What do you “half” to say about this?

The Child Survival Program . . .

Popularity: 44% [?]

I was driving to work the other day and was blessed to hear one of my favorite songs, “He Reigns” sung by the Newsboys. I’m not sure how old the song is but every time I hear it I actually see in my mind the African plains.

For some reason the song just reaches all the sensory parts of my brain. I can smell the Amazon rain and hear the song rising over the noise. It makes me want to sing louder and love deeper in a way that I don’t always connect with on a daily basis.

Why? I don’t exactly know, but there is something extremely powerful to me in this song and the thought of coming together with other believers around the world in a grateful choir singing “Glory, Glory, Halleluiah, He reigns, He reigns.” It gives me chills.

It’s the song of the redeemed rising from the African plain.
It’s the song of the forgiven drowning out the Amazon rain.
The song of Asian believers filled with Gods holy fire.
It’s every tribe, every tongue, every nation, the love song born of a grateful choir.

(chorus)
And all Gods children singing glory, glory, halleluiah, He reigns He reigns. (2x)

Let it rise above the four winds, caught up in the heavenly sounds.
Let praises echo from the towers of cathedrals to the faithful gathered underground.
With all the bells rung from the dawn of creation some were meant to persist.
With all the bells rung from a thousand steeples, none rings truer then this.

And this is my favorite part.

and all the powers of darkness tremble at what they’ve just heard, cause all the powers of darkness can’t drown out a single word.

On that particular morning, the lyrics choked me. I kept picturing myself singing “glory, glory, halleluiah, He Reigns . . .” as a part of the grateful choir around the world like I normally do. Only this time I was holding my 16-pound little boy, Edison who is four and a half months old and standing next to a woman from West Timor holding her 15-month-old little girl, Maria, who weighs 10 pounds and hardly has the strength to eat. I couldn’t even sing with this thought in my mind.

I probably should have pulled over and parked so I had the time to sob before Jesus about this powerful picture and ask what He would have me do about it today, in this moment. Sadly, I didn’t take the time to do that as I was in a hurry, of course . . . but I suspect it won’t be long that I can outrun that time with Jesus. I know it’s coming.

For now I’m ever more grateful that Compassion allows me to do something for the women standing beside me (figuratively speaking) around the world with their babies . . . other women who don’t even know Jesus yet, women who can’t write their name and have to beg for food to feed their babies or worse than that have to watch their babies die from starvation, malnutrition, diarrhea, or whatever other illness claims their lives.

I know that I can love these women in a tangible way through Compassion’s Child Survival Program. I know that I can help churches in their area reach out to them and offer not only needed health resources and nutrition but a different life, an opportunity — and not just one but multiple opportunities. Opportunity and success helps women become more confident and confident women can raise more confident children.

Thank you Newsboys, and whoever wrote that song, for staying open to the Spirit of Jesus. I think somehow it is a picture of heaven to me. I know that I want more people in the grateful choir with me holding cute babies.

Popularity: 42% [?]

There’s a journal sitting on the table next to my bed. There’s also one sitting on the table next to the rocking chair in Edison’s room. I have one to write my thoughts and feelings through my pregnancy and the other to journal through the first few months and years of Edison’s life.

Would you be surprised if I told you they were both empty?

Maybe someday I’ll regret not writing more during my pregnancy and this time as a new mom, but right now all the inspiring thoughts I can get out of my pen go in Edison’s baby book . . . and most of the rest of my thoughts, before he was born, weren’t that inspiring.

For some reason I just can’t write about how awful I felt trying to sleep every night in my bed with my every craving available in my refrigerator downstairs, or at the very least, at the neighborhood grocery store. I seriously don’t even want to try to remember the number of nights I tried to sleep in a sitting-up position in a soft comfy chair because my nose was so stuffed up I couldn’t breathe — and I didn’t even have a cold. As much as I want to complain, and probably did at the time, I know I really had it easy.

And the stuff I want to remember . . . like how cool it was to feel him kicking around inside me and how it is just a little freaky and amazing that God can even do such a miracle in me . . . would be really hard to “get” from words on a page. Right now, I remember these things every time I look at my son’s face and see that he is growing right before my eyes.

So, who am I to regret not doing something so indulgent as writing all this stuff down when most of the new mothers around the world can’t even read, let alone write their own name? Many of these women wouldn’t even believe that their words counted or their thoughts mattered. And I wonder, is it possible to raise a child with self esteem if you don’t have it yourself?

And really, how am I so different from them anyway? Don’t all mothers everywhere want the same things for their children? I still remember the first time Edison smiled at me on purpose. Now I even get to hear him laugh. Can you imagine not hearing your child laugh?

Child Survival Program multiplies the amazing sound of laugher around the world. It is the sound of health, it is the sound of life, it is the sound of Love . . . the kind Jesus was known for.

Popularity: 43% [?]

You know all those precious email forwards you get from your great aunt brimming with puppies and kittens and babies? The ones with soft music playing in the background and inspirational phrases slowly fading in and out of the screen, which you quickly delete from your inbox?

Well, I delete those too, but I think there must be something in the water here at Compassion, because I think I might be becoming one of them! Each time I receive a cute baby picture from one of our field countries, I call my cube mates over to my desk so we can ooh and ahh over their chubby cheeks. And these babies each have an incredible story behind them — babies whose lives have been changed and even saved through Compassion’s Child Survival Program.

So I couldn’t help making my very own cute baby montage for your viewing pleasure. (And I won’t make you listen to any soft elevator music … but I can’t promise that there won’t be puppies.)

Popularity: 52% [?]

Last month, I was reviewing the next newsletter that will be sent to people who support our Child Survival Program. I wasn’t too far into it when the tears started coming. Ok, so it isn’t completely unusual for me to cry while doing my every day work … I mean I do work at Compassion. But this time was different.

This time I could hear my son’s giggle, I could picture his face and I knew that if I had been born in one of Compassion’s ministry countries, most likely neither my son nor I would be alive today.

To think of my now very active, 14 pound, 3 month old and to read about Martha in Peru who, at one time, had two boys (18 months and 3 years old) both of who were 15 pounds and barely able to hold their heads up — an 18 month old that is 15 pounds is one thing but a 3 year old that is 15 pounds. … are you kidding me?

And Edison, my sweet Edison, who was born by c-section after hours of labor that went nowhere will probably be 15 pounds in a few weeks … an average weight for a four-month-old boy in the U.S.

• What would I have done alone in a ramshackle house with a dirt floor after hours of pushing and no baby?
• What would I do now without the multiple child health and development resources that I pour over weekly?
• What would I do without Jesus and the support of my local church community?

It’s a miracle that a small number of women and children in these circumstances actually survive. How can I not do everything I can possibly think of to tell others about what Compassion’s Child Survival Program is doing?

How can I not pray that this program can grow and grow and grow? So the children around the world growing up along with the amazing boy God has blessed me with will have the opportunity to reach their potential.

In a world with a growing global economy it is no longer about children and mothers who are far away, it’s about my next door neighbors … it’s about my own child.

And it is not just about survival it’s about women and children thriving so that they can change their own communities and countries and build a better world.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Yesterday, Emily shared how God revealed His call on her life and what makes our Child Survival Program (CSP) unique among programs that work with infants and mothers. Today, Emily shares her vision for CSP.

6. In addition to the countries where CSP is already in place (Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Thailand and Uganda) what are some countries where you would like to see the program expand to?

Compassion works in developing countries, most of which have high child mortality rates. As I look into the 2006 international statistics on infant mortality, the countries I would hope to see us in are Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Togo* and Tanzania. However, it is very important for us to have reports on infant mortality in all the countries where we work. This will give us direction regarding which countries need priority.

7. Child mortality is a huge problem in developing countries. Do you think the Child Survival Program is having a real impact on this crisis?

Definitely. The CSP beneficiaries are mothers and babies, who are vulnerable in various ways as families live in varying difficult circumstances. If it were not for the Child Survival Program, many children who were malnourished would be either dead or still underdeveloped. Some would be dead from measles infection, but the Child Survival Program helped them receive the vaccine from the nearest medical facility. Some babies would be dead of AIDS, but the CSP supported their mothers by providing them with the right medicine so their children could be born without the virus. Some mothers and children would be dead from malaria, but CSP came in and gave them life by providing mosquito nets. When the Child Survival Program taught a mother the importance of hospital delivery and the mother practiced what she was taught, a healthy baby was delivered in a healthy and clean environment. CSP is making a difference.

8. Tell me your favorite success story from the Child Survival Program. A story that you truly feel CSP made possible.

CSP stories are so many, I do not know which one to choose. But I would like to mention one child who was recruited into the program at 3 months. His mother had just passed away, and he was left under the care of his weak father and a grandmother who was the sole provider in the family. When a Child Survival Program started in their church, the grandmother was notified, so she brought in the baby. As time went by, the child started getting sick. Soon we found the child to be HIV positive. Then and there, the Child Survival Program staff started taking special care of this baby. Through the program, the baby received nutritional supplements, antiretroviral treatment, vaccinations against preventable childhood illnesses, as well as a treated mosquito net. The grandmother was taught how to provide the baby with proper nutrition, and slowly, the baby regained health, was up and about.

9. What is going on with this child and his family now?

The baby boy grew up to be a strong and admirable and gorgeous child. On the child’s fourth birthday the boy had to leave the program — thank God he then went to the Child Sponsorship Program. The boy now has a loving sponsor. Today he is a strong, healthy boy with a future and hope. He is well nourished, receiving education, getting medical care, and has hope for tomorrow.

If it were not for the Child Survival Program, who knows where this precious saint would be today? Maybe dead due to opportunistic infections, maybe malnourished, in and out of a hospital — but CSP saved him. God bless the Child Survival Program.

10. Why should someone become a CSP partner? What is the benefit to the partner?

Everybody should become a partner with the Child Survival Program! Supporting the program means being a part of changing a generation. Supporting CSP is giving children life, hope, a bright future, a chance in life and an opportunity to become all they would like to be when they grow up. The mothers or caregivers receive support and education, which raises their self-esteem and assures their families of an improved standard of living.

Read all the posts in the 10 Questions series.

*Compassion Togo will begin enrolling children later this year.

Popularity: 35% [?]

Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. It’s a simple statement that describes what we’re all about. But really, how does it work? How do we release children from poverty in Jesus’ name?

Brandy Campbell spoke with the ministry leaders of our child development model programs to give you an inside look at how we transform the lives of children in poverty. We’ll share their insights, thoughts and expertise over the next few weeks, but today we begin with Emily Kagiri and the Child Survival Program.

In 2007 Emily Kagiri moved with her husband and children from Kenya to Colorado Springs to take on the role of Child Survival Ministry (CSM) Director here at Compassion. She believes God began preparing her for this role when she was still a child herself.

1. How has God uniquely equipped you to work with the Child Survival Program?

When I was about 18 months old my grandmother was my caregiver. During this time I contracted tuberculosis (TB). There was no treatment for TB during these years, and my family had to completely depend on God for my healing. In Africa we highly believe in divine healing. What else would we do if there was nowhere to get help? While I was recovering, the government of Kenya started providing nutritious foods for the malnourished children in the community. This was my very own child survival program. I became healthy, strong and survived to face life in my world. For the rest of my life, I knew that helping babies like me was what God was calling me to do.

2. So, would you say that your childhood and healing gave you a passion for infants?

I have been there. My heart reaches out for these babies and mothers because I know if only we can have men and women giving to this program, many children will receive hope in life, many will survive the challenges of life, and women will learn who they are in God and will believe in their children.

3. You were instrumental in the success of CSP in Kenya. What made you decide to leave Africa to work with CSP on a more global level?

While I was still in Kenya, God gave me an opportunity to speak up for the children in the Child Survival Program as Compassion Kenya’s CSM director. I knew that if given an opportunity to speak up and touch the lives of women and babies at a larger scope, I would do it. My passion is to help people understand the global need, difficulties and situations of babies and pregnant mothers living in poverty in developing countries, and to show them that if only people would respond to this need many children would see their future years in life and become what they dream to become. So God decided that coming to the States would be the way to use this gracefully given potential. I only followed the leading of God — thank God He had prepared my family for this transition. The bottom line is that my being here has nothing to do with me but everything to do with God.

4. What makes the Child Survival Program unique among other organizations that work with infants and mothers?

The uniqueness of Compassion’s Child Survival Program stands out in one phrase: spiritual development. The fact that our Child Survival Program touches the spiritual being of a mother, a child, a family and a community is unique and makes all the difference in the lives of that family, baby and mother. CSP is a one-to-one home-based program in which staff members visit homes and educate mothers in the child’s own environment. It is then that the actual needs of the baby, mother, family and community will be known, seen and met accordingly.

5. Why did Compassion choose a home-based model for CSP?

The Child Survival Program is primarily home-based because this allows us to address the immediate needs of the baby and mother. When you get into a community and find that most children are malnourished, the best way to get to the root cause of this problem is to visit families in the community. During your visits, you will see and learn what children are fed and why. You also observe any cultural reasons for certain practices. Then you come up with an action plan from a knowledgeable perspective. In home visits, CSP workers teach mothers about parenting practices, including hygiene and nutrition, using their own locally available foods. Only during home visits can you assess whether what you have been teaching has been put into practice. Home visits create one-to-one relationships where mothers can confide in you and share their innermost fears and problems.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of Brandy’s interview with Emily.

Brandy Campbell is a feature writer at Compassion International. When she’s not chatting with Compassion execs, Brandy writes newsletter and web stories about Compassion’s ministry to children in poverty.

Popularity: 32% [?]

If you’ve been following our 15 Christian bloggers on their trip to Uganda you’ve seen only a glimpse of what it’s like to live in extreme poverty. It’s an outside view of Compassion’s ministry.

Today we present part two in a series of blog posts from staffers of Compassion Uganda who will give you an inside look into how Compassion’s ministry operates among the poorest of the poor.

The Child Survival Program (CSP) serves caregivers, infants and toddlers in some of the world’s poorest communities. Caregivers enrolled in CSP are visited each week by dedicated staff, whose passion is to bring health and healing to homes affected by poverty. Patience Musiime, a CSP specialist in Uganda, shares her favorite stories of hope from the Child Survival Program.

In 2004, Uganda opened our first Child Survival Program. At the Bugongi CSP, we have seen so much happen in just four years. In the Bugongi CSP, all of our 20 pregnant mothers have given birth to bouncing, healthy babies. This is a miracle! In Uganda, 200,000 children under the age of 5 die every year. But the babies in CSP are living!

In Uganda’s CSPs, we first understand that a mother must be healthy if she is to take care of her children. So we make sure our mothers go to a licensed health care center for their medical care, both before and after the baby is born. Since hundreds of thousands of mothers and children in Uganda are infected with AIDS, we also make sure to teach our mothers about protecting themselves and their families from this disease. For mothers who have HIV, we arrange medical care and teach them income-generating activities. But CSP is not just about caring for a family’s physical needs. We believe spiritual poverty is just as deadly as physical poverty.

In the first year that the Bugongi CSP was open, two mothers made a commitment to Christ. Today, 75 of our mothers know Christ as their Savior. These mothers are able to attend Bible studies, discipleship classes and home fellowships. Also, when we visit the homes of these mothers, we pray with them and help them understand how much Jesus loves them.We believe that we can end poverty for the families in our Child Survival Programs. If we can teach our mothers income-generating activities, they can help support their families and gain confidence.

Bugongi CSP runs an adult literacy class, and 26 mothers who formerly could not read and write now write their names, do simple arithmetic. and read in the local languages. Five mothers have successfully graduated with certificates in fashion and design. Mothers are also given skills in crocheting and home baking.

If you could visit us at the Bugongi CSP, I would introduce you to so many of our mothers whose lives have been changed. You would meet Mary, mother to Doreen, who tells us, “CSP has helped me through parenting seminars to attain parenting skills. My child now looks healthy. I have learned to read and write. I now can write my name. I gave my life to Christ through evangelism sessions in CSP.”

And you could meet Anne, who is enrolled with her twins Angel and Andrew. She told me, “CSP has done a lot in my life. I have learned how to prepare a rich meal for my children, the importance of immunization and how to live peacefully with other people. I can now talk in public and I really love my children, play with them and teach them.”

CSP is changing lives. So far, we have witnessed 46 of our children transfer to the sponsorship program. These children are well developed physically, spiritually, socially and mentally. All because there are CSP partners who believe in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Popularity: 44% [?]