In Thailand, Christians make up less than 1 percent of the population in a predominantly Buddhist country. But every Thursday evening a small group of Christian university students gather together to worship and glorify God at Naresuan University.

During this time of praise and singing, Maneenoot and Ittipol from the Leadership Development Program observe their college friends who attend this small group. Some students walk in casually, and others enter in a hurry, rushing from their previous class. A handful of students sit by themselves nearby.

The hearts of Ittipol and Maneenoot are crying out to bring back all the lost souls to their heavenly Father’s kingdom.

In 2005, a group of Leadership Development Program students decided to join together to form a group in order to fellowship and support each other while attending Naresuan University, located in Payao province. (more…)

Merry Christmas!

On this day we hope you feel the presence of our Savior as we celebrate His grand love and His perfect will to move us closer to Himself.

“Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”
Matthew 1:23, NASB

Also, we thought you might like to see some children in Colombia celebrating the birth of Jesus. These photos were taken at a child development center Christmas party by Edwin Mendivelso, Compassion Colombia field communications specialist.

Take a look at these angels!

Fernanda, Israel and David are going to their house. From the bus stop, they spent half an hour climbing. Already at the peak of the hill they can see the city.

Here the houses have one floor and are made from cardboard and plastic pieces. A few are made from brick.

Fernanda and her children have been living in this neighborhood since 1999. Since a year ago, she has been living with Antonio, a man about 15 years older, who owns this house. Antonio is a home builder and the stepfather of Israel and David.

Israel jumps to the neighbor’s yard and begins to search through the cornfield for the best corncobs to make donuts (bunhuelos). (more…)

If I could spend Christmas with my sponsored child . . .

It was Christmas morning, and I lay impatiently in my bed awaiting the sound of my parents stirring downstairs. We’ve never been the kind of family that wakes up and rushes to the living room to tear into the gifts before we have properly washed the “eye boogers” out of our eyes (disgusting I know, but hey . . . the truth is ugly sometimes). We tend to be a little more reserved about the process. 

We sleep in, which for our family is until about 8:15. We shower and dress for the day, as we usually spend the afternoon with extended family, and we often debate about what we want Dad to make for breakfast. It’s usually his world famous omelets. If you think I’m exaggerating . . . well, I’m not. They’re insane. 

This one particular Christmas, though, held one very unique gift, wrapped in a beige envelope and delicately placed in between the branches of our tree. There were actually two envelopes; one had my brother’s name on it and the other had mine, written in my mother’s elegant penmanship. 

Curious as to what could possibly be in something the size of a letter and thin as paper, my brother and I opened them slowly, simultaneously. 

(more…)

Want one? It’s $7.

Yesterday, we introduced you to Chantal, a 9-year-old girl from Rwanda.

Chantal is a beneficiary of our Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) initiative, and during the Christmas season the vulnerability of these children parallels the extreme vulnerability that our God entered into on Christmas Day.

It’s a vulnerability portrayed in homes throughout the world by the nativity. And this Christmas season, we’d like to share with you a reminder of God’s love and sacrifice for us all.

This handcrafted Rwandan nativity set is as fragile and vulnerable as many of the children we serve. And it’s available to one randomly selected reader who answers these questions for us.

• What do we mean when we say complementary interventions?
• Why is the HVC initiative considered a complementary intervention?

On December 18, we’ll randomly pick a winner from the comments we receive.

Thanks for participating, and Merry Christmas!