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…)

“All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” – Acts 2:44-45 (NIV)

In today’s world, that’s out of the ordinary. Unfortunately, society preaches the opposite: More is better! People seem to acquire more “things” that they seem to hold onto with a firm grip. Of course, I understand necessities or essentials – for example, people need transportation to get to work – but WHAT IF you and I sold our *nonessentials* in order to provide for those who truly have need?

Here’s what worked for me: Go into your closet, around your house, your basement (I know, it might be intimidating!) Imagine God with you – imagine God cleaning those places out with you. What would He throw in the “to be sold so others may eat” pile?

In my pile were (just to name a couple):

Handbags:

Me: “But God, I really like those bags. This cute little black one, yeah I use it when I go out to dinner with my husband.”

God: “Britt, when was the last time you went out to dinner with you husband?”

Me (shuffles feet): “Um … does PB&J in our backyard when the kiddos go to sleep count?

God: “Britt, you really don’t use that bag, do you?”

Me: “I guess not.”

A fancy dress that I wore back in 2005:

Me: “But God, this was a dress that I wore to a very special ball. It saw important people! I looked so good in this dress! What if I go somewhere fancy again and need this dress?!”

God: “Britt, have you worn this dress since? And don’t start on who you think important people are – remember, I have no favorites. Oh, by the way, give me a break – the dress couldn’t possibly see anyone because it’s not living – whereas I have children all over the world who could benefit from you selling this dress.”

Me (bites lip): “Well, when you put it like that …”

Can you think of some things that you are holding onto? Why are you holding onto them? Are they really that important?

This will be hard. The enemy will try and deceive you. Here’s what he tried whispering in my ear:

“Ah, but what sort of difference would one, two or even a hundred people make? This is a waste of time. Besides, you deserve to hold onto these things. Someone else will take care of those kids.”

But fight back!

Remember that your faith tells you that we serve an amazingly loving God who will work through us – can you imagine the possibilities if you take that first step?

Do Not Show Partiality to the Poor

If you hang around here a lot, you’re probably familiar with verses like these:

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” – Proverbs 14:31 (NIV)

Or one of my personal favorites:

“‘He defended the cause of the poor and needy… Is not that what it means to know me?’ declares the Lord.” – Jeremiah 22:16 (NIV)

There are so many verses that demand we deal kindly with those in need around us. But here’s another little nugget from the Bible:

“Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.” – Leviticus 19:15, NIV (emphasis added)

Do not show partiality to the poor? The first thing that my mind jumps to is, “God, is this really a big problem? People being too nice to the poor?”

Read the entire post

What is Evangelism?

Have you ever wondered how Compassion, an openly evangelical organization, is able to work in Muslim or Hindu countries where evangelism is illegal? I have.

The other day I had an opportunity to spend an hour with a couple of our field staff, Mathew from India and Kevin from Bangladesh, and I asked them this question:

How can Compassion work in India or Bangladesh or Indonesia?

Here is what they said …

Hey! Look what I’ve done. I made poverty history. Woo hoo!

All I did was visit compassion.com to sponsor a child and then this happened.

Oooo! Aaaah! Isn’t this Compassion cap positively divine?

You can have one, if you want.

Just share your Twitter @ with us. Or your Facebook URL.

Your MySpace URL is good too.

Got a blog? That URL is welcome here.

And if you don’t have any of that? Just leave a comment.

On Monday, we’ll randomly select one person, from below, to receive our ultra magnificent and incredibly stylish dome enhancer. It works with all types of noggins, or so the tag claims.

And we’re pretty sure that this blue beauty doesn’t care if you have a head full of hair or not.

We’re sorry that we can’t pony up a MacBook Pro like #moonfruit, or some other groovy tech gadget, but there’s a lot of tax law mumbo jumbo that seriously constrains our non-profit fun. Sadness.

Tomorrow is Independence Day in the U.S., and we’ve got just the post in our archives for you to read. Consider it the ketchup on your hot dog, the perfect accompaniment for any Fourth of July BBQ.

A Child in the Midst

What if a child had been in the room during the penning of the Declaration of Independence?

Do you think our founding fathers would have addressed the importance of children by adding a line stating they were seeking independence “for the future of our children?”

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Last week, we published a short post about a recent sponsor tour to India. It was written by our India communications manager for the India country office’s internal newsletter, and it reminded us about this old post on sponsor tours:

A Field Perspective on Sponsor Tours

This e-mail from Samuel Llanes, our field communication specialist in Guatemala, about his recent experience accompanying a sponsor tour gave me a new perspective on sponsor visits.

We’ve talked a lot about how a sponsor tour impacts the sponsor and how it impacts the child, but this e-mail made me realize a whole other aspect: how it impacts the universal Body of Christ.

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