John 6:9 is a known passage in which Jesus uses a boy to perform one of His biggest miracles, providing for the needs of a multitude. According to some authors, what Jesus multiplied was a boy’s lunch. Others believe that the bread and fish were what he had available for sale to support his family.

Bear in mind that in Jesus’ time, children were not appreciated by society. Children and women were of such little value that this story mentions only five thousand men, overlooking the women and children completely.

In spite of that, the boy became a resource that Jesus used to supernaturally solve a community problem and to help people recognize the awaited Messiah (v. 14). Similarly, what children and youth have today given to Jesus could also become a way to transform communities and for people to recognize the Savior they need.

Our Lord takes children and youth into consideration and wants to do through them something so big. Indeed, Jesus Christ started from a boy and used what He had to unfold His power to benefit many.

Scripture says that Andrew came up with the solution to the food problem: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.” This came as a response to Jesus’ question, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”

Andrew’s answer gives us a great challenge: to be sensitive to the call of Jesus, to discover each child’s potential — “what they have in their hands” — and to present them to Jesus, trusting that He will continue using them with great power, supernaturally, to meet the needs of today.

This passage allows us to come to the conclusion that children and youth “have something” that in Jesus’ hands could be of great impact and significance.

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.” — John 6:9a

Prayer: God, please help us to be sensitive about the potential of each youth and child that you intend to be a great blessing in Jesus’ hands.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Carlos Escobar is the Country Director of our office in Colombia.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

How do you say goodbye to a sponsored child who has died? Have you ever had to do that, or to say goodbye to another child in your life?

As with many things, there’s often the thought, “Oh, that won’t happen to me. That sort of stuff only happens to other people.” Then the world shook in Haiti and changed our perspective.

But children don’t just die or get injured in earthquakes. They die from malaria and AIDS. They die from diarrhea and other preventable causes. They die in childbirth and in accidents. And when they die it’s, well, it’s like this:

I can’t explain how one comes to love a child who they hardly know. But I can say that I felt like Akouvi was part of my family. I loved her. And so often in her letters, she told me that she loved me too.

I don’t think I understood the depth of my love for her until February 23. That’s the day that I found out Akouvi had died. That’s the day I felt like something had cracked open inside of me, filling me with red-hot grief. Sadness that burned so fiercely that even my tears could not extinguish it.

Read the entire post.

I found myself very distracted the day we heard of his death. I wondered how his family is coping. I wondered what kind of ceremony they would have in Tanzania to remember such a precious child. I wondered if his family realized that his sponsor family was at a loss over what to do.

Read the entire post.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Remember when you answer each day’s HIV/AIDS question correctly, you are eligible to win a free CD – your choice of either Portable Sounds by tobyMac or Beyond Measure by Jeremy Camp. We’ll randomly choose a winner each day from the correct answers.

The answer to Friday’s question is 1,000.

During 2007, an average of 1,000 children worldwide became infected each day with HIV, the vast majority of them newborns. Many people living in poverty are never tested and are unaware of their HIV positive status, thus increasing the rate of transmission. An important focus of our AIDS Initiative is the prevention of mother-to-child transmission.

Source: 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic Executive Summary, pg.8

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Pastor Joel grew up on the remote island of Siquijor in the Philippines, which has long been known for magic and witchcraft, but Compassion in the Philippines only began partnering with churches in Siquijor this year.

Although Compassion reached the Philippines in the 1970s, we finally landed in the isolated island after 30 years!

In 2004, we began regularly updating our strategy map to identify the poorest and neediest provinces in the country with the fewest number of evangelical churches, and the list included Siquijor.

And now Joel, who has turned away from his island’s belief in witchcraft,  is pastor of the Siquijor Celebration Christian Fellowship, one of our newest church partners in the remote island province.

He has been pastor here for 15 years and vividly remembers the years when it was so difficult to share the gospel. But today, the church has led to the Lord at least 15 individuals who used to be part of the occult practices.

“There are now 32 evangelical churches in the island, and witchcraft has greatly lessened its control. We used to be known as an island of sorcery but not anymore, thanks to the gospel. And now that Compassion is here, we are excited to create more impact.”

Only a few months into the partnership, the Siquijor Celebration Christian Fellowship has seen an increase in church attendance.

“We have 100 new Bible studies for the 100 new families of our 100 registered children.” The church leaders are meeting in the homes of all the new families to hold small Bible studies.”

And Cyrene is one of the 100 Siquijorian children to be registered. She is full of potential, just as the pastor was when he was little.

Cyrene tops her grade one class with a score of 100 percent in all her tests. Many of her classmates are two years older than her because they did not have the money to go to school earlier.

“I want to be a teacher,” bubbly Cyrene says. When asked why, she insists, “I just want to be a teacher.”

Like Pastor Joel, Cyrene’s parents did not finish high school. In fact, 90 percent of the adult population here doesn’t. Rogelio, Cyrene’s father, says,

“We were so poor when I was young. I was like Cyrene before, getting good grades and all. I was also at the top of my elementary classes. I had high hopes because until high school I had good grades, so I wanted to go to college.”

Poverty, however, won and he stopped schooling when he reached the third year of high school.

“My father was a fisherman/farmer and our family subsisted with whatever little amount he could earn. He couldn’t even send me to a free public school because I didn’t have food to eat in the morning or uniform to wear.”

But with Cyrene’s sponsorship, her parents have found hope.

If not for Compassion, Cyrene would most probably end up as many of the locals here – uneducated and unemployable.

Her bouncy personality and intellectual potential would not be harnessed to the fullest. Soon she would have to stop schooling because Rogelio does not have a steady job to support her.

Both Rogelio and Merlyn are focused on their daughter’s education and future, not necessarily thinking of how historically significant it is. Little Cyrene represents a milestone in the our ministry in the Philippines:

She is the 50,000 child to be registered in the Philippines program.

Compassion Philippines has seen its programs go through several transformations over the past 30 years. And now that we have reached out to Siquijor and other similarly far-flung, hard-to-reach provinces, we look forward to registering the next 50,000 children into our programs.

Now, unlike Pastor Joel, Rogelio and Merlyn, Cyrene has a different hope for life. With her sponsorship*, she has been given a chance to follow in the footsteps of thousands of successful Compassion alumni who have gone through our programs through the years; the chance to follow in the footsteps of:

• Sarah Jane, a former sponsored child who is now a medical doctor
• Jonathan, a former sponsored child who is now an accounts manager in New York
• Bobby, a former sponsored child who is now a successful international businessman
• Erla, a former sponsored child who is now a missionary to China
• Keewani, a former sponsored child who is now a sponsor herself.

Cyrene is next in line. 

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

I sat at my desk, stunned by the news. Alfan was such an adorable little boy! Full of life!

In his letters, he expressed his love for the picture we sent him of our family dog. He was excelling in school. He shared about all that he was learning about Jesus and talked about the church he attended.

I found myself very distracted the day we heard of his death. I wondered how his family is coping. I wondered what kind of ceremony they would have in Tanzania to remember such a precious child. I wondered if his family realized that his sponsor family was at a loss over what to do.

I stared at his picture. I thought, How do you say goodbye to a sponsored child? Then it hit me – this wasn’t just a hypothetical question, it was a reality in our lives.

And not just in my life, but in the lives of many other sponsors. On average, about five to 10 Compassion-assisted children die each week.

I still haven’t figured out a great way to mourn Alfan’s death. It still makes me sad. I’m still overwhelmed by the tragedy of the death of a child. However, I cling to hope! I cling to hope and joy that someday, Alfan and I will be reunited.

I anxiously await the day that Alfan and I will meet at the feet of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The day where we are both in heaven, embracing, and praising God for the beauty of binding our hearts together during our short times on Earth.

We should all cling to the promise of God from Isaiah 25:8a (NIV):

“He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces …”

Because when loss is involved, Christ is our only hope in the face of death.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

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 ‘more pressing’ needs – justified because children are our future, ‘the leaders of tomorrow’.

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’s largest population group.

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.

The Bible says that children are ‘a gift from God’ 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.

All children are precious in God’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).

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’t remember when they last had a bite of food, or the ones that are continually ill because they can’t afford malaria medication? They don’t shout the loudest; indeed, many seem to have no voice at all, but it doesn’t mean that their cry should not be heard and this is where we step in.

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’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.

Compassion is unashamedly and singularly focused on the child. We place value on children simply because God does. Proverbs 22:6 (NIV) says, “Train a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not turn from it.”

Investing into children’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.

The intervention of a local church-based Compassion child development center and your invaluable support can literally shape a child’s future, causing him or her to be a change-maker in the family, community, perhaps even the nation.

That’s why we believe that one-to-one child sponsorship is so important and imperative to releasing children from poverty.

It all begins with valuing the one.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The African child is a resilient one, as many on the African continent must gather up great energy each day just to survive. The constant onslaught of risks and dangers that they face is more than many of us can imagine and more than any child should bear. HIV, AIDS, malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition…..just a few of the barriers that these children must overcome to live healthy and fulfilling lives.

After having spent a good deal of time living and traveling to Africa, I have been amazed and incredibly blessed by being around these children. They have taught me more than any textbook could, and have given me strength when I needed it most.

Here’s to the millions of children in Africa that could use our prayers and support as they continue to face the harshest of environments.

Let’s commit to remembering them and praying for the continued success of this ministry that seeks to serve them and bring them out of their poverty.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Like how long it would take you to count to 1 million (14 days).

Or how much 1 million dollar bills weigh (2,204 pounds).

Because as important as 1 million is, and as huge of a milestone as 1 million sponsored children is, it’s really just about one child.

And a few weeks ago, I got to meet that one child — Fellow Blewussi Kpodo. He lives in a dusty community just outside of Lomé, Togo.

Fellow’s whole family had come out for our meeting. His father stood proudly, his arm on the shoulder of his oldest son. Fellow’s two older sisters darted in and out of the house, covering their faces and giggling at the sight of my pale skin. His younger brother made himself at home in my lap.

All the while, Fellow watched the commotion with his solemn brown eyes.

I stared at his eyes when he wasn’t looking. Fringed with dark eyelashes, I wondered at what they had seen.

They had watched his father battered by grief when Fellow’s mother died five years ago.

They had filled with tears when the headmaster sent him home from school because he didn’t have his school fees — again.

They had stung with smoke as he bent over the small fire he prepared every evening for his sisters to cook cassava and dried fish for dinner.

And now, those same eyes sought out mine.

“He has a question for you,” explained the interpreter. I nodded. “He wants to know if you know his sponsor.”

I grinned at Fellow, and for the first time a smile reached his eyes.

“I don’t know her,” I explained. “But I know that you are very special to her.”

And in that moment, everything else faded away. Fellow wasn’t one of a million children. He was just one.

One child.

One sponsor.

One more step toward changing the world.

“The child must know that he is a miracle, that since the beginning of the world there hasn’t been, and until the end of the world there will not be, another child like him.” – Pablo Casals

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

We asked Roberto Medrano, communications and tours specialist for Central America and the Caribbean and a member of our El Salvador staff, to answer some of your questions.

1. I just found out that one of my sponsored children has been sponsored four times in the past six years. I was wondering what type of effect this has on children. Do they get to the point where they are not even excited to be sponsored anymore? Is this a common occurrence? (Cindy)

To be completely honest, yes. Some of the children have received the sad news several times that their sponsors canceled. If that has happened several times, the children think something is wrong with them.

It is amazing the influence a sponsor can have on the child. For example, I remember a 25-year-old Compassion graduate. She is a Christian who is married and has two babies. She also serves as a center worker. Even though she is an adult and loves Compassion’s ministry, she always cries because in the 15 years of sponsorship her sponsor did not write one single letter. She wrote her sponsor dozens of letters, but she never received any response.

2. What are the great things about El Salvador that you want us to know about? Tell us about a particular strength or something special about the people of your country. (Lisa Miles)

El Salvador is the smallest country in the Americas, but our people have a great heart. In Central America they call us the smiling country, and I think that is a special thing about our people. We have faced earthquakes, hurricanes, civil war, and poverty, but in any problem if you ask a Salvadoran, “How are you doing?” he or she will say with an honest and warm smile, “It’s all good!” Our people are very positive and enthusiastic, and they have warrior hearts that can overcome any disaster or negative situation.

3. In light of the global food crisis, which would be the most important option for sponsors who want to help — to sponsor an additional child, to send a family gift to your child, or to send a donation to Compassion specifically for the food crisis? (Lindy)

I think that everything you mention has a big impact on the crisis. I think it depends pretty much on the kind of impact you want to make.

• Sponsor a child. Great! He or she will not only receive a physical opportunity but a life opportunity that can change his or her life and his or her family’s life
• Send a gift. That certainly will focus the impact on one family that urgently needs the help.
• Send a donation. That will allow us to direct the funds to the countries, communities, and villages that have been most affected by the food crisis.

4. What are some of the struggles the children face that are specific to El Salvador? (Melissa Coast)

• Gangs: 75 percent of the crimes are committed by the gangs, and, just to give you an idea, in a country slightly larger than Massachusetts about 12 murders are committed daily. To make the situation even worse, gangs look for new recruits among children.
• Abandonment: Due to the economic situation in El Salvador, thousands of parents leave the country; about two million Salvadorans live in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of children live without a mother and a father and make their way to gangs even easier because they think the gang can be the family they don’t have.

5. I understand that some countries that Compassion partners with have the children write four letters per year. Other countries allow the children to reply to each letter the sponsors write. How does this process work in El Salvador? (Lauren)

Actually, El Salvador was a pilot country for “reciprocal letters.” This was a pilot program that involved relatively immediate responses when the child received a letter.

6. I would like to learn from your opinions regarding the condition of the American Christian church. (Compassion Dave)

I think in my case and most others, Salvadoran Christians are very grateful to the United States because they sent hundreds of missionaries to spread the gospel in El Salvador one hundred years ago. At that time, they suffered a lot and worked very hard to spread the gospel in a very rough and unfriendly environment.

Now 35 percent of our population is evangelical and the president of the country gathers pastors to openly pray for the country and the government. I think we owe much of this to those American missionaries who left everything to come to our country.

7. Can you tell the story of the sponsor trip that moved you the most? How can sponsors best prepare for their sponsor tour and meeting their child? (Sara Benson)

All sponsor tours are amazing experiences for the sponsors and for the sponsored children.

I remember a child by the name of Magaly. She was a 15-year-old girl who was sponsored by an American couple. When Magaly met them in person, she hugged them effusively while big tears came out from her beautiful brown eyes, and she kept repeating, “My family, finally I meet my family.”

At the end of the meeting Magaly took a old little purse from her bag and showed the picture they sent her years ago. She said, “You know, I have your picture with me always, and I have said to all my friends at school that you are like my parents, that you are my family.”

The couple started crying as they looked at each other. They were married for 18 years and they could not have children, so they started sponsoring Magaly when she was 5 years old. They saw her as their Salvadoran child. Their biggest dream was that Magaly would see them and value them as family.

I think that for a sponsor tour you have to be ready to give. You have been in the dreams of your sponsored children. Meeting them will have an amazing impact on their lives. Make good use of your influence on them, tell them they can do anything in Christ. Encourage them to study, to keep attending the project.

8.What is the poorest area of El Salvador? And is there any way to sponsor a child from the area? (Heather)

The West. You can contact a Compassion representative at (800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. to sponsor a child from this region.

9. What happens to children who start their education late, when they are first sponsored, and do not graduate by the time they reach the age to leave the Compassion program? (Juli Jarvis)

Since the moment they are registered, Compassion plans ahead so that they have the opportunity to finish school. Salvadoran children are registered from 3 to 7 years old, which gives the child development centers enough time to plan the child’s education.

10. I would love to hear your favorite stories of children in your programs whose lives were really turned around by being part of Compassion. (Amy)

I know several stories and each one of them is precious to me. Maybe the most special one was the first one.

I had only been working with Compassion four days when I went on my first child development center visit. There, I met a 9-year-old sponsored boy who was leading the worship at the center. He was FULL of joy, jumping and dancing.

Then he started preaching, and I must confess that child preachers really touch my heart because I was a child preacher when I was young. When I find a child preacher it is like finding a much-loved colleague.

The name of the boy I met in the child student center was Pedro Julio. His story was quite different than mine.

When I preached as a child, my parents were seated at the first row of the church, and they were Christians. Meanwhile, when Pedro Julio was preaching, his dad was in jail and his mom was doing drugs in a town far from where Pedro Julio lives.

When they invited me to preach, my mom took care of the clothing I was going to wear, my dad drove us to the church and he gave BIG HUGS to me before I started preaching.

When Pedro Julio preached at the center, he wore the only clothes he had, the ones the center gave him — except for the shoes of course. Wearing shoes for him was too troublesome and uncomfortable.

Instead of having his dad drive him to church and giving him big hugs, he had a disabled grandmother who could not move from bed. How have they survived?

Pedro Julio sometimes worked doing errands for people at the market, and the grandmother sometimes received the help of one of her daughters.

In spite of Pedro Julio’s hard life, when he was preaching I felt we shared so much. The same joy in our eyes, the same pride in our hearts because we were serving the Lord, the same redeemer who saved us.

Our childhoods were very different, but yet they were the same. We both met Jesus as children, we both had hope for the future, we both received love at church and we had plans to be serving the Lord for a long time due to all the wonderful things he had done in our lives.

That happened six years ago, and I still remember Pedro Julio. He made me realize that Compassion was a ministry designed in heaven because it reaches children with no hope and makes them able to bless the name of the Lord in the middle of poverty, crime, violence, abuse and abandonment.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates