Afi’s Angle
I’m currently on a story-gathering trip in Lome, Togo, our newest country, which is where I met Afi.
Afi stood shyly inside her home as we hauled in our gear — cameras, video equipment, tripods and microphones. Her dusty yard was shaded by heavy papaya trees, offering a bit of relief from the hot sun that had beat down on us for the past few hours.
I sat on a small wooden stool, worn smooth.
Afi’s brothers crowded onto a splintered bench that leaned against a tree trunk. Afi and her mother sat close together, a microphone just a few inches from their heads.
The interview went smoothly. But my mind is one of a journalist. So I sat there, gnawing on my pen cap, wondering what my “angle” would be.
My thoughts were interrupted when one of the child development center workers leaned close and began whispering to me.
She told me that 8-year-old Afi had been to school for only three months in her entire life. Yet, just a few weeks ago she had tested eighth out of the 50 children in her class.
This quiet little girl in front of me, the one who swept the dirt yard of her family’s compound at this very moment, was brilliant. And it hit me.
Afi wasn’t a rebellious child who had been reformed by Compassion. She was relatively healthy. Her parents loved her and had never abused her.
But if not for the support of Compassion, Afi would have slipped through the cracks. She would have spent entire days on the futile task of sweeping that very dirt yard.
I don’t know if she would have found some other way to further her education. I don’t know if God would have provided some other way for her to overcome.
But I don’t have to wonder about those things. Afi is in school now. She is learning and growing every day.
I know that she has opportunities that didn’t exist for her a year ago. And I know that she has not slipped through the cracks.
I believe Afi’s world has been changed.
But I also believe that Afi will change the world.
That is Afi’s angle.
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Continue Reading ›“How many children are at the project we’re going to?” I asked the Compassion worker as we finished up lunch.
“One hundred ninety-nine,” she answered. What an odd number. She must have noticed my confused look.
“They lost a child last month.”
I wished with everything that “lost a child” literally meant lost a child. As in just misplaced for a few days. She would be back soon. But I knew that wasn’t the case.
“What happened to her?” someone else at the table asked. I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I couldn’t acknowledge what “lost” really meant.
Read the rest of the entry at I’m Just Sayin’
10 Questions With Lilliam Sánchez
Lilliam Sánchez has been married to her husband, Francisco, for six years, and they are pregnant with their first child. She is the youngest of three sisters and one brother.
Lilliam was born in Ciudad Sandino, and she and her family have lived there for many years.
Lilliam is an active member of Betania Baptist Church. She has been at that church for nine years, serving as Sunday school teacher and church secretary. She’s worked for Compassion since 2003 and has been a Partnership Facilitator (PF) since October 2007.
1. What are the main responsibilities of your position?
As a facilitator, I help strengthen the church to reach results in the four areas of our work with children: spiritual, emotional, cognitive and physical.
For example, in the physical area, we want children to choose good health habits and to be healthy, so I try to see if that result is being reached or not, because we don’t want it just to be written in paper.
In the cognitive area, it is not about spending more money on a computer course for the children. It is about the child’s learning and how he or she is using the resources. And so on in each area.
The church partner also gives clear information of how the budget is being used, and facilitators help them in this administrative area.
I want to be clear and let you know that the results aren’t seen from one day to another. It is a process.
I believe my responsibility is to help churches become self-sustaining. I don’t want children to be sponsored the rest of their lives. I want a generation that can support themselves and sponsor other children.
I want churches spiritually and economically strong, to be light in the midst of darkness.
This also is a process. It might not be seen in one, two or five years, but we are putting the foundation down now to make them strong to reach maturity.
2. Describe what an average day is like for you.
I have two facets. One is the work I do at the office and the other, the work I do in the field.
The partnership facilitator’s role has changed and I spend most of the time in the field, supporting directly the partner churches.
Normally, I have one day at the office (Monday) to do the office work, like follow-up funding and reporting. I also coordinate monthly activities and evaluate activities of the previous month in the PF meeting, analyzing achievements and weakness to look for better alternatives.
The other four, five or six days (because sometimes I work Saturday and Sunday, if necessary), I am with the church partner. It is arduous work seeing how the children are doing, how the church is working, and looking for alternatives to do better work. Results aren’t be achieved if I stay at the office.
3. How many churches do you visit a day, and how often do you visit a church? (more…)
Continue Reading ›Siriporn: A True Christian Warrior
Some people say that being a champion is hard, but that remaining a champion is even harder. A little warrior champion named Siriporn was going to prove this in her second tae kwon do competition.
This match was very different from her last one. Siriporn was burdened by the expectation of others.
She was known as a champion from having won her last tournament. Everyone in the child development center and from her province expected her to return home a champion again with a gold medal hanging from her neck. She felt like she could not return home unless it was as a winner. She wanted to bring glory for her hometown and to her family.
However, no one knew that the champion was not prepared to fight. (more…)
A Mother’s Burden is Never Too Heavy
In 2007, Carrie McGinty was Executive Director of Donor Development at Proverbs 31 Ministries. She traveled with Compassion to South America. Through a mother’s eyes, Carrie gives us beautiful insight into a mother’s deep love for her son.
In August 2007, Proverbs 31 had joined on as a Compassion representative to speak on behalf of poor children all over the world. And so, Compassion had invited me and other Proverbs 31 ministry staff and speakers to experience firsthand the work Compassion is doing in Ecuador.
To say that this trip was a life-changing experience is an understatement. The people I met deeply touched my heart and I will never be the same.
In the Otavalo mountains of Ecuador I was surrounded by beautiful little girls, dressed in their finest handmade dresses, but out of the corner of my eye I couldn’t help but notice a young man on crutches.
He was all alone. I felt God telling me to go over to him. I left the brightly dressed little girls and walked over. (more…)
Christian Servant Leadership
Servant leadership requires us to surrender our will for God’s will. It requires confession and seeking God’s power to transform us with His servant heart.
Mother’s Day: Every Day of the Year
What’s your mother’s name?
With Mother’s Day coming up, I’ve been reflecting on how much this question really matters. It’s not that a mother’s name is particularly important unto itself; it’s more that the name embodies a woman, a woman with a unique story, a woman who no matter what story she lives every day is deeply connected with her children (and maybe even children that she has not physically given birth to). (more…)
More Precious Than Gold
Being involved with Compassion, both as an employee and as a sponsor, has allowed me — and sometimes forced me — to consider things that I used to not give a whole lot of attention to.
One of those things garnering more of my attention lately is the many blessings God has given me.
It’s not that I’ve never thought about my blessings before. I’m very thankful for everything God’s given me — family, friends, food, shelter, clothing — not to mention the many “extras” that we as American Christians get to enjoy.
Working at a ministry, however, has helped me to focus on the greatest blessing — other than the blessing of His Son — God has given all of us. That blessing is people.
Ministry is first and foremost about people. It’s about building relationships that will last an eternity. It’s about sharing with people the good news about the ultimate relationship with their Savior.
I, like most people, have no problem thinking about the family I come home to everyday as a precious blessing from God, but here is where my time with Compassion has challenged me.
My family isn’t just my wife and two kids anymore. My family now also includes my sponsored child, Kimberly, who lives in Guatemala.
Kimberly may have started out as a monthly “feel good” payment, but many letters, pictures and prayers later, she has become — like family — more precious than gold.
There are always competing items in any household budget, but Kimberly, like the rest of my family, has no competition. She has, for me, become as important as putting food on the table for my family.
Although balancing a budget is never easy, many are facing even more difficult choices as jobs are being lost across the country. Yet those who find themselves in difficult situations like this are still making the decision to invest in people and not give up on their relationships.
This article, The Not-for-Profit Surge, in Christianity Today talks about one widow’s decision to continue sponsoring three Compassion-assisted children in these difficult financial times. It also talks about how even in tough times, Compassion is doing better than most people would expect. Praise God.
Inside a Healing Waters International Project
Since the Healing Waters International water project opened at the Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church in 2006, church members have had more opportunities to decide on matters that can benefit the ministry and the community of Barrio Mexico in southern coastal town of San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic.
The church’s leadership calls for periodic members’ meetings where all ministry managers update the assembly on their ministry. Since all the ministries overlap in some way, these reports help the church make the best decisions.
The ministries include Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, the Healing Waters International water project, a school and a community holistic vocational center.
These church meetings have become a forum at which the community, represented by the believers, can discuss the best ways to manage resources.
Milqueya is a mother of eight and grandma of seven. She and her husband still live with 11 children and grandchildren at home. Milqueya and her large family enjoy the benefits of the decisions she’s been helping her church make as a voting member. One important decision was the incorporation of the Healing Waters International water project.
In the past, even the least harmful water source wasn’t safe enough for Milqueya. She bought water from the trucks that drove past her home.
Miqueya paid only RD$20 for a 5-gallon water bottle, avoiding the RD$35 price at local stores. But the truck-bought water was making her and her family sick.
“The water caused us stomach diseases. But after we began to drink the water from the church, we are always healthy and we don’t have any stomach problems.”
After the Healing Waters International project began, the community’s health has improved. (more…)
What Is Compassion?
Hey all, Aaron from Compassion Canada here.
We recently asked Pastor Tim Bailey of Hillside Church in London, ON, the question “What is compassion?” We liked his answer so much that we wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!
Her bottom lip quivered as her fingers nervously played with her hair band. Her eyes glanced quickly from side to side, as if expecting to run at any moment. Her knee bounced to the beat of her heart as she listened passively to my questions.
She was a Restavek child from the depths of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and without the knowledge of her owners, she was meeting with us to tell her story.
It was the story of a concrete mattress, early morning chores and constant abuse. It was a story of an uncle who was using her as his own personal slave. (more…)
The Impact of Letter Writing
More than four years have passed since Haminton (age 11) wrote, with the teacher’s help, the first letter to his sponsor. His relationship with his sponsor has grown over the years as both of them share their heart and experiences through their letters.
God Uses Children to Make an Eternal Impact
In the Void of Poverty
The running water in my comfy apartment cannot help the hurt in my heart today. The grande nonfat latte I picked up from my favorite coffee shop didn’t help, either.
American luxuries I once looked forward to now feel empty, as nothing fills the void that Africa left.
Someone once said, “Once you get the dust of Africa on your feet, it will never leave you.”
Every day further away from Rwanda, the more I ache to be there. It’s been six weeks since my return from Africa, yet some moments, I feel as if I just stepped off the plane and into this alternate reality called America.
What does a person do after experiencing poverty firsthand? (more…)
