We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess, any questions you like. We’re publishing his transcribed answers one day at a time. Well, today is special. You get two.

Read the previous posts.

• If you didn’t work in the ministry field, what other career path would you have chosen? (Amy)

At one time I fully thought I was going to go into journalism. I have a master’s degree in international broadcasting, and I would have enjoyed going into journalism with a heart to do good – to have been a television anchor or a radio personality that honored heroes. The closest I ever come to using that part of my formal schooling is when I do the radio program, Speak Up With Compassion. But that’s about the only thing I can imagine myself doing.

I also could have happily gone back to the mission field where I grew up, but I guess that would be “work in the ministry field” so that won’t work for this question. It’s just hard for me to not think that way.

• What would you say is your “best blessing” that you have had or experienced with this ministry? (Chuck Guth)

I don’t even know where to begin. God has had his hand on Compassion’s ministry for 56 years and I’ve seen 31 of those years. I’ve been able to shepherd this organization for 15 of those years.

I’m overwhelmed by the blessings on the place. I rejoice that there are 4,500 churches across the world that have been able to be salt and light in the midst of really poverty-stricken communities. And I really get a kick out of the fact that we add two churches — with 200 or 300 children each — every day of the year. I get up in the morning and get a cup of coffee, light a fire in the fireplace, and I pray for those two churches wherever they are in the world. I think Lord, I don’t know where they are but let them get off to a good start. Let them be a blessing to their community.

My greatest joy is that this year over 150,000 of Compassion’s little children will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. That doesn’t happen just because of Compassion … that happens because of the churches where these children are being blessed. It’s at the knee of their pastor or in the Sunday School class under the mango tree. That’s 477 children every day! (But who’s counting?)

The blessings are absolutely overwhelming. Maybe people don’t know this, but this is a 56-year-old organization that has doubled in size in the last four years. That’s amazing! This year’s budget is 54 million dollars bigger than last year’s budget, and that’s in this economy where “nothing” is going right. Amazing! God has chosen to bless us in spite of the circumstances in which we try to work.

We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess, any questions you like. We’re publishing his transcribed answers one day at a time. If you want to catch up, here’s the background skinny.

• Do you have any personal goals or goals for the organization that you care to share? (Lisa Miles)

1. First, I want to see Compassion double in size in the next six years. Based on our recent growth, I believe it is pretty safe to predict that this organization will move from 1 million children to 2 million children in the course of the next six years.
2. Second, I want our Leadership Development Program, which I think is pure gold, to grow from our current count of 1,800 university students to 10,000 university students before I go. We already have that many qualified students, but we just need the money to put them through college.
3. Third, I want the alumni associations to expand. If we were to gather Compassion’s kids together, there would be standing room only in the biggest stadiums, and I can’t wait for the day when we actually do that! Everybody in the stadium would be a Compassion child or a Compassion graduate worshiping together. I would love to have that in place in the near future.
4. Fourth, I want to wisely choose my successor. We have great leaders in this ministry and when the time is right I want to get out of the way and let the next generation lead. I need God to orchestrate this and direct me to that person.
5. Lastly, I want to finish well. When my time serving Compassion is finally done, I want to walk out of here a man of God, overjoyed but humbled. I am deeply passionate about walking closely with my Lord in such a way that when the time comes I will leave this place “well.”

We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess, any questions you like. We’re publishing his transcribed answers one day at a time. If you want to catch up, here’s the background skinny.

• What do you think is the largest challenge in eradicating poverty on the earth? (Allan)

The biggest challenge of eradicating poverty in the world isn’t finding enough money to throw at it. We often think that poverty is a lack of money. That’s a big piece of it, but it’s not the whole of it, or even the most critical part of it. If it was, I think we could probably organize our world to throw enough money at it to make it go away.

But poverty is much more complicated than that — it’s not about the kind of house that you live in or whether a sewer runs in front of your house. It’s not about the amount of calories you take in or the amount of money you have. Those are only the symptoms of poverty. That’s not real poverty. Real poverty is much more complicated than that and it doesn’t just happen overnight. It rolls down through the generations.

At Compassion we realize that the biggest challenge of poverty is a mindset — a lie that says to a child:

Look around you, nothing works, nothing is pretty nothing smells good — you don’t matter. Look at you. It’s all garbage and so are you. So give up. There’s nobody coming to your rescue. Nobody cares about you, just give up.

We must go into the midst of that abject poverty and breathe hope and love and life. We can meet the critical needs, but there’s no end of that. Scripture says, “So what does a man profit if he gains the whole world but loses his soul?”

What I think is the hardest thing is mobilizing God’s people around the world to not only send their money but to send their hearts and enter into the hurt of a little child and breathe hope:

Don’t give up. I’m watching you grow. I got your report card. I got your picture. I pray for you every night. I think you’re wonderful. Don’t give up.

If we could get enough people in the western world — this rich world that you talk about, Allan — to do that, we could absolutely end poverty on our planet. It’s not going to end with more effort. It’s not going to end with more money. It’s going to end with more heart.

Those of us who have been blessed have been blessed for one reason and one reason only, and that is to be a blessing. Anything God gives you beyond enough ought to be given away to lift someone else up to enough.

We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess, any questions you like. We’re publishing his answers one day at a time. If you want to catch up, here’s the background skinny.

• How does it feel to be making such a large salary? Do you feel like it would benefit more children in poverty if you were to take a cut in pay so that more of those funds could go toward ministering to children? (Kayla)

This is a fair question because this is a non-profit organization and this type of information is on public record. Anyone who wants to find out what the leaders of Compassion make can review our 990 form.

There are some decisions that I don’t make around here, and all the decisions about what I’m paid fall to Compassion’s Board of Directors. Our Board believes that Compassion must exercise prudent business judgment in balancing the stewardship of the ministry’s financial resources, the needs of the employees, and the payment of salaries sufficient to attract and retain the well-qualified employees who are required to effectively carry out our ministry. It is important to Compassion’s Board of Directors that we represent both excellence and stewardship.

Part of our salary structure also dictates that all Compassion staff are paid relative to that of the top position in the organization, which happens to be mine. So, if I were to be paid less, it means that every person below me in the organization would also be paid less. I have staff reporting to me who are responsible for managing a budget of nearly $400 million. It requires a high level of management competency to effectively supervise all that has been entrusted to this ministry.

I wish we lived in a world where Christians could fully focus on what we feel the Lord has called us to do without also having to worry about paying a mortgage, putting children through college, caring for aging parents, planning for retirement, etc. But, this is a reality that American non-profits (probably including many of our churches and some government officials) have struggled with for a long time.

What my wife and I have determined – and what I think everybody has to determine for themselves is – what is enough? Anything beyond enough can trap you. I live a very modest life, with a modest house and a modest car. Once Donna and I figured out what was enough for us, we agreed to just give the rest away. In fact, we give quite a lot of it right back to Compassion—we sponsor lots of kids and support every other mission effort that goes out of this place.

The truth is I would work for Compassion for absolutely nothing if it were possible.

We recently gave you the opportunity ask our president, Wess Stafford, any questions you like. We’re publishing his transcribed answers one day at a time. Here’s the background skinny.

• How do you balance your priorities between a “job” that is way more than a job and your family? (Amar Rama)
• I’d love to hear how Wess navigates the two worlds he inhabits. On one hand, he lives in a world of poverty and need. On the other, he lives in … well, America. (Kelly @ Love Well)
• I would like to know how you think your daughters were shaped and influenced by growing up in the midst of Compassion’s ministry. How did you balance giving them the joys of a carefree childhood while at the same time exposing them to the needs of the world in order to grow in them a heart for those living in poverty? (Jennie Thengvall)

It has been tough to go back and forth between these two worlds. My wife Donna and I determined we would give our lives in ministry to the poor but we promised each other that it would never come at the expense of our own children. That was a commitment that we made –- we would work very hard on behalf of the children of the world but not at the expense of our own. And so I have worked far harder at my role as father than I have even as Compassion’s president.

God gave me two daughters, Jenny and Katie. When my children were young and I was traveling, they knew that I would always rather be home with them more than with anybody else, no matter where I was in the world. So I sent postcards. (It was before e-mail.) I would call my children the last minute before I climbed on a plane to leave America and the first minute I was back.

In the evenings when I was home, I never missed a chance to put my daughters to bed. I thought bedtime was about the most teachable, precious moment I had. I taught my girls hymns every night. I told them a story every night of growing up in Africa. I was determined not to leave my girls behind. I didn’t want them to resent the poor. I didn’t want them to resent Compassion. I wanted them to know that this was their ministry, too.

I prayed with my daughters. One of the reasons they love Compassion is because it’s been a part of their lives since they were 2 and 3 years old. From the time my little girls could lisp a prayer, they prayed for the children that we sponsored.

I honored their mother. I spoke so well of their mother –- about what a hero she was –- doing so much in the house, which allowed me to travel overseas and not worry about my own home. Every three years I took them somewhere with me to see the work. Haiti, Brazil, Ecuador, Africa … I built it into their lives. The best proof is that they now sponsor kids with their own money.

In my book Too Small To Ignore there is a whole chapter on how we blended those two worlds. (By the way, all of the royalties from the book go straight to Compassion.)

We recently gave you the opportunity to ask our President, Wess Stafford, any questions you like. You didn’t disappoint. We got a variety of questions ranging from serious to silly.

Wess is a fascinating storyteller. We wanted you to feel as if he were answering your questions in person. So we sat down with him, recorded the interview and transcribed his answers word for word.

Instead of choosing 10, he wanted to answer them all. (We combined some of the similar questions.) Because of the length of his answers, we’ll answer one question per day.

• How did you get involved with Compassion International? (Monica @ Paper Bridges)
• What was your daily life in Haiti like? (Laurel Wreath)

My “unofficial” start with Compassion was probably when I was 5 years old, clear out in a little African village where my heart was being shaped and my respect for the poor was being formed.

My first “official” job was 31 years ago in Haiti, where I was assigned as a field worker. I was young, 27 years old, and it was wonderful. I can remember riding along in a truck thinking, “They pay me. They actually pay me to do this!” I stayed in little huts in the villages. I ate their food. I slept on the floor. It took me back to my boyhood in Africa. Most Haitians are descendents of West Africa so I was right at home.

But my biggest job in those days was sitting down and talking with leaders of poverty-stricken communities — listening to their hurts, dreams and hopes. I would write up a project, get funding for it, help that community implement that program, evaluate it and then move on to the next one. We built roads to open up isolated communities. We built hospitals and clinics. We did reforestation of mountainsides. I put in water systems, wells and captured springs and water treatment. We did a lot of relief during famine times.

At that time I represented six relief and development agencies -– Compassion was just one of six. The longer I worked in Haiti, the more I listened to the poor and the more I understood their hearts and what they would do if they had financial resources. The more I listened to them, the more they talked about children. The poor would say to me, “If you want to help me, help my child. Because that’s where my hope is, that’s where my dreams are and that’s where my resources go.”

Well I heard that enough from the extreme poor –- and Haiti isn’t just poor, it’s extremely poor –- that I realized I was not going to give my life to serving the poor unless I was able to do what the poor would do if they had financial resources. And where their money goes is to their children. So among the six agencies I worked for, it was Compassion International that honed in on children. The more I studied Compassion’s mission and what was truly important to the poor, the more strategic sense this ministry made.

After I left Haiti. I got a doctorate in non-formal education. And I have been with Compassion ever since. I’ve had just about every job in the place and have now served for 15 years as president.

So my time with Compassion goes back 31 years. And pretty much everything I need to know to lead this ministry came from the poor themselves, either in my little village in Africa or in Haiti.

Our president, Wess, is a smart man. (He’s also very humble so unless you ask him, you might not be aware of just how many interesting things he knows.)

Raised in Africa, a one-time resident of Haiti, he’s got a fascinating life journey. Thanks to all his travels and experiences overseas, he knows about many things including (but not limited to) slingshots, Indiana Jones, children, malaria, green mambas, hunting, Africa, raising daughters, fire ants, poverty and God.

You may have seen our series of posts entitled “10 Questions With” The intent was to help you better understand our holistic child development model. Well … we want to post another one in the series, but this time with a twist. (It’s like reality TV — we gotta keep changing it up or you get bored.) So here’s the twist: this time YOU provide the questions.

That’s right.

We’re giving you free and clear access to ask our very own president and CEO Wess Stafford anything you like.

• Ask him about his childhood.
• Ask him his middle name.
• Ask him how he met his wife.
• Ask him about work.
• Ask him why ostriches can’t fly.

Now’s your chance to ask Wess some of those burning questions you always wanted answered. You can submit as many questions as you want. He’ll pick 10 of them to answer.

Ready … set … go!