Who’s in Charge?

So, an emperor, a chief and a queen are all in a room together. The emperor is from Uganda. The chief is from the Dominican Republic. And the queen is from the Philippines. Who’s in charge?

Watch Who’s in Charge? and subscribe to Compassion YouTube for more stories.

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A Solution for Infant Mortality

Think about it for a second. A birthday may be the most special day in a little kid’s life. Yet nearly 9 million kids a year never make it to their fifth birthday.

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children sitting at a bench eating

Highly Vulnerable Children: How Do We Help Them?

Our Highly Vulnerable Children initiative deals with poor children who find themselves in very critical conditions demanding special attention and assistance in order to survive.

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mother reading a book to a smiling little boy

The Difference is Jesus

Not too long ago, Kelina wasn’t your ideal mother. She would spill her anger over onto her three children, hitting them every day. Her children were scared of her.

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Leadership Development Program Students are Missionaries

Clip two from our video interview with the Moody Bible Institute scholars.

In this clip, Tony explains how Leadership Development Program students are missionaries to their classmates.

Watch Student Missionaries and subscribe to Compassion YouTube for more stories.

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Bringing Joy: My Best Day in Ministry

Kenneth Kataryeba, a learning and support specialist for East Africa, shares the story of a girl in a wheelchair whom he just met, and how bringing joy to children and helping lift them from the misery of poverty is how he really gets paid.

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God’s Agents of Change: Unscripted

In late July we interviewed our Moody Bible Institute scholarship recipients using questions you submitted here. We filmed the interview and will be sharing clips from the session with you over the next few weeks.

In the first clip, which is just over 13 minutes long, you’ll get to see how Richmond, Tony, Michelle and Jimmy interact with one another.

You’ll get a taste of the strength of their relationships with one another and with God.

And you’ll get a little insight into what Jimmy probably asked his sponsor when they met at Catalyst 2009.

Beyond getting to know them a little better, by learning what these agents of change are studying at Moody and why they chose their fields of study, you’ll also hear, among other things:

  • Tony speak about his call to serve teenagers
  • Michelle and Richmond share about their desires to develop strong Christian leaders in the Philippines and Uganda
  • Jimmy relate what life was like before he was sponsored

Enjoy.

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A Water Wake-Up Call

Water poverty Ninety-nine percent of the time, I get ready for my day after my 6½-year-old goes off to school. My 15-month-old daughter takes her morning nap around this time, and my 3-year-old plays on starfall.com. It just works better this way.

But for whatever reason, one morning last month I woke up early — too early in my opinion, and I could not fall back asleep.

“Might as well get up,” I thought. So, I got a shower in and, wouldn’t you know, not 10 minutes after I stepped out, I hear a loud “CHUG CHUG CHUG!” coming from my cellar.

I ignored it (mainly because I don’t like going into the cellar) and went to brush my teeth. No water.

CHUG CHUG CHUG.

Great.

After mustering up my courage, I ventured down into the cellar where I could hear the pump or softener making a loud racket.

Now, I’m not a Mrs. Fix-It by any means, but I did know that I should probably turn off the breaker so whatever it was wouldn’t burn out. (Pat myself on the back …)

My husband told me to call the plumber, and thankfully by 3:30 that afternoon, the plumber had dug up our well and found that the iron in the water had corroded part of the well pump pipe (or something like that), which caused the pump to stop pumping the water up.

Purely maintenance, but I was happy the problem was solved. To a degree anyway.

I was informed that I was not to use the water for a couple days so that the filter could go through a few cycles to clean the water.

“Roughly 12 percent of the world’s population, or 884 million people, do not have access to safe water.”

“Yeah, okay, no problem,” I thought, but I soon realized that I use water for way more things than I thought:

  • brushing my teeth
  • taking a bath or shower (which I had to chuckle at, because God made sure I was up before this little event happened … am I that bad before I shower?)

  • rinsing off the dishes
  • running the dishwasher
  • running the washing machine
  • cooking

  • ice
  • flushing the toilet — which was okay to do after they fixed the pump, the water was just a murky gray.
  • washing my hands

“Diarrheal diseases can be reduced by more than 40 percent through the simple practice of washing hands with soap and water.”

“The average person in the developing world uses a little more than 2.5 gallons of water each day for drinking, washing and cooking. Whereas the average person in the developed world uses 13 gallons per day only for toilet flushing. “

My “water poverty” problem lasted only a few days and just required some simple adjustments to our lifestyle. My husband picked up several gallons of water on his way home from work, which allowed us to continue in a fashion pretty close to normal. But as I waited for him to get home with the water, I stood in my house — and I broke down.

What about my sponsored children?

Where do they get their water?

How far do they have to travel?

Is it clean?

“Water-related diseases are the second biggest killer of children worldwide. This is around 5,000 deaths a day.”


Sources: www.who.int, www.wateraid.org, www.unicef.org





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Catalyst 2009: It Could Have Been Me

Catalyst 2009 – When I watch the video, I see that this could have been me in different circumstances. I see that this can be my sponsored child.

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chart depicting global poverty levels

The Ability to Eliminate Extreme Poverty Is Just a Matter of Priorities

The Church’s ability to eliminate extreme poverty is just a matter choosing to do so. We used to say that 40,000 children under age 5 die every day of hunger or preventable diseases. Today, that number is 24,000. These statistics show that in 20 years the number of children who die every day of hunger or preventable diseases has been cut in half. Yet, the birth rate is actually going up. The population is increasing.

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My Best Day in Ministry: The Day I Was Used Most by God

Dan Trumble, a managerial accountant in Finance Business Partner Support, tells a story of one man’s salvation brought about in a way that only God can orchestrate.

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Give Up On Serving the Poor?

I read a blog post the other day that I want to share with you. It’s titled Why I Stopped Serving the Poor, and it was written by Claudio Oliver of Curitiba, Brazil. His grandparents founded the Salvation Army in Brazil.

“Without exception, rich and poor have the same conviction that what they need is something that the market, money, the government or some other agency can offer them.”

I don’t remember how I stumbled across his post, but I do know it rocked me to the core. And it’s a pretty timely subject since Saturday is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

“The only way to remain with the poor is if we discover that we are the miserable ones. We remain with the poor when we recognize ourselves, even if well disguised, in him/her who is right before our eyes. When we can see our own misery and poverty in [the poor], when we realize our own needs and our desperate need to be saved and liberated, then and only then will we meet Jesus and live life according to His agenda.”

Pretty much every word I read resonated deeply within me. It was refreshing to hear a Christian talk in such a counter-cultural way about poverty.

“Jesus doesn’t have any good news for those who serve the poor. Jesus didn’t come to bring good news of the Kingdom to those who serve the poor; he brought Good News to the poor. He has nothing to say to other saviors who compete with him for the position of Messiah, or Redeemer.”

The thing that struck me most was the author’s humility. He speaks about his own journey with a transparency that gives credence to his words.

“Over the years I’ve discovered that the very position of serving the poor from a commitment to “liberate” them, has been filled with a sense of superiority.”

I have been racking my brain for days trying to come up with a way to get you interested enough to read the post. After many abandoned attempts, I decided to just take the direct route.

You should read the article, Why I Stopped Serving the Poor. I promise … it will be worth your time.

“I have given up on serving the poor. I’m going back to encountering the poor and finding myself in them.”

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