Thailand is full of coffee artists. Wherever you go for a cup of Joe, they try to outdo their coffee competitors with creative patterns and swirls of blended foam.

I hate to even stir in a spoonful of sugar for fear of ruining the coffee canvas. But since the coffee won’t stay hot forever, I choose to capture each creation digitally.

But my absolute favorite of all time is:

How on earth?

This post was originally published in Oct. 2008 on Michael’s personal blog, Build Your Walls! Guard Your Gates!

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

Our Contact Center recently received the following email from Sarah W., a brand-new sponsor. She sponsored her first child on March 25, 2011. We love receiving emails like this.

I just wanted to tell you what happened to me. I have never been so clearly led to do something.

All day I was thinking about coffee, how I wanted it but that it was a waste of money. I have done really well lately. I have cut down my intake of coffee to about once a week (used to be every day). But even buying a cup just once a week costs me about $20 a month.

I had been thinking all day that I need to stop drinking coffee completely, and that there HAS to be something better I can be doing with my money.

Then, late yesterday afternoon, a friend sent me a message that her baby might be sick, and that they were in the emergency room. She and I both had babies about six weeks ago, and my hormones are not quite right yet, so I got REALLY sad – like teary-eyed.

I was thinking how awful it must be for her and her family, and how stressful. Since I was holding my son, James, I got even sadder.

I realized that these two little boys are so lucky because they have people falling over themselves to make sure their needs are met and that they’re healthy.

Then I started thinking about how many kids don’t have responsible parents or maybe don’t have parents with enough money to ever take them to the doctor. I was sitting on the couch holding James (he was sound asleep) and praying for my friend’s son and for every other kid in the world, and sort of crying but just barely, and the name of this charity popped into my head: Compassion International.

I don’t know where I had ever heard of Compassion, but I knew I needed to Google it right then, so I put James down and Googled it.

When I saw that it was a child-sponsorship program, I thought,

Am I supposed to sponsor a kid? Surely not!

Then I looked at the price of $38/month – a really good replacement for my coffee habit and using the money for someone else rather than just spending it on myself. But I was still thinking,

Nah, not gonna do it.

I decided to just look at a couple of kids. If I was going to do it, I would want them to be like a James in another country — like a brother.

The only search fields I filled in were age and sex. I entered 3-5 years old and male, and instantly a screen full of little boys’ pictures came up. I thought,

This is dumb. I shouldn’t even look because I’m not going to do it, and how would I even pickone?!? They’re all precious and cute, and they all need help. How can I choose?

But I couldn’t resist.

I decided to click on just one child before I got off the site. So I clicked on the very first kid who had popped up, a 3-year-old from Ecuador named Jordano.

He and my son, James, had the same birthday, and I just felt like I had to, or needed to, or was supposed to, sponsor him – so I did.

I don’t often feel like I am necessarily meant to do something or led to do something, but from the time my friend sent her text message from the emergency room to the time I signed up to be this little boy’s sponsor, only about 5 minutes had passed.

I am excited to receive my packet.

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

If you drink at least a cup of coffee a day, the thought of fasting from coffee is probably pretty painful. But we weighed up the facts:

• Firstly, it’s something they could live without . . . albeit sacrificially. For the first week of the fast, they had massive headaches and their bodies screamed for coffee 24-7. I felt their pain.
• Secondly, a cup of coffee costs more than what some of the materially poor earn in an entire day. So the money we save as a part of the fast is then donated towards the Global Food Crisis fund.

We’re almost three weeks into the campaign and my colleagues have honored their commitment — not a single drop of coffee. They’ve also resigned themselves to the fact that it is still a luxury they would like to enjoy after FAST for FOOD.

Still, I respect their choice to wean from something that’s become a part of their daily lives, and that they choose to hunger for God when their bodies beg for caffeine. Although, I’ve found that the reward of abiding in Him is truly incredible. Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6 (NIV)

The Message phrases “hunger and thirst for righteousness” as to “[work] up a good appetite for God.” Clearly, our appetite for God doesn’t develop in the same way that our body naturally hungers and thirsts for food and drink. We need to make the decision to work it up.

The Amplified Bible defines righteousness as “uprightness and right standing with God.” Therefore, righteousness is a position where we know we are right with God. He promises to bless us if we seek to be right with Him in whatever circumstance we’re in.

Not only this, if we choose to focus on who He is rather than our circumstances, we would be “filled” (NIV). In other words we would be “blessed and fortunate and happy and spiritually prosperous” (AMP<). 

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, the principle to becoming "filled" remains the same. Like Apostle Paul, we could be content whether we live in plenty or in want (Philippians 4:12). But it is by choosing to seek a person rather than a thing that we learn contentment. Surely, when we’re filled with Him we’d be in a better place to give and bless those suffering in the Global Food Crisis, just as He fills us.

Ah, the joy of simple faith.

Irene Kao

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