Yellow Leaf Spirits

In the high mountains of Northern Thailand lives an extraordinary tribe who have no written history and whose way of life is disappearing with the forests.

They knew only how to survive in the deep jungle, building homes from fresh banana leaves. They would sleep on the leaves and use them as a roof to protect from the rain and dew at night.

If they could not find food in the area nearby, they would move on deeper into the forest. They would wander in the forest, staying together in small groups. Education, a house, and clothing were of no value to them, as they had no use for these things living in the forest.

The isolated tribe was also afraid of strangers. If they met any outsiders, they moved away immediately, like spirits. They lived like this for centuries, the last nomadic tribe to survive in the northern forests of Thailand and Laos. (more…)

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Christmas Memories

It was Christmas morning, and I lay impatiently in my bed awaiting the sound of my parents stirring downstairs. We’ve never been the kind of family that wakes up and rushes to the living room to tear into the gifts before we have properly washed the “eye boogers” out of our eyes (disgusting I know, but hey . . . the truth is ugly sometimes). We tend to be a little more reserved about the process.

We sleep in, which for our family is until about 8:15. We shower and dress for the day, as we usually spend the afternoon with extended family, and we often debate about what we want Dad to make for breakfast. It’s usually his world famous omelets. If you think I’m exaggerating . . . well, I’m not. They’re insane.

This one particular Christmas, though, held one very unique gift, wrapped in a beige envelope and delicately placed in between the branches of our tree. There were actually two envelopes; one had my brother’s name on it and the other had mine, written in my mother’s elegant penmanship.

Curious as to what could possibly be in something the size of a letter and thin as paper, my brother and I opened them slowly, simultaneously.

(more…)

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Win a Free Trip By Finding Sponsors for Children in Poverty

This post was originally published November 28, but some things have changed.

You have until December 21 to order your child packets, and until January 30, 2009 to mail in your completed sponsorship forms.


If you’re reading this, you’re most likely already transforming lives with us. Or you’re curious about what we do and how we work. Either way, we’re inviting you to help us inspire others to rescue children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

This battle we are in — the battle against hopelessness and lies — places millions of lives at stake. And of the more than 1 million children we help, more than 165,000 children still desperately need sponsors. Will you ask your friends, co-workers, family members and neighbors to sponsor these?

If you will, we’ll send you child packets of children waiting for sponsors so you can share the packets with others.

If you find the most child sponsors by December 21, 2008 January 30, 2009, we will send you and a guest on an all-expense paid trip to a country where we work!

You’ll be able to choose from upcoming trips and travel with a group of sponsors to see our ministry firsthand.

You’ll meet the children we are rescuing — face to face.

Also, every person who finds a sponsor for a child will be entered into a drawing for a trip.

Order your child packets today, and thank you for your devotion to God’s children.

P.S. If you’re not already a sponsor and you want to be eligible to win a trip, please sponsor a child first, then order your child packets. Once you’re a sponsor, we’ll be able to credit your referrals to your account.

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Creating Freedom From Poverty

“CompassionArt is a charity that joins the dots between art and poverty. It raises money to help breathe life into the poorest communities, restoring hope and igniting justice.” – compassionart.tv

Compassion U.K. is one of 12 charities receiving royalties from the album sales.

The widget below has lots of details on the CompassionArtproject, as well as a link to download a free song with song sheet and the first chapter of the book, which explores the inspiration, motivation and passion behind this exceptional collaboration.

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Nativity Set Giveway

Yesterday, we introduced you to Chantal, a 9-year-old girl from Rwanda.

Chantal is a beneficiary of our Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) initiative, and during the Christmas season the vulnerability of these children parallels the extreme vulnerability that our God entered into on Christmas Day.

It’s a vulnerability portrayed in homes throughout the world by the nativity. And this Christmas season, we’d like to share with you a reminder of God’s love and sacrifice for us all.

This handcrafted Rwandan nativity set is as fragile and vulnerable as many of the children we serve. And it’s available to one randomly selected reader who answers these questions for us.

On December 18, we’ll randomly pick a winner from the comments we receive.

Thanks for participating, and Merry Christmas!

nativity-set-rwanda

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smiling girl in colorful dress

Highly Vulnerable Children: What Special Needs Do They Have?

Highly vulnerable children in our programs are children at greatest risk of physical, psychological or social harm relative to other children in our child sponsorship program.

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A New Season, A New Position

I love this time of year. There is something about November to New Year’s Eve that is simply magical.  Everything about the smell of the air, the smell of the kitchen, and the smell of grandma’s perfume intoxicates my senses and consumes my soul. And oh yeah, I get to celebrate my birthday!

Like I said, I really, really like this time of year.

But, for all of its constants and familiarities, this time of year also brings about change. I’m getting better at accepting it . . . but I still don’t like it.

Change means that things that you have always known to be, things that are comfortable because of their consistency, suddenly become different. As in, they are no longer the same. Big and small, professional or personal, things evolve.

For example, my job.

(more…)

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Healing Prayer

Every month we receive prayer requests from our country staff; prayer requests that we publish in our monthly prayer calendar, on compassion.com and as tweets.

Would you mind joining us in healing prayer for these sponsored children:

  • Komol in Bangladesh, who is suffering from heart disease
  • Soledad in Bolivia, who is waiting for a kidney transplant
  • Jacob and Asish in East India, as they are suffering from malaria
  • Miguel in Nicaragua, who has rheumatic fever
  • Mukankusi in Rwanda, living with diabetes

If you leave your prayers as comments to this post, our country staff will be much encouraged. We’ll make sure they’re aware of the post.

And in cases where a child development center has a computer, the children and church partners will also know you are speaking to the Lord on their behalf.

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Song of Hope

He is the most remarkable storyteller there is. More than that, the brilliant author. He speaks and there is light. From His voice comes life.

Agape Children's HostelHis workmanship becomes ingrained within our being. He weaves stories into our lives. Stories of triumph, of sorrow, of sheer joy. Stories of hope.

Reading your stories of hope captivated me as well as resurrected a story of hope I have seen in my life, in a place before Compassion.

When He gave me this story, my life became enriched. My heart now scarred with such sacred radiance:

(more…)

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Receive a Free Bible When You Sponsor a Child From Togo

This is David. He was the first registered child in Togo.

david-togo-free-bible

david-togo-free-bible-two

And this is his sister, Gracia. She was the second child registered by Compassion Togo.

gracia-togo-free-bible

gracia-togo-free-bible-one

They don’t have sponsors yet. And neither do these Togolese children.

If you:

  • sponsor a child from Togo between now and December 31
  • AND you sign up for automatic credit card payments
  • we’ll send* you a really keen pocket-sized, leather NIV Bible with the Compassion logo on it

If you want to sponsor David or Gracia, you’ll have to talk to Compassion Australia about that. Give ’em a call.

These Togolese children are also available for sponsorship through Compassion Australia. They’d love sponsors too.


*Please allow two to three weeks for your Bible to be delivered. The free Bible is available to children sponsored through Compassion U.S. only.

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A Chance to Survive

Hello Compassion Blog readers.

Sorry I haven’t contributed much lately. I’m still here and still handling crisis communications, in case you were wondering. There is something that has been on my mind that I feel compelled to share with you.

I’m gonna step outside my comfort zone for a minute to share this with you. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed with it when I was 15, so I’ve had it for half my life, but you’d probably never know it if you met me. I don’t talk about it much. Most people I interact with on a regular basis don’t even know. In the past 10 years, the medical research and pharmaceutical industries have come a long way in treating the disease, and this has allowed me to live to a virtually pain-free, symptom-free life.

But here’s the thing. I have a normal life simply because I happen to have been born in the United States. I have access to powerful drugs. I have insurance to cover the (outrageously high) cost of them. Certainly I am grateful for this, but lately I’ve been thinking about what my life would be like if I were born into poverty in a developing country. What if I was from rural Rwanda? Or a slum in the Philippines? Or a poor community in Nicaragua?

I’d more than likely be totally crippled by now. At 30 years old.

This thought really freaks me out, to be honest with you. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not be able to stand up straight, to walk, or to grip things. To live in constant, life-altering pain. I feel guilty for being happy I was born here. I don’t have to try to live with this disease without the help of drugs. I am not crippled. I assume it’s similar in a way to the guilt a person feels when they survive a car accident where the other passengers died . . . the ugly injustice of it. I understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways, but I struggle to understand why He chooses for some — why He chose ME — to be born into affluence and why He chooses some to be born into poverty. It’s not fair.

Nowhere is this injustice more evident than in the fight against HIV and AIDS. December 1 was World AIDS Day, and Brianne told you about our AIDS Initiative. The amazing thing about this program is that it literally restores justice to an unjust world. Without access to antiretroviral drugs, those battling AIDS in poverty-stricken countries fight an unwinnable war. By providing the antiretroviral therapy, Compassion allows children with death sentences another chance at life. A chance that, had they been born here, they would have had simply by virtue of their nationality.

If anyone is in the position to get this, it’s Godfrey. He understands that he is alive today because Compassion is fighting the injustice of HIV and AIDS in Uganda. His life is his testimony.

Compassion’s AIDS Initiative is more than just drugs. It’s nutritional support. It’s the critical laboratory testing. It’s psychosocial support. It’s treatment of opportunistic infections. It’s transportation assistance. It’s income generation. It’s housing repair. It’s all the opportunities that a person suffering from HIV here in the U.S. would have.

The AIDS Initiative essentially levels the playing field to give every victim of HIV — no matter where they were born — an equal chance to survive this devastating disease.

Give someone a chance to survive by supporting the AIDS Initiative today.

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four young Maasai boys dressed in red and blue overlooking a field

The Stigma of HIV and AIDS

One of the huge challenges facing people living with HIV around the world is not only the physical illness, but the overwhelming stigmatization and discrimination that exists in many countries.

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