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!

Allen Charles Graham is single, but he understands the meaning of the word “commitment.” He started sponsoring children in 1989 when he lived in the United States, working at a TV network. Currently, he lives in Ecuador and is the Training Director at HCJB Global Voice radio station.

“This was something I always wanted to do ever since I looked at the advertising spaces in some magazines.”

Allen had the opportunity to take a closer look to the blessing of sponsoring children when he came to Ecuador for the first time back in 1989 as a “working visitor” for HCJB. He was assigned a prayer partner, who happened to sponsor an Ecuadorian child.

When the prayer partner visited his sponsored child at the coastal city of Guayaquil (260 miles from Quito), he came back and he showed pictures to Allen and shared about that experience.

That was when Allen received that special motivation and knew he was going to commit to sponsor a child as soon as he went back to the United States.

Actually, that was one of the first things Allen did when he was back home. He looked for a Compassion ad in a magazine, cut the invitation to sponsor a child, filled it out, and sent it including this note: “I prefer an Ecuadorian child.”

“In September 1989 I received a package with the information of a boy, Marcos from Guayaquil.”

This boy, the first child he sponsored, was 10 years old.

Surprisingly, a couple of months later in 1990, Allen received an invitation to give some lectures at the English Fellowship Church in Quito. Of course, he took the opportunity to visit Marcos.

So in July of that year, Allen met Marcos in Guayaquil. Marcos was 11 years old by that time, and he just talked and talked all the time.

“I didn’t speak Spanish and Álvaro, the translator, couldn’t translate fast enough all the things Marcos said.”

Sign language and, most of all, the language of love … hugs, tickles and smiles, let Allen and Marcos establish a strong friendship bond. When they were saying their good-byes at the airport, Marcos said, “I will pray a lot for you to come back to my country.” … And God did answer his prayer!

Allen was called by God to move to Ecuador as a missionary. In March 1992, HCJB accepted his application and later that year he traveled to Costa Rica to learn Spanish.

August 19, 1993, is a day Allen will never forget since it was the day he arrived in Ecuador after a special call by God. He was not just willing to be a missionary with HCJB, but was yearning to see little Marcos again, for Marcos had stolen his heart, and God had listened to Marcos’ innocent prayer.

Since that time, Allen has sponsored a half dozen children. He is currently sponsoring two children – a girl in Ecuador, Mariuxi, and a boy in Bolivia, Pedro.

From all those children, Marcos is the one who left a very deep imprint in the life of this communicator highly committed to children.

At the present time, Marcos is 30, and this sponsor/sponsored-child relationship has evolved almost into a father-son relationship. (more…)

WJTL FM 90.3 in Lancaster, Pa., is currently auctioning off a Nintendo Wii on eBay, and all the proceeds will be donated to us. So even if you’re not interested in a Wii, maybe you know someone who is.

Bidding closes Sunday, Sept. 13, at 8:59 p.m. EDT.

And just so ya know, this Wii console isn’t just any ole Wii. It’s the Wii WJTL took to Creation 2009 and invited artists to play … and autograph!

The console is autographed by:

• Skillet’s John Cooper
• Chris Tomlin
• David Crowder Band
• Family Force 5’s Sol Glo Activatur
• Barlowgirl
• Hawk Nelson’s Jason Dunn
• Thousand Foot Krutch’s Trevor McNevan
• Bluetree
• Kutless
• Needtobreathe
• Lincoln Brewster
• Disciple
• Fee
• Lecrae
• Remedy Drive
• John Reuben
• Reilly
• Tedashii
• The Classic Crime
• Children 18:3
• Sonflowerz

The winning bidder will also receive a MarioKart game, an extra Nunchuk controller and a DVD of the Wii being played and autographed!

Submit your bid now.

Some of you might remember an old television show by Bill Cosby called “Kids Say the Darndest Things.” Cosby interviewed kids and they described things in very lively and many times funny ways.

It wasn’t so much to have fun at the child’s expense, but really a celebration of the innocence and beauty of a little child. So, I’m curious about some of the funny things that your children have written to you.

I’ll start off with something my little 6-year-old Sheyla from Peru wrote me:

“I didn’t know you taught math; I have a question: ‘Do you like ice cream?’”

Now it’s your turn.

Hello. My name is Gail Perry Johnston. I’m an author, art director and speaker … and a wife and mother of two.

I started sponsoring children when I was 14. Now close to 50, that’s a lot of years of making a difference in kids’ lives with relatively little effort, thanks to Compassion and a few other well-run organizations.

Why aren’t all people of adequate means sponsoring children?

Fear of the unknown? Fear of commitment? Ignorance of the fact that they can, in fact, spare the change?

Maybe it’s simply that they still haven’t heard of it yet.

My main career is graphic design, but I’ve also become a bit of a writer. My faith has largely been developed through the simple pleasure of curling up with a good book — thank you C.S. Lewis, Paul Little, Jim Burns — and I would like to give back in the way that I have been impacted, or at least try.

With the subject matters I tackle, I hope to ignite interest in the most important things in life (which are not “things” at all, of course).

Two years ago, I compiled a collection of stories about service. It’s called The Social Cause Diet: Find A Service That Feeds The Soul.

Three of the 45 stories are from avid Compassion fans and spokespeople:

• Shaun Groves
• Justin McRoberts
• Shannon Lowe

I am so grateful for their contributions (and their awesomeness), and anticipate increased awareness of child sponsorship through them.

Presently, I’m working on Volume Two of The Social Cause Diet. If you are reading this blog, it’s likely that you have a story to share! Please consider writing it down and submitting it through www.socialcausediet.com.

As with the first volume, my goal is to communicate that “it is more blessed to give than to receive” while showcasing a wide variety of services. The more stories, the better, and the greater chance readers will find ways in which they would like to serve.

I should mention why the word “diet” is in the title of my book. (more…)