I love that I don’t always know why I write what I write to my sponsored children.

At first glance, words on pages may seem as though they are merely words, but an 11-year-old boy named Sam from Ghana provided a powerful reminder that words prayed over and led by the Spirit have a power and a purpose all their own.

I received such words from Sam many times, and the impact of those words has changed more lives than I will ever know.

The first time I realized Sam was truly receiving his words from the Holy Spirit was when he wrote to me on September 14th, 2010 and shared that his prayer for me was that God would give me a double portion of health.

He had no way of knowing how dangerously sick I had been. I didn’t tell him because I hadn’t wanted to frighten him.

Sam also had no way of knowing that as he was writing, his prayers were being answered halfway across the world. September 14th, 2010 was the day that God brought me from barely walking, to running for the first time. It was the day God helped me begin to miraculously outrun sickness – going from sick to healed literally overnight after months of illness.

It led me to wonder what else God would do through our letters.

I shared with Sam that I had traveled to Honduras with Compassion and that my best friend Tia had been on two mission trips to Africa.

In light of his prayer about my health, I took note when Sam responded that when he had heard I had been to Honduras and that Tia had been to Africa twice, he prayed God would bless us for our work, and he also prayed we would come to Ghana to meet face to face.

Sam shared that he had prayed and God would “let it come to pass, Amen!”

The words were simple, but it’s how the Holy Spirit translated them to my heart that caused a ripple effect that would soon reach further than either of us could ever have imagined.

Unable to shake the feeling that God had shared this through Sam for a purpose beyond meeting our beloved Compassion child face to face, Tia and I began to research the needs of children in Ghana. We were horrified to learn that child slavery is still practiced in parts of this country.

Children as young as 4 years old are sold into a life of bondage that perpetuates the cycle of poverty and destroys lives.

In fact, there are more slaves worldwide today than there have ever been, and at least 50 percent of them are vulnerable, precious children.

We launched a fundraising initiative to raise funds to provide expanded resources for children rescued from slavery in Ghana, which would in turn help facilitate the rescue of more children. Having raised $30,000 in mere months to provide for these children, we set out for Ghana in November of 2011.

That is when Sam’s prayer, which had been answered all along, was answered “face to face” when I, along with my 13-year-old son Joshua, my best friend Tia, and our friend Debra met him face to face.

Together, we celebrated the impact his letters had made not only in our lives and in the lives of our families and friends, but in the lives of children in his country who would be rescued from slavery — all because of words the Holy Spirit led him to share in what seemed like a simple letter from a child.

I used to think that when sponsors chose not to write to their children, it was simply the children and the sponsors who lost the opportunity to affect each other’s lives in beautiful ways. Now I can’t help but ask myself what we’re robbing the world of when we don’t take a moment to write to these precious children.

The words on the pages don’t have to be perfect. The Holy Spirit will make them so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JD Richardson gave up housework for lent years ago and never looked back. God filled all the free time she acquired by shaping her into a writer, photographer, Compassion Advocate and sponsor of 16 Compassion children from around the world.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Our Child Development Center Coordinators fulfill many daily responsibilities to serve the children in our ministry.

Godfred Abbey is the center coordinator at Manheam New Life Child Development Center in Ghana. He plays an important role in the lives of sponsored children.

What influenced your decision to work at Compassion?

First of all, I was attracted to Compassion because of the child-focused mission. I love children with a passion. I worked as a teacher for close to 15 years, and I have felt what joy comes from working with children.

I did not hesitate to apply for the job when my church went into partnership with Compassion and it was announced that qualified people were needed for the child development center. I wanted to be a part of the people who would impact children to grow into becoming fulfilled and responsible adults.

Above all, I was really motivated to quit my job and to take up this role in the ministry because it is a Christ-centered and church-based organization. I wanted to serve Christ with all I have. I felt that there would be so much peace and harmony.

Where do you get the daily spiritual motivation to carry on working with children in poverty?

I am motivated by the joy in my heart to be serving my Creator by serving these needy children.

I am motivated by the joy I always feel in my heart in the middle of personal family challenges.

I am motivated by the positive transformations I see coming up in the children.

I am motivated by the hope and joy I see on the faces of the children when they gather at the child development center site every Saturday, and I know that these things that I feel, these things that I see and am motivated by, are from God.

And I get motivated by His Word in 1 Peter 5:2-4.

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being an example to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (NIV)

Do you think that Compassion would still be where it is now if it wasn’t Christ centered and church based?

This ministry would not have been able to reach this height in just a few decades of existence. There are other child development organizations far older than Compassion that have yet to achieve half of what Compassion International has been able to do.

I believe that we must give the glory to Jesus because He has done it all. I also believe that because our ministry targets the local church as the channel for ministry, it has contributed immensely to the organization’s success because it is the Church’s mandate to give light, hope, joy, peace and redemption to those in need, and we work solely with the local church.

Have you come face-to-face with a situation in your work with needy children in which, if it had not been for Christ, the story would been different?

Every aspect of what we do here at the church and at the child development center with these children has been by the grace of God. I do not have any specific testimony to give because every child in the program is a testimony.

When we started the program, many children came with many sicknesses and real life-threatening health conditions, but today these children are all free and healthy.

Some children came here with violent behaviors. They would fight at the least provocation. Today these children can say “sorry,” “thank you” and “please.”

Most of the children were hopeless, but with Christ they have something to look to the future for. Some of them were not in school; [now] they are in school. They can read and are able to write their own letters to their sponsors.

I know that it is only God who has worked in these children.

What is your favorite part of your current role?

As a child development center coordinator I have many volunteer teachers, so I need not go to the classroom to teach the children but I do because I love teaching. I am overjoyed when I teach the children something and they get it and put those things into practice.

What is your philosophy in life?

If you will not do what you have to do with all your heart and might, do not do it.

It is my policy to tackle everything I do with full attention, dedication and with all my heart. I do not like working with people who grumble and murmur at their work.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

As early as 5 a.m., Martin Antwi is already working on his vegetable farm. He works until the harsh mid-day sun does not allow him to work any longer.

Later in the afternoon, Martin returns to his land to weed, plow and water all the plants until dusk. He works hard on his farm and is rewarded with a good harvest.

But despite his hard work and a good harvest, Martin had been unable to provide adequately for his family. With nearly every harvest he would lose all of his profit to the market money lenders from whom he buys his seeds and equipment.

Because vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and lettuce mature within approximately two months, poor farmers make arrangements with market women who buy and sell the crops. The farmers prepare their land and, at planting time, they go to the market to look for prospective buyers to lend them money to buy seeds and other necessities.

Once the crops are harvested, they are taken to the market woman who lended money to the farmer. She determines how much to pay for it. She retrieves her loan plus interest from the amount she offers to pay the farmer. After all this is done, the farmer is left with virtually no money to take home.

“We work so hard but at the end of the day it is someone who loans you the money who gets everything and we go back home with nothing.”

That has been the cycle of life for this 45-year-old father of four. Martin and his family live in Pokuase, about an hour’s drive south of Accra off the main road.

The 12,000 people who live here are mostly vegetable farmers and keepers of free-range livestock, which accounts for the numerous domestic animals such as goats, chickens and dogs that roam the streets.

The residents are also petty traders who sell in stalls located throughout the community. It is possible to find almost anything one might need in these stalls. Some of the people have recently taken to cracking stones to earn a living.

Martin could not provide properly for his family. Three of his children were not in school. Even the oldest child who was enrolled in school was out of class most of the time because Martin was unable to pay the fees.

But two of Martin’s four children, Emmanuel and Sandra, are registered at the Compassion-assisted Church of Pentecost Child Development Center. It is very important for every child in the program to also attend school, so Emmanuel and Sandra were enrolled in school at the same time.

Emmanuel is a very serious 13-year-old who rarely smiles. He and his younger sister, Sandra, are in grade two at school — a situation he does not like.

“Because Sandra is in the same class with me she does not respect me as her older brother. She talks to me as if I am her age mate but I am 4 years older than her. Sometimes I want to hit her but my parents would not like it so I don’t. But I get angry.”

But Emmanuel enjoys and appreciates the child development center, where he and Sandra receive nutritrious supplemental food, medical checkups, tutoring and social nurture, school books and school fees, and Bible teaching. And there, Emmanual was also placed in the Highly Vulnerable Children’s program.

The center’s health social worker tells us,

“When we registered Sandra and Emmanuel, they were very sickly looking. We knew that they needed special care. So when the Highly Vulnerable Children program was introduced they were the first two names on the list.

“But the two of them could not benefit because the number was restricted to only six children. Emmanuel was chosen over Sandra because his condition was worse.”

Compassion’s Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) program provides services or assistance for children in especially critical situations — conditions which may threaten their lives or prevent them from growing and developing in the way God wants them to.

HVC provided Emmanuel with nutritional supplements and nutritional food items such as beans, eggs and milk. The program also offered income-generation training for Emmanuel’s father, Martin, to help him provide for his family’s other needs. Once Martin received the training, HVC gave him a small-business grant of GHc100.00 (equivalent to about $61) which he invested into his vegetable farming.

Now Martin no longer needs the market women money lenders; he is able to keep his profit and better provide for his family.

Martin shares,

“I am now enjoying my work. Since the ministry gave us that hundred Ghana cedis, which was a far bigger amount than I was getting from the money lenders, I have control over how much I want to sell my farm produce for.”

No longer do Martin’s children need to be pulled from school for lack of fee money. With the help of Compassion’s child development and HVC programs, Martin’s four children are all now attending school.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Fidel had a vision for his community, a poor fishing village in Ghana. Kpone didn’t have a library or computer center and Fidel understood that in today’s world, not to have computer literacy is a great disadvantage.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Elizabeth lives with her two granddaughters, Amakor and Mana, in a house very close to the Lord’s Pentecostal Church in Kwashieman, Ghana. The compound of houses where they live is known in the community as the idol worshippers’ house or, for short, idol house.

The most conspicuous thing one sees upon entering this compound is an idol in the middle of the compound. Everyone living there worships the idol – everyone but Elizabeth. Without any reason, she never took part in the idol rituals.

“I do not know why, but I have never been interested in what they do. Sometimes they offer sacrifices. They slaughter animals and cook meals and share with everybody in the house, but I never wanted any and never ate any food they prepared.

“I don’t know why, but it never agreed with my spirit.”

One evening Elizabeth attended a church service where she encountered Jesus Christ. Since then, life has not been the same for her and her grandchildren. Jesus is making the difference in her family.

Elizabeth’s daughter, Adzoa, has five children. Amakor and Mana are the youngest. Their father was Adzoa’s second husband, but he died mysteriously as did Adzoa’s first husband.

Things became difficult for Adzoa and she could no longer care for her five children. So Elizabeth decided to bring granddaughters Amakor and Mana from their village in the Volta region to live with her in Accra.

She hoped to help ease the burden from her daughter’s shoulders and give the girls a better life. But things did not turn out as Elizabeth had hoped.

Elizabeth is a petty trader. She has a stall in a market where she sells her wares. The market is about 15 kilometers from her house. Sometimes Elizabeth spends nearly two weeks at the market without coming home.

During these days Amakor and Mana were left on their own with no parental control or guidance. Their grandmother did not have the financial means to put them in school.

For the most of each day the girls loitered about in the community, getting involved in fights and other unwanted behaviors. To make matters worse, Amakor and Mana were exposed to idols every day.

Since their grandmother did not practice any form of worship and was rarely around to direct them, the idol worship where they lived was the only type of worship they knew.

The Lord’s Pentecostal Church in Kwashieman runs a child development center located in the community where Elizabeth and her grandchildren live. The center’s workers observed Amakor and Mana and decided to find out more about these children who were always rambling about while other children were in school.

Once the staff got all the facts, they decided to watch for the grandmother and have a chat with her. When they finally got the opportunity to meet with Elizabeth, the workers sought her permission to allow the girls to attend the center with other children on Saturdays, even though the girls were not registered in the program.

Our staff also offered to care for the girls during the day on other days of the week.

Elizabeth was overwhelmed. She jumped at the offer and disclosed that she had planned to send her granddaughters back to their mother. She had felt that the girls would be better off with their mother since Elizabeth could not be with them much of the time.

Soon after Amakor and Mana began attending the child development center on Saturdays, the workers realized that they had bitten off more than they could chew. The girls did not understand any other language apart from Ewe — the language spoken in their home region – which made communication with them difficult.

The girls were also hard to control and would fight with other children at the slightest provocation. But our staff were not deterred. They continued to pray for Amakor, Mana and their grandmother. Our staff showed the girls love and care.

Within a short time, the staff began to see encouraging changes in Amakor and Mana. The sisters were better behaved and were friendlier with the other children. Amakor and Mana started speaking the local languages and were even learning to understand and speak English.

Alfred, the development center account clerk, shares,

“We knew that trying to help Amakor and Mana to transform was not going to be easy; but we also knew that we could not do it on our own – we needed Jesus. We relied on Him and He did not disappoint us.”

After a number of interactions with the center workers, Elizabeth began to return home from the market more often to give her grandchildren more attention and care. She also started attending church services.

When the Lord’s Pentecostal Child Development Center in Kwashieman received the go-ahead to take on more children, Amakor and Mana were registered. Soon they were both sponsored, and the sisters are now enrolled in school.

Their school fees are paid. They receive everything they need for school. They receive regular medical checkups and any medical bills are taken care of. They are provided with life’s everyday essentials.

There was more to come for Elizabeth and her grandchildren. One Friday night the church held a watch-night (all-night) church service. Elizabeth remembers returning home from the market that evening, exhausted from her long day:

“I was so tired that day that all I wanted to do was to bathe and go to bed. But I could not sleep, so I dressed up and walked to the church where they were having an all-night prayer service. That night I responded to an altar call and received Jesus into my life.”

Not long after this, Mana also confessed Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Amakor soon followed.

The programs conducted by our child development centers are meant to develop children holistically in four areas, one of which is spiritual development.

Development centers take spiritual development seriously because we believe that if children are aware of their status with God and know the place they hold in the eyes of Jesus, this marks the beginning of the solution to the many negative things the children face.

We have found that children who trust in Jesus become more receptive and cooperative in the other areas of their development. This is why the once-misbehaving Amakor and Mana have become so obedient: Jesus has made the difference in their lives.

Amakor and Mana have learned to live in harmony with other people. Saying “I’m sorry” or “Thank you” comes more easily for them. They no longer take part in eating foods involved in idol worship. Reading their Bible stories is what they do now in place of loitering about and fighting other children.

Mana tells us,

“I do not fight and insult people anymore because I know that it is bad and Jesus does not like that.”

Amakor also shares,

“I like the child development center because all the children are kind. They do not fight with me and they share their things with me. The teachers at the center tell me every day we go there that Jesus loves me and it makes me happy.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Compassion began its ministry in Ghana in 2005 with the Child Sponsorship Program. Since then we have registered 25,000 children.

Some children who were not attending school due to financial constraints at the time of registration have all been enrolled and are doing well in school. In addition, four of our registered children have participated in and won awards at the National Sports Championship.

Country Director of Ghana

Jemima Amanor joined us as Country Director of Ghana in 2005. Before coming to our ministry, she worked at World Vision Ghana where she served in various capacities.

Prior to her time at World Vision, Jemima worked as a district public health nurse and a nurse educator in a nursing institution of Ghana’s Ministry of Health.

Jemima holds a bachelor’s degree in education, a diploma in nursing education, a state registered nurse certificate with specialization in public health, and a Master of Arts degree.

In 2008, Jemima was ordained as a minister of the Methodist Church Ghana. She assists in ministering to a local church on the weekends.

Implementing Church Partners

Implementing Church Partners are local churches in Ghana with whom we work to deliver child development programs and ministry in the field.

• Spiritual Climate
  The spiritual climate in Ghana is healthy and there is no persecution, but the growth of Christianity is quite slow.
• Unique Challenges
  One challenge our ministry in Ghana faces is the frequent change of pastors due to transfers. This makes it difficult for them to understand the mission and vision of Compassion.

  Also, some denominations have greater resource and infrastructure constraints, which can cause the selection of church partners to skew towards one denomination over another.

• Contributions
  Implementing Church Partners provide the office space and furniture as well as labor to support some of the Complementary Intervention activities.

  The Implementing Church Partner committee spends time monitoring the program and volunteers commit time to the child development center.

• Church-to-Church
  There is a church in the United Kingdom that is in partnership with two Implementing Church Partners in Ghana. A playground was built for one Implementing Church Partner and a computer resource center for the other.

  Members of this supporting church are sponsoring all of the children in these two child development centers. Also, community members have become more sociable and involved due to their interaction with members from the supporting church.

• Partner Development Activities
  Our ministry in Ghana develops our partners through training, vision sharing, cluster meetings, a holistic child development course for church workers, and pastor’s conferences. The training provided includes project management, technical skills, on-the-job training, training for Implementing Church Partner committees and pastors on their roles and responsibilities, and child protection.

Child Development Through Sponsorship

Your sponsorship of a child in Ghana provides a variety of benefits.

Children in Ghana are busy with school during the weekdays, so they go to the child development center on Saturdays. However, some Implementing Church Partners do meet for two hours on weekdays during holidays in addition to the Saturday meetings.

• Weekly meetings
• 3 to 5 year olds: 8 hours on Saturdays
• 6 to 8 year olds: 8 hours on Saturdays
• 9 to 11 year olds: 8 hours on Saturdays
• 12 to 14 year olds: 8 hours on Saturdays
• 15 to 22 year olds: There are no children in this age group.

• Nutritional Support

Each child receives breakfast, lunch and dessert at the child development center.

Breakfast consists of maize porridge, milk, sugar, bread and ground nut paste. Lunch consists of rice with sauce and either chicken, fish or meat. Dessert is an orange, banana or pineapple.

We provide this food because children do not always eat nutritionally balanced meals at home, and most of them come to the child development center hungry. Parents are educated to provide nutritious food for their children, and highly malnourished children are given a package of nutritious foods including eggs, milk, beans, rice and oil once a month.

• Vaccinations

When the government mandates that a specific vaccination be given, then children will go to a nearby health clinic to receive that vaccination free of charge. Sometimes, the government will even send health workers door-to-door to ensure the particular vaccination is given to all children under the age of 5.

However, if a child needs a vaccination that has not been mandated by the government, the family must pay for that vaccination.

• Extracurricular Activities or Community Service

The children participate in choreography, drumming and dancing, and football every Saturday. Sports, arts, camps and community cleanup is offered yearly.

• Vocational Activities

Specific vocational activities offered to adolescents are common in Ghana and trainers are readily available. Adolescents are typically involved in formal secondary schooling and vocational training. Many are learning bead making and batik making at the child development centers.

In addition, the Implementing Church Partners have implemented a “peer education” program. We feel that when the children reach the teen years, it is more effective to allow them to discuss issues such as sex and body changes with other teens since many of them do not feel comfortable discussing these issues with parents or teachers.

However, when peers discuss these issues among themselves, often the information shared is incorrect and even detrimental. To mitigate this, the Implementing Church Partners equip certain children called “peer educators” with the correct information to share with their peers in their development centers, communities, churches and schools.

• Parent Involvement

Parents and caregivers meet at least once a month at the child development centers for education on parenting, health and nutrition and business management training.

Complementary Interventions

Our core child sponsorship program, while comprehensive, does not address all obstacles to a child’s healthy development. The Complementary Interventions program was created to work with our holistic child development model to provide additional services, such as our AIDS Initiative, funds for Bibles for All Children, disaster relief and water projects.

Typical Complementary Interventions in Ghana include:

• Water facilities
• Sanitary toilet facilities
• Insecticide-treated nets for children and their caregivers
• Heart and other major surgeries
• Resource centers such as computer labs and libraries
• Curriculum printing

Highly Vulnerable Children

Malnourished children whose caregivers are not working are our greatest need. Children are given nutritional supplements, and parents or caregivers are given start-up support for income-generating businesses and business management training.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to work hard and save money to help them get out of poverty and most of them are doing well. We also provide counseling for the registered children and their caregivers.

Eventually, we would like to expand into the eastern, Volta and Ashanti regions of the country. These regions are next in Ghana’s national the poverty rating.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Nyarko Twum Berima, known as Twum, has been working with our office in Ghana for five years and now serves as Partnership Facilitator Supervisor.

Twum attended a small-village elementary school and proceeded to secondary school, where he obtained his ordinary and advanced levels certificate in education. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sociology as well as a master’s in business administration.

Twum is married to Esther. They have three children – a girl and two boys. His daughter, age 4, is the oldest; the second child is a 2-year-old boy and the youngest child is an 8-month-old baby boy.

I spent some time getting to know Twum and learning more about his work in Ghana.

What did you do before coming to Compassion?

I pastored a small church in Accra and also worked part-time with the Scripture Union. One day the then General Director of the Union informed me that his friend was bringing Compassion International to Ghana and that they were looking for qualified people.

I went to the Compassion website to find out more about them. I realized that they were into holistic child development, which was in line with what I was already doing as a youth and children’s pastor. So I applied, went for an interview and got the job.

I started as a Program Facilitator and not too long after that, I was promoted to Senior Partnership Facilitator. I combined the work of a facilitator with the work of a Complementary Interventions Administrator. In the course of time, the Program Manager left and I acted in that position for 11 months.

Fortunately a new Programs Manager and a Complementary Interventions Administrator were hired and I moved to the position of Program [Partnership?] Facilitator Supervisor. That has been my position for the past two years.

Does this mean that your work load has been reduced?

Not really; I am now supervising 10 Program Facilitators and I am also responsible for new church partners.

I am in charge of recommending church partners to our office. I still do some of the Complementary Interventions proposals, monitor Complementary Interventions activities in the child development centers, and write some of the Complementary Interventions completion reports.

In addition to these responsibilities, I am actively involved in advocacy issues. So my work has rather increased.

What is your favorite part of your current role?

The advocacy issue is very exciting for me because you are supposed to think outside the box and do something. There is always more room for you to explore and discover new ways to help.

For example, we realized that children in Ghana are normally in their school for a greater part of the day. So together with the Country Director and others, we started child protection training for teachers’ training colleges.

With this training we hope that teachers in the making will be informed about child issues before they step into the classroom and that they will treat children well and be advocates for them.

I get bored with routine and I love to explore. Advocacy activities give me new opportunities and variety in my work.

What are the challenges you face in your role?

There are a lot of challenges. Most common are conflicts within the child development centers. Sometimes a center worker will have a misunderstanding with a church partner committee member or a pastor.

Some conflicts can become long and drawn out and it is a big challenge to find a lasting resolution, which sometimes makes my work hard.

The most heartbreaking aspect of my work is that sometimes in the rural areas I will come across an issue that I cannot fix because a particular child development center is not equipped to manage those issues. That is when I come home feeling stressed out and angry for not being able to help the situation that center is facing.

Some of the challenges also come with church partner selection. We have a policy that there are some specific things that should be in place in order to qualify a church for partner selection.

When you have a church that is poor, and they do not have all the things to qualify them because they are very much under-resourced, the question becomes, do you leave out those who are not resourced but have a heart for children? Or do you select the church that has so many resources in every area but does not have child ministry at heart?

So it is a challenge for us to make the right decision and to get the right partner in place. These challenges are many, but to me that makes the work enjoyable.

Do you have any lessons or innovations you would like to share with others?

I want to encourage others to embrace teamwork in all their endeavors. I work with a team of 10 Partnership Facilitators who are involved in everything I do, especially during the church selection process.

My team works together and this brings out the best of decision making. The essence of teamwork is great.

Another thing I have noticed is that, if you want to create innovation, then you have to allow for mistakes. You cannot crave innovation and frown on mistakes. I have noticed that a lot of mistakes we make turn out to be great lessons.

There was a time when we were building a classroom block for a church partner and we made a lot of mistakes. Those mistakes taught us so much and have helped us in subsequent building projects.

I personally think that it is good to allow people to explore and make some amount of mistakes, to learn from them and become better informed for the future.

What motivates you to keep on doing what you do?

When the challenges I meet on the field get resolved I have more vim to get up every morning to continue my task of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Recently we attended a one-year anniversary celebration of a child development center. I looked back to the day we first stepped into that community; they were under-resourced and the children could not do anything.

But now the children are doing choreography, they are singing, and they have done beautiful beads, artwork and many things which they have exhibited.

I saw the potential in the children and realized that without the development center, their potential would have been untapped.

Also, sometimes we meet very serious medical situations during child registration, but with our intervention these children bounce back to life. An example of this was a child who was born with no anus. This child was in a hopeless condition and could not mingle with other children. We came in and, after a couple of surgeries, the child is now living a normal life, has been enrolled into school and plays like every normal child. Imagine where that child would have been now if we had not gone into that community!

Those are the things which motivate me to wake up every morning to go to work. When I weigh the success stories against the stress, I quickly cross out the stress and say,

“Yes, something is really happening, so let us go on.”

Where do you hope to see yourself five years from now?

I see myself here five years from now, still serving our church partners.

Let me say one thing: I enjoy working in the programs department and especially with program facilitators out in the field.

Several job vacancies have come up in other departments but I have never applied for any of them because the partnership section of the ministry is where I really want to be.

So what position do you want to see yourself occupying ultimately?

I believe that God places us in positions, so to me every position is a privilege given by God.

Whatever position He deems fit for me is good. I have never applied for any of the positions that I have held. I just want to be here to serve, learn and grow.

What parting words do you leave with the Compassion family everywhere?

I want to say that we are doing a great job; we are building the next generation and that should be our motivation to work even harder. It is a joy building human resources and we shall see the fruits of our labor.

I want to encourage everyone globally to keep working; do not stop, for God is recognizing our work. Amen!

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Consider the story of Elisha and the Shunammite woman in 2 Kings 4. Scripture says that she was a wealthy, married woman who blessed Elisha with meals and a place to stay. For her reward, God miraculously gave her a son of her own.

One day, the son died. She carried him up, laid him on the bed of Elisha, shut the door, and left.

Amazingly, she did not cry or get troubled, as you would expect of a woman who has lost her only son. When she was questioned by her husband and Elisha’s servant, Gehazi, her response was,

“It is well! Everything is fine! It is all right!”

She did not call for help, but went to talk to Elisha. God then used Elisha to raise her son from the dead.

What amazing faith she had, even though her only son was dead.

The Bible says that if we have faith like a mustard seed, we can tell the mountains to move, and theywill.

The Shunammite’s son was restored to life because of her faith and the power of positive confession.

Proverbs 18: 21 says,

“The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” (NLT)

Brethren, because our ministry takes place in some of the toughest areas of the world, all of us – staff, sponsors, and donors – are bound to encounter challenges.

No matter what you may be going through today, learn to confess that it is well.

When we encounter challenges, learn to confess that it is well. And so it shall be. Always return to our source of joy, laughter, love, strength, hope and inspiration, who is Jesus Christ. Worship and pray to him as we journey through life and ministry together, just as the Shunammite woman did by going back to Elisha.

Brethren, always remember Proverbs 18:21. Positive confessions are powerful enough to sustain your miracle.

Prayer: Lord, help us to confess positively when we encounter challenges. Show us your faithfulness and unfailing love as we serve you daily.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Florence Amponsah is a Partnership Facilitator in Ghana. Through her work, Florence collaborates with the local church to implement effective, holistic, Christian child development centers.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Paper scraps, bits of string, crumbs and stray Cheerios — as a stay-at-home mom who homeschools two active girls, I spend a fair amount of time sweeping up random stuff that happens to fall to the floor.

On one particular day, I found myself making yet another trip to the broom closet. I will admit, I was frustrated. Certainly, I was lacking cheerfulness and grace.

With an exasperated sigh, I grabbed the broom and went to work corralling another pile of debris that had accumulated beneath our dining-room table.

Later that same day, we received a letter from Precious in Ghana, our first sponsored child. I tore into the envelope and eagerly pulled out the letter.

With the help of her center coordinator, Precious sent greetings in the name of Jesus Christ and told us she was doing very well in school and at home. She shared that she had recently been promoted to Kindergarten 2 and that her school had re-opened for another term.

The next sentence jolted me to my very core.

Precious wrote that she had been sweeping and, when she sweeps, it brings her joy and happiness.

Those words went straight to my heart. Tears instantly came to my eyes. One sentence from a little girl an ocean away immediately and forever changed my perspective.

In our first letter from Precious, we had learned that she lives with her family in a one-room home made of clay.

Yet, despite her living conditions and the fact that her floor is made of dirt, she not only finds joy in sweeping — but she also took the time to share that fact with me.

I don’t doubt for a minute that the timing of the delivery of her message was divine intervention.

After reading the rest of her letter, I went straight to the broom closet with a permanent marker in hand. Along the top of the head of the broom, I wrote Precious.

I wanted to be reminded of her every time I swept.

Ever since, anytime I pick up the broom, I cannot help but smile and think of our sweet girl in Ghana.

Whether I am sweeping for the first or 15th time that day, I no longer feel frustrated or annoyed. Instead, I take that time to thank God for putting Precious in our lives and I pray for all aspects of her life.

I am eternally grateful for the change in attitude that I received from that one simple sentence. Thanks to Precious, now I, too, find joy and happiness in sweeping.

As you have gotten to know your sponsored children, have they changed your perspective on anything?

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

I am sitting at my desk at the Global Ministry Center, responding to emails just as I do every day. This email is from Stephen in Kenya; that one is from Galia in Bolivia. Another flies into my inbox from Amos in Ghana.

Teaching staff members at the office in the Philippines.

Oh wait, I need to look at this note from Sharon in Sri Lanka. Let me check that question from Ricot in Haiti. Ah, here’s that answer I sent to Igor in Brazil — so many emails from colleagues around the world.

Haiti Compassion staff working in the office.

Some of them have intermittent Internet connections in an office; others are working from a cell phone while traveling to a church partner. Some are dealing with drought; others are in the midst of a flood.

As I begin my morning, someone else is ending his or her workday. We speak different languages. We live in separate time zones. We follow different customs and practices. We lead such vastly different lives.

Every one of these emails brings greetings and blessings from field and area staff. I may not have met these individuals face-to-face, but I know them: I have seen their pictures, I have prayed for their family members, and I have worked closely with them.

Staff meeting in Ecuador.

We are all connected by the fact that Christ dwells in our hearts. We are also connected because we believe in the mission of Compassion. No matter what the situation behind the email, every one of these messages contains gratitude to the Lord for the mighty work He is doing.

I am blessed to have a great team to work with at the Global Ministry Center. I am also blessed to have co-workers all over the world.

Together we are one in Spirit.

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” — Colossians 3:16, NIV

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for allowing the message of Christ to dwell richly in us. Remind us to pray for our co-workers, including those who sit right next to us and those who sit thousands of miles away.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kelly Hedgecock works with the International Program Complementary Interventions (CIV) team. Part of Kelly’s role is to ensure that crisis updates are properly communicated to our global partners. She also assists in processing CIV proposals and funding. Kelly has been on staff at Compassion since 2006.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates