Maps of Child Development Center Locations

Where does Compassion International work?

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Feed My Lambs

We all know that on the night Jesus was arrested, Peter denied knowing Him, three times. But thankfully, Peter’s story does not end there.

In John 21, following His resurrection, Jesus asked Peter, three times, “Do you love me?” And each time Peter responded, Jesus called him to ministry: “Feed my sheep.”

Like Peter, I have been broken by sin, I am being healed by grace, and I am called to feed Christ’s lambs. Those of us who sponsor children know that Compassion’s whole ministry is about “feeding” Christ’s sheep.

I have heard numerous times that each child is said to have a sphere of influence of about 30 people, and I love knowing that every time a child is sponsored, perhaps 30 people’s lives will be impacted for Jesus Christ!

Compassion International as a Part of God’s Plan for My Life

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Compassion Bloggers in India

Compassion Bloggers Since April 26, and through May 2, five bloggers have been experiencing firsthand what Compassion’s ministry to children in poverty is all about.

Visit compassionbloggers.com to travel across the world to the impoverished neighborhoods of Kolkata, East India, and through their stories, pictures and videos rediscover hope.

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The Lowdown on Reciprocal Letter Writing

As with many aspects of our ministry, we have a set of standards for the letter-writing process. When I talk about “standards,” what I mean is certain expectations that we’ve given to every church partner. However, as with anything involving fallible humans, this does not guarantee it will always happen.

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God’s Army of One

It never ceases to amaze me how diverse the army of God is. I think in our adult minds, we all too often differentiate between “adult tasks” and “children’s tasks,” but God doesn’t think that way. His foot soldiers include people of all ages from every nation.

woman walking with small child with people looking on in backgroundConsider for a moment the job of fundraising. Now, I’m not talking about the summer phenomenon of lemonade stands that offer a refreshing cup of the tart but sweet drink for 50 cents. I’m talking about the task of raising tens of thousands of dollars. Most of us would not consider that a child’s job.

However, one 14-year-old wasn’t hindered by the adult mentality of the impossible. God instilled in young Emily Blake a passion for the possible.

While attending a church summer camp in 2007, Emily, then 12, heard the disturbing statistic that more than 25,000 children living in poverty die each day from such preventable causes as poor hygiene and lack of food. The young preteen looked around at the world she had grown up in and knew it didn’t have to be this way, so she decided to do something about it.

Uninhibited by her age, she successfully reached out to as many as 100 kids in Kenya whom she never met, and changed their lives forever.

This is how she did it.

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Do Not Show Partiality to the Poor

What God wants from us isn’t to become judgmental of the rich and syrupy sappy with the poor. What he wants is justice.

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World Malaria Day 2009: Count Malaria Out

The theme for World Malaria Day 2009 is “Count Malaria Out.”

gray bar Roll Back Malaria World Malaria Day 2009

“This year’s World Malaria Day marks a critical moment in time. The international malaria community has merely two years to meet the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria, as called for by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.”

– www.rollbackmalaria.org

You can help “Count Malaria Out” through our Bite Back Campaign.

drawing of hand squashing a mosquito for bite back campaign poster

Malaria begins with a bite. We believe that we can end malaria by taking a bigger bite.

Your $10 bite will purchase a bed net for a child, and that bed net can protect the child for three years.

  • Donate a net.
  • Visit the Bite Back Web site to learn more.

Jeff Foxworthy’s 14-year-old daughter, Jordan, is taking a bite. A huge bite. She has helped raise more than half a million dollars for Bite Back.

Oh yeah! The answer to yesterday’s malaria question is false.

Although malaria is an easily preventable disease, because of increasing drug resistance and struggling health-care systems, malaria infections in Africa have actually increased during the last three decades.

(Source: malarianomore.org, November 2008)

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Malaria Infections in Africa

boy smiling with hands covering cheeks

This is the last of our malaria questions. Tomorrow morning we’ll publish the answer in the comment section of this post, and we’ll also include the answer in our World Malaria Day post.


The answer to yesterday’s question 90 percent.

Ninety percent of those who die from malaria are African children.

Through our Malaria Intervention Fund, Compassion-assisted children have access to insecticide-treated mosquito nets and malaria prevention education, and those struggling with the disease have access to malaria medical treatment.

(Source: nothingbutnets.net/malaria-kills/, November 2008)

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Malaria Deaths in Africa

compassion poster of woman holding a baby

Tomorrow morning we’ll publish the answer in the comment section of this post AND right here, like this.


The answer to yesterday’s question is 41 percent.

Forty-one percent of the world’s people live in areas where malaria is transmitted, including parts of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Central and South America, Hispaniola and Oceania.

(Source: cdc.gov/malaria/facts.htm, November 2008)

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I Pray

As a stay-at-home mom of three girls, ages (almost) 6 and under, my To-Do lists are never ending. Yes, you read right — list(S). When I don’t get them done, which is quite frequently, I feel lazy, discouraged, and just plain ole’ not good enough.

Thankfully, I am aware that Satan is just trying to deceive me again. So I turn to the One who can get me through those feelings — God.

Sometimes those lists gets smaller, my energy goes up, and I’m not so discouraged if everything seems to not get done in time.

And sometimes it doesn’t. Boy does Satan love what happens next — I doubt myself and God. Did He hear me? Am I not good enough in the eyes of my heavenly Father? Maybe I ticked Him off (by snapping at my kids, the dogs, and my husband) and he’s giving me the silent treatment. Hmm … Perhaps I didn’t pray the right way?

Then I really start to wonder: If Satan is trying to deceive me, then you can bet he’s trying to deceive those who are truly suffering: those without food, medical attention, water, clothing, the list goes on and on.

Just a little background as to why I think this.

I have always felt that my sponsored children’s faith was stronger than mine. They have so much hope. They seem to always be positive and thankful. I figure that Satan would try to deceive those who have a stronger faith.

Why?

Because whenever something goes “wrong” for me, I start to complain:

My daughters and I had ear infections awhile back and our doctor is an hour and a half away. I complained.

Or, my husband had to work late and I had made dinner to be ready for him when he got home. I complained.

Or, “Mr. Fast and Furious” speeds past me, but I am the one who gets pulled over by the policeman for going 5 miles over the limit. I complain.

I know I should be giving thanks to God that we have a doctor, my husband has a job, I have food to prepare, I have my own mode of transportation, and that He will hold other people responsible for their actions.

It seems like even though my sponsored children are living without basic necessities, they’re so thankful for what they DO have. They know what it truly means to be without — they see God working in big ways, because they have so little.

Whereas, since I have more and live with so many more opportunities, I don’t see (or it’s harder for me to see) how God is working.

So, I pray for those who know what it is like to suffer. I pray for my sponsored children.

One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” I pray that my sponsored children will be protected from any weapon — sickness, hunger, thirst, violence, loneliness, discouragement, fatigue and deceit. That those weapons would crumble into dust as my Savior protects them.

After praying for THEM, my lists don’t seem all that important. In fact, my focus has, more often than not, turned toward another piece of paper, one that will contain the words to build up my sponsored children’s self-esteem and to help them battle Satan’s lies. I write my sponsored children and assure them of God’s infinite love, of how special they are, and how proud I am of them.

Interestingly enough, I find that as I write those words, God speaks to my heart as well: God loves you, He hears you, and you are His beloved.


Visit the Clarke family website.

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Vulnerable to Malaria

Compassion question card asking percentage of world population with malaria
Tomorrow morning we’ll publish the answer in the comment section of this post AND right here, like this.


The answer to yesterday’s question is true. Only the female Anopheles mosquito can transmit malaria.

(Source: cdc.gov/malaria/faq.htm, November 2008)

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Visit Compassion’s Fun Kids Web Site

Are your children pretty web savvy? Do they spend a LOT of time online? I mean are they typical kids? 🙂

How about you? Are you a kid at heart?

If you said yes to any of these questions, we have some exciting news just for you.

We just launched our new kid’s Web site, Quest for Compassion, and we think that it is not only engaging but entertaining too! We love it, and are confident that your kids will as well. Not only is the site fun, but it’ll educate your youngsters all about the ministry of Compassion.

example of curriculum

The site is designed for children between the ages of 6 and 10, and it provides a virtual opportunity for them to travel around the world — to four different countries where we work:  Ghana, Bangladesh, El Salvador and Brazil.graphic of a child

It helps your kiddos experience a Compassion child development center and the surrounding community, and will give them perspective on what a child’s life in the developing world is like.

Each child will “build his or her own buddy” to travel with — by choosing gender and skin color — and will be able to give the buddy a name. Then they can pick a region of the world to travel to.

Each town and country is filled with objects to click on and games to play. And with the help of their “buddies,” your world travelers can also learn key words and phrases in each country’s native language. Through these various games and fun facts, your children will get to see and hear about the life and culture of our Compassion kids around the globe.

We created the Web site through the use of real-life still shots taken in the countries where we work, which we brought to life through the use of animated children, teachers and animals that your children will meet along the way.

animated picture of children

This is a new, fun and safe way for children, and even for you, to learn more about our ministry.

Visit the site today with your children to discover who and what awaits you! And be sure to tell us what you think.

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