Why do we do the things we do? You and I.

Why bother getting that advanced degree? Just for the credentials?

Why eat the whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie when 500 calories of poverty fighting creaminess would be good enough?

Why buy the pint to begin with? An outright donation to some cause that rhymes with Compassion would probably make a more direct impact in the fight against poverty. It would sure help my poor jeans — not the donation part, the not buying and eating part.

Here are some of the more exceptional reasons I do things.

• I enjoy it.
• I can’t help myself.
• I wanted to.
• I had to.
• It’s good for my career.
• The ladies like it.
• My boss made me.

Pretty good. Right?

Why do you think Compassion does what it does? Just for the heck of it?

Nope!

We do this poverty fighting stuff because we want to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. (Honk if you appreciated the subtle way I inserted our tagline.)

But what does releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name mean? I did it again How do we know we’ve been successful?

This is for you Andrzej. It’s “the” post Becky alluded to in her reply to your comment on Maila’s Dream.

Although I’m not talking about the actual “how” we measure our success or the “method” we use to measure our success — that’s all top secret cloak and dagger type of stuff — I am hitting you up with the measuring stick we use.

Compassion’s success in releasing children from poverty is Outcome Driven.

We’re successful when the children in our Child Survival Programs (CSP) are physically healthy, curious, and self confident, when they have healthy age-specific relationships and when they interact and communicate with the world around them.

We’re successful when the mothers and/or caregivers in our CSP programs are sufficiently healthy to provide for the well-being of their children, when they’re motivated and able to be economically self-supporting and when they’re committed to Christ.

We’re successful when the children in our Child Sponsorship Program commit their lives to Christ, choose good health practices, are physically healthy, are motivated to learn new skills, demonstrate the skills to support themselves in the future and interact with others in healthy and compassionate ways.

We’re successful when the students in our Leadership Development Program do all the above and demonstrate servant leadership.

We’re successful when our church partners in the developing world demonstrate effective vision and leadership and take ownership of their vision by establishing efficient structures, practices and management to achieve their goals.

And finally, we’re successful, when you, our sponsors and donors, are actively committed and engaged in advocating for the needs of children in poverty, when you have a positive Compassion experience and … and … okay, I’ll say it … when you comment on our blog posts.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” —Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV

Popularity: 41% [?]

Story by Charles Ngowi, Compassion Tanzania Field Communications Specialist

• Some thought there is no genuine organization that can offer the benefits CI claims to offer to children.
• Some were not comfortable that CI wants different evangelical denominations to come together and have a common objective in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

The church history in Tanzania shows that for quite a long time, the church identified itself along denominational lines and had closed the door on the possibility of cooperating together as the body of Christ.

The pastors from our pioneer partner churches had never sat together for the business of God’s kingdom. There had never been joint prayer sessions, and the idea of a one-week joint workshop, which we organized and conducted at Masoka Management College in Moshi, was unimagined. Therefore, establishing Compassion International Tanzania required great energy in order to share the vision. It was accompanied with much prayer and crying. (more…)

Popularity: 33% [?]

Story and photos by Charles Ngowi, Compassion Tanzania Field Communications Specialist

Compassion International Tanzania (CIT) registered* its 50,000 child two months ago on Februray 16. This historic registration ushered in a new era for us. It was a moment to put down our tools, celebrate the Lord’s favor, and thank Him for what he has done and for His faithfulness. It was a milestone for the Tanzanian ministry, an achievement worth celebrating.

Now let’s see how we reached the 50,000 child mark and also learn about how our child registration process works.

The milestone occurred in Tabora, more than 650 kilometers from Arusha, where the head office of CIT is located. But the search actually began months earlier.

Finding Church Partners

Before going into a new area, CIT conducts country mapping to determine the level of poverty in one area as compared to another. Country mapping is necessary so we can determine where the greatest ministry need is.

After country mapping, we conduct a baseline survey to determine if the areas identified with a high degree of poverty have Christian churches whose mission matches ours. This is critical because we work through the local church — it is the local church that actually implements the program and cares for the children. If there is no church, our ministry model won’t work, regardless of the degree of poverty that exists there.

We ask questions, such as:

• Does the church have classrooms to accommodate the children?
• Do they have people who can teach and work with children or who can learn to assist children?
• Are there peopleand children who can help the program continue?

This baseline survey helps us decide which areas and churches are a good fit. Of course, in all the stages we keep praying and asking God to lead us in the right path and to bring people who will be willing to sponsor children and release the resources needed.

After the baseline survey, we gather all the potential church partners for vision casting. In this gathering we share the importance of ministry to children and call on the church to awaken to the call of Jesus Christ to fulfill the Greatest Commandment.

After this, we choose the potential church partners and invite them to a partnership meeting. At this one-day meeting, it is time to pray together and for us to give relevant partnership documents to the new church partners.

If the partners agree on the conditions, they sign a partnership agreement with us. These partnership agreements give room to church partners to start preparing environments to begin the ministry. They start recruiting project workers and create a child ministry committee formed from church members. The church has to find those able and qualified to work in the project as project coordinator, project accountant, project social worker, and project health worker.

Once all the project workers are chosen, they attend the “One-Month Child Ministry Foundation Course” that all project workers go through. In this course, the newly recruited project workers are trained on how to implement the ministry and how to minister to each child individually. They also learn what is expected of them and different ways and procedures of reporting and giving feedback to us. They get to know the organizational structure of CIT, the departments involved, and how each department works.

Screening and Registration

All this leads up to child screening and registration. (more…)

Popularity: 47% [?]