The solution for a rebuilt and restored Haiti is proving to be every bit the challenge many predicted. One thing is for certain. The problem is bigger than any one organization, any single government or universal remedy. That doesn’t mean, however, the situation is hopeless. There have already been heroes amid the chaos — heroes that may surprise some.

I once read an article that cited a relief and development organization who said that they couldn’t rely on churches to do the work they needed to do in the third world. They claimed that the needed expertise and skill sets simply weren’t there. It made me scratch my head.

Read the entire post at The Huffington Post

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Here at home, poverty is a single mom in Detroit trying to keep food on the table. In Africa, poverty is a 14-year-old orphaned head-of-household trying to find fresh water for himself and his siblings. The challenge isn’t to choose one over the other. The task is to view two harsh realities through a common lens of compassion and assistance.

Read the entire post at The Huffington Post.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

You’ve heard it mentioned before. In fact, if you’ve been with Compassion long enough, you’ve heard it eight other times already. We have once again received Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars – for responsible financial management.

It would be easy to hear this news and say, “Yeah, yeah, they did it again. They and umpteen other charities, right?”

Well, not exactly.

According to the largest independent evaluator of charities in the nation, receiving the four-star rating nine times is “exceptional.” Only 1 percent of charities has received Charity Navigator’s highest rating as many times as we have.

“We take stewardship very seriously – for the sake of the children we serve and the donors who entrust their giving to us. We are deeply honored to again receive this significant recognition.” – Compassion President Dr. Wess Stafford.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The houseparent had marched me to the school’s dining hall, dragged a metal chair across the concrete floor, and slammed it down in front of my schoolmates. He threw me up on the chair and jammed the candle in my hand.

“Children,” he said, “you cannot serve both God and Satan. Wesley has tried. You cannot burn a candle at both ends without getting burned. Watch what happens when you try.”

Read the entire article at Christianity Today.

After you read the article, come back and let us know what you think. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Wess’ book, Too Small to Ignore.

We’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Live performances will occur in Nashville (7:30 p.m. CT) and Los Angeles (9:30 p.m. CT) and both concerts will be streamed live at HelpHaitiLive.com beginning at 7:30 p.m. CT.

The concerts will feature special performances by Big Kenny, Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Amy Grant, LeeAnn Rimes, Mat Kearney, Jars of Clay, Francis Chan, Rebecca St. James, Matt Wertz, Brandon Heath, Dave Barnes, NEEDTOBREATHE and more.

Viewing online at HelpHaiti.com is free. Tickets for the live performances are priced between $25 and $75 and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.com and all Ticketmaster locations beginning today, as well as through:

• The Ryman box office: 800-745-3000 or ryman.com
• Live Nation for The Wiltern

All net proceeds from this event will support our relief efforts in Haiti. Visit HelpHaitiLive.com to learn more.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Our church partners continue to search the tent cities daily to locate the rest of the children. In addition, regionally based partnership facilitators continue to search the countryside to find children who may have relocated outside of the city after the quake.

Classes have resumed in nine of the eleven universities where our Leadership Development Program students are enrolled, 62 students are attending class again. However, 26 of our students for various reasons (sickness linked to the earthquake, stress, trauma, formal interdiction from some parents, etc.) have not returned to school.

Our leadership team is proceeding with the repairs of our three-level office building in Port-au-Prince. Repair work is expected to go until the end of July. A local firm is responsible for the repair but an expert from Engineering Ministries International is in the field for the work supervision.

Two psychologists have been hired for a six-month contract to design a plan to help meet the psychological needs of our registered children, siblings, relatives and church staff members.

Our initial objective for addressing the temporary and transitional shelter needs of our beneficiaries was to provide tarps to 4,000 families in the urban areas, and corrugated metal sheets, wood frames and nails to 2,000 families located in the rural areas.

So far, we have distributed 4,237 tarps to complete the tarp distribution activity. Some families were given two tarps based on need. Also, more than 1,300 families received corrugated metal sheets and wood frames in rural areas. Another 700 will be served as soon as possible.

About 8,000 registered children and 7,000 siblings and parents were seen through our mobile medical clinics. Malaria and typhoid tests have been given to patients who also received medicine, if needed, or are referred to the hospital or a health center for follow-up.

As most of our child development centers also have a school where many of the children attend, our plan to provide transitional meeting places until the damaged centers can be rebuilt is providing school equipment to replace some of what has been lost.

The Haitian government has reopened schools and extended the school term by through August. Most of the schools are allowing children to go home at noon because of the extreme heat, to minimize the amount of time the children are kept under the tarps and canopies.

We are processing letters and gifts for all child development centers in Haiti. If you send a gift, please do not specify how it should be used. It is very difficult for our Haiti staff to follow through with the request.

Until further notice we are not conducting any travel to Haiti (e.g., sponsor visits, individual relief efforts, tours, vision trips, etc.).

All of the affected child development centers have resumed activities, meeting under tarps or tin roofs. All of the significantly affected centers are meeting three times a week.

Although the full scope of regular activities is not currently taking place at child development centers and child survival programs significantly affected by the earthquake, affected church partners are continuing to conduct camps to help address the psychological, physical, nutritional, and cognitive needs of our registered children, as well as the mothers and the babies participating in our Child Survival Program (CSP).

In general, our church partners will host these camps until the development centers are rebuilt or activities can be relocated to a safe indoor location.

Camp activities focus on five areas:

• occupational therapy including art, sports and games
• cognitive therapy including earthquake and natural disaster education
• group therapy for children under 8 years old
• individual therapy for children over 8 years old
• immunization against polio, measles, tetanus and hepatitis A

For the CSP camps, two to three Child Survival Programs are grouped together for efficiency, depending on their geographic location.

• Download a PDF listing all the child development centers and child survival programs in Haiti and categorizing each center and program as: not directly affected, moderately affected or significantly affected.
• Was My Sponsored Child Affected by That Crisis? – A blog post that explains our crisis reporting process
• Pictures from Haiti taken by Compassion staff and contractors
• Images showing the approximate location for the earthquake’s epicenter in relation to our child development centers in Haiti
• Heart for Haiti, a group to connect and pray with people who sponsor children in Haiti
• See what is typically inside a disaster relief kit
• Subscribe to country-specific crisis updates, prayer requests and stories for each country where you sponsor a child
• Purchase a Compassion Help Haiti t-shirt

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The last two months of the year have traditionally been known as “the season of giving.” Whether it is the good cheer of the holidays or the appeal of potential tax deductions, the year’s end seems to prompt charitable giving . . . This year, I expect that end-of-year appeals will feature a double plea for generosity. Not only will they rely on the tried and true annual “season of giving” sentiment, but they will also likely include some version of the nearly ubiquitous theme:

In these tough economic times…

Now more than ever…

In today’s climate…

. . . But what are we really saying? If we are saying that this is the season for giving or that current economic conditions merit increased generosity, aren’t we implying that giving is unnecessary at other times of the year or when the American economy is strong?

Read more at newsweek.washingtonpost.com

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Wess Stafford could be a rising star among evangelical leaders, filling his days with speaking engagements and guest appearances on TV talk shows.

He could be driving a luxury car, living in a mansion and coasting on his achievements as CEO and president of Colorado Springs-based Compassion International.

He wants none of it.

His life is all about helping poverty-stricken kids in the world through the faith-based organization he’s run for 16 years.

“I think I got this job because I care more than anybody else,” Stafford says.

Read the rest of the article at the gazette.com, as well as some edited excerpts from the interview.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The eight-minute segment aired on Moody Radio on July 31.

[gplayer href="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/my-best-day-in-ministry/moody-radio-broadcast.mp3" ] Prime Time America [/gplayer]

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates