I keep a short journal on my laptop, one or two sentences each day about an idea I’ve come across that might be significant to my life if I were to meditate on it enough. I read somewhere that returning to your first love, namely God, is the key to coping and healing from all sorts of emotional pain.

As I’ve thought about it over and over, I’m beginning to think that daily returning to God really is the key to everything in life, from the joys to the mundane routines of life.

At Compassion, we do a lot of things to fulfill God’s purpose of helping the poor. In fact, most of us love to do them and are passionate about the cause.

Sometimes, though, it’s easy to fall more in love with doing the ministry than with the One who called us. And it’s easy to get tired or burned out doing the routine or difficult tasks. Sometimes it seems like progress can be painfully slow.

So how do we make sense of what we’re doing in our service to God?

By returning constantly to our first love, I think. When that happens, monotonous busywork turns into purposeful, joyful effort.

Difficult decisions become better informed by the character of God. Relationships with coworkers and those we serve become more loving. There’s a clearer direction and path as we walk through the maze of too many good things that need to get done.

And the burden of service and living out the Lord’s calling on our lives becomes tempered with the knowledge that it is most important to rest in the presence of God.

John 15:4 summarizes with a beautiful metaphor what God wants for those who serve Him. He says that nothing can be done truly for His glory, purpose, or pleasure unless we remain attached to Him.

“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” — John 15:4 (NIV)

Prayer: Dear Father God, help us always to return to You and remain attached to You. May all our efforts flow from Your strength and be fruitful.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Carla Hoit is a support specialist for U.S. Constituent Development. The U.S. Constituent Development team works with foundations to obtain ministry grants.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.

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“You are worthless.” “All you do is disappoint people.” “You will never be enough.”

These are the demons in my head. And in the minds of the children we serve. Rich or poor, Satan wants to entrap us. For the children we serve, Satan wants to convince them that the absence of material wealth equals the absence of love from a Heavenly Father. For those of us in the developed world, that negative voice might be just as loud, but for different reasons.

Years ago, I began making agreements with evil. I listened to these voices spouting hatred at me, these voices saying there was nothing special about me. Believing the lies led to crippling despair.

All I could think about was how bad I am. Shame overwhelmed. I felt trapped inside of myself.

Paralyzed.

All I could do was lie on the couch, watching the beautiful and exciting people on TV. Criticizing myself that my life wasn’t as interesting as the characters I saw, or that I could never fit into an actress’s tiny dress.

“What if I opened the clenched hands wide to receive all that is? A life that receives all of God in this moment?

How do you do that when the terror tears up your throat and you wear the burn scars of a razed past?” ~Ann Voskamp, author of One Thousand Gifts

As I read Ann’s book, I feel like I’m sitting with a dear friend. Her words intrigue and encourage. She has discovered the key to joy and contentment: the discipline of thanksgiving.

By giving thanks for all that God offers, I am able to see beyond myself. Small things that might otherwise go unnoticed. But through gratitude, I have fresh eyes to see God’s generous heart.

Through my new, open eyes, I see fear loosen its grip. Self-hate has no room to speak. I see Christ everywhere! He is in these big and small things, whispering His love. I write in my gratitude journal:

• Pale pinks in a morning sky
• The utter silence of falling snow
• Gold ribbon
• Forehead kisses
• A cozy, old sweatshirt

My chains begin to fall away. The key of thanksgiving has unlocked my inner prison of self-hatred. Feelings of fear and self-doubt are replaced with hope and expectancy.

Instead of feeling trapped by personal inadequacy, I learn to believe in the promise that God is for me and with me.

I pray our Compassion kids feel this same wellspring of hope when the cycle of poverty is broken in their families.

Through One Thousand Gifts, the Lord is taking me on a journey to experience more of all He has wants to offer. To not settle for a life of complaint but to jump into a life of joy.

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

Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect and energy. It’s an optimistic color, one that communicates a brighter future for children in poverty.

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

Kenneth Kataryeba

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

He leaves home at 6:30 a.m. and takes 45 minutes to reach his office.

After morning devotions with all Compassion Rwanda staff, which normally start at 8 a.m. and last an hour, he shifts his focus to Tours and Visits communications.

“I make sure that I have enough relevant information about the child before confirming a visit date for a sponsor or a tour.

“Having gotten the news that a child will be visited on a certain date, the student center social worker visits the child’s home ahead of time to prepare the family members or guardians living with the child, and of course some preparations are made at the student center as well.”

Eugene enjoys his job, which he longed for even while he was still at the university.

“Ever since my university time, my ambitions were to work for a Christian organization, and so this is an absolute answer of prayer to me.

“I am always happy and motivated to advocate for people in times of need, and I enjoy learning about different cultural values.”

Gifted with cultural diversity, mostly resulting from his country’s (Rwanda) history, Eugene was born in Uganda in 1976, where he had his primary education. He later moved to join his brother who was living in Kenya, and from there had his junior secondary education.

He returned to Rwanda with his parents right after the 1994 genocide. He successfully completed high school and began university where he gained greater influence in both academic and spiritual aspects.

Eugene holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a specialization in human resource management.

He is a devoted Christian, married and has worked as Tours and Visits Team Lead for three years.

“I am married to Joy, and God blessed us with a wonderful, precious and treasured daughter whose name is Grace.

“We all love God. My wife and I are in charge of the English service at our local church, and God has used us as instruments of His word to the congregation. We serve in the ministry closely with our senior pastor.”

Eugene’s job is quite demanding in terms of commitment and dedication. At times he overworks himself and returns home late at night, but he’s driven by the kind and caring hearts of sponsors.

“I have been touched by the heart of sponsors and the love they have for children. I love the sponsor and child hug. It’s a natural feeling that builds intimacy between them.”

“I would like to give an example of a couple from Australia who met all their 12 sponsored children at once, had a fun day and shared lunch together.

“Each of these children had a story to tell and they said they would never forget that day because of their sponsors who shared a special day with them, chatting and playing games together.

“They gave them the best dish for lunch and each had a take-home package of various items from the supermarket for their first time.”

When sponsors do individual visits, they either visit the child at the development center and do a home visit, or meet in a good environment for recreation with the child and the center staff.

In Rwanda, offices and business enterprises close on some special days, like the last Saturday of every month, which is set aside for community work, countrywide, and during the annual genocide memorial, April 7-14.

Scheduling visits can be tricky if sponsors have requested to visit on those days.

During a visit, the center staff takes some time to educate and share with the sponsor about their local programs for holistic development of the child as well as social benefits.

As Rwanda is a country of a thousand hills, its topography affects field activities often, particularly with communication and transportation issues.

“Some of our church partners are located in places which are not easily accessible due to lack of proper roads. At times, visits are long days and are very tiring for the host and sponsors.

“Some of our visits occur in places where there’s no mobile network coverage and at certain moments a cell phone becomes useless.

“Also, I am dreaming of a day when the church partners will no longer have a language barrier. For the case of my country, many people at church partner level are not able to express themselves in English.

“I am thinking that if the learning materials would be available to them, they would quickly learn the language and this would be an advantage for sponsor visits.”

Working with and for children is a blessing to Eugene.

“My job has taught me not to be self-centered, but instead to think about others.

“It’s been a blessing to work with and for children, and this gives me the hope and courage to look at them as future leaders and influential people in the society.

“With all that in mind, I believe that God will continually do wonderful things in our lives if at all we are bound together in His love.”

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