Whew!

This has been a busy year. Our world is in turmoil and much of that turmoil is affecting Compassion’s work.

Here’s a snapshot of the things I’ve reported over the past 11 months:

military rebellion, slum fire, dengue fever outbreak, H1N1 virus outbreak, flooding, strike, civil conflict, volcanic eruption, earthquake, heavy rains, political unrest, hotel bombings, protests and violence, typhoons, meningitis outbreak, polio outbreak, cholera outbreak, famine, landslide, tribal war, ferry sinking, riots.

As an organization entirely dependent on your trust, we have made a commitment to be honest and transparent in everything we do. This means, among other things, that we do our best to let you know as soon as possible when your child is affected by a crisis or disaster.

In a perfect world, here’s how the process would work:

• Within 24 hours of a crisis, our Field Communications Specialist (FCS) submits a crisis report via e-mail. This e-mail comes to an inbox that I check regularly.
• As soon as I receive this e-mail, I determine whether funds will need to be raised to provide relief, and summarize the report and e-mail it to our partner countries (the countries where the sponsors live).
• Meanwhile, the FCS is in contact with the Partnership Facilitators (PF), field-based staff members who are contacting our affected church partners.
• The FCS then submits a follow-up report via e-mail, with further details from the PFs about which centers are affected, how they are affected, and any other relevant details, photos or video.
• As soon as the church partners are able to provide specific information on registered children, the FCS e-mails that information to me. I do a quality check and then forward that information to the partner countries.
• Each partner country then contacts all the sponsors with affected children to let them know the status of their child.

Seems pretty cut and dried, right? And often, the process works exactly as I just described it.

However, as we all know, we do not live in a perfect world. Sometimes a disaster will wreak havoc on the field’s end, thus affecting our communications process.

Let’s take the recent typhoons in the Philippines as an example. (more…)

The below translated letter was composed from an interview we held with a caregiver of a sponsored child named Kudra.

Kudra is now taken care of by his grandmother. After the death of his father, Kudra’s mother remarried another man and left Kudra with his grandmother.

The grandmother of Kudra, Miriam, is now 53 years old, a widow taking care of seven grandchildren, of whom five are AIDS orphans. Miriam is a subsistence farmer and became a widow as the result of the 1994 genocide. She is a Muslim woman but also believes in the healing power of Jesus Christ.

“I have been blessed to know more about Christianity during my encounter with Compassion student’s center at the Presbyterian Church.” —Miriam

Dear Good Samaritans,

I am very proud that I am alive so that I can witness and testify to the love of God through Compassion’s ministry in our area. Dear Compassion, you picked up my grandson in the valley of poverty and enlightened him with knowledge and exposure to the better world of knowing God. It’s such an amazing act that only God’s true servants can do.

Three of my children died of rampant AIDS and left me with young children who seemed a burden to me due to my age and lack of resources to sustain them. As I watched my children die one by one in my hands, I was helpless — with no one to turn to and no one to comfort me — and was in a total dilemma. But finally I saw God’s hand through Compassion’s ministry that sponsored my grandchild Kudra, and my hope was restored. I can guarantee you that every single day I live I will always say a prayer for Compassion that wiped away my tears through sponsorship.

It was such joy to see Kudra being registered by a Christian organization; it immediately revealed the love of God to me. Kudra received all the required support needed for a better start of a new life.This included scholastic materials, medical care, physical support and awareness of the true God. Kudra was given a Bible, which he considers as a great gift, and it is always placed in the house for everyone to read, because it was the first Bible in our house.

In reality AIDS folded both my hands after I lost my children who were helping feed me and whom I saw as my future. It only left me with a burden of children always needing from me. Look at me. I cannot do any business or search for a job because I never attended school, not even having any skill that could sustain me.

In the recent earthquake that struck our area, the rented house fell down and we had to request temporary shelter from a neighbor. What really touched my heart is the way God revealed Himself to me once again when Kudra told me that Compassion had come for relief support and was ready to construct and rehabilitate all the demolished houses. I was speechless by the love of God to a poor Muslim widow supported by Christians through Kudra’s sponsorship.

I was really happy to see the saving hand of God through Compassion. We were given kitchen utensils, blankets, mats, a basin and a promise for house construction for us. God, thank you for restoring my joy, hope and meaningful life.

Dear Compassion, AIDS has left no stone unturned in our community, but we thank Compassion for supporting us in different ways. I have seen Compassion widows of AIDS running business, rearing domestic animals, forming tailoring associations, and creating awareness to the entire community, and all the credit goes to Compassion’s ministry and praise to the most high God.

Furthermore I have seen Muslim mothers celebrating with Christians as a sign of togetherness that Compassion has brought to our community and making a difference in the world.

Thank you Compassion, for taking care of AIDS orphans, they have no one to turn to but only you Compassion — a mother, a father, a sister and a friend.

God bless you,

Miriam