatever that means to an individual:  rock-climbing, surfing, deep-sea diving, kayaking, fishing, skiing...fill in the blanks for yourself.

But the poor never get a break from their poverty.  Even the children who are registered in a Compassion-assisted student center continue to live in their poverty. Yes, they receive a good meal, every day that they are at the center, as well as education assistance; health care, and nutrition assistance, as needed; a safe place to play and develop social skills; a life skill, which will enable them to provide for themselves and their families; many opportunities to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to learn the Word of God; and so much more.  Most of those who are sponsored will exchange letters, periodically, with their sponsors and receive small (to us) birthday and Christmas gifts.  But they go home to a very small structure, often very shaky, which typically houses far more people than can reasonably be accommodated.

The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is enough.  Anything more than that is more than we need, and we have a responsibility to share.  So take the challenge, thank God for all that you have and remember that, as we say at my church, "We are blessed to be a blessing."

Compassion Sunday

Compassion International's biggest annual campaign is known as Compassion Sunday.  Last year, well over 21,000 children in poverty were sponsored through this campaign; the goal this year is 22,000.

The official date for Compassion Sunday, this year, is this Sunday, April 13 '08.  Many, many churches will be hosting CS's, this weekend, although many CS's will be held--and, indeed, have been held already--on other dates throughout the year.  But this weekend is big, in terms of getting close to our goal.  Today, many Compassion employees, volunteers and sponsors are observing a day of fasting and praying specifically for the thousands of children whose packets have been sent out to churches, and for all of the people attending those churches who will have the opportunity to "[release a child] from poverty in Jesus' name." 

If you are reading this, would like to sponsor a child and your church does not (yet) host Compassion Sunday, each year--perhaps never has--you can choose a child right here, anytime.  The cost is $32/month and frequent letter-writing; no, letters aren't exactly required, but if you want to sponsor a child without investing in building a relationship, Compassion may not be your best choice.  On the other hand, if you want to sponsor a child through an organization that is Christ-centered, child-focused, church-based and committed to integrity, but you legitimately will not have the time to build the relationship, you can choose to provide the financial end and either find a friend or family member to be the correspondent-sponsor, or ask Compassion to find such a person for you.  This is not uncommon, especially for large corporations that sponsor perhaps thousands of children, or for doctors and other people who legitimately do not have the time and may, in fact, sponsor many children (like a doctor I heard of who sponsored 100 kids; trust me--she's not going to be able to write letters to them!)

If you are a sponsor or become one and would like to hold a Compassion Sunday in your church, click on the link in the first paragraph of this post and read how to go about it.  You may also pose questions to me, here, or by e-mail.

Sponsoring a child, sharing life with him or her through letters, possibly visiting by traveling with Compassion, loving, encouraging, praying for, nurturing that child may change you in ways you never thought possible.  I know it's one of the best things I've ever done...the other "best thing I've ever done" is to advocate for children through Compassion.