Message from Your Sponsored Child: The 5 Words I Love to See

I love seeing “Message from Your Sponsored Child” in my mailbox.  Those few little words bring so much joy and excitement to me.  Today I received a letter from our sponsored child, Yelson from the Dominican Republic.  The funny thing about it was that all day I kept thinking how wonderful it would be to get a letter from one of our sponsored children and just hear how they are doing.   There it was, a letter, just sitting in my mailbox;  waiting there for me, to cheer me up. 

What stuck out most in the letter was what Yelson has been learning at his Compassion center. 

“The child says that he has learned how to pray and to count and to play and to share and to attend church.”

Learning how to count, pray, and share are some things that I know I have taken for granted.  It is so wonderful to know that Yelson is being taught how to pray and how to go to church; something that he might not have learned otherwise without his Compassion center.  When I picture him learning how to pray, it makes me smile.  I am so grateful that he is learning all about God and how to talk to him through pray.  I just pray for that day that Yelson will commit his life to Christ.  Besides being taught about spiritual things,  He is also learning important  life skills like counting and sharing.  God is working in the life of this precious 7-year-old boy.

The letters I receive from my precious sponsored children are proof enough that God is working through Compassion to reach children in need.  This is also proof that God can use anyone, anywhere, and in all walks of life to make a difference.  Please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International.  Sponsor a child  here.

Thank You Sponsor

This is the cutest video!  I started crying when I thought of my precious sponsored children.  This video really reminds me the importance of sponsorship.  Bring hope to a child in poverty, sponsor a child though Compassion International.

No Furniture and Meatless Chilli: What An Eye Opener

This is a very strange title, but there is a story behind it.  Today in my Spanish class  we were learning about the Dominican Republic.  My teacher was telling us about a friend that volunteered over in a remote part of the Dominican Republic.  A student asked, “Do they have furniture or do they make their own”.  Then my teacher began telling him that some might and others might just have to sleep on the floor.  That student was dumbfounded.

Then for some reason we got on the topic of chili, and my teacher was telling us that meat is such a luxury in many poor countries that  people wouldn’t  have meat in their chili.  One kid exclaimed, “How can you have chili without meat.  Then it is just a bunch of beans in tomato sauce.”  After hearing that  our teacher’s friend had to drink warm Pepsi and warm milk, everyone was shocked and  “eww and how gross” rang out.

This really got me thinking.  If we can’t even imagine having to drink warm pop and sleep on the floor, how could we even begin to understand the extent of poverty in many countries.  We are truly a blessed nation when we have meat in our chili and nice, comfy beds to sleep on.  This conversation made me think of the many blessings God has given me and the people of this country.  I have a fridge full of food, a lunch packed full of goodies, a nice, warm bed to sleep in, running water, wonderful education opportunities, clean water to drink….the list could go on forever.  It’s crazy the many things I have taken for granted.

If anyone is interested in sharing the many blessings God has given them, people consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International here.  Thirty-two dollars can change the life of a child living in poverty, and it can even change you.  Being a sponsor has certainly changed my life.

Bracelets and Mosquito Bed Nets

What do bracelets and mosquito bed nets have to do with each other?  Well, after receiving a great idea from my mom about making jewelry to benefit Compassion International, bracelets and mosquito bed nets have something to do with each other.  I am currently in the process of making bracelets to sell that would benefit Compassion assisted children.   After taking out the costs of materials, the rest of the money will go directly to Compassion’s Malaria Intervention Fund.  Each bracelet will provide a life-saving mosquito bed net to a child.

After reading that 1 million lives are claimed by malaria each year, I was  shocked.  Especially after finding out that many of the victims are children.  My heart breaks thinking of the many precious lives that are taken by a disease that is caused by something as small as a mosquito.  Thankfully Compassion is doing some amazing things to help prevent Compassion-assisted children and their families from getting this disease.  Compassion uses the donated money to  provide life-saving mosquito nets, malaria prevention education, and medication to those suffering from the disease.  I am comforted to know that my sponsored children and many other children are given the tools and resources to prevent this disease from claiming more lives.

Just $10 can provide a life-saving mosquito bed net.

To learn more about the Malaria Intervention Fund click here.

Sponsor a child through Compassion International here

A Different New Year’s Resolution

Now that a new year is here, many of us are making a New Year’s Resolution.  Some of us are wanting to get in shape, some of us want to curb our spending, while others of us want to spend more time with family.  These are all great New Year’s resolutions, but what if we had a different resolution.  Like the resolution to share God’s love more and more each day with others around us and throughout the world.  This resolution could definitely make a difference in the lives of many people.  How can we accomplish this?

1. Reach out to a lonely co-worker or classmate
2. Being supper to an elderly person in your community
3. Simply treat your waiter or waitress with respect and give them a kind smile
4. Reach out to a new family who moved into the area
5. Donate your time and money to a worthy cause
6. Anything that shares the love of Christ with others.

You could already start the year off right by checking out Compassion International and possibly even sponsoring a child.  Compassion is a wonderful Christian organization that releases children from poverty in Jesus’ Name .  Just $32 can make a difference in the life of a child.

Please visit Compassion International’s website if you are interested in sponsoring a child.

Meet My New Friend Yelson

Recently Compassion sent me four child packets to find sponsors for.  I showed my mom all these cute little kids and one week later she felt God calling her to become a sponsor.  Yelson, a cute little 7-year-old, has such a precious little smile.  We decided to sponsor him this week.  I am so excited to get to know him!

Name: Yelson

Country: Dominican Republic

Yelson lives with his mother.  He is responsible for carrying water, running errands, and cleaning.  His mother is sometimes employed as a laborer.  There are 5 children in the family.  For fun, Yelson enjoys playing cars, playing ball, games and running.  He attends Bible class regularly and is in primary school where his performance is average.

Sponsor precious kids like Yelson Here

Progress is Being Made in Kenya

 Praise the Lord!

All child development centers have resumed activities, and schooling in Kisumu and Nyanza has resumed.  Centers in tension-filled areas have found alternate sites to carry out their activities.  Mediation efforts in Kenya are starting to bear fruit.

 

Chief mediator, Kofi Annan, has stated that Kenya will soon see short term solutions to the political crisis. 

Affected child development centers have enjoyed a time of calmness and activities have resumed.  But, attendance has been low because parents are hesitant to send their kids.  Compassion is providing affected centers with disaster training and equipment.  Compassion is also providing post-trauma counseling to affected children and their families.  Houses, churches, and classrooms are starting to be rebuilt. 

Please Pray for:

1. Children who have seen the violence
2. Mediation efforts
3. The needs of affected families
4. Safety of Compassion-assisted children, their families, and Compassion staff
5. Peace

Information Courtesy of Compassion International

 

 

 

God Has Wonderful Plans

I recently became a child advocate for Compassion International. I was so excited! But, then I started to worry about how I would find sponsors for these precious little children. I received information in the mail a few months ago, about a little girl that needed a sponsor. The packet contained a cute little girl from Burkina Faso. My heart just broke for her and I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to find her a sponsor. In just two short weeks, I would have to send her packet back if I couldn’t find a sponsor.

Today, I went to talk to a youth group about Compassion International, but I didn’t think anyone would sponsor that night. But, God had a plan for this precious little girl. He chose two teenagers to sponsor her and to be her friend. When I told them about how I would have to send her packet back, because I didn’t have a sponsor for her, they were very sad. God tapped on their hearts and they decided to become sponsors. The amazing thing is that one of them is already a sponsor through Compassion International. The ironic thing about this night is that I was actually thinking about not going because I was too scared. But, God had other plans. He tapped at my heart to make this presentation. I praise God for his awesome plans!

If God can use me to make a difference, he can use you too. Sponsor a child through Compassion Here

Please Pray for Kenya

Please pray for Kenya, as many Compassion-assisted families had  their villages destroyed by fire and violence.  Over a month after the violence, Kenya is still trying to find peace.  Twenty-four Compassion projects have been affected and project workers struggle to make home visits.  Nearly 1,000 Compassion assisted children and their families have lost their homes and have had to move to crowded refugee camps.  Staff have spent hours searching for displaced children in refugee camps.  Displaced families have been provided with shelter, food, water, and medical care. 

“That is what you can do for us. This has been indeed a very, very difficult situation for the country. But in some ways it is also an opportunity for the Church to model what a community of God is like to the rest of society … we need to pray for the Church, that it will seize this as an opportunity to become relevant to the society.”

~Sidney Muisyo-Compassion Kenya’s Country Director~

Compassion’s long-term care will include the rebuilding of houses and churches.  There will also be grief and trauma counseling available. 

If you would like to help displaced families, you can donate to Compassion’s Disaster Relief Fund Here.

Please pray that Kenya will find peace. 

Information Courtesy of Compassion International

 

How Compassion is Helping Our Environment

I read some pretty startling facts about our environment today.  Did you know that we are losing one and a half acres of rain forest every second and that the global temperature will rise between 1.4% and 5.8% in our lifetime?   But, I also found out that Compassion is doing some really awesome things to help our environment.  I never know all the great things that Compassion is doing to help make the environment a better place. 

• Compassion Programs in Africa have planted more than 10,000 trees
• In Haiti, Compassion assisted children are learning about deforestation and how that affects the environment
• Through hydroponics program, children are learning how to grow plants in water and how to be good stewards of this resource
• Throught the Child Survival Program, mothers are learning how to dispose of waste and how to compost garden waste
• Students in the Leadership Development Program are getting degrees in Engineering, Natural Resource Management, and much more.

Facts and Information Courtesy of Compassion International http://www.compassion.com