It’s a scary, beautiful road when we leave the comfort of the familiar to forge a new path.

For two years, I worked as an assistant for the International Program Group Communications team. I had an incredible boss who encouraged me to pursue my passions. I flourished under his leadership as I learned more about my skills and developed relationships around the ministry.

So two months ago, when offered a new position as the International Partner Development Web and Marketing Specialist, I knew what I had to do. This was an opportunity to steward my gifting and passions for writing, marketing, and cultivating relationships of impact.

But that meant leaving the people I’d grown so close to. My co-workers had become a second family to me!

Learning a new role can be lonely. Sure, I love my new bosses and the new people I’m meeting, but I miss my old team. Leaving familiar paths to venture onto new ones feels vulnerable and sometimes scary.

A new friend of mine, Colleen,* knows these feelings well.

I met Colleen through OurCompassion, which I now work to help develop. She’s a sponsor and correspondent from Australia, and she recently blogged on OurCompassion about her struggle with cancer: (more…)

When you watch the Catalyst 2009 do you feel it was manipulative? Is it all right to ask people to give, or act, in the middle of experiencing an emotional moment?

Nathan Creitz, author of ChurchEthos: “a blog that encourages thinking Christianly about the habits and customs of the Church and about our reputation with the unchurched,” says:

This video is worth watching for two reasons:

1. To see God’s love at work through His people and to see the powerful story of Jimmy and Mark.
2. To see how NOT to use such a moment to advance an agenda.

What do you think? Do you agree?

Let us know after you read Nathan’s entire blog post at ChurchEthos to get the context for his opinion.

Dan Trumble, a managerial accountant in Finance Business Partner Support, tells a story of one man’s salvation brought about in a way that only God can orchestrate.

UPDATED Oct. 16

Make a donation to Compassion International through our Facebook Cause.

The 2009 America’s Giving Challenge has begun, and through the Giving Challenge, the Case Foundation will give away a total of $170,000 in daily and overall prizes to non-profits over the next month.

America’s Giving Challenge offers Compassion a great opportunity to demonstrate the worthiness of using social media in pursuit of our mission, and it offers you a chance to make a significant difference on behalf of that mission:

In response to the Great Commission, Compassion International exists as an advocate for children, to release them from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.

America’s Giving Challenge – How Does It Work?

• The Giving Challenge runs from Oct. 7 at 3 p.m. ET to Nov. 6, 2009 at 3 p.m. ET.
• Each day the Case Foundation will award a prize to the cause that has the most individual donors* on that day, not the most money raised.

• $1,000 each day to the cause with the most unique donations that day.
• $500 each day to the cause with the second most unique donations that day.

• $50,000 to the cause with the highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.
• $25,000 to the cause with the second highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.
• $10,000 each to the next five causes with the highest number of unique daily donations over the 30 days.

America’s Giving Challenge – How You Can Support Compassion International (more…)

Sometime back, a commenter on another blog post asked questions about sending gifts to our sponsored children:

• Do they make a difference?
• Should we wait until we hear about a need?
• Do the children appreciate our gifts?

One of my earliest lessons in the importance of our gifts came from Tausi (Tanzania). I began sponsoring her soon after her stated birth date (which later proved to be wrong, but…) and immediately sent a gift of $25. (more…)

Last week we asked if you’d be interested in receiving a Compassion magazine for kids ages 8 to 12. Many of you said, “Absolutely!”

Because of your responses, we’re moving forward and mailing our first issue this January.

And now, we’re inviting your kids to submit the following materials for a chance to be published in the magazine.

We’d like your kids to:

• Write about something special they did for their sponsored child.
• Tell about a letter they received from their sponsored child. Or share pictures.
• Describe what they have learned from their sponsored child. For example, what kinds of homes do the children live in? What do they eat? What games do they play? What are they learning in school?
• Write a poem or draw a picture related to poverty and tell us what it means to them.
• Tell about creative ways to write to their sponsored child.
• If they have a recipe or craft from a country where Compassion works, send it our way.
• If they’ve visited their sponsored child, we’d love to hear the stories and see the pictures.

You can e-mail your materials to compassionkids@us.ci.org or mail them to:

Compassion International
Attn: Magazine Editor
12290 Voyager Parkway
Colorado Springs, CO 80921

We’re excited to bring you this new magazine and excited to see the great material your kids will submit!

We’re developing a kids’ magazine designed to educate 8-to-12-year-olds and develop their hearts of Compassion.

This free publication will teach kids about poverty and other cultures, and encourage them to engage with children in need.

They will enjoy photos showing what a day is like for kids in other cultures, tips for writing to their families’ sponsored children, recipes, games from other countries, and more.

They will also have opportunities to contribute to the magazine by submitting their own pictures and stories.

If this sounds like something for you and your kids, please let us know. Send an email to compassionkids@us.ci.org with your contact information.

We need to hear from you soon, because we hope to launch our first issue in January!