I (Juli) recently dreamed I was climbing a lot of barriers (including locked gates) to get to my sponsored child Nuy, and she was doing the same to get to me.

Nuy is the precious girl in Thailand I sponsored from the time she was 8 years old until she graduated from the Leadership Development Program last year.

In the dream, when we finally got past all the barriers, representing race, language and distance, and met in the middle, we hugged eagerly.

When I awoke, I recalled the real hugs we’d shared when I traveled to Thailand for her graduation – when we truly celebrated all the obstacles she overcame and the barriers we broke through over the years.

We shared a meal together for the first time, and on Mother’s Day no less. Words can’t describe the joy and satisfaction of that moment!

Chris: When we heard Mom was going to Thailand to attend Nuy’s Leadership Development Program graduation, my sister, Sarah, and I offered to go along.

We had grown up with Nuy, reading her letters around the dinner table and praying for her.

I didn’t know what to expect when we met her, knowing she had grown up in poverty. And when I saw her, right in front of me — beautiful, intelligent, nicely dressed — I wondered if she’d really needed us.

Then I realized, it worked. It really worked. She’s no longer in poverty.

Yes, she has chosen to stay with her mother in simple surroundings, caring for two small nephews, but she has a good job, is supporting her family, and is out of poverty. Wow! Compassion works.

Sarah: After the graduation ceremony, Nuy took us to a huge market and chose foods to cook as her gift to us.

The market was a crazy place with lots of things I hoped she wouldn’t buy, like the heads of pigs, slimy squids and intestines of various animals.

Thankfully, she made perfect choices and later we sat on the floor of the Leadership Development Program apartment, on a mat, eating the most delicious meal!

One other sponsor couple was also there with their student, Pen.

Chris: Hanging out with Nuy was fun, and meeting her in person was a step beyond the letters we had shared through the years. We had an extra day together after graduation, and soon we were taking goofy photos, laughing together, and sitting on the backs of elephants.

Sarah: We also went floating down a river on rafts. Elephants and wild water buffalo were all around and my brother and I pretended we were Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer! It was a blast!

Nuy is seen here with her mentor, Gratae, but Mom stayed back with Nuy’s mom, Bo, and the translators.

Juli: I’m so glad to have had time to visit with Bo. What a beautiful woman! She kept thanking me tearfully for staying with Nuy and not quitting.

As it turned out, she’d had a sponsor before us who had quit after one year.

What Bo didn’t know was that I couldn’t have continued sponsoring Nuy when she was accepted into the Leadership Development Program, but God had provided several friends to be partners in praying for Nuy and to help make the sponsorship payments; I didn’t want to lose her for anything.

Bo told me that the people at the child development center asked her to cook for the children, and she did so for years.

Since she was working at the Compassion center she would often sit in on Nuy’s lessons with her, and that’s how she also came to know Christ as the answer to her deepest needs.

Sarah: It was sad to say goodbye to Nuy, but we knew she was in God’s hands. I took this last photo of Mom and Nuy hugging. Nuy had just written something in Mom’s journal when she asked for her autograph (written in Thai, but later translated):

“Thank you for the love of God that you and your family give to me. I’m very glad and feel warm in my heart. Thank you so much for such a great time in only a few days.

I promise that I will miss you and pray for you often. And thank you for your embrace, which I’ve been awaiting for so long. It feels just like I’m hugging my mom.”

Chris: In addition, we had the opportunity to visit a child development center and meet three children in need of sponsors.

I wanted to sponsor this little girl, Film, but didn’t feel I could take on a second child yet; I’m sponsoring a little boy in Peru whom I also hope to visit some day.

It didn’t take long for Mom to find sponsors for all of them when we got home, although she chose to sponsor Mod-Daeng for herself.

Film’s sponsoring family is with her this month in Thailand — we all wanted to hide out in their luggage and go back too!

Sarah: We also went on a home visit and met this amazing family. They graciously offered some water, and we shared gifts we had brought.

Mom also found a sponsor for a child named, Fram — the sponsor is the youth pastor of our church.

Fram’s parents were the nicest, most sincere people, and we loved meeting them!

And we had a great time with all the Compassion staff; they are amazing friends we will remember forever.

Juli: I had a correspondence girl named Emjay in the Philippines, and could not imagine failing to meet her, too, as she was also graduating from the Leadership Development Program. So we also were able to visit Emjay’s home.

What a hoot to ride around in this tiny green motorella, all scrunched together!

We had a great time, traveling by various vehicles to a beautiful island, and hanging out with sweet Emjay and her delightful center director, Eva.

Since they spoke fluent English, the bonding and silliness came very quickly and easily between all of us!

I’m thankful for the blessings our sponsored children have been to us as a family. My kids have a greater interest in missions, in foreign travel, and in needs around the world because of it.

They have true compassion in their hearts for others. They have worked to help others in places like New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, soup kitchens and foreign mission fields.

Although my oldest son and my husband were not able to go on this trip, they are eager to help at a table when I speak for unsponsored children in churches as a volunteer Child Advocate.

This past Mother’s Day I got an interesting gift from Sarah, and called to ask what it meant. The number 38 rang a bell for me, but I wasn’t sure what she meant by her note.

I called her, and she said,

“Mom, for your gift this year I’m sponsoring a child.”

Wow! I couldn’t hold back the tears.

Compassion runs deep in our family. God’s ways are amazing!

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Pink is associated with purity, love and compassion. It communicates gentleness and freshness. Pink represents good health and life, which you offer to children in poverty.

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Cecilia had no doubt that she’d “make it.” She was full of confidence. She was determined. All of her effort and focus was directed toward the Leadership Development Program. She was celebrated for her bright future, and happiness was a sure thing.

But then she made a choice. She had sex out of wedlock. Cecilia got pregnant, and she’s no longer part of the leadership program. Actions have consequences.

My mom thinks it’s ironic that when her girl most needs compassion, Cecilia gets none. I understand that point of view. But my point of view is that Cecilia didn’t get asked to leave the leadership program because she got pregnant; she was asked to leave because when she joined the program she agreed with its values and promised that her behavior would reflect them.

If Cecilia was married and got pregnant, she’d still be in the program. But that’s not what happened.

The good news is that Cecilia and her boyfriend are in love, and they’re planning to get married. Unlike many of Cecilia’s childhood friends, who didn’t have the opportunity she did and who had babies when they were teenagers, Cecilia has learned skills and developed strong relationships over the 10+ years she was participating in our programs.

Cecilia has not been abandoned. She’s been equipped. She’s been equipped to successfully navigate the challenges that will come throughout her life, including this one.

But let me contrast Cecilia’s situation with what’s happening in my “little brother’s” life right now.

L.B. is growing up in poverty here in America. It’s not the same variety as what Cecilia has lived through or what any of our sponsored children are experiencing, but it’s just as devastating. It doesn’t matter what poverty looks like on the outside because on the inside poverty destroys.

L.B. is 15, and his life mirrors the stereotypical inner city African-American struggle. The day-to-day emotional abuse he receives from this world has brought him to a defining moment in his life.

Last month, he accepted an offer to live with a married couple who were friends of his family and who wanted to invest their time in him. The couple has no children, has been married for more than 10 years, and are closely involved with a community center focused on helping kids in the inner city.

This couple was willing to do something they had never done before, for any kid. They were willing to bring L.B. into their family and to assume legal guardianship for him.

L.B. moved in and agreed to submit himself to their authority and obey their decisions. He was free to leave at any time, but if he made the decision to leave he would not be accepted back.

L.B. agreed. And then as most conflicted people do, he tested the boundaries. He made a conscious decision to disobey, and in anger said he wanted to move out.

The circumstances weren’t quite as sterile as how I’ve portrayed them, and I don’t have all the details, but there was a threat of violence. And it wasn’t the first threat. Actions have consequences.

What should be the consequences for Cecilia and L.B.?

Is it as simple as compassion for Cecilia versus the preservation of integrity for our programs?

Is it as simple as mercy and a second chance for L.B., or does his life have a better chance of being redeemed through justified discipline?

Unlike Cecilia, L.B. doesn’t have the skills or relationships to weather this storm. He hasn’t been equipped … yet.

L.B. isn’t being abandoned by this couple. They will still be involved in his life, just not as his guardians. However, I bet poverty is telling L.B. that he’s being abandoned.

Our ability to take ownership of our actions is a necessary skill in escaping any strain of poverty — physical, emotional or spiritual. Actions have consequences. It’s something God showed us through Adam and Eve.

Thankfully our story didn’t end with the eating of the apple. God meted out justice, but He also had mercy on us. Consequences don’t mean we’re not loved. They usually mean just the opposite.

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We recently asked Pastor Tim Bailey of Hillside Church in London, ON, the question “What is compassion?” We liked his answer so much that we wanted to share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Her bottom lip quivered as her fingers nervously played with her hair band. Her eyes glanced quickly from side to side, as if expecting to run at any moment. Her knee bounced to the beat of her heart as she listened passively to my questions.

She was a Restavek child from the depths of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and without the knowledge of her owners, she was meeting with us to tell her story.

It was the story of a concrete mattress, early morning chores and constant abuse. It was a story of an uncle who was using her as his own personal slave.

Abandoned by her parents and left on the edge of the city in hopes of a better life, she had spent the last four years trying to protect her younger sister from the fate that had destroyed her life.

As I listened to her answer my difficult and somewhat invasive questions, her ability to hold her emotions in was disturbing. It was as if she had perfected a way to avoid the reality of her situation.

She talked as if she were answering for someone else. The only hope I saw was the quiver that never got past her swollen lip.

After 10 minutes of listening to her circumstance, I began to feel physically ill. I felt panic like I had not felt in years. The hatred building in my soul was overtaking all my emotions.

Sweat started dripping off my forehead as I looked at my friend behind the camera. “I’m spent,” I said, quickly standing up and running out the door and down the corridor. I felt as if I couldn’t breath.

At the end of the hallway, I hung over the railing, weeping uncontrollably. I could not remember feeling as angry as I did then. Shaking, I stood there ready to hunt this man down and end his reign of abuse and oppression. The wall beside me felt the brunt of my anger as I punched it in an outburst of rage.

In that moment, I started to identify with the conflict in my spirit. My anger was telling me to fight for justice. My rage wanted to give the oppressor his dues.

On the other hand, sympathy was telling me to heal the injustice. Love was calling me towards freeing the oppressed.

Compassion hijacked my anger that day. My rage turned in on itself, and instead of driving me towards administering my own form of justice, it fueled a determination to feel deep empathy and act on the pain and sorrow I was experiencing.

When faced with the raw injustices in our world, it is our tendency to want to fight for justice. It is our human nature to want to retaliate and oppress the oppressor and fight the fighters.

But love calls us to a higher place. Jesus calls us to love our enemies, and heal injustice. The war we fight within us is between acting on our hate or being driven by love.

Compassion is what we do when love wins.

Read the latest issue of Compassion Today at www.compassion.ca.

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Just crossing the finish line of Colorado’s U.S. Trail National Championship June 29 in Steamboat Springs was quite a feat on its own. Winning an age-group division in this 12-kilometer race was even more of an accomplishment. But what really qualifies Tim Smith as a champion is succeeding in all this with a symbol plastered across his chest to represent the millions of impoverished children around the world.

Tim is a Mail Services Specialist at the Global Ministry Center (GMC) in Colorado. As he says, he is “deeply passionate about and committed to our work … to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.”

Tim is a prolific runner and runs as passionately as he works. He approaches both his job and his races with fervor because in his mind these two worlds are not isolated.

The U.S. Trail National Championship was the 10th race he competed in since March 2007 while wearing his jersey and representing Compassion — clearly Tim utilizes running as an opportunity to speak up for children living in the bondage of poverty.

How many eyes saw his Compassion jersey as he warmed up, raced and recovered?

How many individuals wondered about Compassion or for the first time considered the harsh reality of poverty that affects so many today?

Neither Tim nor anyone else may ever know the results of his choice to race in that jersey. All Tim can stand on is that we are all called to “seek justice,” “encourage the oppressed,” and “defend the cause of the fatherless” (Isaiah 1:17) in every area of life. The results are not our responsibility.

Tim’s grass-roots advocacy captures the core of Compassion’s desire: to break hearts for the poor in a way that permeates who we are and causes us constantly to remember the voiceless.

Not only that, but as Tim explains, “I wear the Compassion shirt because my desire is to honor Compassion and the ministry. … I use the shirt as a platform upon which I can witness to other athletes that I come in contact with.”

Not only could his jersey cause people to consider the poor, but it presents an opportunity for Tim to share with other runners the purpose Christ has given his life. Wearing a Compassion shirt is a simple act, but God uses nonglamorous obedience to further His kingdom.

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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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… 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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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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