In the 1980s, one of the most widely held corporate beliefs was that people or employees are an organization’s most important asset.

In the ’90s, Stephen Covey pushed that thought to another level, saying that the “right” people are a company’s greatest investment.

Then, just a few years ago, Marcus Buckingham took that assertion one step further, claiming that an organization’s greatest asset is not just people or the right people, but the right people with passion and creativity.

It’s really not hard to identify people who possess passion and creativity. They are usually the ones who are observing current situations and thinking of how those trends will affect the future. They are also the ones exploring new and better ways of doing things so as to improve and progress on a vision or goal.

When was the last time you saw someone in your life who may have been the right person for a job, but who lacked passion and creativity?

What would be your suggestion to ignite passion, creativity or innovation in him or her?

“Without change we can easily continue practicing our present skills and become best players in a game that is no longer being played!” — Larry Wilson

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

There are a couple of things you should know about me.

Number one, I am a dreamer and an idealist. I literally dream about an ideal world.

I am super-sentimental and hypersensitive about everything. I cry in every sappy movie, every father-son moment, every Hallmark commercial, every touching sermon, etc.

If feelings are involved, good or bad, I will probably cry. It’s a little ridiculous, honestly.

When I was little, I listened to my dad’s old Bob Dylan, ELO and James Taylor LPs and cried. It’s actually quite embarrassing to admit all of this.

What I felt about the music was something that transcended the real world. I could close my eyes and be overwhelmed by the song. The mixture of the sounds and lyrics would pour over me and make me feel things I had never felt before. It’s a place deep in my heart that I can still go to when I listen to good music. I wish it was a real place.

The other thing you should know about me is that I’m a passionate person.

When something interests me, I become extremely passionate about it, even if it is for a short time.

Something will catch my eye and I will learn as much as I can about it, dream about it, immerse myself in it … and then, move on to something else.

This has been true my entire life.

However, there are a few things that I am passionate about that I will never move away from.

• My relationship with God and my family (including my two dogs, Peabody and Wonder)
• Music
• The plight of children in poverty

If you come to one of my concerts you will hear me talk a lot about my journey with Compassion.

I have been sponsoring little Junior in Uganda for several years now, and it has truly changed my life.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Tanzania and see the work Compassion is doing firsthand. A group of us went to build classrooms for one of the child development centers in rural Tanzania, just outside of Arusha.

While we were there I went with my mom to meet her sponsored child, Baraka, and his family.

He was a shy little guy with a big bashful grin that he hid with his hands. He, his parents and his siblings all lived in a tiny house that is about the size of my living room.

Me and my mom, a translator and Baraka’s family all crammed into the house for a bit and I sat in the corner, all curled up, and we listened to the story of Baraka’s life.

I heard how Compassion was able to get him food when he was hungry, medical care when he was sick, and an education when there was no way his family could afford it.

His life is completely different than it was before Compassion came along. He has an opportunity in his life that, without Compassion, he would not have had.

After we heard about that, Baraka’s mother went and opened a drawer in a little dresser she had tucked in the back of the room. She pulled out a ziplock bag and carried it over to a table in the middle of the room.

As she carried the bag, I could tell that whatever was in it was very special to her. She opened the bag and, with a big smile on her beautiful face, she poured out the contents onto the table in the middle of the room for all to see. A whole bunch of papers.

At first, no one was sure what the papers were, but when she started to open them for us we realized that they were all the letters my mom had written to Baraka since she started her sponsorship.

As I choked back tears, I understood just how precious my mom’s sponsorship is to not only Baraka, but that his entire family has benefited from the sponsorship.

They were so happy, even with the little they had in a place of poverty, disease and great need, because they had God and they had a sponsor.

Compassion is such a different organization because they work through the local church, equipping them to do ministry among the people in their communities. It’s not just a handout.

When I dream of that place deep in my heart, where my passions overwhelm me, I think of the beautiful people in Africa whom I have met through Compassion. I see their big smiles and I hear their captivating songs.

My soul wells up and I envision a world where poverty doesn’t exist. Where children are able to grow to their full potential because hunger, disease and lack of education and clean water don’t exist.

I believe God has called each of us to do what we can to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. One way to do that is by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one child.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aaron Hale is a worship leader and artist/songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri (though he’s originally from Texas, and is still a Texan at heart). Aaron has been sponsoring with Compassion for almost 10 years now and has been a Compassion artist for nearly two years.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

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

You can also view the Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable video on YouTube.

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

Four years ago, a life-changing documentary ignited a fire in my heart that’s been gathering fuel ever since. This “Invisible Children” documentary follows the journey of child soldiers in northern Uganda, an area where we have child development centers close by.

I sponsor a beautiful child in Uganda named Emmanuel, and children Emmanuel’s age are at risk. Partnering with nonprofits like Compassion and Invisible Children, I try to use every sphere of influence I have to tell the story of the children in Uganda. The children who are pulled from their beds at night to join the rebel army. The children who are forced to shoot their parents and family members in order to survive. The children who are forced to fight a war older than they are.

But I – we – must do more than watch a documentary or read an article and think about it. My best friend says, “Words without actions mean nothing.”

So I ask you: What is your passion in life? And how can you fan the flames of that passion?

My guess is that if you’re reading this, you’re passionate about children … or poverty, which is why we love you. And that’s why you’re making a difference in the lives of little ones around the world, including ones in Uganda.

But I wonder: Can you take it a step further?

Maybe as you’re reading this, you’re thinking … “I need to . . . .”

What exactly is it that you’re thinking?

Don’t hesitate. Do it!

Jesus is remembered for extravagant love. What do you want people to remember you by?

If I were to die tomorrow, I would want everyone to remember that I loved Africa deeply. That my heart burned for a land so far away, yet so close that it haunted my dreams and stirred in me something I never dreamed possible. That I fell deeply in love with a group of children who were forced to kill in a rebel army.

And mostly, I would want people to keep fighting so that someday, those children will be free – and the children we serve at Compassion are released from poverty.

During my recent trip to East Africa, a leadership development student said to me, “We hear your prayers and we want you to know … we are not asleep. We are awake.”

He reminded me that through your support, more than 1 million children across the world have come alive and been released from poverty. How will you and your passion come alive today?

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

About mid-2001, watching a commercial on TV for another organization, I realized I could finally afford to do something. But through which organization? Who could I really count on to use the money for the child’s benefit? Could I trust any of them, and how would I know? Having no answers, I did nothing.

I spent all of 2002 praying for God to show me what area of ministry He wanted me in. Almost every Sunday, I heard, “Find your passion and use it!” “Hmm…where can I get a ‘passion’?” I couldn’t have found a passion in me with a flashlight or a search warrant. So I prayed, and I waited.

Two weeks before Christmas, I walked out of church on a cold, gray day in a mood to match. I walked down three or four steps into the fellowship area and began to pass a row of ministry tables. Above and behind the first one was a banner saying something about Compassion.

I kept walking, but my inner skeptic wanted to know: “What are we being ‘compassionate’ about, today?”

I turned, looked down at a sea of packets, each with a photo of a child; the world stopped, along with all sound and movement around me. I knew what these packets represented.

I stood there, saying half under my breath, “I can do this! I can do this!” About the fourth time, a Voice inside said, “Yes, you can do this. This is it!”

A warmth started at the top of my head and flowed over me and through me, right down to my feet. I took home two packets, unsure about one child.

That afternoon, I went to Compassion’s website to look at more children. I didn’t realize how many photos they kept on there, and I quickly felt overwhelmed. “God, I can’t sponsor them all!” soon changed to “God, we’ve got to find sponsors for these kids!”

About the fourth time (what is it with four times?!), I heard, “Yes, we do!” Then I realized the “This is it” meant more for me than “merely” sponsoring. And I do not mean to minimize the importance of sponsoring!

So, as is true of so many advocates, if not all, I came into this ministry with a clear calling. There have been times when I have needed to remember that, when church doors refused to open, when people walked by the tables with hardly a glance, and I wanted to use a 2×4 on their heads to get their attention. (Thank God, I’ve grown past that!)

But let me mention some of the things that continually reaffirm the rightness of Compassion in my life, and as a real ministry in this world.

• Letters. From Dominican Republic, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya, I get letters from my girls, thanking me for gifts or just for loving them, telling me what they’re learning and that they and their families pray for me. Compassion strongly encourages sponsors to develop strong relationships with their sponsored children. Not every organization does.
• Compassion people: staff members, other advocates and sponsors, leaders in the U.S. and in country offices. Some have become good friends, and all are absolutely committed to our Lord Jesus Christ, to His ministry of Compassion, to the poor and to His children.
• Compassion conferences. Imagine being with several hundred people who come together with one mind, one heart, one passion and one purpose. We worship together and share stories about our sponsored kids and about our advocacy. Speakers, usually including , also encourage, inform, build us up, expand our vision, and send us back to “Jerusalem.” It’s a few days in heaven!
• Sponsors tours. Mingling with children, handing out candy and stickers, sharing many hugs, meeting and listening to child sponsorship graduates and leadership development students, all reinforce the truth that Compassion’s ministry works and makes a difference in people’s lives and communities. And other, perhaps, than holding your own newborn child for the first time, can anything be better than hugging your sponsored child?



• Direct evangelism. I know that all of my girls are hearing how much God loves them, about the sacrifice that Jesus made for them, and they are learning from His Word. Tausi, in Tanzania, accepted Jesus into her heart at a Compassion-run Bible camp, a couple of years ago. Her next letter to me began, “Praise the Lord!!” and I knew my prayers for her had been answered.
• Another changed life—mine! Confession is good for the soul, yes? Here’s one: Never having had children of my own, I was comfortable with only a few children, over the years. But my first sponsor tour changed me. Ever since then, my immediate response on seeing a child is to smile. At church, in the grocery line or wherever, a smile, a wiggle of the fingers, and my day is brighter. Now, in the face of a child, I see the heart of God. And, once my heart was opened to my first two girls, my whole world view began to expand, and with it, my heart.

My advocacy has grown, as well, as I’ve moved out of my comfort zone. For four years, I contacted precious few churches. Then, last year I heard one minute of a sermon on the radio. The preacher mentioned things he’d never heard a dying person say: “I wish I’d spent more time at the office,” or “I wish I’d spent more time surfing the Internet” (ouch!).

I began to ponder what my regret would be, if I were on my deathbed, right then. It hit me hard: “I wish I had contacted more churches!” My blood froze. I didn’t want to die with that regret; could I continue to live with it? Nope.

Then at the Advocates Conference in August, Wess showed a clip from a movie in which Harrison Ford had to take a literal step of faith over a deep chasm—and large chunks of rock swung out to support his feet.

Wess talked about continuing to walk in the direction God has shown us, and I knew I had to pick up that 50 pound. telephone, when I got home. God has helped me to get over myself, somewhat, and keeping our mission in mind, to take one more step, and then another.

Why Compassion? really isn’t my question, because a Higher Authority told me, “This is it!” If it is your question, I hope I’ve provided some reasons.

My question has been, “Why did God choose me for this?” I seem to have been an unlikely choice, but I’m sure part of the answer is that I needed this ministry.

We know that child sponsorship changes the life of everyone who is involved in the relationship. Child advocacy also changes us. It is probably more accurate to say that following God’s lead will always require us to grow. But He is right there, with us.

Go ahead: Ask me what my passion is; I would love to tell you!

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