You Don't Want to Miss This!

Sunday, April 21, is Compassion Sunday 2013.  I don't have the opportunity to have a Compassion Sunday in my home church, but I can do it here--for more than one day.

I have previously told the story of how I became a Compassion sponsor.  Since sponsoring my first child, I have learned a lot about Compassion's integrity.  I am impressed with Compassion's holistic approach to child sponsorship, especially after visiting Peru.

What I saw in Peru were many, many happy, laughing, smiling, excited children at the Compassion centers.  The children I sponsor tell me they love going to their Compassion center, and I was able to see why in person.

Besides the young children, I saw teenagers who were taught skills that they can use to sustain themselves, given leadership roles, and encouraged to believe in their worth as children of the King of Kings.

I can't even express in words how impressed I am with what I saw.

Research Shows that Child Sponsorship through Compassion Works. (Click the link to read how.)

I know that my sponsorship helps the children and their families, but it also helps me.  One day a few months after I begin sponsoring, I was almost hit by another car (not a surprise), and I thought, "Don't hit me.  My children need me!"  Wow. What cool feeling!  I had never been able to see that before.  Now I know I need to be at my best at all times for my children.

When I visited Jack in Peru, one of the best things he said to me was, "Thank you for changing my life."

Wow!

Don't miss the chance to change the story for one child.  I offer you Diego, a five-year-old in Peru.  (How can you resist that sweet smile?)  You can learn more about Diego on My Compassion Sunday page.

Watch this video, read my Compassion Sunday page, and then--as Ginsely says--"just do it."  Sponsor Diego.  He needs you to change his life.

How Compassion Changes an Entire Community Through Its Children

This is Gethory when I first sponsored him.

This is my latest picture of Gethory.  Isn't he cute?

I first realized that Compassion reaches more than just the child when I sponsored Gethory in Haiti two years ago.  The first letter I received from him was really a huge thank you letter from his family.

In Peru,  I saw how grateful the families are because of our (sponsors) love for their children, and I was inspired by their emphasis on developing their children so that they can become independent adults.

I also was blessed by the LDP students who spoke to us, because each one of them had chosen his or her course of study in order to help the community and the country.

We don't really do that in the US.

Today's post in Compassion's blog explains better than I can how sponsoring a child is really like sponsoring a family.  http://blog.compassion.com/from-ragpicker-to-restored-dignity/

Reading this makes me very happy, reminding me of how many I am helping and that God is using me to be a world changer!

I can help you sponsor so that you can be a world changer, too.

A Nudge . . . and then a Plunge

Two boys at PE350--boys will be boys.

I have always loved kids, which is a good thing since I'm a high school teacher.  I also love the little ones, and I am always drawn to the "underdogs"--the ones who have a bad home life or don't think much of themselves for one reason or other.

I've always said my mission field is the teenagers in our public schools, and that's true, but a few years ago at a newsboys' concert, I heard about Compassion and thought maybe I should sponsor a child but felt I couldn't afford it financially.  So I sort of forgot about Compassion.

Then after Michael Tait became the lead singer for newsboys, I heard him say that we should help our neighbors in Mexico (they were building homes for people there), so I decided to try to find the name of that child sponsorship organization and sponsor a boy from Mexico, being a bit partial to boys.

I found Compassion on the Heart It First website when I was looking for information about Winter Jam, so I clicked the link.  I found that if I sponsored a child, I would get a tobyMac CD for free.  Helloooo.  I wasn't going to pass that up!

So ironically, or maybe fittingly, it was good friends Michael Tait and Toby McKeehan who nudged me to begin my relationship with Compassion.  I began with one boy in Mexico, and now I sponsor twelve children, all from the Spanish-speaking countries where Compassion works (two in Peru), plus a little boy in Haiti.  I also have five correspondence kids who think I'm their financial sponsor, and I think of them in the same way I do the ones I sponsor financially.

I have learned to treasure the pink and bows of my little girls, and the sweet girly teenage girls.  I love my girls.

Whenever I write to my kids or send a financial gift, I am reminded of Matthew 25:40--The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’  I am honored to know that when I give to these children, I am giving to Jesus.

One of the most powerful verses to me, one that is my fuel to advocate for the children is Matthew 18:10--See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
That's some pretty serious stuff right there.

I am honored to be a part of Compassion and thankful that God used Mike and Toby to nudge me to the edge where I plunged right in.

A Gift for My Teenage Girls

It's sort of hard sometimes to find things to send to the teenagers we sponsor because coloring pages and the like are just a bit juvenile for them.
I saw this idea on the Compassion blog and made one for each of my teenage girls, not for any particular occasion. I put small cards with Bible verses and little messages such as "You are beautiful" in the pockets.
I used this video from youtube for instructions, but my paper was from the dollar bin at Target, so it's not as fancy as the paper in the video.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYHiSLU7iA4

World Water Day - March 22nd, 2013

Sponsor a Child

This is a video posted on Facebook by Compassion International.  I have seen the smiles and heard the laughter of the Compassion children.  They really are truly happy at the Compassion Child Development Centers.  Sponsor a child today and speak life and hope into his or her life.

Christmas Arrived Quietly

Like almost everyone else, I usually am caught up in the stress and hectic lifestyle before Christmas.   We spend so much time trying to make sure we get everything finished in time--buying gifts, wrapping them, baking, sending cards . . . and making sure we don't forget anyone who might be offended if we do.

Then suddenly . . . bang!  It's Christmas Day, and we didn't even have time to enjoy the season.  Sure, we know the real reason we celebrate Christmas.  We try to remember that.  We try to focus on it.  We think we do.  But our materialistic society pulls us away.

But this year, Christmas arrived quietly.  I can't give any credit to myself for that; it's just that I had extensive foot surgery in November, and I have been sitting at home since then.

Yep, that's my foot, and that's how I have spent the past six weeks.  The bad part (besides the pain) is that I couldn't do much at all.
The good part is that I couldn't do much at all.
One advantage is that I rediscovered my love of knitting and crocheting, so my friends and family members received homemade gifts . . . and they liked them.
I also had homemade jam from the summer (I pick strawberries and blackberries every summer), which I gave as gifts.
I like giving homemade gifts because I know that  I am giving part of myself with them.  And the people to whom I give the gifts feel honored to receive them.  My niece said, "It's a gift of love."
Instead of being caught up in trying to find something for people who need nothing, I had the time to make custom gifts for each person.
And as I worked, I thought about Christmas.  I thought about the greatest gift ever--Jesus arriving in the form of a man so that He could save us.
I thought about how crazy it is that we stress ourselves out, hoping that the people to whom we give gifts will actually like them, hoping we've made the right choices.
Or course, I thought about Peru, and I thought about all my Compassion children.  I told someone, "If I send my children a piece of construction paper, they think it's awesome."  It's not hard to find gifts for those who have so little.  It's hard to find gifts for those who have no needs.
I thought about little Jackie in Peru who gave me fruit from the family's guynabana tree.  I have no idea why she chose me, or why she even wanted to give any of us the fruit, but what I do know is that her act was real giving.
I learned another thing about giving--how to let people give to me.  I had to allow people to stay with me, make food for me, bring food to my house for me, and many other things.  I'm so independent that allowing people to do take care of me is a challenge, but in allowing them to give to me, I actually gave to them.

So this year, I wasn't surprised by Christmas.  It arrived quietly, and I enjoyed it.

Besides the homemade gifts that I gave, I also gave from the Compassion Gift Catalog.    The cool thing about choosing gifts from that catalog is that it's double giving.  The people in whose names I buy the gifts are honored to be able to help, and the Compassion families who receive the gifts are blessed because they truly are needy.  (You can still buy from that catalog even though Christmas has passed.)

I don't plan to have surgery again next year, so I hope I will be able to concentrate on real giving and be able to enjoy the season as I did this year.

Because it's about giving.