Here are some numbers for you to chew on today.

The Barna Group did a survey asking “born-again” Christians and other Americans what they had done in the past 12 months to help those in poverty. Among the results were:

• 75 percent of born-again Christians gave material resources, not including money, directly to the poor.
• 74 percent of other Americans gave material resources, not including money, directly to the poor.
• 50 percent of born-again Christians donated time to personally serve needy people who live in the community.
• 45 percent of other Americans did the same.

Hmmm … That’s not a big difference. Regarding the statistics, David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group said,

“Given the extensive comments in the Bible regarding the importance of taking care of the poor, we expected to see a larger distinction between the responses of born-again Christians and non-Christians.”

This isn’t a beauty pageant — we’re not competing with those around us for “Best Do-Gooder.” But one would expect the followers of Jesus — the most compassionate man who ever walked this earth — to be a bit more radical in their compassionate deeds, a bit more out of the ordinary.

I think America is a pretty compassionate country, thanks in part to its Judeo-Christian roots. So I have to ask myself: Is my compassion just a result of my do-gooder culture? Or is my compassion a radical outpouring of following Jesus, knowing him, and becoming like him?

What matters isn’t how I measure up to the average American around me, but whether I’m seeking Christ and following his example, “who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7).

What do you think? Are you culturally compassionate? Is your compassion an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your life as you follow Jesus?

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I ran across this quote on another blog. It’s definitely deeper than your average beach reading, but it’s worth your time. What do you think?

… Jesus in his solidarity with the marginal ones is moved to compassion. Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humaness. In the arrangement of “lawfulness” in Jesus’ time, as in the ancient empire of Pharaoh, the one unpermitted quality of relation was compassion. Empires are never built or maintained on the basis of compassion. The norms of law (social control) are never accommodated to persons, but persons are accommodated to the norms. Otherwise the norms will collapse and with them the whole power arrangement. Thus the compassion of Jesus is to be understood not simply as a personal emotional reaction but as a public criticism in which he dares to act upon the concern against the entire numbness of his social context.

(From The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann)

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Yesterday, our Ugandan bloggers visited Mildmay, an international HIV/AIDS charity, specializing in care, training and service development. Spence spoke about it. And so did Brian and Shannon. But none of them mentioned that every 14 seconds a child is orphaned by AIDS.

Our AIDS Initiative helps fight that. It focuses on prevention, treatment and rehabilitative care for the affected.

• Prevention is the only cure. And it’s the only way to lessen the spread of the pandemic; therefore, prevention is our priority. The truth is that the majority of HIV infections are preventable; nearly all new infections result from bad decisions, so prevention strategies must influence those decisions and change behavior.
• Treatment refers to the medical and psychosocial care given to those infected by HIV. The greatest challenge is not to deliver pills, build clinics, or hire doctors. The challenge is identifying children and families in need, earning their trust, and motivating them to get care, which is difficult in light of the stigma often associated with infection.
• Rehabilitative care addresses the lives of uninfected Compassion-assisted children who are jeopardized by HIV infection within their families and communities. Therefore, our response includes care for those who are indirectly affected by the pandemic.

Learn how the AIDS Initiative works.

Get educated about the pandemic and then take the quiz below. Take it to see how much you’ve learned and take it to share with others.

The clock is ticking.

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Hello and welcome to Compassion’s blog! As a tent evangelist, the Rev. Everett Swanson was a grass-roots man with a grass-roots ministry. So it was no surprise he started a Christian charity when a pastor handed him a $50 check. Rev. Swanson used that small seed to help create a global ministry to fight child poverty.

Since that time more than 55 years ago, Compassion has remained a ministry of the people. Our sponsors, donors and supporters are family. And while we’re now an international Christian ministry serving nearly 1 million children, we cling to that homey, under-the-tent feeling from the old days spent evangelizing others to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. That’s why we created Compassion’s blog. We didn’t create a blog because it was the cool thing to do, or because someone else did. We created it as a way to keep Compassion’s ministry partners, like you, connected — with us and each other.

So what’s the deal with Compassion’s blog? In this blog you’ll get an inside view of Compassion’s ministry. You’ll hear from:

• people who work here,
• Compassion Child Sponsorship graduates,
• Leadership Development Program students and graduates,
• church staff who work with our children around the globe,
• and many others.

These posts will give you a behind-the-scenes view of Compassion at work and at play and, of course, exclusive looks at our child development ministry around the world. And don’t be afraid to talk to our bloggers. This is our first blog, so we ask for your patience. Our bloggers are committed to interacting with you, and we appreciate your grace in advance as we endeavor to answer your comments, questions and inquiries. Remember, our bloggers would love to engage with you. So speak up! We want to hear from you. Share your comments, thoughts or general musings with us. Tell us what you like about our ministry, how you evangelize others, what we’re doing wrong, and how we can be better. And if you just want to give us a shout out, that’s cool too.

As blogs go there’s no right or wrong. Well, not quite. The usual inappropriate behavior won’t be tolerated. No clue what that means? Well, if you can’t say it in church you can’t post it here!

Our blog will be moderated. But we pledge to allow open and honest feedback here. After all, this blog is a two-way radio — from us to you and from you to us. Oh, and if you just want general information about Compassion or to make a charitable donation, try compassion.com or our Sponsor and Donor Relations Department. You can:

• Contact them online,
• by e-mail,
• or call (800) 336-7676, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. MT.

Thanks for supporting Compassion’s ministry to children in need. And let us know if you like the blog. Good or bad. Remember, we’re family. We can take it.

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