Compassion is closed today to honor Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

It was the day of Preparation of Passover Week, about the sixth hour.

“Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.

But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”

“Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked.

“We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.

Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified.

The Crucifixion

So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). Here they crucified him, and with him two others — one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

— John 19:17-18 (NIV)

Artwork from Mathare Community Outreach Child Development Center

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• A man who watched his wife of 35 years die of AIDS-related causes.
• A man who has nine children, all born again.
• A man who has known his status for four years but hasn’t been deterred.
• A man who boldly stood in front of my camera when I wanted to respect his privacy but still get a photo of his humble and dilapidated dwelling.

This man with a gaunt face but beautiful eyes shook my hand strongly and with great confidence.

He shared with me his story, one that brought him from finding out his status to living and breathing today as a positive, incredibly inspiring story of someone who has decided to live his life with thanks, not fear.

When I asked John what he wanted others to know about HIV or being HIV positive, he said that everyone should be tested and that AIDS is still a killer disease. He said that if you test positive, you should not fear, for fear will only exacerbate the illness.

John is being helped by Compassion in many ways: by support of his multiple income-generating projects, which include selling used clothing and small foods as well as ironing others’ garments.

He is given other support as needed based on the child development center’s close communication with him. He seems to be a proud man, not ashamed of his circumstances, and very grateful for what the Church and Compassion are doing to help him.

Though we all come from different backgrounds and bring a wide spectrum of abilities to our work, we all comprise a body of Christ helping a man named John. A man that most of us will never meet but who many of us will be impacted by as we gain energy from his story.

John has two children in Compassion’s programs. Two boys who are benefiting both directly through our programs and indirectly because their father is getting much needed support through the AIDS Initiative.

How could these two boys succeed with an ailing father who doesn’t get the help that he needs? We are helping this man to live so that his sons may focus on their education and future pursuits. A win-win if you ask me.

So please be encouraged that the AIDS Initiative you work to support in a multitude of ways is working quite well and being carried out in the most unique ways with some of God’s most cherished children, those living with HIV and AIDS. Your support allows the AIDS Initiative to be integrated into our programs in Africa.

Thank you for having the patience that I find myself lacking at times; the lack of patience that is embarrassing to admit when standing face to face with those who are HIV positive and have more than I will ever have.

I felt terribly honored to be in that small stuffy room with John, learning about his faith and his life. I felt that I was truly standing on sacred ground.

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At the age of 3, John had his first contact with music. It was at a Compassion child development center.

Everything in John’s life could be dissonant if a particular day in his past hadn’t happened. Now, like in a beautiful symphony, John is conducting his life in a new tone – the tone of leadership.

John was 12 when everything happened. It seemed to be the last straw when the director of his former child center called his name and said, “I want to see you in my office now.”

Frightened, John walked to the place so familiar to him because of his aggressiveness and disobedience. But this was a day he didn’t do anything wrong. Sso he thought, “It’s done. There is no way out.”

He was right. For sure there was not.

“I was always reprimanded by my teachers for beating my classmates. Even though I was in the office almost every day, until that day the office didn’t scare me.

“To my great surprise, my director introduced me to a special person who in a short period of time would become my music mentor. It was the director’s last shot trying to save me; and it worked very well.”

John learned how to play guitar at the child center and the notes of his life started synchronizing.

By the age of 15, John was a peaceful person, passionate about music, and dreaming about becoming a great concert performer. But something was still missing in his life.

“At a youth camp I realized how important our decisions are and how many decisions are important ones that we have to take along our lives.

“Until that moment, it was a sacrifice for me listening to my teacher talk about God, but I figured out that there is only one truth, and one path – Jesus. So I made my choice.”

“He changed unbelievably for the better,” says one of his former monitors.

“He is no longer the same. There was a radical change,” agrees another one.

John’s passion and dedication to music touched his mentor’s heart, who with much determination succeeded in getting John a music scholarship in a very good music school.

John was 16 years old when his teacher gave him such precious gift. But just saying “thank you” was not enough for the quiet young man.

Now, twice a week after college, where John studies the Business Administration with help from the Leadership Development Program (LDP), he goes to the child center and conducts a kids’ choral.

“Through these classes, I give to the children. I try to teach them more than music. I want to teach them the true path.

“I know that just like it used to be for me, sometimes they feel bored learning about the Bible. But I know that one day they will understand.”

John also works as a volunteer music teacher at a public school, leads the music ministry at his church, and teaches guitar to two other students at his home. Besides college, church, LDP meetings and children’s music classes, John practices guitar four hours per day, while still making time for his girlfriend.

“God is my strength,” he says.

John’s discipline, self confidence, talent and great grades ensured him a place in the Leadership Development Program.

John’s relationship with the other LDP students is very honest, and he supports his friends, encouraging them with his words. They rejoice with each other’s achievements.

“I used to be very rude to people I didn’t agree with. Now, with my LDP classmates, I am learning how to be responsible with people feelings.

“My parents, who always loved me, now are proud of who I became.”

John is now studying a lot in order to achieve another dream: a musical school for children in need – the reason why he chose to study business administration.

John’s talents as a musician were appreciated by nearly 300 young people who were graduating from the Child Sponsorship Program in a touching ceremony last December.

Very concentrated, John played three peaceful songs of his authorship, and hundreds of attentive eyes experienced the sound of gratitude.

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It’s chilly and the teacher starts the lesson. As drum beats fill the air, children fill with excitement — the right mood for a story.

Teacher Mercy starts,

“Once upon a time there were two buckets that hung by the Simenya Well. They kept on being drawn by the residents of Simenya. One late afternoon, tired with the day’s work, they took time to rest and spoke to each other.”

At this point Teacher Mercy coughs and holds two buckets as visual aid while pointing them to the children.

In the background, one hears a symphony of coughs and sneezes from the children because of the weather. Her “classroom” is outside.

She continues,

“One of the buckets was always grumbling. It never looked at life cheerfully. On this particular day, as it rested outside the well it said to the other bucket, ‘I am tired of the life we lead. However full we are when we are drawn up out of the well, we are sent back empty again. This makes me disappointed and dissatisfied.’

The second bucket looked at life differently. It did not grumble because it looked at the positive side of life. It said, ‘That’s true, but I always look at it this way — that however empty we are when we are set down, we are always full when draw up.’”

Teacher Mercy declares the end of the story, looks at the children, sees the cloudy skies, and whispers a prayer to God, “Please Lord, help us build classrooms to house these children.”

For the last three years, trees randomly placed in the Simenya Child Development Center church compound have been serving as “classrooms” for the children. Unfortunately the days can be nightmares for some of the children in the center, especially when they come to the wall-less classrooms, during extreme weather conditions.

According to Mercy,

“The long rainy seasons fall in March to May, while the short rainy seasons are during the months of August to September and sometimes trickle into October.

These are dreaded months by children, teachers and parents alike. One is likely to meet children shivering in the chilly days with hands tightly clasped across their chest, to preserve the little body temperature.

It is during this period, we have seen children affected by periodic fever. These are the times when we see children walk out of class or even stay away from the classes, with parents citing fear of fever attack.”

During the hot season months, we have not been spared either. This area has characteristic dry spells, which leaves the indigenous trees without leaves. Scorching sunbeams through the sketchy branches penetrate the out-door classes. Because of this, Simenya Child Development Center has made numerous efforts to address this immense challenge.

The community is aware that infrastructural development is their responsibility; however, with the ravaging rate of poverty in this community and high cost of living, they are not able to save money for this much-needed infrastructure.

The host church organized a community fundraiser (harambee), and approximately $400 was raised, which was used toward the acquisition of corrugated iron sheets as roofing materials for a semi-permanent make-shift structure built with trees.

In July 2008, God remembered Simenya Child Development Center in the form of a surprise gift for the center. It came from John, Benson’s sponsor, and it came at an opportune time.

According to Mercy,

“The contribution enabled us to come up with with capacity for 70 children. Though a two-roomed class, the construction has been made in a way that the middle partition can be opened up and the building turned to a hall for church or student center events and functions. Even the church partner hosts a few meetings in this new facility, courtesy of John of the UK.”

Benson is proud of his sponsor, who not only touched his life, but those of 70 children. However, some 230 others still learn in a nearby church hall, while others learn in the child development center director’s office. And more are still under the trees in the church compound until classes are built.

Benson is now a very happy boy. He is glad for the program he attends because he has access to his basic necessities, including a new classroom. He says that he cannot attribute any of this to anyone but to God. Despite being an orphan, Benson is looking at the brighter side of life, he hopes to pursue a good education and he confesses,

“God has given me a friend (his sponsor) who will take me to school until I become a teacher which is my dream career. I now believe Jeremiah 29:11. God indeed knows the plans he has for me to give me peace and an expected end. Even when society thought I was nothing, God and my sponsor saw me as someone.”

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