Compassion
You have probably noticed links (or widgets) in my side bar over there -----> for Compassion International. (CI) I want to share my 'Compassion' story with you.
In 1995 I saw Rich Mullins in concert and he talked about Compassion International and it's ministry to children in poverty. I tucked the information away for future use. I was in graduate school and had no income. In 1997 Rich was killed in an automobile accident, but his influence for Compassion International didn't die. I became a Compassion USA sponsor - at that time there were projects in poor areas of the USA that Compassion helped with. This program has since been disbanded. After finishing graduate school in 1998, I started sponsoring a little guy in Ethiopia.
A. was 5 years old at the time. Both of his parents were still alive. Over the next 12 years, we wrote many times. Exchanged letters. Shared sorrows and joys. Both of his parents died from AIDS as so many in Africa do. I cherish the photo I have of this dear little boy with his mom and dad. I can see his tiny fingerprints all over it. Once he even wrote, "I think of you as my mother." This simple statement was at once heartbreaking and overwhelming! As of this past summer, we no longer sponsor A. He left the program to go on the streets and earn a living. I still think of him often and pray for him like always. I know I will see him one day and be able to hug his neck.
When I married in 2001, I told my husband about CI. Then came home after helping with a radio-thon in Baltimore, MD with a little girl from Peru with pig tails and tons of attitude! (and she happened to share my birthday!) P. also left the program this year due to her family moving to another location. Her relationship was completely different from A's. I could more easily communicate with P due to the language (Spanish) and I understood the culture a bit better.
After being told by my husband that we couldn't sponsor any more children, I became a volunteer (now called an advocate). This way I could help find sponsors for these dear ones and not go bankrupt. I became a volunteer in late 2002/early 2003. I will admit to not being the most active of advocates, but CI is still very dear to my heart.
When our own son died in January 2004, we had memorials sent to CI for their medical fund. I later learned that the money helped pay for a little girl born with her intestines on the outside of her body to come to the USA for surgery. This girl's mother was rescued from the grief of losing a child. By this time I was the event coordinator for a couple of states. My job was to find coverage for various speakers, conferences and concerts. I loved doing this and working with the compassion leadership.
As volunteer leadership, we were taken to Ecuador in July 2005 to see Compassion's work first hand. The joy on the kids faces. The love in their parents' eyes. Kids are kids. But the parents know they are being given a chance at a different sort of life. They are being fed. Educated. Medically cared for and most importantly, spiritually cared for. I have heard it said numerous times that Wes Stafford, president of Compassion, dreams of having a formerly sponsored child rising to become president of their country. What an amazing feat! Already, some have become teachers and doctors in their villages.
The children don't always understand Compassion's work. I heard one formerly sponsored child say, "I didn't know what Compassion International was, but I did know we got a bag of rice every month and we were not going to be hungry." That is huge!!!!
We currently sponsor 3 children. A new little boy in Ethiopia, a little boy with Albinism in Tanzania (that is an amazing story for another post), and a little girl with Albinism in India. I have not met any of them in person, but we put their photos on our wall along with other family photos. We pray for them. We write them. They are part of our family. We truly love them.
That is what CI boils down to - building a relationship with a child so they know they are loved and that, most importantly, that Jesus Christ loves them.
In 1995 I saw Rich Mullins in concert and he talked about Compassion International and it's ministry to children in poverty. I tucked the information away for future use. I was in graduate school and had no income. In 1997 Rich was killed in an automobile accident, but his influence for Compassion International didn't die. I became a Compassion USA sponsor - at that time there were projects in poor areas of the USA that Compassion helped with. This program has since been disbanded. After finishing graduate school in 1998, I started sponsoring a little guy in Ethiopia.
A. was 5 years old at the time. Both of his parents were still alive. Over the next 12 years, we wrote many times. Exchanged letters. Shared sorrows and joys. Both of his parents died from AIDS as so many in Africa do. I cherish the photo I have of this dear little boy with his mom and dad. I can see his tiny fingerprints all over it. Once he even wrote, "I think of you as my mother." This simple statement was at once heartbreaking and overwhelming! As of this past summer, we no longer sponsor A. He left the program to go on the streets and earn a living. I still think of him often and pray for him like always. I know I will see him one day and be able to hug his neck.
When I married in 2001, I told my husband about CI. Then came home after helping with a radio-thon in Baltimore, MD with a little girl from Peru with pig tails and tons of attitude! (and she happened to share my birthday!) P. also left the program this year due to her family moving to another location. Her relationship was completely different from A's. I could more easily communicate with P due to the language (Spanish) and I understood the culture a bit better.
After being told by my husband that we couldn't sponsor any more children, I became a volunteer (now called an advocate). This way I could help find sponsors for these dear ones and not go bankrupt. I became a volunteer in late 2002/early 2003. I will admit to not being the most active of advocates, but CI is still very dear to my heart.
When our own son died in January 2004, we had memorials sent to CI for their medical fund. I later learned that the money helped pay for a little girl born with her intestines on the outside of her body to come to the USA for surgery. This girl's mother was rescued from the grief of losing a child. By this time I was the event coordinator for a couple of states. My job was to find coverage for various speakers, conferences and concerts. I loved doing this and working with the compassion leadership.
As volunteer leadership, we were taken to Ecuador in July 2005 to see Compassion's work first hand. The joy on the kids faces. The love in their parents' eyes. Kids are kids. But the parents know they are being given a chance at a different sort of life. They are being fed. Educated. Medically cared for and most importantly, spiritually cared for. I have heard it said numerous times that Wes Stafford, president of Compassion, dreams of having a formerly sponsored child rising to become president of their country. What an amazing feat! Already, some have become teachers and doctors in their villages.
The children don't always understand Compassion's work. I heard one formerly sponsored child say, "I didn't know what Compassion International was, but I did know we got a bag of rice every month and we were not going to be hungry." That is huge!!!!
We currently sponsor 3 children. A new little boy in Ethiopia, a little boy with Albinism in Tanzania (that is an amazing story for another post), and a little girl with Albinism in India. I have not met any of them in person, but we put their photos on our wall along with other family photos. We pray for them. We write them. They are part of our family. We truly love them.
That is what CI boils down to - building a relationship with a child so they know they are loved and that, most importantly, that Jesus Christ loves them.
Labels: Compassion
posted by Chris K at
14:26
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Speak gently. carefully. thoughtfully. graciously. humbly.
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home