Story and photo by Emily Rogers, Assistant Editor, Global Internal Communications

There was hardly a dry eye in the auditorium of the Global Ministry Center (GMC) after the Tanzanian Children’s Choir sang on Friday afternoon.

“I’m here for singing and telling people the love of Jesus through gospel songs,” says Compassion-sponsored Hawa, 14, whose joy for life, talent for singing, and love for Jesus was translated through her tears. “I want people to know that the Lord is present.”

The choir had been invited to celebrate the 2008 Global Leadership Forum and to welcome Compassion’s newest field country, Togo.

Hailing from the Anglican Mlimwa Student Center in Tanzania, 12 children from the 40-person choir boarded a plane for their first trip outside their country.

“None of these kids had ever been out of Tanzania, let alone on an airplane,” says Gary Clark, a Compassion choir host. “So it was a big deal, a big deal.”

Fourteen-year-old Danessa wasn’t intimidated by her first flight. “I don’t fear because I know Jesus is with you, with me, everywhere, even on the airplane,” she says with a smile.

More than 150 different children’s choirs in Tanzania are assisted by Compassion. Much like this group, they spread the gospel to various churches in their country, using their songs of praise, rich in rhythm and movement, to reach out to the community.

Hawa says, “I try the best of my level, even in Swahili, to tell [people] God is good through everything.”

This choir trip was the first time Compassion has brought a group of sponsored children to the GMC. The idea came from East Africa Area Director, Ephraim Gensi. Ephraim challenged us to use the Tanzanian children’s choirs to promote Compassion when he spoke at a chapel service earlier this year.

Tanzania’s Country Director, Emmanuel Mbennah says, “Personally, I have always had a desire that children’s choirs from field countries could come and minister, which would be a developmental experience for them and true ministry to people at GMC as well as sponsors and potential sponsors.”

Mary Lou Elliot, David Dahlin’s assistant, heard Ephraim’s words and decided to act. She says, “The Lord put that in my heart somehow, I don’t know why.”

Mary Lou’s idea was embraced by our leadership. They created guidelines to protect the children while in the U.S., and these guidelines will serve to govern similar visits in the future.

After the decision was made to bring the children to the U.S. and guidelines established to protect the children while here, Mary Lou had six weeks to select which children would come, obtain their visas and plane tickets, and find places for them to stay.

Hosting and featuring the choir was a dream come true, she says: “It brings me to tears; just the thought of bringing children from the centers who are full of the joy of the Lord.”

The children return to Tanzania today, after an eight-day visit. Their time here was packed with a visit to the zoo, a natural wonder called the Cave of the Winds, and an amusement center – in addition to inspiring performances at Southeast Christian Church in Parker, Colo.

More ‘fo from the FO-rum

Commit this to memory. It’s what we commit to, for you.

We commit to:

1. teach and live out the Way of Christ, developing children into lifelong disciples of Jesus
2. mobilize and equip the Church to be effective in ministry to children
3. commit to continuous improvement in our program design and delivery
4. engage with each child as active participants in their own development
5. treat children and their families with dignity and respect
6. design programs that support the family’s central role in raising children
7. submit to the Word of God
8. NOT compromise the centrality of Christ in our messages and programs
9. create opportunities for you to live out your faith by ministering to children in poverty
10. financial integrity
11. use donations only for the purposes for which you gave them
12. align our thoughts, motivations, attitudes and actions with the ethical principles found in God’s word
13. tell the truth and communicate honestly and openly, with no intent to deceive or mislead
14. protect, develop and deploy all of our resources (people, time, money, knowledge, reputation and materials) as if they were “the widow’s mite”

There! They’re out.

Although they’re numbered, they’re not prioritized.

Help us rank ‘em. We want to know what you feel is most important.

Give us your top one, two or three and we’ll calculate the product of your priorities.

Integrity is another one of our core values. But what does that mean? What is integrity?

“Integrity means doing the same thing whether people are with you or whether you are alone.” – Ed Anderson, senior vice president and chief financial officer

Integrity doesn’t just apply to big decisions. It also applies to your small decisions. It pertains to your whole life.

Integrity is doing the right thing, not necessarily the popular thing.

Integrity is being honest, upstanding and having a strong character.

Officially, for Compassion, integrity is:

“… aligning our thoughts, motivations, attitudes and actions with the ethical principles found in God’s Word. In both our personal lives and our ministry, what we believe, what we say and what we do should be consistent, congruent, reliable and transparent.”

• Do you think that the children at our child development centers ever “get tired” of “pleasing” the sponsors who briefly, but regularly visit many of the same centers on our sponsor tours?
• If the children do “get tired” and would rather be doing something else but can’t admit that they don’t want to greet another group of sponsors, for whatever reason, is this a matter of integrity?
• If it is a matter of integrity, of not aligning our thoughts with our actions, who is out of alignment? The child? The sponsor? Compassion?

We have four core values that define us. The first is that Compassion is a Christ-centered organization, and the second, the topic of this post is our commitment to the Church.

Our commitment to the Church reads like this.

“The Church is the great hope for the world and is God’s instrument to advance the Kingdom of God. We mobilize and connect the global Body of Christ to fulfill her mandate for holistic discipleship of poverty.”

This forum – the Global Leadership Forum – can change the world. This forum can end poverty. If we allow our hearts to be fertile ground for the Holy Spirit.

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” – Matthew 16:18-19 (NIV)

The church is the only institution in this world created by God. He didn’t create a non-government organization. The Church is God’s only strategy for this world.

Nothing can stop the Church. Even the gates of Hades shall not prevail against the Church. The Church is an unstoppable force.

God gave the Church unlimited access to Heaven. We have the keys to Heaven. 24/7.

The only strategy God has to stop poverty is the Great Commission.

How do we solve poverty? Make disciples. How do we make disciples? The Church.

What is the next chapter in the story of the Church?

“Can you imagine what could be done with the wisdom of the old and the passion of the young?” – Willow Creek Leadership Summit 2007

If we want to change the world, we must begin with ourselves. If we, the Church, don’t do it, it won’t get done. If we want to change the Church, we must begin with ourselves.

It is an honor for Compassion to walk alongside the Church. To accompany the Church as it helps bring the Kingdom of Heaven to this world.

But does it make a difference if we say we work “through the Church” instead of “with the Church”?

Today is the first day of our Global Leadership Forum (GLF). Huh? What’s that?

It’s an annual conference of all our leadership throughout the world, gathered together in one place to discuss the future of Compassion.

This year’s theme is “Strengthen the Core,” to grow in our global unity.

I’ll eventually have a post for you to read, but it’ll probably be after the conference is over.

However, you can follow along on Twitter as things happen.