Since the FAST for FOOD campaign began, some of my colleagues who have been on a coffee fast mentioned coffee every day. But the important thing is this — they honored their commitment!

Nevertheless, they eagerly counted down the days . . . I too was keen for the FAST to be over! Skipping a meal a day hurt.

The FAST has come to an end, but despite having to experience the pain of self-imposed deprivation, God’s given me a spiritual FEAST! So far I’ve experienced moments of intense hunger and vulnerability, yet contrasted by immense joy and freedom. I cannot tell you enough about the good things He’s done in me and revealed to me over the past month!

The hunger pangs have given me a glimpse of what our precious friends living in destitution experience day in, day out. They’ve also reminded me of how lucky I am to be hungry by choice and not due to personal circumstances. I–AM–BLESSED!

Another thing I’ve been challenged by is to give more of myself . . . not out of my budget, but out of my heavenly inheritance. So I’ve been meditating on Luke 12:32-34. I found The Message version easy to relate to:

“What I’m trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself. 

“Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.”

Enough said!

While I’ve yet to fully discover what my heavenly inheritance entails, I know that it comes from a good and kind God who is love Himself . . . a God who does not change and cannot deny Himself (of His goodness, kindness, grace etc.).

I’m convinced that rather than struggle with the recurring tension within me to give sacrificially, by focusing on how unchangingly good He is, and His continuous goodness towards me, I would learn to give as He does. Surely, it is by focusing on the ways of the Kingdom that we’d learn to live on earth as it is in Heaven . . . .

I wonder whether the offering of an average Joe (be it the equivalent of a basket of fish and bread) would be given in faith by everyone across the earth, so that I would live to see a miracle – the end of starvation?

P.S. I set up a Facebook event for FAST for FOOD. Some people commented on the event wall about the timing of the campaign. So I wanted to clarify my thoughts:

If the idea of FAST for FOOD has captured your attention, you can participate in the campaign (with your friends and family) at a time of your choosing.

• The videos
• The prayer calendar (347 KB PDF)
• The poster (460 KB PDF)
• And the PowerPoint presentation (3,465 KB PPT)

have been created without a specific beginning or end date.

Besides, the Global Food Crisis continues . . . . 

– Irene Kao

This is David. He was the first registered child in Togo.

And this is his sister, Gracia. She was the second child registered by Compassion Togo.

They don’t have sponsors yet. And neither do these Togolese children.

If you:

• sponsor a child from Togo between now and December 31
• AND you sign up for automatic credit card payments
• we’ll send* you a really keen pocket-sized, leather NIV Bible with the Compassion logo on it

If you want to sponsor David or Gracia, you’ll have to talk to Compassion Australia about that. Give ‘em a call.

These Togolese children are also available for sponsorship through Compassion Australia. They’d love sponsors too.

*Please allow two to three weeks for your Bible to be delivered. The free Bible is available to children sponsored through Compassion U.S. only.

A few of my colleagues here at Compassion Australia decided to give up coffee this month. Why? We are all participating in a month-long campaign called FAST for FOOD.

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. (United States residents can donate here.) 

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

Whoa, writing my last blog post (Getting 10,000 Children Sponsored in 10 Days) has been one of the most rewarding experiences ever. One of my friends actually sponsored a child after reading the post. I’m ecstatic! It’s wonderful to know I’ve directly impacted a child’s life for good.

The thing is, I’ve always tried to avoid challenging my friends and family to be more engaged with my personal passions. I’ve tried not to impose my personal convictions upon them (after all, each to their own, right?) But perhaps I haven’t pushed the envelope enough, because all along I’d secretly hoped that they‘d be more than interested (in my passions) for my sake. I’d hope for them to ask questions and come to their own convictions about making a positive, lasting difference in the lives of others. 

But over the past few weeks, I’ve learnt that there are many others like my beautiful friend who would like to be offered an opportunity to respond. I’m amazed at how, by simply sharing my heart, I’ve invited others to search their own, and respond to what’s on theirs.

Over 2,400 children have been sponsored through the 10,000 Children campaign. 

We didn’t reach 10,000 sponsorships in 10 days, but over 10,000 eyes and ears have seen and heard the desperate cry of the children in poverty. 

We didn’t reach 2,400 sponsorships within 10 days, but we saw a record number of children sponsored through a single event. 

By trusting our Lord throughout the 10,000 Children campaign, our faith has been stretched, our hearts have been expanded, and our praises to Him multiplied. 

Janine, our national prayer director, also saw the 10,000 Children campaign as an impetus for a boundary shift in our faith.

It is a time that God is encouraging his people to dream big. In all areas of our lives and ministries, if we make room for the miraculous in our life, He will come. I believe we stretched the tent pegs and prayed with faith for God to increase our influence. We were blessed.

I can’t wait to hear the stories of these newly sponsored children and the impact their sponsorships will have in their families and wider communities. As a result of over 2,400 child sponsorships, over 10,000 lives can be transformed into a Christ-like image. Can you imagine what that looks like? 

To Josh, our events & partner artist manager, the hard work is all worthwhile because of the lives that are now linked to our Creator. Josh paints a picture of a Compassion church partnership and what 2,400 sponsored children means to him:

I recently returned home from a trip to see Compassion’s work in Bali, Indonesia.

In Bali, the team and I travelled to a remote mountainous village called Munduk. While I was there I spoke with the local church pastor who had been spreading the gospel there for over 20 years. He explained to me that one of the most significant things the church had ever done was to partner with Compassion in establishing a child development center to help over 140 children from their village.

I watched that afternoon as the impoverished village children streamed into the project and were given tuition, food for lunch, and taught to sing and dance. I was struck by the immense love displayed by the church pastor and project staff towards each individual child. I was blessed with the opportunity to see the fruit of what was accomplished at this year’s Hillsong Conference.

Hillsong Conference for me is not as much about the logistical preparations, the crowds, the final results, (as it is about) the one child, who is linked to the local church and introduced to their Creator.

Even though it has been an insane few weeks for some of our staff members before and after the conference, we continue to celebrate before God.

For Kaye, the manager of our supporter engagement center, the 10,000 Children campaign was a reminder that “with God all things are possible”. She extols Paul’s instruction to the church in Ephesus: “Convince them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” – 1 Timothy 6:18 (NIV)

Throughout the event my own faith was increased by responding to the phone calls we received into our Engagement Centre immediately following and during the conference, we heard many stories of people whose lives were greatly impacted by the sacrifices they were willing to make in their own lives in order to change the life of a child.

One sponsor told us that not even two hours after he had made the decision to sponsor another child, God performed a miracle in his own life. He said that “sponsoring a child unlocked something in my life that gave way to a miracle.”

Love in action unleashes the miraculous. But we do not love in order to bring about signs and wonders. We love because God loved us first. Our natural response is to love Him and love others. When we reach out in love, we reveal Christ and release His power and authority on earth. When we reveal Christ in us, we share in His glory; we see transformation in our own lives and in others.

Irene

I just got this cute, cute picture of Pamela at her child development center, viewing herself on the blog from Wednesday’s post! Samuel says she was embarrassed at first but couldn’t help smiling once she saw it.

Have you ever wondered how your sponsored child’s letter gets to you? The long journey it takes from Tanzania or Thailand to Connecticut or California? There’s a lot more to it than you might think!

Samuel Llanes, Guatemala’s Field Communication Specialist, gives us a peek at the journey of one letter from Guatemala to a sponsor in Australia. (Did you know that Compassion International has sponsors all over the world from Australia to France to South Korea?)

Pamela, a little girl sponsored by a married couple in Australia, says, “I love writing letters to them! When I write my letter, I wish I was right there with my sponsors.”

She has received two letters in the two years she has been sponsored, and she keeps them safely at home. She knows who they are and what they do, and she prays for them before bedtime each night.

When Pamela receives a letter, it has gone through a long journey. First the letter is sent from Australia to the Compassion International field office in Guatemala. Each country Compassion works in has its own field office. The letter must then be translated into Spanish for Pamela to understand.

“Translating is such a blessing to me,” says Julia Zepeda, a pastor’s wife and translator who has been working for Compassion International Guatemala for eight years. “I have taken this as a ministry that helps children, and I know is worth it.”

The translators are given one week to complete all the translations once they’re given a group of letters. The average number of letters that must be translated a week in Guatemala is usually around 180 to 200! After translating, the letters are brought to the student centers where they are distributed to the children. Receiving a letter is a special moment for children — they know that someone out there cares about them and is praying about them.

Letter Day
“Letter day” happens every four months. Pamela, along with all the other children at her Guatemala City student center, writes a letter every four months, though her sponsors may not write her that often.

When Pamela writes her letters, she uses a notebook to write a first draft. She does not want to miss anything that her sponsors asked her in their letter. Pamela’s tutor reads her sponsors’ letter to her, and as it is read, Pamela answers all the questions they asked. If they have sent something special, like stickers, she makes sure to thank them. Then once she has decided what her letter will say, she writes out her final draft.

Letter Day is an exciting day. The student center celebrates all the children for their efforts in writing letters on Letter Day. They give prizes to celebrate every child — and sometimes they even have a clown and piñatas!

Once Pamela’s letter is written, she gets to take her letter from her sponsors home, which she gets very excited for.

On Its Way
Once Pamela’s letter and all the other letters are written, they are brought to the Guatemala field office and translated into English. The packages of translated letters are then labeled and sent to be processed at Compassion International’s Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The children’s letters are sent from Guatemala to Colorado once a week.

Each week, child letters arrive in large boxes in Colorado Springs from all over the world to be tracked and sent on their way.

First, the letters are sorted by where the sponsors are from. All the letters going to U.S. sponsors are grouped together, all the letters going to the United Kingdom are grouped together, and so on.

Each letter is then scanned into a database, using the barcode at the top of each child’s letter, so Compassion can track all of the letters that are sent.

Once all the letters have been recorded in the database, they are bound together according to the letter’s destination country, and shipped out every Tuesday.

So the letters that our sponsored children write to us have been through a long process, passing from one hand to another until they arrive in your mailbox in that envelope saying, “A Message From Your Sponsored Child.”