But underneath the apparent complacency plaguing our churches is a revival that God is stirring in the hearts of our young people.

Like the young boy David who faced the giant Goliath when grown men cowered in fear, it’s times like this that God calls on our young people to bring a revival to His army – to the Church of God.

In my last post, I mentioned how 14-year-old Emily Blake raised tens of thousands of dollars to reach out to as many as 100 children in Kenya suffering from malnutrition and poor hygiene. Now once again, it is another teen who is reaching out to make a difference for children and their families halfway around the world.

Seventeen-year-old Jordan Foxworthy, daughter of comedian Jeff Foxworthy, recently had the opportunity to see the devastating effects of malaria while visiting Kenya with her family.

Being moved to action, she helped start the Bite Back Against Mosquitoes campaign.

Through this campaign, she enlisted many other teens to join the fight against malaria and is encouraging the rest of us to join the fight as well.

Watch a video segment of Jordan talking about the Bite Back campaign on Christian World News.

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Honestly … think of your faith without all those miraculous stories.

I can’t do it. I can’t think of my faith without thinking about the great things the Lord has done.

• When I need patience, I think of Abraham.
• When I need strength, I think of Ruth.
• When I need to work on truly seeking the face of the Lord, I think of David.
• When I want to understand how to love more, I think of all the ways Jesus loved everyone … and that’s a lot of stories.

The Lord has let us in. We have access to knowing what He has done and the outcomes He has produced.

As you may know, I am a big fan of stories. Coming to Compassion has only made me fall more in love with stories. Stories take what I cannot see or comprehend and make it a reality for me.

It just so happens that Compassion is overflowing with stories:

• Stories about the impact you make in the lives of children in poverty.
• A story about young adults who are working toward becoming doctors, teachers, engineers … because of their child development centers.
• Stories about our church partners.

Of course, the challenge is getting these wonderful stories to you, our faithful sponsors.

Oh, wait! It’s not that big of a challenge. We have the blog and then, there’s our Impact e-Newsletter.

Impact is Compassion’s monthly e-newsletter designed specifically for people with a heart for children in poverty. Discover educational resources, read inspiring stories, and learn practical ways to get involved in the fight against global poverty.

It’s simple to subscribe too.

1. Log into compassion.com
2. Click on “Update E-mail Interests,” on the left side of the page.
3. Click the box to receive the Impact e-Newsletter.

And once you begin receiving the newsletter, we’ve included an easy way to share the content with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace.

Simple, right?

We want it to be simple because Impact doesn’t just contain “any” stories. These are stories the Lord has written. Ideas the Lord has inspired. Accomplishments the Lord has blessed.

OK, want to know something else (lean in a bit closer) … our April Impact e-newsletter is going to be packed with some amazing news. I can barely wait for it to come out, and I know what is in it!

There is going to be that story about … oh wait, I don’t think I’m supposed to talk about that yet.

Oh! But there is this new … oh no, I think I also need to hush up about that.

Well, at least I can tell that in April we will be releasing … eek! I’m pretty sure this is one I really can’t talk about.

OK, all is not lost! April is not too far away. Go sign-up to receive the newsletter today so we can talk about how amazing our new … well, you’ll know more on April 6!

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Fernanda, Israel and David are going to their house. From the bus stop, they spent half an hour climbing. Already at the peak of the hill they can see the city.

Here the houses have one floor and are made from cardboard and plastic pieces. A few are made from brick.

Fernanda and her children have been living in this neighborhood since 1999. Since a year ago, she has been living with Antonio, a man about 15 years older, who owns this house. Antonio is a home builder and the stepfather of Israel and David.

Israel jumps to the neighbor’s yard and begins to search through the cornfield for the best corncobs to make donuts (bunhuelos).

Bunhuelos are Colombian biscuits typical for the Christmas season. Israel brings back some corncobs to make the dough.

Everybody is helping in the kitchen, while Fernanda grinds the corn and makes the mixture with cheese, a bit of sugar and salt.

When the dough is ready, they go down the hill to the main street of the neighborhood “Paraiso.” They walk half an hour to where the family has the frying cart, where they are going to fry the donuts.

Fernanda pulls the frying cart from a bus garage and parks it at the front of a warehouse. This place is visited a lot, and more at Christmas time. Fernanda moves her hands in the dough, creating balls the size of golf balls for each donut.

After about two hours she finishes frying the donuts and sends these with David to the student center, approximately five blocks away.

A few minutes later Marien, the director of the child development center, came to them and asked if Israel was ready to buy his Christmas gift.

Israel jumps with happiness. He puts his hands on his face. Just in front of him is the store where the director buys the gifts for all the children of the student center.

There Israel receives a t-shirt, jeans and sport shoes that he does not want to remove ever. Israel says that the last time he received a new pair of sport shoes was two years ago because the last Christmas was a black pair of shoes just for the school classes.

The director of the program tells Israel that within a few hours he will receive his gift formally in the Christmas supper, and she returns to the student center.

Israel has five years at the Compassion program and David eight years. They have learned to be obedient to their mom and they will collaborate in everything with her.

His mother helps to cook and clean up in the student center when it is necessary. Fernanda also appreciates that in the student center she was taught to brush her hair and make their beds. She did not know how to do it before.

Israel knows by memory the name of his sponsors and even has Legos in the original packaging and some cars that they sent on his recent birthday and Christmas.

He has waited for this Christmas Eve as never before because he knows that the angel of God always brings him just what he needs.

The dreams of Israel are alive on each Christmas, and his great dream is to be a firefighter. Being next to his mother on the street, he has seen three fires, and he dreams to help their community in case of a fire.

Fifteen minutes later, Fernanda, Israel and David move toward the student center where a Christmas dinner is prepared.

In November, the center director made a list of things to do with her staff to prepare the presentations for the great night.The youngest children were dressed as angels and followed their tutor Yuli to sing Christmas carols in the opening service.

Then the children from six to nine years old with their tutor Tatiana presented the Christmas drama.

Later the children of 10 to 12 years sang more Christmas carols, dressed in costumes of the Middle East. The adolescents group prepared special songs to recall the birth of Jesus.

Finally, the pastor Elvia Parra offers a sermon of hope in Jesus’ name. With prayers for the blessing of their food, everyone knows that it is time to sit at the tables to enjoy chicken, rice, and as dessert cinnamon pudding and Fernanda’s bunhuelos.

All the student center team are serving the tables. The teachers are dressed in Christmas costumes. Fernanda is in the kitchen helping in the midst of all the bustle.

The main room is decorated with Christmas posters. Children are laughing and talking. One can feel the atmosphere of Christmas, the musicians do not stop singing, while children finish eating dessert.

After the children have finished eating, Marien the director shouts, “It is time to deliver these gifts!” and with one voice they make their “Yesss!” strong, confessing with authority that God is faithful again.

All children receive their gifts with a big smile and with a hug for their teachers. They have already spent two and a half hours since the beginning of the Christmas presentations.

Israel also receives his package, and he decides to go to the bathroom and puts the new sport shoes, pants and t-shirt on.

Afterwards, Fernanda, David and Israel help to clean up the main room and they are prepared to return to their job in the street where Antonio is waiting for them.

There Israel and David show to their stepfather Antonio what they got for this year. It is 9 p.m. and they will spend Christmas selling donuts.

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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.

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September 17, 2008 was the day the staff of Compassion Togo (CIT) had prepared fervently for, and the excitement had reached its peak. As Compassion’s newest country, the staff began registering children in Compassion Togo’s first child development center.

At MESA (Ministères Evangeliques pour le Salut des Armes), the partner church for Togo’s first Compassion children, Pastor Happy and his entire congregation are enthusiastically helping CIT become deeply rooted in Togo.

“We want to equip the local churches so they can minister to their community holistically and win them to Christ. We want to help the church turn their community into a place of hope for the future,” says CIT Country Director Mawuna Lawson.

The first child registered in Togo was David. The second was his sister, Gracia. When asked what he hopes to be when he grows up, the quiet David whispers “a carpenter.”

Even though it was the first registration, errors and omissions were few. CIT has set a goal to register more than 2,000 children the first year. There are currently 10 partner churches and six staff members in the county. Compassion Togo faces a steep road, but the hard work already done and the passion displayed in the ministry make it clear that much should be expected from the new Compassion country.

Another pastor shares his joy,

“We have been asking God how better we can help our children grow up and become good Christians and responsible adults, occupying good positions in our country; it has always been a burden on our heart. So when CIT came, we knew they were God sent, we didn’t need to ask how, when or why they came, all we needed to do was to thank God and to embrace the task he had laid ahead for us to do together with CIT.”

Photo by Delanyo Tenge

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Driving through the streets of Lome, Togo, scenes unfold that are far too common in sub-Saharan Africa. Individuals ranging from very young to very old sit and stand at the side of the road, hoping to sell baked goods or sweets or small kitchen items or a myriad of other trinkets to passers-by. The roads are bad and get worse as you depart the busiest streets. Many of the buildings — showing signs that they were beautiful at one time — appear to have been abandoned long ago but are, in fact, current offices and businesses.

In a place where even those with “stable” civil jobs have no guarantee of being paid, the overarching atmosphere is one of apathy brought on by too many years of being resigned to the situation. But in the midst of all this, there are people who refuse to accept the current circumstances, who reject the idea that there is nothing to be done.

Take, for example, Pastor Happy and his Pentecostal congregation located in the heart of Lome. Pastor Happy possesses a smile and exudes an optimism that confirm in every way the appropriateness of his name. Though the congregation is large, it is also poor and so the sanctuary is a work-in-progress, complete with rustic wooden scaffolding and tarps over areas that don’t yet have the protection of a roof.

Pastor Happy explains that his church recognized a few years ago that they must “have a vision for helping those in need — and addressing more than just their spiritual needs.” What the congregation lacks in financial resources it has made up for in passion, creativity and dedication. When they outgrew the one room they had available for children’s Sunday school, rather than waiting to come up with funds or space for another building project, Pastor Happy simply went to the school located next door and asked if they could use the classrooms on the weekend. The school agreed.

In addition to the Bible classes, the church now houses a medical clinic, provides food, clothing, school supplies and more to those with the greatest need in their community and shows films with a positive message after school so children have a safe place to go. All this is accomplished largely through the donation of goods, time and services of church members with a vision. The church would like to be able to do more, but in the meantime has decided to be faithful with the opportunities that present themselves.

Among those who have been positively impacted by the church’s ministry is the family of a couple called Mesa and Ama. Even before one has an opportunity to speak with their six inspiring children, this couple is exceptional. In a country where pastor after pastor estimates that 80 to 90 percent of the families in their communities are headed by single mothers, that Mesa has stayed faithful to his wife and family is a notable fact.

Mesa is a carpenter and Ama sells secondhand clothing. Their two daughters and four sons join in, but the family has also made sure that all the children stay in school.

Awolfa, 19, is the right arm of her mother in caring for the rest of the family but also has been able to complete secondary school and is currently attending classes to become a tailor. Her 16-year-old brother Francis and 12-year-old brother Felix both dream of being doctors, and 15-year-old Edem hopes to become a pastor.

Though they struggle to meet all their current needs, this family has not lost the belief that the future can be different. It is tempting to consider how far such a motivated group might go with the added support of Compassion’s child development program, and it is in the faces of the two youngest, seven-year-old David and his four-year-old sister, Gracia, that one sees the possibility of this future.

David is quiet and contemplative and Gracia is his exact opposite. When asked what he hopes to be when he grows up, he whispers “a carpenter.” Gracia does not wait to be asked, but announces loudly, “I will be a seamstress like Awolfa.”

By starting a work in Togo, Compassion has the opportunity to minister to the Davids as well as the Gracias, along with the tens of thousands of children whose lives are even more unstable and uncertain because they have only one parent or have no one to advocate for them regarding the importance of staying in school. It’s an opportunity to support and encourage those parents like Mesa and Ama, who by some miracle have not lost their hope and vision for the future — and to bring back hope to those who have begun to despair.

Story and photos by Phoebe Rogers

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