What Happens After a Hurricane Hits My Child’s Country?
Many of you have asked about the impact Hurricane Ida had on your children as it moved through El Salvador. As we receive specific details from the El Salvador office about they’ve been affected we will contact you.
The good news is that no children were physically hurt. But we understand that you want more information.
Here’s an “on the ground” perspective from Shaun Groves and the Compassion Bloggers.
Continue Reading ›What happens when a hurricane hits the U.S.?
Telethons. Thousands donated.
FEMA. Thousands housed.
Hospitals. Thousands healed.
Insurance. Thousands rebuild.
What happens when a hurricane hits a house made of mud?
When earth by the ton gives way and slides through a neighborhood?
When beds, clothes, and families are swallowed up by flood waters and mud?
What happens when all this happens in a small village in the smallest nation in Central America? With almost no government resources? Without insurance and a hospital nearby or a car to visit it? What happens then?
The Church happens.
Read what that means on Shaun’s blog. And watch the video he included in the post.
Living in Two Worlds
How difficult is it for the Moody scholars to transition between the poverty of their homes and life in the U.S.?
HIV Infections in Children
Here’s question four in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.
The answer to Wednesday’s question is yes; a person with AIDS always has HIV.
HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
A person may have HIV for many years without developing AIDS. An HIV-positive person is considered to have AIDS only when his or her white blood cell (CD4) count drops below the 200-350 range. In fact, until then, a person with HIV may not show symptoms of the infection.
However, an HIV-infected person is still able to transmit the disease to others and may develop AIDS at any time.
Sponsor a Singing Bunny!
Apparently, a singing bunny has made its way into our child sponsorship program in El Salvador. The Compassion Bloggers saw it.
Sponsor a singing bunny in El Salvador.
Thanks for the video Patricia.
On Letter Writing: Would You Rather … ?
The topic of letter-writing always sparks lively discussions. It even seems to spontaneously come up in posts on other topics.
So seeing as we genuinely value your input (and OK … I admit … in an attempt to stimulate a discussion), I hereby pose the following question to you:
Would you rather receive more general letters from your sponsored child more often or more detailed letters on a less frequent basis?
Discuss.
Does a Person With AIDS Always Have HIV?
Here’s question three in our lead-up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.
The answer to yesterday’s question is 72 percent.
Of the more than 2 million deaths worldwide in 2007 caused by AIDS, 72 percent of those occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.
That statistic shows the devastating toll AIDS is taking on the continent of Africa.
Source: 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic,Executive Summary, pp. 5, 18, http://www.unaids.org
Compassion Bloggers: Live Video Chat From El Salvador
You’re invited to a live video chat from El Salvador with the Compassion Bloggers.
It’s taking place on Wed., Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. CST at www.livestream.com/compassion.
Opportunity Knocking: Knockout the Poverty Bullies
Will you respond when calamity knocks? When a poor child has no defenses? When she’s cornered by the bullies of poverty?
AIDS Deaths
Here’s question two in our lead up to World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD — your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.
The answer to yesterday’s question is “true.”
HIV infections are found throughout the world, and developing countries are particularly vulnerable to the devastation caused by HIV and AIDS.
In poverty-stricken countries, many people do not understand the risk of HIV or how to prevent it. Once infected, they do not have the same access to treatment as do those suffering from the disease in the developing world.
Source: The Skeptic’s Guide to the Global AIDS Crisis by Dale Hanson Bourke (Colorado Springs, Colo.: Authentic Books, 2006), p. 9
HIV Infections
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1. So, over the next two weeks we’ll be asking you some questions about HIV and AIDS.
If you answer that day’s question correctly, you’ll be eligible to win a free CD — your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.
Here’s the first question.
Tomorrow morning we’ll publish the answer to this question in the comment section of this post.
The Twinkie Is Getting Fatter
Friends! It has been much too long. I’m sorry for my extended leave of absence as of late. But I promise … I have a pretty good excuse. Let’s catch up, yes?
Let’s talk Twinkies first.
The Twinkie Project has undergone some serious plastic surgery. Face-lift. Tummy tuck. Lipo. The works. We’ve trimmed her up real nice and purdy. But don’t fret, it’s all for the best.
Who was the surgeon, you ask? Thankfully, not me. I did not excel in anatomy.
This project has been handed off to a team, as in several people, who will be taking it to infinity and beyond. Three highly qualified and ridiculously creative gentlemen are now driving the Twinkie Project to another level of awesomeness. I am still participating in helping to bring it to life, just on a smaller, less time-consuming scale.
Among the many changes that it has seen, the Twinkie Project has been renamed. Granted, the “Twinkie Project” was never on its birth certificate, so the code name still applies for now.
Without giving too much away, I will say this — it has grown much larger than I would have dared to dream.
Turns out the basic idea behind it — sending young people abroad to broadcast their lives to us and teach us about countries and peoples we don’t know — is not so new. As a matter of fact, there are several other organizations and companies that have pioneered this concept.
Only thing is … Compassion is the only one among the crowd that really does something so beautifully different — partnering with the church; equipping pastors to minister to their communities more holistically. We empower and enable people who have the hearts for ministry but not the means.
So while our little “Twinkie” looks like the other Twinkies on the outside, we’re filled with something entirely different on the inside.
Who knew Twinkies could make for such spiritual metaphors? Moving on. (more…)
Child Sponsorship Is Not in Vain
My name is Peninah Esianoi Pashile. I was a sponsored child at Imaroro Child Develoment Center in Kenya. I would like to share my story with you and hope that it will be an inspiration and encouragement.
