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	<title>Christian Blog on Child Poverty &#187; Partners</title>
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	<link>http://blog.compassion.com</link>
	<description>Releasing children from poverty in Jesus&#039; name.</description>
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		<title>The Difference is Jesus</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/the-difference-is-jesus/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/the-difference-is-jesus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 27 Oct 2009 07:58:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Marsalina Lekan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Country Staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[christian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[honai]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Indonesia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jesus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kelina]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Guinea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wamena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[West Papau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yosep]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=8072</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Not too long ago, Kelina wasn’t your ideal mother. She would spill her anger over onto her three children, hitting them every day. She never used an empty hand to hit them, but would use rattan to hurt them. Her children were scared of her.
“I started to hit them when my husband wasn’t at [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=b69d7d1a4f20ad9e0faa421c3b54c29e&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8074" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/the-difference-is-jesus.gif" border="0" alt="The difference is Jesus" width="10" height="10" /> Not too long ago, Kelina wasn’t your ideal mother. She would spill her anger over onto her three children, hitting them every day. She never used an empty hand to hit them, but would use rattan to hurt them. Her children were scared of her.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I started to hit them when my husband wasn’t at home.</p>
<p>“I don’t know why it was so easy to get angry with my children. All I know is that when they wouldn’t do something that I had asked, I became angry and started to smite them. My anger was known as a common and frightening morning greeting for them.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Kelina lives in Wamena, West Papua, a small city on the western side of the remote island of New Guinea. Wamena women are known as caring people and responsible mothers. Even though they have two major responsibilities, to go to the farmland and take care of their children every day, they still have love to share with their family.</p>
<p>That responsibility encourages Wamena women to be strong against all challenges. Even when they receive challenges from the unpredictable weather, they always try to give their best. In the middle of the difficult conditions, they still are able to give their love and time for their family.</p>
<p>Wamena women think creatively with the resources they have to survive. Even though they do not own farmland themselves, they rent farmland from others. To pay the cost of the rental of the land, they will share half of the crops with the owner of the land.</p>
<p>Although Kelina owned her own land, she didn’t want to take care of it. She had a bad attitude toward it. As a wife of Yosep, Kelina never showed her thankfulness, preferring to blame her husband, who didn’t work and couldn’t support their needs.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I liked to get angry with him. I even have hit him because he couldn’t support our family financially.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Kelina didn’t know how to give her love to her family in appropriate ways. Since she was young, Kelina’s parents never taught her.</p>
<p>Kelina also did not have a good relationship with God, even though she was born in a Christian home. She didn’t go to Sunday school very often. She preferred to stay at home and sleep rather than to go to church or have a daily prayer life in the morning.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I never knew that building a relationship with God would help me to deal with anything. I just know when I feel angry, I can hurt anyone I like to hurt.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Kelina’s bad attitude didn’t stop at the front door of her house. Kelina liked to gossip about the things going on in her neighborhood.</p>
<p>Kelina once had a fight with one of her relatives who asked for food. She gave her answer with one slap to her relative.</p>
<p>Her bad attitude became a trigger for her to fight with everyone. But then everything changed. <span id="more-8072"></span></p>
<p>As a mother of a baby, she was registered with 34 other mothers in a Child Survival Program in Wamena. It was through being a part of the program that she realized her habits were bad.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I realized I had done a lot of things that hurt everyone. I knew about that from the information that our implementer shared in our meetings.</p>
<p>“Our implementer tells lots of things that remind us to change our bad habits. She taught us not to hit our children. She said that I could teach my children through my attitude as a living model every day. I really thank God because I could join in the program and have a better way of life.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Realizing that her habit all this time was wrong, one day Kelina started to find God. She confessed her sins.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I now ask God to lead my path. I ask for wisdom and have started to have a daily prayer life. I try to start to read the Bible to understand what is called love.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Together with the growth of her spiritual life, Kelina never misses a chance to share the love that she got. She’s become eager to share God’s love to her children every day.</p>
<p>Kelina has become calmer. No one hears the angry voice of a rough mother in the morning anymore. Kelina does not hit her children anymore. She likes to make requests of her children more politely.</p>
<p>The woman who didn’t want to share anything has also become a generous person. She likes to share anything she has.</p>
<p><center><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/kelina-and-christian.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="267" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-8079" /></center></p>
<p>But the transformation was not just accepted automatically by her children. They were not really sure about the love that she wanted to share. Her children thought that it suddenly could disappear one day.</p>
<blockquote><p>“They thought I showed my kindness just for a glance. At first, they still didn’t want to stay near me.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>But after a long struggle to convince her children, Kelina won their hearts. Kelina also has been able to teach her children how to behave.</p>
<p>The woman who never taught her children to take a bath now never misses a day to ask them to do it. Kelina draws the water from the well each day to keep her children clean and healthy.</p>
<p>Even though she still lives in a <em>honai</em>, a Papuan traditional home, Kelina knows how to have a healthy lifestyle with her children.</p>
<p>A <em>honai</em> does not have any windows in order to keep the room warm. Most <em>honai</em> have only one room. It is a round building made from wood and straw for the roof and the floor. The diameter of the smallest <em>honai </em>is about three meters.</p>
<p>Papuans usually use the center of the <em>honai</em> to cook. The family members will use the other side for their needs such as sleeping and other activities. The other parts of the <em>honai</em> are usually used for their pets.</p>
<p>Pigs are a common pet for Papua people. Since they are expensive, Papuans like to keep their pigs inside their <em>honai</em> to keep them safe from thieves.</p>
<p>In these conditions, Kelina has learned how to keep her children healthy. Whenever she cooks meals, she always asks her children to play outside the house because the smoke of the fireplace could make it difficult to breath. Kelina knows that her children’s health is one of the most valuable things now.</p>
<p>Kelina now knows her responsibility as a mother. She likes to wake her children, ask them to take a bath, and prepare their needs to go to the school.</p>
<p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/kelina-weeding.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="167" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8080" />After finishing the morning tasks, Kelina goes to her family’s farmland right in front and beside her house. She starts to clean up the weeds and always brings the youngest child, Christian, almost 2 year old, with her.</p>
<p>Kelina’s children have also become obedient children and have a positive lifestyle.</p>
<p>Everyone could feel the impact of the changes in Kelina’s life.</p>
<blockquote><p>“I know sometimes my neighbors don’t have a good crop to sell. If they don’t have something to eat, I gave them papaya, some ginger, chili or other crops from my farmland for them to sell. It really could help them to survive.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Kelina knows that these changes are because of Jesus. The character of Jesus helps her change her old habits.</p>
<p>Now God blesses what flows from Kelina’s hand and heart.</p>
<p>Visit <a href="http://thedifferenceisjesus.com/" target="_blank">The Difference is Jesus</a> dot com.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>13</slash:comments>
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		<title>The I-Heart Revolution: We&#8217;re All in This Together</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/i-heart-that/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/i-heart-that/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2009 07:20:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Web Team</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Advocacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Multimedia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[heart of compassion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillsong United]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=7415</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ I-Heart is a movement of people helping people, showing the love of God in practical ways, wherever need exists. Because it&#8217;s together that we love &#8230; and think &#8230; and act. As one, I-HEART.
On Nov. 4, 2009, The I Heart Revolution film, We&#8217;re All in this Together, will debut in theaters for one night [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7447" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/i-heart-that.gif" border="0" alt="I heart that" width="10" height="10" /> I-Heart is a movement of people helping people, showing the love of God in practical ways, wherever need exists. Because it&#8217;s together that we love &#8230; and think &#8230; and act. As one, I-HEART.</p>
<p>On Nov. 4, 2009, The I Heart Revolution film, <em>We&#8217;re All in this Together,</em> will debut in theaters for one night and one night only.</p>
<p><em>We&#8217;re All in this Together </em>is part apologetic, part documentary and part call to action.</p>
<p>Take a look at the trailer below &#8230; and then <a href="http://www.ncm.com/Fathom/ConcertsAndMusic/Hillsong_Exclusive.aspx?utm_source=Hillsongdatabase_HSU&amp;utm_medium=eblast&amp;utm_campaign=HillsongUnited" target="_blank">buy your tickets to the show</a>.</p>
<p><center><object id="W4aa536cca01473134ab16e9f9ffccf5d" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="400" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="src" value="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/4aa536cca0147313/4ab16e9f9ffccf5d/4aa59f85f11cc9cb/42100b43" /><embed id="W4aa536cca01473134ab16e9f9ffccf5d" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400" height="350" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/4aa536cca0147313/4ab16e9f9ffccf5d/4aa59f85f11cc9cb/42100b43" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent"></embed></object></center></p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<title>Can Anything Good Come Out of a Slum?</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/can-anything-good-come-out-of-a-nairobi-slum/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/can-anything-good-come-out-of-a-nairobi-slum/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Aug 2009 07:03:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion Australia</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dreams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fruit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Irene Kao]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John 1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John 1:46]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kenya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kibera]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leadership Development Program]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nairobi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nathanael]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[obedience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Omondi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philip]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=6948</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ My biggest fear in life is not reaching my God-given potential. And for the first 20 years of my life, I found myself being increasingly shaped by worldly values. That is, until I came face to face with Jesus! 
Since then my Creator and Saviour has been helping me to weed out values that [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/nairobi-slum.gif" alt="Nairobi slum" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6952" /> My biggest fear in life is not reaching my God-given potential. And for the first 20 years of my life, I found myself being increasingly shaped by worldly values. That is, until I came face to face with Jesus! </p>
<p>Since then my Creator and Saviour has been helping me to weed out values that are contrary to those of the Kingdom and walking with me towards the dreams He’s planted in my heart. It’s been a step-by-step process of learning to be faithful with what He entrusts me with. </p>
<p>Of course, going against the patterns of this world isn’t easy, but the fruit of obedience is liberating! I wouldn’t want to live any other way. Life’s exhilarating when you’re dancing with a God of the supernatural.</p>
<p>Thanks to modern technology, I met a former sponsored child Paul Omondi through Facebook! Paul shared his testimony with me … It’s more than encouraged me to be all that I can be; it’s given me hope. </p>
<p>Paul completed the Leadership Development Program in Kenya years ago (a program that educates, trains and disciples servant leaders), was recently married (congratulations Paul!), and now works to help his fellow Kenyans escape the cycle of poverty in his role as a Community Development Manager.</p>
<p>But every achievement starts with a heart that dares to dream. </p>
<p><img border="0" align="left" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/kibera.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="317" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-6951" />Twenty nine years ago in Kibera, 15 minutes outside of Nairobi, Kenya, a baby boy was born. Kibera is the biggest slum in Kenya. I can’t imagine what would’ve become of me if I was born there.</p>
<p>I’m reminded of the words of Nathanael when Philip told him that he had found ‘the one’ that Moses and the prophets wrote about. He said, </p>
<blockquote><p>“Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” &#8212; John 1:46a (NIV)</p></blockquote>
<p>Can anything good come out of a slum?</p>
<p>Tune in all next week as Paul tells his story.</p>
<p>- Irene</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>29</slash:comments>
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		<title>Child Focused: Valuing the One</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/child-focused-valuing-the-one/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/child-focused-valuing-the-one/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:46:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion UK</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Children in Poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AIDS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child abuse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew 19]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Matthew 19:14]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[one child]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Proverbs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Proverbs 22:6]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Psalm 8]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=6585</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ A refrain from a popular song of the 80&#8217;s began with &#8220;I believe our children are our future … .&#8221; It was a sentiment echoed by governments and organisations in a bid to show why we need to invest in programmes for children.
The problem is that it was a convenient excuse for some to [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/child-focused.gif" alt="Child focused" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6588" /> A refrain from a popular song of the 80&#8217;s began with &#8220;I believe our children are our future … .&#8221; It was a sentiment echoed by governments and organisations in a bid to show why we need to invest in programmes for children.</p>
<p>The problem is that it was a convenient excuse for some to do exactly the opposite. Delaying funding or putting issues affecting children on the back burner was, consciously or otherwise, an opportunity to focus on &#8216;more pressing&#8217; needs – justified because children are our future, &#8216;the leaders of tomorrow&#8217;.</p>
<p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/0811id-0544.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="414" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6589" />Perhaps it is such thinking that has caused children to be the greatest victims of poverty throughout the history of humankind. The gross and most debased forms of abuse happen, more often than not, to our littlest citizens – our world&#8217;s largest population group. </p>
<p>Of the 2.2 billion children in our world today, nearly half live in desperate conditions, and yet it is the children who hold the potential to break the cycle of deprivation for future generations.</p>
<p>The Bible says that children are &#8216;a gift from God&#8217; and He is their greatest defender. Time and again, the Bible describes God as a defender and protector of the poor, the oppressed, abused, impoverished and the fatherless. </p>
<p>All children are precious in God&#8217;s sight. His heart is most definitely endeared towards them and His ear inclines to their worship (Psalm 8:2). We are told that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matthew 19:14).</p>
<p>But what of the 1.1 billion children who are homeless because of armed conflict, or who have been orphaned because of the scourge of AIDS, or malnourished and can&#8217;t remember when they last had a bite of food, or the ones that are continually ill because they can&#8217;t afford malaria medication? They don&#8217;t shout the loudest; indeed, many seem to have no voice at all, but it doesn&#8217;t mean that their cry should not be heard and this is where we step in.</p>
<p>Compassion exists for the one. The one child who is left on the side of the dusty road to beg each day because their family can&#8217;t feed them; the one child who has to walk many miles every day for water and cares for siblings because her parents have died from AIDS; the one child who dreams of being a doctor but has no access to an education.</p>
<p>Compassion is unashamedly and singularly focused on the child. We place value on children simply because God does. Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) says, &#8220;Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.&#8221; </p>
<p>Investing into children&#8217;s lives at an early age enables them to grow up with a sense of value, worth and confidence – essential if they are to grow up knowing that they can fulfill the dreams that God has placed in their hearts. </p>
<p>The intervention of a local church-based Compassion child development center and your invaluable support can literally shape a child&#8217;s future, causing him or her to be a change-maker in the family, community, perhaps even the nation. </p>
<p>That&#8217;s why we believe that one-to-one child sponsorship is so important and imperative to releasing children from poverty.</p>
<p>It all begins with valuing the one.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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		<title>Where Is Your Heart in the World?</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/tear-fund-nz-where-is-your-heart-in-the-world/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/tear-fund-nz-where-is-your-heart-in-the-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 07:17:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Web Team</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Afghanistan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cambodia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[China]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Côte d’Ivoir]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[drug running]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[East Africa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[literacy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Malawi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[microenterprise]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mongolia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Myanmar]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nepal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Niger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Palestine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poverty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sudan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tear Fund NZ]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[West Africa]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=6714</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ The way we fight poverty is through holistic child development. The combination of children and poverty is the laser focus of our mission. We speak up for the most vulnerable. 
But if your call to serve the poor extends beyond holistic child development, which it does for many people, we&#8217;d like to introduce you [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/tear-fund-nz.gif" alt="TEAR Fund NZ" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6766" /> The way we fight poverty is through holistic <a target="_blank" alt="child development" href="http://www.compassion.com/child-development/stages-of-child-development.htm">child development</a>. The combination of children and poverty is the laser focus of our mission. We speak up for the most vulnerable. </p>
<p>But if your call to serve the poor extends beyond holistic child development, which it does for many people, we&#8217;d like to introduce you to our partner <a target="_blank" alt="tear fund nz" href="http://www.tearfund.co.nz/">TEAR Fund New Zealand</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>TEAR Fund stands for The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund, and its purpose is to glorify God by extending His kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, and to encourage God&#8217;s people to live out the values and principles of His kingdom by sharing with those in need.
</p></blockquote>
<p>TEAR Fund New Zealand represents the compassion of Jesus. This organization partners with local Christian organizations and churches in developing countries who use local staff to work directly with the poorest people, helping the poor find their own solutions, cutting out the middleman and reducing costs. </p>
<p>Microenterprise, community development projects and disaster relief are TEAR Fund New Zealand&#8217;s key activities, but that&#8217;s not all this ministry does. Right now, it&#8217;s working to eradicate the Guinea worm in Côte d’Ivoire, and also has programs to fight adult illiteracy and sexual slavery, among others.</p>
<p>TEAR Fund New Zealand offers child sponsorship too, but does that through us. Sponsoring a child with TEAR Fund New Zealand is sponsoring a child through Compassion.</p>
<p>Although our friend is from New Zealand, you can still partner with this Christian aid and development agency. <a target="_blank" alt="tear fund nz" href="http://www.tearfund.co.nz/">Visit tearfund.co.nz</a> to learn more. </p>
<p>We promise they don&#8217;t write with an accent&#8230;then again, maybe they do. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, you may like this. TEAR Fund New Zealand&#8217;s non-sponsorship programs are conducted in places of the world we don&#8217;t currently work.</p>
<ul>
<li>Afghanistan</li>
<li>Cambodia</li>
<li>China</li>
<li>Malawi</li>
<li>Mongolia</li>
<li>Myanmar</li>
<li>Nepal</li>
<li>Niger</li>
<li>Palestine</li>
<li>Sudan</li>
</ul>
<p>So if your heart is in those parts of the world, <a target="_blank" alt="tear fund nz" href="http://www.tearfund.co.nz/">TEAR Fund New Zealand</a> would be pleased to meet you.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<title>Stephanie Harrison: On Travelling With Compassion</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/stephanie-harrison-compassion-traveller/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/stephanie-harrison-compassion-traveller/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:10:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion Australia</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Country Trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bangladesh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dhaka]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Irene Kao]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[James]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Marsden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kini]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kolkata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[netball]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Plumb]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Scrabble]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sponsor tour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephanie Harrison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[visit your child]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=6252</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Yesterday, I promised you some insights into Steph’s Compassion Traveller experience, so here you go. - Irene

Steph in 30 seconds:

Age: 14 and a half 

Siblings: I’m the eldest. I have a 13-year-old brother named James.
School: Year nine (third year in junior high school)
Pets: We have two cats: Maddison, a white tortoise-shell cross Persian, and [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/stephanie-harrison.gif" alt="Stephanie Harrison" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6266" /> Yesterday, I promised you some insights into Steph’s Compassion Traveller experience, so here you go. <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.location='http://blog.compassion.com/tag/irene-kao/' ">- Irene</span></p>
<hr />
<p><strong>Steph in 30 seconds:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Age: 14 and a half </li>
<p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/steph-flowers.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6255" /></p>
<li>Siblings: I’m the eldest. I have a 13-year-old brother named James.</li>
<li>School: Year nine (third year in junior high school)</li>
<li>Pets: We have two cats: Maddison, a white tortoise-shell cross Persian, and Soots, a grey Persian cross something. Both are girls. They have completely different personalities and hate each other. We also have budgies, which we’re getting rid of. </li>
<li>Hobby: Netball. This is my seventh year playing in the district competition. I also take art lessons. </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Favourites:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Quote: “A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can repeat it back to you when you’ve forgotten the words.”</li>
<li>Book: The Tomorrow series by John Marsden</li>
<li>Film: The Notebook</li>
<li>Board game: Scrabble</li>
<li>Song: &#8220;Pray for Me&#8221; by Plumb </li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Steph’s Compassion Traveller experience:</strong></p>
<p>Describe the trip in one sentence: </p>
<blockquote><p>An amazing experience … I need to go back!</p>
<p>And at the moment I’m looking for a way to do it. No luck yet, but I’m sure my Lord will provide for me and something will come up. I can’t do it by myself.
</p></blockquote>
<p>Most memorable moment:</p>
<blockquote><p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/steph-and-kini.jpg" alt="" width="275" height="207" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6318" />I met my family’s sponsored child in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Her name is Kini. </p>
<p>Kini was born without pulmonary arteries, the arteries that go between her heart and her lungs. </p>
<p>My Dad sponsored her after his last visit in 2006, so we had been sponsoring her for 18 months when I met her. </p>
<p>The doctors thought Kini would die within months when my Dad first met her, but because of her sponsorship she receives regular treatment and still lives!
</p></blockquote>
<p>What did Kini say to you when you met her? <span id="more-6252"></span></p>
<blockquote><p>Because of you I’m now alive.</p></blockquote>
<p>How was your relationship with your Dad during the trip?</p>
<blockquote><p>Our relationship was stretched &#8230; He was very protective of me and I wanted to have my independence. </p>
<p>Dads with teenage daughters know that teenage girls are emotional. Add to that I was away from friends and family. </p>
<p>But despite everything, I was happy I got to spend that time with him and make those lasting memories.</p></blockquote>
<p>Tell me about your most impacting day …</p>
<blockquote><p>It was Sunday, 1 February, at the Kali Temple in Kolkata, on my fourth day in India. It was a crowded place. I think thousands of people were coming to worship their gods. They had sacrificed 130 goats that morning, and there were remnants of the sacrifice lying everywhere. It freaked me out a bit.</p>
<p>As we were walking in the alley after leaving the temple, I had one of the shopkeepers come and grab my arm and try to lead me away from the group. Being tense already, I freaked out. </p>
<p>The man then looked over my shoulder and saw one of the guys in the team standing right behind me. My friend then stepped forward and put his arm around my waist. Seeing him, the man then let go of my arm and slunk back into his shop. What scared me the most was that no one else in our group had noticed the man.</p></blockquote>
<p>How has your trip influenced your school life?</p>
<blockquote><p>I just started my first week at a new school. So far I’ve shared my travelling experience with friends as well as with my year nine class in my self-introduction. </p>
<p>My class mates were really responsive, and my friends have been positive, too -– they’ve asked questions about the trip.</p></blockquote>
<p>How has this trip influenced your relationship with God?</p>
<blockquote><p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/compassion-children.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="376" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6259" />I grew up in a Christian home and have believed in God since I was seven. But before the trip I was wondering &#8220;Who is God and what is He doing?&#8221; </p>
<p>In India, I saw a stark contrast between kids who were sponsored and kids who weren’t. Those who were sponsored weren’t as thin and were happier. </p>
<p>I also took lots of pictures of kids praying before their meals … These kids would’ve only known God for a short time, but they have changed. </p>
<p>It fascinates me what God can do in these children’s lives in such a short time. Seeing this has motivated me to walk closer with God.</p></blockquote>
<p>Have you changed? </p>
<blockquote><p>I look at the world differently. I’m more appreciative of … well … everything, really. </p>
<p>I compare things. Now I’m sitting in a nice cosy office with a shiny white board, but over in India and Bangladesh there are kids in the street picking up rubbish. </p>
<p>Seeing the state of these two countries broke my heart. Walking the streets, using the toilets, eating the food and most importantly, seeing the expressions and emotions on all the faces broke my heart. </p>
<p>I now find myself thinking of other people’s life stories, problems, daily battles and life-changing moments. I think of all the people that I pass driving to school … their stories and problems. </p>
<p>Then I think of all the ones that go unheard, unanswered and the new challenges they face every day just to survive.</p></blockquote>
<p>Would you recommend a trip to others?</p>
<blockquote><p>Yes. The country staff were very good. It’s a life-changing experience. So it’s not to be missed!
</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<title>Children and Poverty: Do They Mix?</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/children-and-poverty-do-they-mix/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/children-and-poverty-do-they-mix/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion Australia</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Country Trips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bangladesh]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Harrison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Irene Kao]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kolkata]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kyrgyzstan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[malnutrition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Muslim]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orphans]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sponsor tour]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SquiggleMum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stephanie Harrison]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[visit your child]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=6249</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ As a kid, did you ever daydream about venturing into the slums of Kolkata? I know a gutsy 14-year-old who did &#8230; who ventured into extreme poverty. But that&#8217;s for later. 
I, Irene, grew up in a sheltered, middle-class family. Whilst I didn’t make it to India at the age of 14, I ventured [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/children-and-poverty.gif" alt="Children and poverty" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-6278" /> As a kid, did you ever daydream about venturing into the slums of Kolkata? I know a gutsy 14-year-old who did &#8230; who ventured into extreme poverty. But that&#8217;s for later. </p>
<p>I, <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.location='http://blog.compassion.com/tag/irene-kao/' ">Irene</span>, grew up in a sheltered, middle-class family. Whilst I didn’t make it to India at the age of 14, I ventured to Kyrgyzstan at the age of 24 with a team of medical professionals and helpers. It was a completely humbling and mind-blowing experience. </p>
<p>I met church pastors who have been blessed with so much more materially than I, yet they have chosen to live in abandonment for the expansion of God’s kingdom. </p>
<p>I met Muslims in remote villages who suffered advanced stages of cancer, but had no means to receive medical treatment. All that my team could give them were vitamin supplements.</p>
<p>I met orphans who were stunted from malnutrition and sometimes from past substance abuse, but have found the love of their heavenly Father.</p>
<p>I can’t quite imagine how I would’ve coped on the same journey at the tender age of 14. </p>
<p>If you read the <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.location='http://blog.compassion.com/tag/reflections-of-a-compassion-traveller/' ">Reflections of a Compassion Traveller</span> series, you may have gained some guts –- I mean, a new level of desire to meet our friends living in poverty. </p>
<p>It definitely takes guts to travel to less developed nations. It’s inevitably a confronting experience. <span id="more-6249"></span></p>
<p>The thing is, I have always walked away deeply moved by the compassion that God has for His people and with a fresh reminder of how much I need to give. Plus, it’s quite simple to become a &#8220;Compassion traveller.&#8221; </p>
<p><img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/steph-and-boy.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="334" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6279" />Remember that 14-year-old I mentioned? She&#8217;s a high school student who joined our India and Bangladesh trip in February. Her name is Stephanie Harrison, the daughter of our Executive Director of Child Development, David Harrison. </p>
<p>Steph would make any father or mother proud. David has admitted to finding the slums of India the most challenging ones he’s visited. So imagine what Steph’s first taste of extreme poverty was like! </p>
<p>I recently read a <a target="_blank" href="http://squigglemum.com/faith/a-cup-of-rice/">blog post (A Cup of Rice)</a> by SquiggleMum –- an Australian mum and Compassion child sponsor (her real name is Cath by the way). As a mother of two, SquiggleMum plans to introduce her precious children to their sponsored child and to develop a heart to reach out to the poor. And here’s why:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Maybe if we show our kids what’s wrong with the world, they’ll do a better job than we have of making things right.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I wholeheartedly respect SquiggleMum’s parenting approach and, I daresay, David’s decision to take Steph on that trip. If you’re a parent, you may have concerns about unveiling the ugly things of the world to your child(ren). But <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://thepioneerwoman.com/2008/11/the_week_after.html','new');">what’s really stopping you?</span> </p>
<p>If you’ve been thinking about visiting your sponsored child with your child(ren), why not start planning now? The power of being there is beyond words!</p>
<p>I’ll share snippets of Steph’s Compassion Traveller experience with you in tomorrow&#8217;s post. But in the meanwhile, you can get started on organising your own sponsor child visits:</p>
<p>If you live in Australia, <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://www.compassion.com.au/cmspage.asp?intid=237;">contact our travel team</span>.</p>
<p>If you live in the USA, <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/tours/default.htm">visit compassion.com</span> to get more information about trips and visits. </p>
<p>Then you&#8217;ll be able to tell us firsthand whether children and poverty are meant to mix.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<title>Inside a Healing Waters International Project</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/inside-a-healing-waters-international-project/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/inside-a-healing-waters-international-project/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 07:39:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Adones Martinez</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Country Staff]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ana Ivelisse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barrio Mexico]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carribean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Central America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dominican Republic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Healing Waters International]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Milqueya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pastor Ventura Taylor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[San Pedro de Macorís]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[water]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=5061</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Since the Healing Waters International water project opened at the Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church in 2006, church members have had more opportunities to decide on matters that can benefit the ministry and the community of Barrio Mexico in southern coastal town of San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic.
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/healing-waters-international.gif" alt="Healing Waters International" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5062" /> Since the <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.location='http://blog.compassion.com/healing-waters-international/' " title="What is Healing Waters International?">Healing Waters International</span> water project opened at the Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church in 2006, church members have had more opportunities to decide on matters that can benefit the ministry and the community of Barrio Mexico in southern coastal town of San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic.</p>
<p>The church&#8217;s leadership calls for periodic members’ meetings where all ministry managers update the assembly on their ministry. Since all the ministries overlap in some way, these reports help the church make the best decisions. </p>
<p>The ministries include Compassion’s <a target="_blank" alt="child sponsorship" href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Child Sponsorship</a> Program, the Healing Waters International water project, a school and a community holistic vocational center.</p>
<p>These church meetings have become a forum at which the community, represented by the believers, can discuss the best ways to manage resources.<br />
<img border="0" align="right" hspace="8" vspace="8" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/milqueya.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="338" class="alignright size-full wp-image-5065" /><br />
Milqueya is a mother of eight and grandma of seven. She and her husband still live with 11 children and grandchildren at home. Milqueya and her large family enjoy the benefits of the decisions she’s been helping her church make as a voting member. One important decision was the incorporation of the Healing Waters International water project.</p>
<p>In the past, even the least harmful water source wasn&#8217;t safe enough for Milqueya. She bought water from the trucks that drove past her home.</p>
<p>Miqueya paid only RD$20 for a 5-gallon water bottle, avoiding the RD$35 price at local stores. But the truck-bought water was making her and her family sick. </p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The water caused us stomach diseases. But after we began to drink the water from the church, we are always healthy and we don’t have any stomach problems.&#8221; </p></blockquote>
<p>After the Healing Waters International project began, the community’s health has improved. <span id="more-5061"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;Since we&#8217;ve been running the project, there&#8217;s not been any health problems reported,&#8221; says Ana Ivelisse, manager of the Healing Waters International project. &#8220;The National Ministry of Health comes and tests our water to certify it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Not only is the water from the church the purest, it is also the most economic. </p>
<p>For RD$10, half of what she paid for the truck-bought water that made her family sick, Milqueya can take her 5-gallon water bottle home, saving her family’s limited resources for other living expenses.</p>
<p>Proceeds from the water project go toward human and social development to serve and benefit the community through education, health and nutrition. </p>
<p>In the field of education, the Healing Waters International project provides 20 children from Barrio Mexico with a scholarship so they can study at the church’s school. </p>
<p>The project also pays for a watchman who protects the property and equipment of the Compassion-assisted child development center, and a housekeeper who cleans the center&#8217;s building.</p>
<p>The proceeds also support the church’s vocational school, which trains locals in a variety of jobs, including computers. </p>
<p>Motorcycles, carts and trolleys arrive each day, taking home 41,000 to 45,000 gallons of purified water each month. The church donates another 600 gallons to the community. </p>
<p><center><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/loading-water.jpg" alt="" width="394" height="304" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-5066" /></center></p>
<p>The highest water consumption in the year comes during the summer months when the temperature reaches around 34 degrees Celsius, and the children are home for school break.</p>
<p>The 600 gallons of water that the church donates to the community benefits many groups, including the Compassion-assisted children at Cedina Student Center, the students in the church’s school, the medical staff and patients at a local clinic, and some neighbors in times of special need.</p>
<p>When the community holds a sports event, the church is always willing to support it. Pastor Ventura Taylor says,</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We serve the water in small bottles and we donate it to them as a way of our church being committed with that activity, which has to do with the social and cultural development of the community.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>A label is put on the bottles specifying that it is purified water from Comunidad Cristiana El Santuario Iglesia de Dios Pentecostal Church and Healing Waters International.</p>
<p>A recent major effort included donating purified water to the residents in Barrio Mexico during three days to commemorate the World Water Day and the Healing Waters International anniversary. </p>
<p>For the occasion, the local church had given special tickets to the customers, and on the first day of the celebration they picked tickets from a surprise box. The winning clients were given Healing Waters International promotional items like ball pens, key rings, caps, T-shirts and water bottles.</p>
<p>The water supply in the pipes in Barrio Mexico can be scarce at times.</p>
<p>&#8220;Many times the people don&#8217;t get water for even five days in a row,&#8221; sayss Ana Ivelisse. &#8220;We also give the people raw water so they can mop and clean their homes.</p>
<p>This concept of service derives from the way the church sees the people. Pastor Ventura Taylor and the church have a holistic concept of stewardship.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;The people using the purified water are not just in need. They are human beings with dignity, human beings in freedom, and human beings created in the image of God and after His likeness, whom we must value and respect.</p>
<p>&#8220;To us, the way we treat the people as users is the start of our own stewardship.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>For this reason, the church has chosen the most suitable staff from the congregation for the water jobs, people who can be the face of the project, upright and committed to their faith. </p>
<p>Pastor Ventura Taylor continues,</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;They need to be people who can transmit the name of the Lord Jesus Christ through their living. And they will transmit it by thinking of the God of excellence and quality, who is the God whom we serve.&#8221;</p>
<p><center><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/water-staff.jpg" alt="" width="250" height="166" class="alignright size-full wp-image-5067" /></center>
</p></blockquote>
<p>As the church opens every morning, the staff has a short devotion with a reading from the Bible and a time of prayer, and invites any neighbor who has come for water to join in for a couple of minutes. Many people have come to know Jesus because of this courteous Christian attention.</p>
<p>As a community of faith, this church understands that the resources it has should be managed for the sake of the kingdom of God, and that it should be done with transparency. </p>
<p>Pastor Ventura Taylor testifies,</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Being accountable for the things we do has never been a bother to us. Instead, it is a satisfaction. We like to do our inventories, we like to do our audits, and we even like to have our yearly budget of how we are going to do things.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<hr />
<p><span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://waterworks-hwi.blogspot.com/2009/05/compassion-international-partnership.html','new');">Read about the Compassion and Healing Waters International partnership</span> on the Healing Waters blog, Waterworks.</p>
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		<title>What Is Compassion?</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/what-is-compassion/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/what-is-compassion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2009 20:55:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion Canada</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Carribean]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compassion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Haiti]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillside Church]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[port-au-prince]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Restavek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tim Bailey]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=5019</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ Hey all, Aaron from Compassion Canada here.
We recently asked Pastor Tim Bailey of Hillside Church in London, ON, the question “What is compassion?” We liked his answer so much that we wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!
Her bottom lip quivered as her fingers nervously played with her hair band. Her eyes [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img border="0" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/what-is-compassion.gif" alt="What is compassion" width="10" height="10" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-5021" /> Hey all, Aaron from Compassion Canada here.</p>
<p>We recently asked Pastor Tim Bailey of Hillside Church in London, ON, the question “What is compassion?” We liked his answer so much that we wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!</p>
<blockquote><p>Her bottom lip quivered as her fingers nervously played with her hair band. Her eyes glanced quickly from side to side, as if expecting to run at any moment. Her knee bounced to the beat of her heart as she listened passively to my questions. </p>
<p>She was a Restavek child from the depths of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and without the knowledge of her owners, she was meeting with us to tell her story. </p>
<p>It was the story of a concrete mattress, early morning chores and constant abuse. It was a story of an uncle who was using her as his own personal slave. <span id="more-5019"></span></p>
<p>Abandoned by her parents and left on the edge of the city in hopes of a better life, she had spent the last four years trying to protect her younger sister from the fate that had destroyed her life.</p>
<p>As I listened to her answer my difficult and somewhat invasive questions, her ability to hold her emotions in was disturbing. It was as if she had perfected a way to avoid the reality of her situation. </p>
<p>She talked as if she were answering for someone else. The only hope I saw was the quiver that never got past her swollen lip. </p>
<p>After 10 minutes of listening to her circumstance, I began to feel physically ill. I felt panic like I had not felt in years. The hatred building in my soul was overtaking all my emotions. </p>
<p>Sweat started dripping off my forehead as I looked at my friend behind the camera. “I’m spent,” I said, quickly standing up and running out the door and down the corridor. I felt as if I couldn’t breath. </p>
<p>At the end of the hallway, I hung over the railing, weeping uncontrollably. I could not remember feeling as angry as I did then. Shaking, I stood there ready to hunt this man down and end his reign of abuse and oppression. The wall beside me felt the brunt of my anger as I punched it in an outburst of rage.</p>
<p>In that moment, I started to identify with the conflict in my spirit. My anger was telling me to fight for justice. My rage wanted to give the oppressor his dues. </p>
<p>On the other hand, sympathy was telling me to heal the injustice. Love was calling me towards freeing the oppressed. </p>
<p>Compassion hijacked my anger that day. My rage turned in on itself, and instead of driving me towards administering my own form of justice, it fueled a determination to feel deep empathy and act on the pain and sorrow I was experiencing. </p>
<p>When faced with the raw injustices in our world, it is our tendency to want to fight for justice. It is our human nature to want to retaliate and oppress the oppressor and fight the fighters. </p>
<p>But love calls us to a higher place. Jesus calls us to love our enemies, and heal injustice. The war we fight within us is between acting on our hate or being driven by love. </p>
<p>Compassion is what we do when love wins. </p></blockquote>
<hr />
<p>Read <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://www.mygazines.net/publication/827','new');">the latest issue of Compassion Today</span> at <span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://www.compassion.ca','new');">www.compassion.ca</span>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
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		<title>Class of 1985</title>
		<link>http://blog.compassion.com/class-of-1985/</link>
		<comments>http://blog.compassion.com/class-of-1985/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 23 Apr 2009 13:47:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Compassion UK</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Partners]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bacolod City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christian blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flickr]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[flickr photos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Philippines]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[reflection]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.compassion.com/?p=4667</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[ 1985 was the year that Eastenders first appeared on our televisions, Live Aid rocked the world, and Cristiano Ronaldo was born.
But for 50 Filipino children it was the year they were registered into God&#8217;s Special Gift Student Centre, run in partnership with Abkasa Baptist Church in Bacolod City, the Philippines.
More than two decades on, [...]<p><a href="https://www.compassion.com/Account/login.htm">My Account</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm">Sponsor a Child</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/contribution/csp/default.htm">Help Babies and Moms</a> l <a href="http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/crisisupdates/default.htm">Crisis Updates</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<img style='float: left; margin-right: 10px; border: none;' src='http://www.gravatar.com/avatar.php?gravatar_id=70d2143bb6ad90b55ebcf607c2babe6f&amp;default=http://en.gravatar.com/userimage/2464921/7faa3aa3edaab4a69ea2a43071a644b8.jpg' alt='No Gravatar' width=40 height=40/><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4669" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/class-of-1985.gif" border="0" alt="Class of 1985" width="10" height="10" /> 1985 was the year that Eastenders first appeared on our televisions, Live Aid rocked the world, and Cristiano Ronaldo was born.</p>
<p>But for 50 Filipino children it was the year they were registered into God&#8217;s Special Gift Student Centre, run in partnership with Abkasa Baptist Church in Bacolod City, the Philippines.</p>
<p>More than two decades on, some of those students reflect on how their registration in the Compassion child development centre transformed their lives.</p>
<ul>
<li>Click on the image below to view a slideshow of the students&#8217; reflections.</li>
</ul>
<p><center><span class=hdynlink onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'" onclick="window.open('http://www.flickr.com/photos/compassioninternational/sets/72157616817984026/show/','new');"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-4676" src="http://blog.compassion.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/class-of-85-logo.jpg" border="0" alt="" width="400" height="157" /></span></center></p>
<p><span class="hdynlink" onclick="window.location='http://www.compassionuk.org/assets/docs/CompassionMagazineOct08.pdf' " onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'">Download the entire Compassion UK magazine, October 2008 (pdf)</span> containing this feature.</p>
<hr /><span class="hdynlink" onclick="window.location='http://www.flickr.com/groups/compassioninternational/' " onmouseover="this.style.color='#9E3039'" onmouseout="this.style.color='#0039A6'">Upload your photos</span> to our Flickr group.</p>
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