People often ask me what my favorite part of my job is. For me, the answer is easy: the people I get to meet and know around the world. There are people working for Compassion with such heart and passion and such incredible stories of their own. Henry Guarin is one of those people.

Henry’s fun and funny, he sings in a rock band, he has a passion for his job. And he used to be a sponsored child.

Here’s a little more about Henry, in his own words.

It’s 7:15 a.m. in Bogotá, Colombia, it’s cold, as usual, and I am waiting for the school bus to pick up Juan Felipe, my 5-year-old son.

As we stand at the door of the apartment building we live in we are talking about his favorite TV shows, dinner, games with his friends at school, and other things, just like every day.

The school bus finally arrives, so I give him a big hug and a big kiss and I tell him,

“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him; and he delivers them.”

I come back to my apartment and Xiomara, my wife, is finishing feeding our little son Lucas. He is only 5 months old and he is happily kicking in his cradle, and he smiles at me as he sees me coming in.

Xiomara and I sit and start talking about how different things were for us when we were children. (more…)

Are your children pretty web savvy? Do they spend a LOT of time online? I mean are they typical kids?

How about you? Are you a kid at heart?

If you said yes to any of these questions, we have some exciting news just for you.

We just launched our new kid’s Web site, Quest for Compassion, and we think that it is not only engaging but entertaining too! We love it, and are confident that your kids will as well. Not only is the site fun, but it’ll educate your youngsters all about the ministry of Compassion.

The site is designed for children between the ages of 6 and 10, and it provides a virtual opportunity for them to travel around the world — to four different countries where we work:  Ghana, Bangladesh, El Salvador and Brazil.

It helps your kiddos experience a Compassion child development center and the surrounding community, and will give them perspective on what a child’s life in the developing world is like.

Each child will “build his or her own buddy” to travel with — by choosing gender and skin color – and will be able to give the buddy a name. Then they can pick a region of the world to travel to.

Each town and country is filled with objects to click on and games to play. And with the help of their “buddies,” your world travelers can also learn key words and phrases in each country’s native language. Through these various games and fun facts, your children will get to see and hear about the life and culture of our Compassion kids around the globe.

We created the Web site through the use of real-life still shots taken in the countries where we work, which we brought to life through the use of animated children, teachers and animals that your children will meet along the way.

This is a new, fun and safe way for children, and even for you, to learn more about our ministry.

Visit the site today with your children to discover who and what awaits you! And be sure to tell us what you think.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month in the U.S., a time to raise awareness about child abuse and neglect. Our mandate as child advocates is to ensure that all children within our care and those we interact with every day enjoy a loving and safe environment.

Compassion is committed to protecting children from all forms of abuse and exploitation. Our board policy communicates this clearly by stating that:

“Concern for children is the cornerstone upon which Compassion International has been built. We are opposed to all forms of abuse and exploitation and will do everything within our power to ensure that no harm comes to any child registered in our program due to his or her involvement in the ministry of Compassion International.”

By protecting children, we are responding to Christ’s mandate to care for and protect His little ones.

For the past two weeks we’ve published a series of poverty questions for you to consider. We appreciate everyone who submitted comments to the posts, and we extend our congratulations to Judy Tremblay and her enormous brain for answering the most poverty questions correctly and becoming the proud new owner of a brand, spankin’ new magnet.

Yep! A magnet. Can we get get a “Woot! Woot!” for Judy?

Now, without further ado, here is your answer key. (more…)