The following is an interview with Anuradha Ghoshal, Program Communication Manager with Compassion East India.

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1. How long have you been in your current position, and what are your main responsibilities?

I have been in this position for the last three years.

My main responsibility entails supervision of the three core processes for Program Communications: Field Communication, Sponsor Donor Services and Tours and Visits.

Besides that I am responsible for communication with Global Partner Alliance (GPA) staff, mentoring my team, budgeting and working alongside the country management team (CMT).

2. Describe what an average day is like for you.

An average day starts with the corporate devotion. It is followed by attending to my “To Do List” where I address each request, need or assignment based on priority while also following up during a morning briefing on any pending work assigned to my team members.

The later part of the day involves meeting with the Country Director and/or other CMT members for updates, approval or planning.

3. What is the best part of your job, and what is the most challenging part? (more…)

Little Acmeshall opened her eyes. It was still dark outside, but she got down from her bed and washed her face using the bucket of water in the washroom. It wasn’t like any other regular day. It was Easter.

Acmeshall washed her face and mouth with water. The 6-year-old girl woke her mother up. Her mother, Lodis, enjoyed seeing her daughter’s hurry for Easter.

Acmeshall was very happy as she wore a brand-new white skirt specially made by her mother. She said her prayers and waited for her parents to take her to church.

At the same time half a kilometer away, an 8-year-old boy, Razu, was also getting ready for the morning devotion of Easter Sunday. Things were a little different here. (more…)

Have you ever wondered how Compassion, an openly evangelical organization, is able to work in Muslim or Hindu countries where evangelism is illegal? I have.

The other day I had an opportunity to spend an hour with a couple of our field staff, Mathew from India and Kevin from Bangladesh, and I asked them this question: How can Compassion work in India or Bangladesh or Indonesia?

Here is what they said …

We redefine the meaning of “evangelism.” The true way to evangelize someone is simply to act in a way that causes them to ask, “Why do you care?” This is what we do. We don’t “evangelize” the children in the sense most Westerners do. We simply care for them and then the parents ask why.

I’ve been processing that conversation ever since it occurred. Perhaps many of us have our focus in the wrong place. If Christians would make relationships our top priority, we wouldn’t have to put so much time or effort into evangelism. It would be the natural result.

What do you think?

Wow, you all had a lot of great questions for Sathy! It was hard to pick just 10, so I picked those that hadn’t come up before on this blog and that I know Sathy could offer special insight on.

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1. Having lived in India and the U.S. and having seen poverty and abundance firsthand, how do you and your wife help your son to have a healthy outlook on the vast differences between the two? (Lindy)

I’ve never experienced poverty firsthand. My real experience is seeing poverty through Compassion.

Just like my parents did, my wife and I try our best to remind him as often as possible that there are people/kids around the world who lack basic necessities like food, clothing and shelter, which we often take for granted. There were times when he would say that he wants to help those kids.

I guess we just sow the seeds …

2. How many letters and case studies does Compassion process? (Juli Jarvis)

A lot! An average of 54,465 case studies per month, and an average of 282,490 letters per month!

3. What is the process for a child’s case study to be updated? Will we begin receiving yearly case studies soon? If they remain at every two years, will they at least become more detailed and personal? (Alyson and Juli Jarvis)

A case study update for a child is due when the last case study form is between 18 to 24 months old.

The church partners send in the case study form and photographs to the field office, and the field office staff processes them and submits the forms and photographs electronically to our Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs.

I don’t think we’re ready yet to do yearly updates, but we’ve started discussions on ways to redesign the case study form from an outcome perspective. We don’t have a definite date for that yet. 

4. How does the India office handle letter writing? Does each individual project have its own process? (more…)