A Day in the Life of a Child Development Center Worker
Selvie, a 41-year-old single parent, has been serving as the coordinator of Elohim Child Development Center for almost two years now.
During her first year at the center, Selvie had been facing obstacles, which came from both her own family and the community around the center.
She had to take care of her two children and her new enlarged family. Her husband had left her after 16 years and left her in anguish. She moved back to her parents’ house, where her two siblings along with their families had just moved in, too.
The community doubted whether Selvie would be able to manage the ministry. They thought it was her fault that her family had been broken.
Surrendering to God’s will is what Selvie has been doing as well as raising her children. She has two children; the oldest, Indriani Natalia, graduated from college few months ago and the youngest, Aldo Aprillio Samuel, is in fifth grade now.
Selvie has been spending up to 12 hours a day for the ministry since appointed to be the center coordinator. Her daily activities are more or less the same:
- shopping for the children’s meal
- going to the center to help the cook prepare the meals and to clean up the church
- checking the reports and the day’s scheduled program
- having praise and worship with children
- talking with parents
- coordinating with staff members after the activity
- going back home
Spend a day with Selvie
Continue Reading ›My Whole Life Has Changed
Continue Reading ›My sponsored child has changed my life . . .
A Field Perspective on Sponsor Trips
Wanna peek into my e-mail inbox?
I have the great pleasure of “talking” (read: e-mailing) each day with some of our great staff around the world. They always challenge me with their perspective.
I’ve been reading along with all the posts and comments about visiting your sponsored child, as I weigh the decision of when to make a trip. (I just happen to sponsor children in two of the most expensive countries to visit!)
This e-mail from Samuel Llanes, our field communication specialist in Guatemala, about his recent experience accompanying a sponsor trip gave me a new perspective on sponsor visits.
Hi Amber,
I want to share with you about what I learned in this sponsor trip we had this summer.
Commitment
I knew the kind of heart a sponsor is supposed to have but NEVER had the experience of “experiencing” it first hand. It was amazing to see and feel the kind of heart they have and how humble they are. And not just them, but even their family! Some of the sponsors came with their entire family and it was so awesome seeing how their kids were so “into” everything! Some of those kids started passing around a plastic bag to collect food to give later to some of the students at the center. For me, it was really amazing. Also, there were some “advocates” there. I had never had the chance to see one of them, but I saw how a heart like theirs really is! 🙂
Tenderness
I saw some of them who met their sponsored children for the first, second or third time. They were so happy (they were even crying!) when they saw them! For me, it was a very touching thing to witness because I could see and prove their commitment toward our fellow sponsored children! It really touched my heart, and those people are a real blessing to me!
A Genuine Heart for the Poor and Compassion International’s Help
I know that the American culture can sometimes be seen as a cold and individualistic culture, but this trip taught me that not everybody is like that. All the sponsors had an utterly different way of treating people (and even me! Hehe!) and they broke indeed a lot of paradigms I had about the American culture. I never saw hearts like those EVER in my life, and I was completely touched by it.
Love
Seeing how humble their hearts and spirits were for the children it’s something indescribable! I could see God’s love showed there and I couldn’t believe it. It was like they were their very own children!
Sam
Why Am I Here?
As you may have read recently, the Global Leadership Forum has been in progress all week and all the “big-wigs” are in town talking about . . . stuff. I don’t actually know what they are talking about because I wasn’t invited. But I’m pretty sure that my lunch on Tuesday was better than any silly forum 🙂
When I walked into the New Delhi Café (get it?), I was startled to see most of our tables occupied by little boys and girls . . . FROM AFRICA! A group of about ten kids, roughly eight to twelve years old, from Tanzania were all sitting down having lunch and drinking Cokes. They were bright-eyed, big smiled, beautiful kids.
As I filed in with many others for what we thought would be a normal lunch, I overheard someone say that they were all Compassion sponsored children.
“What an awesome reminder,” I thought to myself. “I’m working for them, their friends, and families.” Despite the fact that they were all well and healthy, I still found myself pitying them because they had to be “sponsored.”
But then, all of the sudden, they stood up, gathered together, started swaying in unison . . . and started singing.
I have never heard anything like it. Besides being on perfect key, they sang in harmony with one another. I can’t begin to tell you just how moving it was to listen to them to sing praises to the Lord. More powerful than their voices, though, were their hearts behind it.
As they sang and swayed, they all either had their eyes closed or their eyes wide open and hands raised to heaven. I never knew the power of a child’s faith until that moment.
And yet these are not just any children. (more…)
10 Questions With Roberto Medrano
Your curiosity about out country staff is exciting, and again we have 10 questions that will inform and inspire you to help fight for children in poverty.
We asked Roberto Medrano, communications and trips specialist for Central America and the Caribbean and a member of our El Salvador staff, to answer some of your questions.
1. I just found out that one of my sponsored children has been sponsored four times in the past six years. I was wondering what type of effect this has on children. Do they get to the point where they are not even excited to be sponsored anymore? Is this a common occurrence? (Cindy)
To be completely honest, yes. Some of the children have received the sad news several times that their sponsors canceled. If that has happened several times, the children think something is wrong with them.
It is amazing the influence a sponsor can have on the child. For example, I remember a 25-year-old Compassion graduate. She is a Christian who is married and has two babies. She also serves as a center worker. Even though she is an adult and loves Compassion’s ministry, she always cries because in the 15 years of sponsorship her sponsor did not write one single letter. She wrote her sponsor dozens of letters, but she never received any response.
2. What are the great things about El Salvador that you want us to know about? Tell us about a particular strength or something special about the people of your country. (Lisa Miles)
El Salvador is the smallest country in the Americas, but our people have a great heart. In Central America they call us the smiling country, and I think that is a special thing about our people. We have faced earthquakes, hurricanes, civil war, and poverty, but in any problem if you ask a Salvadoran, “How are you doing?” he or she will say with an honest and warm smile, “It’s all good!” Our people are very positive and enthusiastic, and they have warrior hearts that can overcome any disaster or negative situation.
Commit This
More ‘fo from the FO-rum
Commit this to memory. 🙂 It’s what we commit to, for you.
We commit to:
- teach and live out the Way of Christ, developing children into lifelong disciples of Jesus
- mobilize and equip the Church to be effective in ministry to children
- commit to continuous improvement in our program design and delivery
- engage with each child as active participants in their own development
- treat children and their families with dignity and respect
- design programs that support the family’s central role in raising children
- submit to the Word of God
- NOT compromise the centrality of Christ in our messages and programs
- create opportunities for you to live out your faith by ministering to children in poverty
- financial integrity
- use donations only for the purposes for which you gave them
- align our thoughts, motivations, attitudes and actions with the ethical principles found in God’s word
- tell the truth and communicate honestly and openly, with no intent to deceive or mislead
- protect, develop and deploy all of our resources (people, time, money, knowledge, reputation and materials) as if they were “the widow’s mite”
There! They’re out.
Although they’re numbered, they’re not prioritized.
Help us rank ’em. We want to know what you feel is most important.
Give us your top one, two or three and we’ll calculate the product of your priorities.
What is Integrity?
Integrity is another one of our core values. But what does that mean? What is integrity?
“Integrity means doing the same thing whether people are with you or whether you are alone.” – Ed Anderson, senior vice president and chief financial officer
Integrity doesn’t just apply to big decisions. It also applies to your small decisions. It pertains to your whole life.
Integrity is doing the right thing, not necessarily the popular thing.
Integrity is being honest, upstanding and having a strong character.
Officially, for Compassion, integrity is:
“… aligning our thoughts, motivations, attitudes and actions with the ethical principles found in God’s Word. In both our personal lives and our ministry, what we believe, what we say and what we do should be consistent, congruent, reliable and transparent.”
- Do you think that the children at our child development centers ever “get tired” of “pleasing” the sponsors who briefly, but regularly visit many of the same centers on our sponsor tours?
- If the children do “get tired” and would rather be doing something else but can’t admit that they don’t want to greet another group of sponsors, for whatever reason, is this a matter of integrity?
- If it is a matter of integrity, of not aligning our thoughts with our actions, who is out of alignment? The child? The sponsor? Compassion?
The Church is God’s Strategy
If we want to change the world, we must begin with ourselves. If we, the Church, don’t do it, it won’t get done. If we want to change the Church, we must begin with ourselves. It is an honor for Compassion to walk alongside the Church. To accompany the Church as it helps bring the Kingdom of Heaven to this world.
Global Leadership Forum
Today is the first day of our Global Leadership Forum (GLF). Huh? What’s that?
It’s an annual conference of all our leadership throughout the world, gathered together in one place to discuss the future of Compassion.
This year’s theme is “Strengthen the Core,” to grow in our global unity.
I’ll eventually have a post for you to read, but it’ll probably be after the conference is over.
However, you can follow along on Twitter as things happen.
The Best Thing
The best thing my sponsored child shared with me . . .
Love in Action
Whoa, writing my last blog post (Getting 10,000 Children Sponsored in 10 Days) has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever. One of my friends actually sponsored a child after reading the post. I’m ecstatic! It’s wonderful to know I’ve directly impacted a child’s life for good.
The thing is, I’ve always tried to avoid challenging my friends and family to be more engaged with my personal passions. I’ve tried not to impose my personal convictions upon them (after all, each to their own, right?) But perhaps I haven’t pushed the envelope enough, because all along I’d secretly hoped that they‘d be more than interested (in my passions) for my sake. I’d hope for them to ask questions and come to their own convictions about making a positive, lasting difference in the lives of others.
But over the past few weeks, I’ve learnt that there are many others like my beautiful friend who would like to be offered an opportunity to respond. I’m amazed at how, by simply sharing my heart, I’ve invited others to search their own, and respond to what’s on theirs.
Over 2,400 children have been sponsored through the 10,000 Children campaign.
We didn’t reach 10,000 sponsorships in 10 days, but over 10,000 eyes and ears have seen and heard the desperate cry of the children in poverty.
We didn’t reach 2,400 sponsorships within 10 days, but we saw a record number of children sponsored through a single event.
By trusting our Lord throughout the 10,000 Children campaign, our faith has been stretched, our hearts have been expanded, and our praises to Him multiplied.
Janine, our national prayer director, also saw the 10,000 Children campaign as an impetus for a boundary shift in our faith.
It is a time that God is encouraging his people to dream big. In all areas of our lives and ministries, if we make room for the miraculous in our life, He will come. I believe we stretched the tent pegs and prayed with faith for God to increase our influence. We were blessed.
I can’t wait to hear the stories of these newly sponsored children and the impact their sponsorships will have in their families and wider communities. As a result of over 2,400 child sponsorships, over 10,000 lives can be transformed into a Christ-like image. Can you imagine what that looks like?
To Josh, our events & partner artist manager, the hard work is all worthwhile because of the lives that are now linked to our Creator. Josh paints a picture of a Compassion church partnership and what 2,400 sponsored children means to him:
I recently returned home from a trip to see Compassion’s work in Bali, Indonesia.
In Bali, the team and I travelled to a remote mountainous village called Munduk. While I was there I spoke with the local church pastor who had been spreading the gospel there for over 20 years. He explained to me that one of the most significant things the church had ever done was to partner with Compassion in establishing a child development center to help over 140 children from their village.
I watched that afternoon as the impoverished village children streamed into the project and were given tuition, food for lunch, and taught to sing and dance. I was struck by the immense love displayed by the church pastor and project staff towards each individual child. I was blessed with the opportunity to see the fruit of what was accomplished at this year’s Hillsong Conference.
Hillsong Conference for me is not as much about the logistical preparations, the crowds, the final results, (as it is about) the one child, who is linked to the local church and introduced to their Creator.
Even though it has been an insane few weeks for some of our staff members before and after the conference, we continue to celebrate before God.
For Kaye, the manager of our supporter engagement center, the 10,000 Children campaign was a reminder that “with God all things are possible”. She extols Paul’s instruction to the church in Ephesus: “Convince them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” – 1 Timothy 6:18 (NIV)
Throughout the event my own faith was increased by responding to the phone calls we received into our Engagement Centre immediately following and during the conference, we heard many stories of people whose lives were greatly impacted by the sacrifices they were willing to make in their own lives in order to change the life of a child.
One sponsor told us that not even two hours after he had made the decision to sponsor another child, God performed a miracle in his own life. He said that “sponsoring a child unlocked something in my life that gave way to a miracle.”
Love in action unleashes the miraculous. But we do not love in order to bring about signs and wonders. We love because God loved us first. Our natural response is to love Him and love others. When we reach out in love, we reveal Christ and release His power and authority on earth. When we reveal Christ in us, we share in His glory; we see transformation in our own lives and in others.
Irene
Where Should I Sponsor a Child?
Need help deciding where to sponsor a child?
Are you curious to see if you’re sponsoring a child in the “right” place?
Do you prefer tamales and red sauce or curry and rice?
Is your cruise of choice, boating on Lake Victoria or sailing down the Amazon River?
Are you more concerned about children experiencing drought or hurricanes and flooding?
How about children who fall victim to child trafficking or gang and drug-related violence?
Lisa Miles, wife and mother of one, sponsor of two kids in Ethiopia and occasional guest contributor to this blog, created a “Where Should I Sponsor a Child?” test.
