I spend a lot of time, late at night, at Gate 107 of the Toronto airport waiting to catch the last flight of the day home. The airport is mostly empty and quiet with only a handful of travelers sitting quietly, wishing they were home in their beds.

There is a woman I see often at Gate 107. She very quietly and slowly pushes a long broom back and forth across the floor, clearing away the debris of the day. She is past the age of retirement, likely in her late sixties. She looks sad, lonely, tired. I think of her often.

I think of her spending 40 hours a week quietly pushing a broom around Toronto airport. And then I think about the fact that I get to work for an amazing ministry that is carrying out the work of the kingdom on earth. I get to work with people I would have chosen as my friends had I met them outside of Compassion.

Compassion staff in the Dominican Republic office

And then I think of the woman at Gate 107, silently, sadly, pushing her broom. I think of the millions of people around the world, many of whom you and I have met, who would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to push that broom for 40 hours a week, to work in a safe environment and receive a fair wage.

You and I have been gifted with an incredible blessing from the Lord. Today as you go about your work, be mindful of the amazing gift that you have been given.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. — Colossians 3:23–24, NIV

Prayer: Thank You, Father, for the gift of our jobs, for calling us to do Your work and bless children around the world. Let us never take it for granted, but remember to praise You in all we do.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Angelina Dieleman is the special advocacy project manager in the president’s office at Compassion International.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.

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

Do you sometimes feel so overwhelmed by the issue of poverty that it stifles your ability to act?

I sure relate, but action is the very thing Jesus calls us to do. To share the love of Christ not only in our speech, but through our actions.

He wants us to DO something.

I’m continuously encouraged and inspired by the stories of what sponsors are doing to change the lives of children … and the transformation that has taken place in their own lives because of it.

“But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” — 1 John 3:17,18 NASB

When I was involved with the creation and implementation of the Christmas 2011 Gifts of Compassion gift catalog, I heard about two young sponsors who put their faith into action by rallying others and meeting tangible needs through the catalog.

Here are their stories.

A Christmas Gift Catalog Party
by Bethany Fristad, third-year student at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa

In my small town of Sartell, Minn., I hosted a fundraiser to promote the Gifts of Compassion catalog and raise money for safe drinking water and other items in the catalog. I also gave 100 percent of the admission proceeds to Compassion.

There were 29 participating small business vendors at the fundraiser, including Scentsy, Mary Kay and Pampered Chef. I also set up Christmas trees with images of the gift items from the catalog as ornaments.

More than $2,000 was raised, providing 32 families in developing countries with safe water for life as well as soccer balls, goats, garden seeds, Bibles, mosquito nets, school supplies and baby formula.

At the event, a young mother holding her baby was moved to tears as she purchased a $20 item on the tree to provide another baby across the world with formula. The thought of her own child in those devastating circumstances and without food urged her to make her purchase.

Two-year-old Caden loved the Compassion Water of Life safe water systems! He was so fascinated with how they worked. Not only did he show enthusiasm for the filtration system, but he grabbed a stack of pamphlets and showed no fear as he walked up to strangers and said, “Water.”

I love how God has brought Compassion into my life, but to be successful in this fight against poverty we must all do our part to make sure children do not go hungry, that they have the opportunity to be educated, to dream, and to just be kids.

God is working and He wants us to be involved. He wants our hearts to break for what breaks His so that we can do HIS work with OUR hands.

We can do the small things to show God’s great love at work. Simple things done with great love will change the world.

Your service power is not based on who you are, but on who Jesus is through you. When we offer ourselves to others, we offer ourselves to Christ.

Not Your Everyday Birthday Party
by Noah Gerdes

When my mom and I were planning my 12th birthday party, mom asked me if I would like to have my friends bring gifts for me or if I’d rather have them donate money to buy soccer balls through the Gifts of Compassion catalog.

I currently sponsor a 6-year-old boy, Ismael, in Ecuador.

It wasn’t hard at all to decide to have a party that wasn’t all about me. I have too much of my own stuff, and I wanted to help others who don’t have as much.

At the party, my mom and I made a soccer ball out of newspaper and twine to show my friends what children in some developing countries might have to use when they play soccer.

After my mom talked with my friends about the homemade ball, we played a game of soccer with it. Our game lasted only a couple of minutes because the ball quickly came apart!

My friends thought the helping children in need was a fun idea. I hope it helped them realize that everything is not about us.

One of my friends wondered how often children in other countries must have to stop their games in order to fix their homemade soccer balls.

My parents and I plan to visit Ismael and my family’s other sponsored child, Kassandra, on a sponsor tour in February. I’m bringing a new soccer ball to Ismael.

It’s going to be fun to see how he will react when I give him his own soccer ball!

My friends and I raised enough money to purchase 15 soccer balls through Compassion’s Christmas gift catalog.

I probably would have had this kind of birthday party even if I wasn’t Ismael’s sponsor, but because I do sponsor him, it helped me make my decision more easily because I know what his situation is like.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Bethany Fristad is from Sartell, Minn., majoring in communication arts at Wartburg College in Iowa. After she graduates, she plans to work in the nonprofit field and continue being a strong advocate for Compassion!

Noah Gerdes is in the 6th grade in Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., where he enjoys reading and playing football, basketball, soccer and the saxophone. He also keeps very close track of the statistics for all 32 NFL teams!

Kaley works in constituent marketing for Compassion U.S.

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

It’s the middle of December, a midmorning in the middle of the week. Most people are working, but at this hour of the day the church is full. What’s going on?

Wind carries the sounds of songs and shouts of joy from the Hermon Baptist Church that can be heard from a block away.

Once inside the building, happy faces, balloons and nice decorations complement the sounds heard from the distance. There is a celebration, a Christmas celebration for children of the Fe y Esperanza Student Center located in Managua, Nicaragua.

Activity begins with a devotional time where the word of God is shared with the audience to emphasize the real meaning of Christmas.

The event also includes a fine display of talents from children who sing, perform drama, and other activities. Parents are proud of their children’s performances and applause follows each presentation.

All the plans for this final activity of the year are a great success. The time spent in planning, preparing the budget and organizing everything is well worth the final result.

The Christmas excitement began a few weeks ago when each registered child attended a toy and clothes exposition where children could select from among a variety of items to indicate what they wanted for Christmas. Once selected, presents were marked with children’s names and codes to be set aside for the day of giving the presents.

Weeks passed and the big day is finally here. This morning is Christmas for the children. They will soon have in their hands the long-awaited toy or clothes they chose.

The older ones might wait until Christmas day to open or wear their gift, but the little ones will open their presents as soon as they leave the center. Either way, all registered children, sponsored and unsponsored, are pleased with what they receive.

After the devotional time, children stand in lines by age to receive the presents, a little snack and candies. All of them go home happy.

Development center director Lidia shares,

“Traditionally, the church celebrates Christmas with a special service on Christmas day. Dinner is served for all families that want to stay at church after the service and everyone fellowships until midnight.

For children in general there is a toy fair. The church gives children play money starting in September. This is given for attendance at church services, participation in class, good behavior, bringing a guest and other requirements.

In December the collected play money will serve to ‘buy’ toys, imitation jewelry, clothes, etc., that church leaders have gathered from donations in the previous months. Children who attended church regularly have more ‘money’ to ‘buy’ at the toy fair.”

It’s a fun activity for the children and their parents. Children can get as many things as they can afford with the amount of play money they have. Whatever children get from the toy fair becomes a new item for their Christmas.

No matter how difficult their situations might be at home, children can always expect their present.

While adults are immersed in problems and crises, for children there is no crisis that can take away their joy for the arrival of Christmas.

“Christmas is a special date for children when they expect a gift, something very important for them because they know it comes from their sponsors.”

Taking into consideration the living conditions of these children, none of them could get a nice present like the one received at the center; that is why older children understand and value the help received from the student center and church.

Parents are also aware of the benefits and value the support received from the center.

Many of them are self-employed and do not have enough income to cover the weekly family expenses.

That’s the case of Thelma, mother of a registered child. She is sometimes employed washing and ironing, and her income changes from week to week.

Although she only has one child under her care, hardships come her way.

“An average of what I make a week is $13.00 dollars. This is not enough to cover all of the expenses of my son and me.”

People in the community are mostly self-employed (selling tortillas, street vendors, small grocery store owners), or are domestic service or factory workers. Lidia tells us,

“There are many homes of registered children that have a very difficult economic situation, which cannot afford to buy all products of basic need, neither a gift like the one they received today.”

This year is not the exception for families who cannot buy a present for their children; however they find relief with the student center. Thelma shares more,

“They do an efficient job. I am thankful with God for giving us the opportunity to have our children here. It’s a great help and all children of the community are benefited with the center.”

In the middle of it all, the meaning of Christmas is of great importance. The child development center staff and church leaders make sure that each child understands the reason behind the presents.

Thelma’s son Kevin wants us to know,

“Christmas is a family time and also a celebration that Jesus was born.

I am also more than thankful with my sponsors for all they have done for me, because of the support they send me, because they write to me.”

This joyful time is made possible because of the generosity of many people around the world that have the willingness in their heart to share with others a little of what they have.

To them, Lidia expresses,

“Thank you to all the men and women who bring joy to many homes. This blessing means something great for us.”

The morning ends with a sense of satisfaction; everything went well. Our child development center staff begin cleaning the work area as soon as each one finishes giving out presents. The place looks as if nothing has happened; it becomes quiet, nice and clean.

There are no more sounds of music or children shouting. Little by little the staff begin to take a seat; this year’s joyful Christmas celebration has finished.

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

Our correspondence team receives many gifts from sponsors for their sponsored children that can’t be sent to our country offices. If this happens to your gift, we will contact you to see if you’d like the gift returned or donated to a local Colorado Springs charity, Northern Churches Care.

And to help prevent that from happening to you, which items do you think can be sent to your sponsored child through the mail?

Ok, ok. It was a trick question. None of the items can be sent through the mail. Unfortunately, we receive about 300 items like these each month. Our correspondence team spends about eight hours each week sorting out these undeliverable items.

Last year, they were able to donate over 200 shoeboxes.

You can find a list of items that you CAN send to your child through the mail on compassion.com.

UPDATE: November 30, 2011 – Here’s an idea of the volume of items we receive that can’t be sent and which sponsors choose not to have returned.

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

As a sponsor your whole relationship with us is one of focusing on others. But during the Christmas season your commitment to the children and families we serve is always magnified.

This past holiday season, through our Gifts of Compassion catalog, you joined with others to care for God’s most vulnerable ones and responded to His Word, which calls us to:

“Defend the cause of the weak and the fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed” (Psalm 82:3, NIV).

Your impact is being felt all over the world! Your creative gifts are helping:

• 16,000 families and their neighbors in Haiti fight waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, E. coli and hepatitis A.
• 3,000 families in Kenya build a better future by providing a stable means of economic support and food generation.
• nearly 1,300 in India receive meals prepared and served in hygienic facilities, resulting in better health and nutrition.
• vaccinate more than 2,500 children in Burkina Faso against meningitis.
• provide 200 children in Ghana with school fees, uniforms and books.

And that’s just some of what you made possible. You can find out more at gifts.compassion.com/impact.

May God bless you as we begin a new year of Compassion together. Thank you.

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

It is sunrise on Friday, just a week before Christmas. The morning smells fresh and the sun shines strongly. A light breeze fills the air with that cool Christmas feeling. For a foreigner, it would almost feel like spring, but for Salvadorans, it feels like Christmas.

This is how the day starts for the team at the Lighthouse Child Development Center, run by the Central American Mission Church in a municipality of San Salvador named Soyapango.

Soyapango is north of the San Salvador metropolitan area. It is an industrial zone, with factories for brand-name beverages and a local shoe brand. Soyapango is also home to thousands of lower middle class to lower class families. According to the last census, it is the third most populated place in El Salvador, representing 4 percent of the population (nearly 250,000 people). Soyapango is also a stronghold of the Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang.

Yet, all that smoke from the factories and trucks, and the danger and crime, seem to fade away because it is Christmas time.

For the children at Lighthouse, that Friday, December 17, becomes Christmas. The special event has been planned for months, and arranged for days, with love and enthusiasm from the center staff. All week they have been working on the final arrangements – the food, the decorations, the packaging of the presents.

Every Compassion center in El Salvador presents a yearly schedule of the events they will hold, to plan and budget accordingly. The Christmas celebration is one of the biggest. It does not only mean lunch and piñatas for the children, but it also reminds them that there are people who care for them, at the center and also far away.

Their sponsors think about the children, and it is because of them that this celebration is possible and that the children receive a present for Christmas. Raul and his team recognize that effort made by the sponsors to bless the lives of the children, and they put their best efforts toward that celebration.

When asked about the average situation of the children in the community, Raul answers,

“They come from three communities: San Luis, October 10th, and March 16th. These are places with scarcity, dust floors, aluminum walls. Some people must survive on $1 a day. Our children do not want to go on vacation because they know that they will lack the meal they receive at the center, and also the love and hugs.”

Knowing this reality changes the perspective, and for Raul and the team it is not a celebration on the calendar – it is the opportunity for a blessing.

To celebrate Christmas in El Salvador means to mix a variety of traditional Christian beliefs and adopted Western customs.

Christmas for El Salvadorans still carries a strong meaning that brings families together. Despite the business on the streets and the red, green and white flooding the environment, Salvadoran people try honor the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of Jesus.

Santa Claus is known for appearing in TV and print ads, but people ask children if they already wrote a letter to little baby Jesus instead.

For Brother Raul and his staff, to host the Christmas event means an opportunity to put a smile on the face of each child and teenager at the center. They hold the celebration for the teenagers two days earlier, on Wednesday.

“With the older ones we make a special dinner. They all dress up. We start at the temple and then each of the tutors accompanies their students one by one to the place we prepare with the tables.”

Today, Friday, is reserved for the little ones. There are flowers at the center of the tables, all decorated with white tablecloths. But the nice lunch is just the frosting. They have prepared a special Christmas program for the children.

“In other years we just had a piñata. This year we had a clown who performed a small play to teach the children that their heart must be just for God. We wanted to do something that will have an impact.

“Nobody gives attention to these children. They might live in the capital city, but they have no attention, no love. What our center gives is love, understanding, and attention. We want them to know that somebody thought about them.”

The program starts with songs and games in a “Father Abraham” fashion. The clown presents the play. Then it is piñata time, followed by lunch. While the children enjoy fried chicken with fries and salad, all of them homemade, the staff starts to prepare for the moment that all of them wait for: the Christmas presents.

Raul says that in past years, most of the children chose shoes over the gift options they are given, including toys and clothes, because it serves them to go to school. For many children, the shoes that they received for Christmas was the only pair they received for the year.

This year, since the new government said they will provide shoes and uniforms to all the children in the public school system, the best long-term need the center can fulfill is the school bag, something that even the parents have agreed to. The children will remember every time they see that school bag that there is a sponsor who cares for them.

“Our parents understand that there is someone on the other side of the world making an effort to help their children because they love them. It has a big impact to know that someone cares,”

“We thank God for the sponsors lives, and we ask God to pour blessings over them. They are sowing, and they will see the fruit. God will provide and multiply everything they give.

“Thanks for providing for one more Salvadoran – one that will become a doctor, a lawyer …. Thanks for being a Good Samaritan, for giving us a hand and caring for our children. For a smile that you put on their faces, or a tear that you wipe off their cheeks, God will bless you.”

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

Amenorpe Korsi Fume is a volunteer teacher at the Faith Baptist Community Church Child Development Center at Madina, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. Korsi Fume teaches the 12-year-olds at the center and is also responsible for leading prayer and devotion time. He sees children’s sponsors as special people without whom the center cannot realize its vision.

For this reason, “Teacher Fume” (as he is commonly called among the children) never forgets to have the children pray for every sponsor any time the children meet collectively as a center to pray. Praying for you has never been missing from their prayer topics.

“We have made these children aware that they would not have the opportunity they now have if they had not been sponsored. So they have to be thankful to God and lift their sponsor up in prayer every day and night. They pray for their sponsors every time they are at the center. I speak with them and they tell me they pray even when they are not at the center.”

Many of the children confirm this.

Voicelord, who is sponsored by Katrina, thanks God every morning for giving Katrina to him as a sponsor. He also tells God to protect her and let her work prosper so that she will earn more money.

Emmanuel has a couple as his sponsors, and when he prays he does not forget to pray for them.

“Lord God, thank you for everything. Thank you for Jesus; thank you for Compassion all over the world; thank you for all sponsors, especially my own sponsors – Kyle and Danielle.

“Thank you God for making them choose me. Please Father, bless them and all that they do; bless their families and everybody they love.

“God, there are some of my friends who do not have a sponsor; please Father, touch the hearts of other people to come and sponsor those who do not have anyone to support them.

“Father, I know that you would do this for me. Thank you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen!”

Grace’s sponsor is a student named Morgan. Grace prays for Morgan.

“My heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. I thank you for giving me such a sponsor; please God guide her in everything she does. Help her in her studies at school so that everything she studies, everything will stick in her mind. Let her remember everything she learns so that she can do well in all examinations.

“Father God, take care of her and give her long life. Give her a good job so that she will prosper. Please God, bless her family and her friends and make her happy all the time. Amen!”

Emmanuella is 12 years old and in grade six at school. Her sponsor’s name is Karen. Emmanuella knows a lot about her sponsor because they communicate a lot and ask each other many questions. Emmanuella prays:

“My Lord and Master Savior, thank you for giving me Karen. Heavenly Father, I thank you for my sponsor’s life. I thank you for her family. I thank you for everything she has been doing for me. Heavenly Father, I want you to give her long life. Bless her family; bless her business and everything she does. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!”

Sandra is 12 years old. She prays for her sponsor Kami and Kami’s husband.

“My Lord and Savior, thank you for the life of my sponsors. Thank you for the life of her family and the life of every member of her family. I pray that you bless her and help her in everything she does. Make her prosper; help her in her work; help her husband and everybody. Please God, give her long life and prosperity; everything she touches should be blessed. Let your blessing be upon them all the time. Amen!”

Okoe and Akwetey are twins. Their sponsors are Daralyn and Gayle, respectively. The twins and their family are very appreciative to God for their sponsors. Okoe’s sponsor sent him a family gift, which helped to boost the mother’s kenkey-making business and changed the family’s life.

Kenkey is a typical Ghanaian dish eaten mostly by the people from Accra (Gas) and the Central Region (Fante). Kenkey is made from fermented corn dough. The twins’ mother used to buy the corn on credit and in small quantites.

The gift money the family received was invested into the business. Now the twins’ mother is able to buy a whole 50 kilo bag of corn outright. So the small, one-person business has expanded. She now has two people to help her, and she produces more kenkey and makes a better profit.

Before the gift money came, the family was living mainly on the profits from the kenkey the mother was selling. They could not think of providing a different dish for themselves to eat because the money was not there. But now because the twins’ mother makes a better profit, she is able to cook rice and stew or some yams or plantains.

For this family, the sponsors are much appreciated. The mother says,

“It is my prayer that any of my children’s sponsors should just get the means to visit Ghana so that I will get the opportunity to hail them and show them how much love I have in my heart for them. The children have been writing to them, but I do not feel that letters alone can say well how we appreciate them. I am praying to God to grant us physical meeting one day.”

The father of the house is almost always not at home, so the mother sometimes joins the twins in prayer generally, with praying for the two sponsors being part of the main prayer topics.

Okoe’s prayer for Daralyn is:

“Lord, I thank you for my sponsor. Take care of her health so that  she will be healthy all the time. Please God do not make her sick; let her work prosper.

“Dear Jesus, let her know that I love her very much. Make her love me too. Lord, I know that you will one day make her to come to Ghana to visit me. Bless her, bless her family and bless her country. Amen!”

These are just some of the prayers that are said in Ghana for you as sponsors. Compassion would not be Compassion without you. The children would not have the lives they have without your response to Jesus. We in Ghana appreciate you and pray that your relationship with us will be a lifelong one. Amen!

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

Working in the contact center, I speak to many sponsors who ask for directions for sending a package to their sponsored child. Regrettably, packages can’t be sent. However, you can send a monetary gift – an option many sponsors I speak with are unaware of.

We do not accept packages, primarily because of customs and duty costs. In most cases, the cost of shipping and duty would exceed the value of the gift. Also, the risk of theft or loss of the package while in route is very high.

We send all of our mail through customs as “documents.” There isn’t a fee for shipping a document. However, if customs opens one of our boxes of letters and finds a piece of jewelry, they will hold that entire box of letters until they receive the customs fee for that item. This can cause letters to be unnecessarily held for long periods of time.

Each day, we receive items that we are unable to ship. Our correspondence team is in charge of contacting you to see if you would like the item returned or donated to a local charity. Doing this is quite a task as these items tend pile up fairly quickly.

I understand that it’s disappointing not to be able to pick out your child’s gift and send it directly. Putting the thought, time and effort into sending a gift conveys love and sometimes “just” sending money seems impersonal. But if you’re willing to spend the money to purchase items here in the U.S., won’t you consider forwarding the money to your sponsored child? The money you send helps stimulate the economy in your child’s community, instead of here in the U.S.

Why should I give a gift?

The simplest answer I can give you is that it blesses your sponsored child and the child’s family and is a way to meet the needs in their lives. Monetary gifts to your sponsored children mean new outfits, their first pair of shoes, or the beginning of an income-generating business for the family.

Last fall, I sent a family gift to my sponsored child, Angela, in Bolivia. Incredibly, she and her family were able to buy so much with what I sent. With $75 American dollars, they were able to purchase a blue jean jacket, undergarments, a wool poncho, a jacket, a skirt, school materials, shoes for several members of her family, food supplies and a backpack for Angela’s brother, Jose.

The child development center staff even sent a picture of Angela with her family and everything they bought. Letters acknowledging the gift are sent every time a gift is received, but not everyone receive pictures.

If you send a gift of more than $60 you should receive a picture of your sponsored child posing with what was purchased. However, not all child development centers have the capability to send pictures.

I want to send a gift to my sponsored child. How does it work?

After we close our books for the month, our finance department receives a list of all the gifts given during that month. For most countries, we convert the gift into the country’s currency and transfer the funds to the country office’s bank. Some of our offices will either have their bank make the exchange from U.S. dollars to the local currency, or they will just use U.S. dollars.

Once the country office receives the money, a staff member transfers the funds to the respective child development centers. Some centers receive the money by check and some receive it directly transferred into a bank account. This entire process can take two to three months.

After the center staff receive the money, they set up a meeting with your sponsored child. In the meeting the staff member informs the child of your gift and discusses what some of the child’s and family’s needs are.

Next, your child signs for the gift to acknowledge that it was received. They then head to the market where the staff member helps your child purchase the items.

One hundred percent of what you give is used to make the purchase.

Finally, your sponsored child will write you a letter letting you know what was purchased and possibly include a picture, depending on the amount of the gift and your child’s center.

If you do not receive a letter within six months of sending your gift, please contact us. We will contact our country office for more information.

What kind of gifts can I send?

You have a few different options for sending a monetary gift. Each year, you can send $10 to $50 as a birthday gift, $10 to $50 as a general gift, and $25 to $1,000 as a family gift.

A birthday gift will be just that – a birthday gift for your child. When you send a family gift, the child and his or her family decide together what to purchase. A general gift can be sent for any reason and can used by the child or family to purchase what is needed at that time.

You also have the option of donating any amount, we typically suggest $20, to the Christmas Gift Program on your sponsored child’s behalf.

Although other gifts can be given any time of year, we request that gifts to the Christmas Gift Program be given by October 31, 2010 to ensure that the gifts are delivered by Christmas.

Wow! This is so great, Shaina! I am going to send a gift every month.

That’s actually not the best idea. Your sponsored child’s family most likely lives on less than $2 a day and a monetary gift will mean quite a bit to them. To help avoid creating a sense of dependence on your gifts we discourage doing this. Also, monthly gifts can lead to jealousy within the community and put your sponsored child and family at risk.

I really want to send my child a gift, but I can send only $5 this month.

The cost associated with processing the monetary gifts means we can’t accept gifts for less than $10. I encourage you to set your $5 aside, join it with another one of its $5 friends the following month, and then send the gift to us.

When I was little, I had the cutest teddy bear. I really want my sponsored child to have the same thing.

While you are welcome to suggest what you would like your sponsored child to purchase, the child makes the final decision regarding what is purchased. If your sponsored child is too young to make the decision on their own, the child’s family will help with the decision.

So do you have to send a gift to your child?

No. Does it bless them and their family incredibly? Yes. Emphatically, yes.

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

God gave me breath, and God gave me time. I did nothing to get them. I just have them. And I’m starting to think that I’m treating His generosity like a bad renter treats a home – with disrespect.

I could have been born into poverty and oppression like the children I sponsor. But I wasn’t.

You could have been born into poverty and oppression too. But you weren’t. Why?

I’m tempted to end this post here, with the profundity of “why,” but I don’t know what the point would be. I don’t know my point. What does a post full of unanswerable questions have to do with the children we sponsor?

I don’t know.

Maybe God’s telling me to let go. Maybe He wants me to put my faith in Him, to stop needing a reason for everything I do. Maybe He has plans for this blog and for Compassion’s ministry — plans that I’ve been getting in the way of.

I don’t know.

Maybe He wants you to let go of something too. I don’t know.

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

On Sept. 6, 1996, Biswanath was involved in a terrible road accident. His right leg was badly injured and he was taken to the hospital immediately. But his relatives didn’t rely on the expert doctors, and took him to a local herbal healer instead.

The herbal healer provided the wrong treatment and used unscientific ways to join the injured man’s thigh bones. Biswanath lost his ability to walk or run. Many years have passed since that devastating accident, but Biswanath still struggles to walk or stand for long.

After his accident, Biswanath lost all his expectations for life. He couldn’t find a job due to his weak leg. He married a woman named Sumi, and their only child, Sumonto, was born in 1999.

Biswanath struggled to provide for his family. He began to sell marijuana. The dark side of life grabbed him.

“I had no other option [but selling marijuana] to survive other than selling my land. I am a disabled man. My right leg is almost paralyzed. I can’t walk or stand for long. No one hired me for a job. But I had to survive with my family at any cost.”

Biswanath doesn’t like to talk about how he used to sell marijuana or how much he made because it still wasn’t enough to send his son to school. Biswanath did not want his son to become a marijuana seller like himself.

Mission schools are popular in Bangladesh. No or low tuition, good teachers, a nice environment and a free supply of books have made the mission schools popular among people in remote communities.

When the Compassion-assisted child development center opened at the local church, Biswanath and his wife saw it as nothing more than a Christian mission school. But it offered an opportunity for Sumonto to get a free education, and his parents grabbed it.

Over the last four years, Sumonto and his father have gotten to know the church as well as Compassion. Sumonto receives better educational opportunities through the center than he would through any other school in the community. He receives tutoring and all the educational materials (books, copies, pencils, etc.) he needs, including his school uniform, from the center.

Sumonto’s school fee is no longer a problem for his father as Compassion pays it regularly. Sumonto’s parents are grateful that the center even provides lunch for their son and takes care of all his medical needs. Sumonto also is learning biblical morals and Christian values.

Biswanath was happy for his son, but the bigger changes began to take place as the generosity of Sumonto’s sponsor grew.

Our church partners never hand over cash gift money to the families. Instead, they make purchases according to the need of the child and family. In Bangladesh, most families ask that domestic animals are purchased with the family gift money. Domestic animals are very useful because selling milk and eggs creates an opportunity for the family to earn extra money.

Biswanath requested the church staff buy them cows with their designated gift money. They bought six cows.

Every day Biswanath sells three liters of fresh milk and earns around $1.30. This little income is a great help for Biswanath. He quit selling marijuana. The center director advised — and rebuked — Biswanath several times about this illegal business. Through continuous counseling with the director, Biswanath changed his ways.

“I never imagined that my son would ever go to school and have an education. The church made it possible. My son is now receiving a good education, food and other benefits like other capable families in our village. The church, along with Compassion, is taking care of my son. Not only that, but because of the gift from Sumonto’s sponsor, we now have a way to earn for our family. This helped me to get rid of the worst business.”

Subsequently, the family sold three of their cows and bought a little piece of land where they started a small shop. Biswanath’s older brother is running that shop and gives a share to Biswanath. With the love and generosity of Sumonto’s sponsor, two families have benefited.

The shop sells herbal products (leafs, mixtures, oils, fruit skins, tree skins, etc.) and spices. Biswanath’s brother, who was previously unemployed, now earns a little that he can contribute to his family.

Sumonto’s mother, Sumi, says,

“These Christian people at the local church are very gentle. They are as concerned as we are for our son. My son learns to behave gently from the church. We believe whatever he learns at the center is good and fruitful. My husband and I have full faith in Compassion. We know that they will teach our child the right things and guide him to avoid the wrong. They helped and guided my husband to quit his dark business. I am grateful to them.”

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