1. How long have you been in your current position with Compassion El Salvador, and what is your job?

Two years. I am a supervisor within the Sponsor Donor Services department.

2. What are the main responsibilities of your position?

I make sure the sponsors have up-to-date information about the children. Not just the letters, but also new cases. I keep the biannual report updated. I make sure that pictures and information are high quality and are sent on time.

3. What is an average day like for you? (more…)

I will never forget something a dear friend said to me years ago. I was struggling in my Christian walk. I had hit what I presumed to be rock bottom. I told him that I had lost all hope for happiness.

“Then I will hope for you,” he said, matter-of-factly.

What? Is it possible to carry someone else’s hope? What a beautiful, selfless sentiment.

I eventually pulled through my situation. Peace came. And I wonder how much of it was because of my friend’s odd but wonderful offer.

Over the years, this concept of holding on to hope for someone else has stuck with me. To be honest, it still sounds impossible. But I hope not. Because I recently heard a heartbreaking story from Bangladesh. A story about lost hope. (more…)

For five years, I had the privilege of leading the tours of our Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs. It was exhilarating showing adults and children the part they could play in bringing poverty to an end by sponsoring a child.

God blessed me over and over during my years as a tour guide and allowed me to see His spirit move in the hearts of tour guests on behalf of children in poverty. During that time, He also revealed to me the presence of a small but powerful lie being used against us every day – the lie of poverty.

First, poverty lies to the poor by telling them over and over that they do not matter, that no one cares for them, and that they are forgotten. Poverty speaks to the heart of a person (especially children) and tells them, “Give Up!”

But that’s only one part of the lie of poverty. The lie is actually a double-edged sword, and it cuts us as well.

With stealth and determination, the lie of poverty tries to redefine what sponsorship means. It causes us to doubt to the difference we are making in the lives of our children.

Have any of these thoughts ever gone through your mind?

• My sponsorship is insignificant, and letters to my sponsored child don’t matter.
• How can a simple thing like a letter make any difference in the life of a child?
• It takes so long for my letter to get to my child, there’s no way a relationship could ever be built.
• They don’t know me and I don’t really know them! Poverty is so big, a simple letter couldn’t possibly be the weapon to use to fight it.

Have you bought into the lie of poverty? Has it fooled you?

As a sponsor, I take great pride in fighting the lie spoken to the poor. I fight it diligently and with fervor. I have to because our enemy is diligent and determined, too.

The truth is that our letters may be the most critical element in releasing our sponsored children from poverty.

The time we spend on writing is sacrificial. The letters we write are mighty weapons that slay the enemy and cut him down at the knees.

I have seen the faces of sponsored children when they talk about receiving letters from their sponsors. They have told me with tears in their eyes how letters from you are the very strength that gives them the courage to keep going and to not give up.

I have met sponsored children who are now adults and still have every precious letter and sticker their sponsors ever gave them. Letters matter!

Letters are weapons against the enemy! Sponsorship makes ALL the difference in the world! Don’t be fooled by the lie!

Write your child now.

Several weeks ago, Compassion internally released a book communicating its brand, its mission and its character to employees worldwide. I eagerly flipped through the pages, as I always do, looking for photography by my co-workers.

On the second page was our mission statement, “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name,” and a picture of Roselyn.

I remember the first time I read about Roselyn. It was my first month on the job. Edwin Estioko in the Philippines had written a story about her in September 2007: (more…)

They are the most heartbreaking reports I’ve seen during my 12 months in this job. (Not that you can really quantify or categorize something like this, but last week was the first time I cried reading a crisis report.)

Cyclone Aila. If you haven’t heard about it, don’t feel bad. It really hasn’t been in the news much at all.

None of the major world news sites say anything about it. When I checked yesterday, they all had headlines about singing sensation Susan Boyle, but nothing about Cyclone Aila. However, just because there are no headlines doesn’t mean there is no news.

Over the past week, David Adhikary, our communications specialist in Bangladesh, has been sending photos and reports from the midst of the cyclone’s aftermath. They are devastating. Here are a few excerpts from his reports …

“During the disaster night, the children and their families suffered a lot. The cyclone took down their houses, and after that the dams were destroyed. Some of children had to stand in water for the whole night. The center staff found many of the children in a wet condition.”

“The Compassion center staff and the parents of the children are very anxious about the aftereffects of the flood. The dead animals could cause dangerous diseases, and the probability of malaria is very high.”

“There is not a single house in the village that hasn’t been affected by floodwater. The village is near the sea and the river water is very salty. The floodwater mixed with their water sources and made it impossible to drink.

“The water crisis is the major problem for the people. People were seen drinking the polluted floodwater to put off their thirst. The floodwater is very dirty and stinky. The dead animals and fish are floating all over the water. Children of that area are also drinking the same water.”

Worse …

“The affected families have taken shelter at the nearest market. The families are staying with the animals in the market. The marketplace is badly polluted as the people are using the place for all kinds of uses.

“There is no toilet and the people are using free spaces for a toilet.

“The adult girls are staying with their families in the marketplace. Their parents are very anxious about their daughters because at nighttime they have to stay with lots of unknown people together in the marketplace.”

And perhaps saddest of all …

“This morning we received very sad news about one of the children we assist. Her mother committed suicide just after the cyclone disaster. Their house was broken down and she committed suicide out of her frustrations. She lost her husband last year during Cyclone Sidr. She faced many challenges last year and finally gave up. [The children] are now orphans and vulnerable. They lost their father and mother in two consecutive cyclones. Please join us in pray for these children.”

Oh, God.

It feels like it’s too much, doesn’t it? When I read stuff like this, I find myself begging Jesus to hurry up and return and make all things right. It’s difficult not to get overwhelmed with despair.

The crazy thing is, though, God has placed Compassion right in the midst of this mess. Because of our unique church-based structure, our child development centers are distributing food and water where even relief agencies haven’t been able to access!

Families who lost their homes and have nowhere to cook are receiving hot meals at the child development centers. During the next few weeks, the centers will provide them with dry food, oral rehydration therapy and water purification tablets.

Here are a few of David’s photos. As you look at them, pray for the people in the photos and the thousands more you don’t see who are in similar desperate situations.

We have set up a fund if you would like to make a donation to help the victims of Cyclone Aila.

If you sponsor a child in Bangladesh and your child has been affected by Cyclone Aila, we will contact you as soon as we receive information about your child.