In the midst of post-election violence in Kenya, one entire church was burned down. We lost all of our paperwork and child documentation — nothing was left.

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

In boarding school miles away from home, I had run out of cash and needed bus fare. The fastest way to get cash from home was via ordinary mail. Even then, I knew better than to bother Mom with bus fare when she had so many other pressing needs.

Being a new believer, I turned to God for help. “Lord, please provide bus fare home. Please, Lord.” In the Christian fellowship, I had heard of daring faith in which students prayed for similar needs and proceeded to board buses without a coin. I dreaded the idea.

As the day drew nearer, I had to make a Plan B. Thankfully, a friend was benevolent enough to lend me just enough cash to get home.

As we streamed out of the school’s main gate, I was confused about God and prayer. In fact, I had a little doubt that God really existed. Or perhaps my request was too insignificant.

Feeling downcast, I took the corner seat in the last row and stared through the bus window. As we got on our way, a passenger just in front tagged me. Without a word, he pointed to someone a few rows ahead. I was greeted by the smiling, familiar face of a regular speaker in our Christian fellowship, who told me, “I have paid for two.” I had a choking feeling, a mixture of joy and anger.

Why couldn’t God provide before I borrowed? Doesn’t He understand right timing for those of little faith like me? Why overstretch my faith beyond my limit?

By stretching my faith, I learned, like Mary and Martha did, that God answers prayers in ways beyond what we can expect. Jesus was quick to remind and demonstrate that it is never too late for God.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” – John 11:21, NIV

Prayer: Lord, as we pray, help us trust that You will answer even in ways inconvenient to us because you are God. Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joel Macharia is the country director of our office in Kenya.

Read all the One in Spirit devotionals.

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

This news came to me via text message.

“He didn’t make it. He died.”

My friend, Laura, had lost her father. A sudden heart attack took his life just two weeks before Christmas. It shook all of us. He was young and healthy.

How could something like this happen?

Fourteen hundred miles away, little Gloria, a sponsored child in Kenya, lost her grandfather. She was already without a father and now the list of loss grows. What good could come from yet another sorrow?

What words are appropriate for the grief Laura’s family is experiencing? And what comfort can be offered to a sponsored child like Gloria who loses a caregiver or a loved one?

How do you give thanks in the midst of overwhelming grief?

My honest fear is that my journey of gratitude, sparked by Ann Voskamp’s book, One Thousand Gifts, will continue to go well for me — until an extreme sorrow comes my way. And I know such sorrow will come, because death is part of every life.

Not for a minute do I believe God wants us to shove the hurt and pain aside just so we can pretend to be thankful, to paste on a fake smile and act like everything is okay. But I do believe that what God wants from me is the confidence to bring all of the tough questions, the heartbreak and anger, to Him.

If I can continue to trust Him in the midst of deeply painful, deeply broken places, that is a gift.

If I can continue to learn more about Christ’s heart in the midst of horrific times, that is a gift.

So today, as I grieve for my friends’ losses, I ask God to infuse in me more of His character. I ask for more of His heart so that I can trust Him when those unimaginable times come for me.

Thankfulness is recognition of who He is, no matter what life offers.

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

Heather and I had been sponsoring in a relatively disconnected way since around 2000. I use the word “disconnected” because although we understood the work of Compassion and believed in its concepts, we had never actually connected with the children in any meaningful way. A trip to see the work of Compassion in 2007 changed all this.

Prior to this trip, I was in a highly pressurized work environment, which was engulfing every hour of my day and much of my nights. Early mornings were sometimes spent trying not to throw up while shaving.

Many of you guys will have been there: big income, big demands, no room to back off, always up to take on the next contract. If I got in an hour earlier each day, I thought I could cope.

We were fortunate to visit Kenya on an Advocate’s trip for ten days … ten days that changed our lives.

Read the rest of this post by Compassion UK Advocate Martyn Legg on the Compassion UK blog.

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

The inflation rate in Kenya rose from 3.3 percent in August 2010 to 16.67 percent in August 2011, an unprecedented five-fold increase in the cost of living.

The World Food Program estimates that more than 2.4 million people have received food aid in the Horn of Africa. Northern and eastern areas in the Horn of Africa are feared to “deteriorate to crisis and emergency levels” if nothing is done to curb the trend.

For a country that is heavily dependent on agriculture, this prolonged drought has dealt a significant blow to our way of life in Kenya, especially to those who live in informal urban settlements in arid and semi-arid regions.

One such area is at the Kamwaa Child Development Center, located in the Mbeere District in eastern Kenya. This semi-arid region is typified by scattered hills and acres of dry shrubs, with an average annual rainfall of 750 mm (29 inches). Economic activities revolving around marginal farming and raising livestock have been affected by a lengthy dry spell.

Kathiga, the Kamwaa Child Development Center director, tells us,

“The last three years have been the worst.”

The Mbeere District survives on seasonal rivers that bring water from distant highlands and occasional flash floods. Most of the year, the riverbeds remain dry and dangerous, which could spell doom to naïve travelers, especially during a heavy downpour.

Well-known traditional and drought resistant crops — such as cowpeas — have not withstood the drought and therefore have brought a severely reduced harvest. Hunger has stared people living in this region in the face as they sought for other means of survival.

Several years ago, our child development center embarked on alternative agriculture through subsistence farming that the parents relied on.

Kathiga explains,

“We started a demonstration farm for fathers and mothers to learn from and help them utilize this available resource.”

The staff at the Kamwaa Child Development Center then decided to convert this demonstration farm into a scaled income-generating venture. This new idea allowed them to receive external funds through Complementary Interventions. Our staff saw an opportunity where many did not, and went all out to prove that something good could come from thirsty soil.

Proud fathers and mothers tilled the virgin land and the proximity of a nearby river offered hope of sustainability for this program. These leased 20 acres would soon become a haven within otherwise parched lands.

A green canopy emerged in the middle of grey, thorny bushes. The young pawpaw (fruit) stems sprouted along the furrows watered from the nearby river. Below these slender stems lay green, leafy vegetables that mature much quicker than pawpaw.

This growth was the first great sign of hope. The farm rapidly became a huge source of attraction to any passerby. It was time to have a permanent caretaker for the farm.

The child development center enjoyed relative success over the last year, and has yielded fresh fruit such as pawpaw, watermelons, tomatoes (from two greenhouses), and honey from hives suspended among withering branches.

While in season, children have enjoyed fresh produce while locals purchase directly from the farm. Currently, two children facing malnutrition have benefited from weekly food rations.

“These two children were malnourished. We decided to include them among those children who required nutritional supplements. The farm has helped to provide for them.”

These surroundings also favor beekeeping, which led the center to produce and package its own honey.

“People from all over the district and beyond come to buy our honey. Its quality is unmatched! We want to register with the Kenya Bureau of Standards to have it vetted and made available in shopping malls.”

Sadly, the rain shortage has slowed down the gains from last year.

“The river we depended on for irrigation has been dried up for over two months. This is the first time this has happened in our generation.”

Most of our crops dried up under the relentless sun. The bees too could not withstand the heat and migrated to other hives, which in turn reduced our honey yield.

As a result, the center staff decided to introduce drip irrigation and water storage tanks on the site. This has helped to cut their water generator fuel expenses in half.

There is renewed hope now that the river is breathing new life along its path. The farm is not back to its glorious days yet, but the lush green is evident from a distance. The center expects a huge harvest from the farm.

Also, the center decided to introduce fish farming. The fisheries department assisted us in setting up one pond and supplied us with 1,000 fingerlings and a year’s supply of fish food.

Weather patterns remain unpredictable, and the weatherman has not offered hope to those that await the short rains to quench the hot and dusty surface.

Dire days are expected, but with initiatives like these, local families will eat good food from a land seemingly surrounded by scorched hopes. And we hope these families will learn from the income-generating ideas introduced by the Kamwaa Child Development Center.

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

Frustration mounts as I open my car door and step into a large puddle that covers my shoes. The wind blows my umbrella inside out and I grit my teeth to keep my tongue from sin.

I can’t believe how much rain has fallen! The freezing wind bites, the cold rain soaks my clothes, and I am so over it! Weathermen may rejoice in breaking precipitation records, but I do not!

I turn the key in the security door, hit one button for light and another for warmth, change into slippers, and sort through the mail. I’m excited to see I have a letter from one of my sponsored kids.

I open it and see the familiar white and green paper that indicates it’s from Ethiopia, and I can almost quote what is written without reading a word. There’s the standard greeting, he’s fine, am I well, he’s being going to church, please pray for his studies, and please pray for rain for the crops.

I toss the letter on the couch and move on with my day. I’ve read it all before, and as a city girl the request for rain means little to me. I figure that maybe it’s just a sentence the teacher wrote on the blackboard and once again it’s been copied. A generic, meaningless, space filler.

I pray for this boy but forget about the rain for the crops, because surely the requests I can think of are more important than rain.

Sunday comes and the rain still falls. At church a sponsor targets me to ask what the ministry is doing about the drought and famine in Ethiopia and Kenya. I shrug and say I’m not in Marketing, but I’m sure we are there helping already.

Try as I might the Holy Spirit doesn’t allow me to shrug this off. So I Google Ethiopia and famine and read news article after news article about the years of drought and current famine invading Africa with its friends starvation and death.

I go to work to hear from the CEO that we are there helping, and I’m proud that we are in the middle of this crisis — but I’m ashamed of myself.

I may be a city girl and I may never grow a vegetable in my life, but this does not excuse me of pride that ignores my sponsored son’s request for prayer support for something so important in his life, in his country, in his family’s survival. May God forgive me of my arrogance.

Learn from my lesson. Always pray for the requests your sponsored children and students send you. Especially when they don’t make sense. Especially when you think you know better. Especially because they ask.

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

It’s all over the news, the Web and social media. The images are showing up everywhere. The statistics are unbelievable, but they’re real and that’s why we keep hearing about it.

I’m talking about the drought in East Africa.

East Africa is currently facing its worst drought in 60 years; high food prices and failed crops have left millions of people at risk.

Dozens of relief organizations have rushed to the scene. They’re hard at work calculating the need, raising funds and bringing in lifesaving aid.

You’ve watched as this crisis has unfolded, you’ve been praying and now you’re ready to respond.

But wait — we have some questions from the audience:

“Where is Compassion?”

“What is Compassion doing amid this crisis?”

“How can I give to Compassion concerning the drought in East Africa?”

Inserting a donation link to our disaster relief fund and asking you to give, right now, is a timely thing to do. But before you click on the link, let me explain how this crisis is affecting our programs.

Our child development centers operate in five countries near the areas affected by the drought:

• Kenya
• Ethiopia
• Rwanda
• Tanzania
• Uganda

We do not work in Somalia, the hardest-hit country. But where we do work, our local church partners are seeing higher food prices due to poor crop yields caused by the drought. And our church partners are experiencing an influx of refugees into the areas they serve.

Because we are a holistic child development organization working through the local church our program model often protects our beneficiaries against the potentially crippling impact of famine and drought.

Our Child Survival, Child Sponsorship, and Leadership Development Programs are each designed to help meet the ongoing needs of the families, children and students we serve. The programs help our beneficiaries become self-sufficient and better able to weather disasters, such as droughts.

However, when a crisis does arise, the local churches where our child development centers are located identify the immediate and specific needs of the children, families and students we serve.

The churches have access, through our programs, to critical assistance, such as disaster relief, clean water, medical assistance, etc.

Our ministry focus is on long-term development of children from their time in the womb until an age where they’re self-sufficient. While we focus on prevention and responding to the needs of our program beneficiaries, we applaud other organizations that do widespread disaster relief.

One of these organizations is the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), one of our partners in 58:.
In addition to its major drought-response projects already underway in Kenya and Ethiopia, CRWRC is expanding its aid to Somalia.

You can learn more about CRWRC, how they are responding to the drought, and ways you can help at crcna.org.

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

Traveling north from the city of Arusha, Tanzania, one passes by the world-famous Ngorongoro crater and the vast plains of the Serengeti before coming to Musoma. The town of Musoma is located on the shore of Lake Victoria, the third largest lake in the world, whose size is greater than Britain and Germany put together.

The local people’s livelihoods are tied to the lake, as most of them are engaged in fishing, the main business that provides commerce to the town. The Mara region, home to Musoma, borders Kenya and part of the different ethnic people who live in Tanzania also live in Kenya.

There are many ethnic groups in Mara, but the major one is known as the Kurya tribe. Within this tribe, there are multiple ethnic groups that have identified themselves with the location where they live.

Each ethnic group speaks the Kurya language, but there are some differences depending on the specific dialects. These ethnic groups also have different cultural practices, such as how they conduct funeral services, their customs for when a child is born, and other manners of celebration.

Circumcision, performed on both males and females, is a major cultural practice throughout the Kurya ethnic groups. It is such an important practice among the community members that when an uncircumcised foreigner comes to live among them, he or she is forced into circumcision.

How Circumcision Affects the Church

Churches are affected because their congregations are forced to undergo the ritual. During the season of circumcision, church attendance drops until the season is over.

To prevent this situation from continuing, there is a need to provide continued education, especially among children, so that they can change the society in the long run. It is important to start investing in small children, and we are working hard to protect children and act as their advocates.

Circumcision in the Kurya Tribe

Male circumcision is practiced all over the region, and female circumcision is practiced in some places like the Serengeti and Tarime districts where the Wakira, Wanyabasi, Wanyanchoka and Watimbaru ethnic groups are found. These are also the ethnic groups that fight each other from time to time.

A person being circumcised is expected to be very brave and not display any sign of fear. When being circumcised, an individual is expected to stay still and not show he or she is experiencing pain. There are people who watch to see that the person being circumcised observes the rules.

Women who circumcise others are known as “Omsali” in the Kurya language, or “Ngariba” in Kiswahili. Not every woman can be Omsali; this is a clan right that is passed down from one generation to another.

To perform the circumcision, the Omsali used to use a sharp piece of metal, which was prepared by special people. But nowadays they use a razor blade when circumcising women and a knife for men.

Why Are Men Circumcised?

The cultural norm is that men should be circumcised. If a man dies and he is not circumcised, he will be circumcised before he is buried..

Circumcision is a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. After circumcision, the boy is no longer considered “mrisya” (a child) and has the freedom to make his own decisions. If a man is not circumcised, he is considered to be a child, even if he is over 50 years old. It is a great insult to address a man as “mrisya.” It can even ignite a great conflict, leading one person to kill another person.

Circumcision gives men the freedom to participate in funeral services. A man who is not circumcised is not allowed to come near a dead person. Circumcision gives men permission to participate in civil wars. And, circumcision gives a man the right to look after the family, which means he can marry.

If a man is not circumcised, he does not know in which age group to belong, and no girl will agree to be married to man who is not circumcised.

Women do not like to be married to a man who was circumcised in a hospital. They say they feel like they are being married to their fellow woman.

Why Are Women Circumcised?

Female circumcision is also regarded as a rite of passage from childhood to adulthood. It is rare to find a girl above age 10 who is not circumcised, and this can explain why there have been early marriages and young mothers who are less than 18 years old.

Female circumcision is done to make women less sexually active because many men spend a lot of time away from home when they go away for wars and battles against other ethnic clans.

They also perform female circumcision to try to make women not go outside the marriage and have extramarital affairs.

Women from other tribes who are married to Kurya and are not circumcised will be circumcised when giving birth.

Preparation for Circumcision

Circumcision is prohibited in July and August. Circumcision is also prohibited during years ending in the number 7, because a year ending in number 7 is considered to be a bad year.

Traditional leaders consult the spirits. The traditional leader goes to a river (Nyesiba River, in Baribari village) to ask “the snake” if it’s safe to do circumcision in that particular year.

The traditional leaders ask this question by placing two empty calabashes (a type of gourd) by the side of the river, and then they go away. The next day they come to see what has happened, and if they find the calabash full of water, they consider the year to be good and circumcision preparations continue.

But if they find the calabashes half full, they know the year is not good and they perform cleansing rituals before they continue. The cleansing is done by consulting traditional medicine men, who announce that a person (normally a pregnant woman or a young man) in the village will die. Once the chosen person dies, the cleansing has passed and the circumcision process continues.

If individuals die before they have healed from the circumcision, they will not be buried in their village. The burial will be done secretly in a neighboring village.

If the other village discovers this, they will find a way to retaliate against the people who buried their dead. This has been one of the main causes of the endless conflicts among the ethnic groups.

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

I grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, in a slum, right next to a large dump site — a horrific place. People bring their dead babies there.

View of a slum in Kenya

We were with five people and we all shared one bed. Our house had an metal roof, but with many holes in it. In April it rains heavily in Kenya, so everything got wet very often. Many times we slept while sitting in a dry corner of our house.

Whenever it rained, the water came up ankle deep in our house. That was the most difficult time for our family.

We were often hungry because it was very hard to find food. I started to look for edible food in the dump site. My mom often asked for help from friends.

But many people in our neighborhood were bad people. I had two sisters, and my mom was afraid they would be raped and killed one day. So she looked for help and built a home on an empty plot from the government.

Again, our house was made of metal sheets, but it was never completed, so we had to use a lot of plastic bags to fix it. The plastic could not keep the rain out of the house. We had to make holes in the plastic in order to prevent the house from collapsing under the weight of the water.

The new place we lived in was very muddy and looked more like a living place for goats. There still was hardly any food or clean water.

Whenever we got a glass of clean water, we considered it as a real miracle. We ate only dry corn. By that time, we all had stopped going to school. Everybody tried to survive on his own.

My parents started having problems in their relationship. My dad beat my mom daily for a year.

But when my mother heard about Compassion, we went to a church and enrolled in the child sponsorship program. Then everything started to change.

We were able to go to school and I received containers of oil and food. I could bring some of that home, and I received healthy food at the child development center.

In school, we used a family name. The school fees were paid for the family. Compassion paid for the fees, so all of us suddenly could go back to school.

Compassion gave me a school uniform, and I got shoes and socks. I used them carefully and gave them to my brother.

After awhile, my whole family started to change. It was like a ray of hope.

My mom started to sell vegetables in marketplaces and later opened a small shop. I got a sponsor, a special lady who showed me the true love of Christ.

During moments that I did not do well in school, I often read her letters. They really encouraged me and inspired me.

My father had left us alone to die. So I thought,

“How can my sponsor really love me?”

At the Compassion center I got my first Bible. I was taught about Christ, and that He loves us in whatever place we are. Through Him we can change our lives! It’s through the love of Christ that this woman loved me.

I did well in school and went to high school. I did that well too, and was able to go to university.

If I hadn’t gone through these things, I may not have come to know Christ. I remember saying,

”God, I truly know that You love me. You are alive.”

Through the Leadership Development Program I was able to start dreaming again. I received hope and faith for a good future. I could become a leader in the community, and I learned skills and leadership principles.

My Purpose

It’s important to ask yourself what your purpose is. What does God want to do with your life?

Malaria is a big problem in Kenya. If in a poor family somebody gets malaria, the costs for the treatment is so high that it keeps children from being able to go to school. I want to learn and research about this disease.

Malaria is so big that it negatively influences our economy. With so many sick people, we have a lot less working hours in our country than needed.

God blessed me with brains to learn about malaria. I started looking for a study about the molecular basics of diseases. Not just malaria.

I learned that the Radboud University in Nijmegen (The Netherlands) has a trial vaccine against malaria. That’s why I contacted them and why I am working with them.

It’s my dream to develop a vaccine against malaria and to make it available to the poor.

My brother died because it took the doctors too long to figure out what kind of disease he had. That’s not necessary and has to stop.

That’s why I’m here. This is my story.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joshua Miago is a formerly sponsored child and Leadership Development Program graduate. He currently lives in The Netherlands and is working to create a vaccine to fight malaria. He shared his story with Martijn Moens from Compassion Netherlands.

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

I want to share with you, to somehow put into words, what Compassion means to me.

I struggled to write this. With my blank pad of paper in the orthodontist’s office, surrounded by a reception area with magazines filled with royal weddings, advice on how to lose weight, and the best athletic feats, I felt anesthetized.

I tried again in a doctor’s waiting room, but only could think of the fact that in America we take it as a right to go to the doctor. But in Kenya, where my Compassion story began, many die without the ability to see a doctor.

How have I come to being anesthetized to the poor in our world?

It takes great effort to remember that on a daily basis the United States spends more on garbage bags than 90 of the 120 countries in the world spend on everything.

I cannot truly express what I have received through Compassion. This year’s Compassion Sunday theme is {Start small. Think big.} I suppose that is how it worked for me, but without too much thought.

My Compassion story began in 1986 with an 8-year old girl named Jewel. At first her letters were very simple, pretty flat to be honest. But one day I received a letter full of life and scripture.

I knew then that Jewel had changed her citizenship sometime between the last two letters. She was now a member of God’s kingdom.

I often have told the story of sending her money for a birthday gift one year and being surprised she had bought a goat. The Compassion staff knew just what her family needed. I would have gotten her a dress that she would have outgrown.

The goat was the family’s first livestock. I was excited to hear later that her goat had produced offspring, which allowed them to buy a calf as well to grow their new farm further.

I met Jewel in Kenya in 1995. I got to see the goat and the cow as well as the long walk she made down to the spring to carry the water back to her mud hut … on her head.

The most surprising God moment was when her mother embraced me with a hug full of meaning and gratitude and the spirit of God. I will never forget it. I felt like the heavens opened and God said,

“I am using both of you two women to raise this beautiful daughter of mine.”

In one letter Jewel sent me, she wrote.

“For those who trust in the Lord, will find their faith renewed. Your contribution towards my life has enabled me to know how to read and write. It has dragged me from poverty and illiteracy. For since my father died my future remained dark and uncertain, but through your care I look special, pretty and educated. My family members and I love you and pray for you too.”

Jewel graduated from the Child Sponsorship Program in 1997. I sent her a final letter and to be honest, would think of her at times, but really hadn’t thought of her daily or deeply much at all until 2009 when we reconnected.

I will let Jewel express to you this part of the story through excerpts from several of her e-mails.

Dear Longtime Friend,

From the bottom of my heart I have always been praying for you and your entire family. … During my free time I do voluntary jobs like donate something small to the less fortunate children in children’s homes.

My mother’s animal farm has also grown a lot. I do go to church and as well take Gerald to Sunday school since it is a blessing to bring up my son in a God-fearing way.

I always tell my son I have a friend and a mum who is of white skin, and he really feels good about that. He keeps on going to my album every now and then just to see your pictures. I mean those which we took when you came to visit me. Gerald is a God-fearing boy and it’s my prayer that the Almighty may ordain his way.

You really mean a lot to me, my angel, and may God continue pouring his wonderful blessings upon your family. I lack better words to describe this but just to say THANK YOU! THANK YOU! AND THANK YOU!

I give God all the glory and honor for having chosen you as my friend/angel since I was 8 years old. It’s through Compassion that I am this far academically. You have been there for me since my primary education, high school and as well after 12 years of our separation when we revived our friendship. WHAT a faithful God.

Not forgetting, I still remember your sacrifice to Kenya on 21st/ Jan/1995 when you paid me a visit. Believe me, it was so touching, and this is one of my best memories. Mum, you are God-given angel to me and I have promised myself that one day, should I grow in my financial status, I owe a poor child a sponsorship in the way God will direct me.

That is why I am sacrificing a lot to make this dream come true. God normally rewards cheerful givers, especially if you give to someone who is in need. You have always been in my daily prayers and I do pray God to continue showering His endless blessing upon you and your family at large. May He grant you good health each and every day of your life. Your positive sponsorship has been very influential in my life, and God is always merciful and compassionate to the needy.

God ordained a decision I made in 1986 to sponsor this girl, a small decision really. It was ordained by God, not only to bless Jewel, but to bless me.

My first thought when I read Jewel’s e-mails to me is that God provided a prayer warrior for my family and me, even when we did not know she was praying.

Through some very dark times in my life, where I could not pray myself, our precious sponsored child Jewel was praying for us and making a difference.

Our lives have been forever woven together and we are making a difference in each other’s lives. The {Thinking big} part has begun.

I am very humbled to learn about a growing farm, a new child being brought up in the faith and a commitment by Jewel to better herself financially to touch yet another child in poverty to begin another legacy — to break the cycle of poverty, through one sponsorship, a resurrected future.

One small decision 25 years ago, which is still producing fruit today.

There is no doubt in my mind today that God is at work through Compassion and we have the privilege to meet God there and be a part of it.

We are called to be disciples, to go to the ends of the earth preaching the good news, to take care of the poor. We can do this today through Compassion, one avenue to do God’s calling.

Some people may say that I have been ministering through Compassion for 25 years, but the truth is, that for the past 25 years I have been ministered to through the work of Compassion in my life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Laurie Frey became a first-time Compassion sponsor in 1986 and a Compassion advocate in 1994. She has traveled to more than 25 countries with her husband and they have five children, three of whom were adopted internationally. Laurie is a substitute teacher at a special-needs school and lives in Palatine, Il.

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