This is a true story about a young girl in one of Compassion’s child development centers in India.

When you live in extreme poverty, access to clean water is hard to come by, but filthy water seems to make its way to your door with great ease.

Arpita was sitting on her raised bed, getting dressed for the day. While she fussed with the fabric of her frock, she clinched an open safety pin between her teeth. Suddenly, the pin wiggled in her mouth, and Arpita found herself choking. The pin was far enough down that her throat’s natural reaction was to swallow.

The sharp edge of the pin scraped along the inside of her esophagus. Arpita ran to her mother and father to tell them what had happened.

The pin made its way all the way down to her stomach. Arpita’s mother was worried it could do severe damage. She had Arpita drink water. She rubbed her little girl’s tummy. But nothing could make the pain go away. She decided to take Arpita to the hospital.

Arpita’s father went to the Compassion project, asking the pastor to have the children pray. An odd request, considering Arpita’s parents weren’t Christians. But they still believed in the power of prayer.

The children prayed. Fervently. Tears streamed down their little faces as they pleaded for God to rescue their friend and classmate.

Meanwhile, Arpita’s doctor performed an x-ray of Arpita’s stomach. Their worst fears were confirmed. The pin was open … and it had lodged in the lining of her stomach.

Short of a miracle, the doctors were going to have to perform a rather risky surgery to open up Arpita’s stomach and remove the pin.

But our God is the God of miracles.

Watch the video to see how the story plays out.

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Describe this photo with one word.

It was taken in 2004, in Bangladesh, by Tom Kimmell.

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Hello. My name is Meredith Dunn. I’m the web team’s new intern, and I have never blogged before.

I recently graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Business Marketing. I can honestly say that I have a true passion for business and a genuine love for marketing. They’re challenging, they inspire, they’re innovative, and they’re excellent examples of competition in our socially saturated and economically dependent culture.

At the same time, marketing stimulates and increases jobs, technology, products and services, as well as creates economic stability for our country and the world. Ever since my first week of college, I have wanted to be a business woman, never once having changed my major or my mind.

That being said, upon graduating, I was very apprehensive about entering into the “Corporate America” setting. I despised the idea of reporting to an office, sitting in a cubical behind a computer, and being forced to substitute “number crunching” for human contact.

More than that, I have a deep, intrinsic fear that I will get lost in some cosmic void, becoming obsessed with work, money, the stock market, and most of all … myself.

I have witnessed such lifestyles. The selfish pursuit of wealth has left its captives devastated, lonely, and feeling as though their lives are without an innate meaning or profound purpose.

Scared of becoming yet another cog in this immortal and endless machine, I desperately wanted to find a place to work that would fulfill the deepest passion and longing in my soul: to make a difference.

I think that any Christ-follower, because of the change that Jesus has made in his or her heart, wants every area of life to be reflective of His image and productive for His kingdom. He has in fact called some to go to “Corporate America” to be a light. Others He has called to the medical field, mission field, or asked that they simply mow a field. Whatever the individual case may be, God has absolutely created and fashioned each of us with a specific talent, tool, or trade that we are to use for His glory.

My new journey begins here, at Compassion, where I will be interning for the next six weeks. I am working in the marketing department, and as I said earlier, I’m on the web team.

For those of you who noticed, a first-time blogger might not be the best asset to a technologically savvy web team. But God has a sense of humor, and so here I sit blogging to you, my webby friends.

As an outlet of emotions as well as an avenue of ideas, opinions and some much needed help, I will be writing to you frequently to keep you posted on the inner workings and latest happenings of Compassion.

My specific task is to create a new marketing campaign that will not only spur and maintain your dedicated interest, but hopefully spark the interest and hearts of others.

As I attempt to complete this assignment, I would truly appreciate and welcome your input, thoughts, suggestions, and constructive criticism (note: criticism is the last on the list) It is my hope to craft a marketing campaign that will be effective and efficient in gathering sponsors for our children.

You, Mr. and Mrs. Reader, are the target market. It is your attention that we want to capture and captivate. It is you we want to engage and involve. And with that being said, please be open and honest as I come to you with questions, ideas, etc. You know we will.

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Some people ask why we focus on individual child development rather than focusing on community development.

Here’s the answer - straight from the mouth of Tony Neeves, our vice president of international development.

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I have been fighting poverty for more than 30 years and throughout that time I have never seen the potential for devastation that I see in the current global food crisis. I know it’s difficult to imagine that something like rising food costs could be so destructive. It’s not as if hunger rumbles like an earthquake. He doesn’t announce himself like a passing wind of a cyclone. He destroys, but you never see him.

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In an effort to keep you from becoming emotionally disconnected …

This video, featured on Washingtonpost.com, is the most effective video I have seen yet on the global food crisis, in terms of showing the awful reality of poverty.

As I learn more about this crisis, I am increasingly convinced that THIS - the global food crisis - is our opportunity to live out Proverbs 3:27-28.

Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back later; I’ll give it tomorrow” — when you now have it with you. (NIV)

Although Compassion does not currently work in Mauritania, we do work in 24 other countries where you can make a difference.

What will you do?

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See what our friend Eric “chappyphoto” Chapman has done. He created a Servant Life video from his trip to the Philippines. Actually, he did the sound and music. The rest was done under the keen direction of Taylor Robinson at Student Life.

Now, you can read about it and watch about it … uh … yeah. Watch about it.

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Courtesy of Compassion South Korea

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I’m willing to bet that every person, at some point during your involvement with Compassion, ponders some variation of the following question:

“Does Compassion’s ministry really work? Compassion knows how to share stories, but how do I know it’s actually making the difference they claim?”

Guess what? We’ve wondered the same thing. So 11 years ago we set out to get proof. We started a program called “It Works.” The idea behind this program was to provide undeniable evidence that Compassion is changing lives.

It Works documents the progress of children in Compassion’s programs. We choose our “case studies.” Then we interview, photograph and film the children and their families. Five to seven years later we return to see what God has done. Being 11 years into the program, we are now on our second round of return trips.

During last week’s chapel time we got to see this video and it was too exciting to keep to ourselves.

Meet Maila.

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