I heard the other day what many would call “good news.” According to the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, the recession is over.

Only the thing is, the “good-ness” of this news is relative … it’s only true for those of us living within certain geographic boundaries (read: the developed world.)

So, while we may be seeing signs of economic improvement in our part of the world, many other parts of the world are still in dire straits.

I recently received a report from our staff in Guatemala that says there are 54,000 families seriously lacking food. Fifty-four thousand. UNICEF says that almost half of Guatemalan children suffer from chronic malnutrition.

While the food crisis is not new, the reasons behind this reiteration of it are different from before. (more…)

Edouard Lassegue is the Vice President of our Central America and Caribbean Region. He talks about our efforts to stem the food crisis in Guatemala.

A teacher of the law walks up to Jesus while He is teaching and asks Him, “Of all the commandments, which is the greatest?”

Jesus says to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself.

The teacher of the law responds to Jesus, agreeing with what He has said, and then in understanding also states that these two commandments are “more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (summary of Mark 12:28-34).

I have found that this act of love, to love our neighbor as our self, is no mystery. It is the living, breathing body of Christ working within the power and capacity of the Lord. Hurting when others are hurt, rejoicing when others rejoice.

We walk forward and love with love that has been poured on us, our hearts made sensitive to the needs of those around us.

We are intricately connected, I believe more so than we even suspect. We are one body, the Bride of Christ, each one of us examples of Christ’s love.

I expound upon this for a reason; I recently heard a story at Compassion in a meeting that left such awe resonating in my heart. So much so that I went and hunted down the pictures, the full report,* and then I requested to share it with you.

It is an account of the body of Christ in action, the call to love our neighbor being fulfilled.

Breathing was extremely difficult and oxygen had to be administrated 24 hours a day. His daily life had to be overseen 24/7 and the worries of the medics grew day after day as Stuart had to struggle with an illness called subglottic stenosis.

Subglottic stenosis causes the throat to narrow and makes the breathing process complicated, and for Stuart restricts his life to 50 percent of normal capabilities.

Stuart has suffered from this illness since he was 3 years old, and as the doctors in Nicaragua examined his case, they realized that the appropriate treatment could not be done there but rather only in Europe.

Dr. Erick Castillo (Compassion Guatemala’s Health Specialist), worked closely with Dr. Nubia Figueroa (Compassion Nicaragua’s Program Implementation Manager) sharing reports about Stuart’s health status, and found in Guatemala a medic who could fulfill this surgery and suggested this new option.

Reluctantly, Stuart’s mom agreed to travel to Guatemala, but later regretted her decision and turned down her permission to let Stuart travel. Her fear was that this surgery leaves a small open hole in the patient’s throat for at least one year, depending on the alimentation and care that he is given.

Eventually, though, Stuart was able to travel to Guatemala and had this laser surgery that resulted in a successful outcome for his life!

Ingrid González (Compassion Guatemala’s Curriculum Specialist) opened her home doors for Stuart and his mother while he was recovering from this surgery, and along with Erick Castillo, treated him the very best they could by praying, giving encouraging words and striving to help them feel at home as they were in an unknown country.

Compassion Guatemala, through its Country Director as well as the local office’s prayer group and many of its staff, constantly monitored Stuart’s case to see how he was doing. Stuart received many gifts from the staff and was even taken to church and then to an outing by one of the staff members on a beautiful Sunday.

Stuart continues to thrive in life, and his health is continually improving since his surgery.

Dr. Castillo and Dr. Figueroa continue to oversee Stuart’s health by sharing mutual reports, since Stuart must return soon to Guatemala for his respective medical follow-up to make sure everything is all right, especially the small hole left in his throat.

Compassion Guatemala continues to advise our partners in Nicaragua to give Stuart proper support, from his student center to his home.

Stuart’s birthday was June 9, the first birthday that he did not spend in a hospital. What a beautiful thing!

The command to love our neighbor as our self is a great task but one that can result in victories … even in saving lives.

And let us remember how Jesus responded to the man who acknowledged the beauty of the command:

“When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’” – Mark 12:34 (NIV)

*Stuart’s story was written by Samuel Llanes in the Compassion Guatemala office.

Luis Colmenares is the former country director for Compassion Guatemala. He currently lives in Colorado Springs and works for Human Resources in support of our International Program Group.

Luis shares about his best day in ministry with Compassion: the first Leadership Development Program graduation in Guatemala.

Over on another blog post – Where Do You Sponsor a Child? – several sponsors have been exchanging maps of the countries where we work; maps that list the child development center numbers and give a rough approximation of where the centers are located in relation to one another.

You can now find all of those maps in our Flickr account.

The Leadership Academy in Guatemala was implemented in 2005 for the first time to prepare students to enter the Leadership Development Program (LDP) and find good candidates for the program.

Maria, the former LDP Specialist in Guatemala who is now the LDP Specialist for the Central America and Caribbean region, says,

“We believe God wants students to be successful, and it is our goal, through the Leadership Academy, to help students rest on this promise and help them to be more prepared and confident as they start walking on the path God has for them at the university. (more…)

Hi, my name is Stephan Archer. I joined Compassion a few months ago as the U.S. Communication Specialist. Although I am in the business of communicating from day to day, this is my first attempt at blogging, so bear with me as I try to figure this out.

My calling to Compassion was really a journey that began at home, and it began with two small children — my own.

You see, my wife and I are homeschoolers. Our two girls, ages three and five, are now in preschool and kindergarten. Like other children this age, they have a million questions, most of which I struggle answering.

• Why is God invisible?
• Where does the sun go to bed at night?
• Why are yummy things bad for you and yucky things good for you?
• Why won’t Bambi see his mother again? (Those of you with young children who have a movie collection that teeters heavily towards the cartoon genre will appreciate this question.)

But while our children ask many things, there are many more things they don’t ask that they need to know.

For example, in such a richly blessed country as America, I don’t suppose too many kids learn on their own what it means to be thankful and content. Yet this is so important for children to understand if they are to grow up and be the adults we want them to be.

Thus, like many homeschoolers in search of ideas, my wife and I turned to the internet and started Googling — using words such as “contentment,” “thankfulness,” and “compassion” for those less fortunate.

We came across Compassion’s website and were so moved by what we saw that we immediately decided to sponsor a little girl named Kimberly in Guatemala.

Sponsorship has been nothing short of a wonderful experience for my entire family, as both my girls pray for Kimberly regularly. My oldest even draws pictures for Kimberly and sends encouraging notes with them.

I went one step further and read Wess Stafford’s book, Too Small to Ignore. After reading his book, I was more motivated than ever to be a part of this ministry.

During this time, God led me on a six-month employment-seeking journey as I communicated with various people at Compassion. I was able to examine my own heart and pray for God’s leading.

Now that I’m here at Compassion, I can say with confidence that this ministry is everything it purports to be.

Like any ministry or church body, the day to day things are managed by human beings, and with that, comes challenges. However, everyone here knows that God is ultimately leading this ministry. I’ve never seen a leadership team more dedicated to God’s will than I’ve seen at Compassion.

I’ve enjoyed reading what all of you think and would love to share with you from time to time what’s on my mind. Sometimes, I’ll jump in on your conversations and share my personal thoughts on the matter as well. Either way, I’m looking forward to being blessed by our discussions, and my hope is that you benefit as well.