Hey! Remember way back in mid-August when we asked you to join our Flickr group and to upload photos.

Do you remember that we also said, “It’s time to change our banner. And we want the next photo up there to be yours.”?

Well…we did. And you did.

• 22 people joined the group. (And we still have room for more!)
• 652 photos were uploaded. Woo hoo! (And we still have room for more! Are you getting that? )
• One photo was chosen for our new blog banner. Here it is, courtesy of AlyssaEryn.

I took this picture last summer in Tena, Ecuador. It’s a small village that is actually about 20 miles away from the place where Jim Elliot and Nate Saint where killed in 1956. I was there doing a Bible camp for kids living along the river.

The little boy in the picture is named Christian, and he stole my heart from the very first day. At the time of the photo he was five years old, but I’m not sure of his exact birthday. A natural model, he would often pose so I would take his picture, then run over to me to view the tiny screen on the back of my camera. – Alyssa

Our next blog banner could be yours. We’ll be doing this again in a few months, so keep uploading.

I’m going to Mexico! And I want you to come with me.

I was left behind once, and I’m grateful it wasn’t in the “missed the Rapture” sense. Because of that experience I will do my best to make you feel like you’re in Mexico with me.

I’m going to Mexico as a co-leader on a sponsor tour, not as a Compassion Blogger.

My first responsibility on the trip is to support the sponsors who are traveling with us to meet their sponsored children. However, you will always be in my thoughts.

I intend to:

• upload photos to our Flickr photostream, and I’ll add the best ones to our Flickr group, which you can see in the sidebar under Your Flickr Photos.
• tweet – send regular text updates of what’s going on – so follow us on Twitter
• write colorful and moving commentary you’ll find here, on this very blog
• take some Blair Witch/Cloverfield amateur-style video to share with you when I get back
• eat lots of beans and rice
• hug lots of kids
• et cetera

I don’t sponsor a child in Mexico but if you do, and they’re at one of these child development centers, let me know. I will TRY to get a photo of your child for you. I cannot promise anything other than I’ll try.

The child development centers are:

• The King’s Children Ambassadors Student Center (ME-730)
• The Jesus’ Friends Student Center (ME-737)
• The House of Bread Student Center (ME-708)

Please don’t leave your child’s name or number in your comment. Just let me know you have a child at one of the centers and someone will contact you via email to get the information.

We have an account at Flickr, a photostream they call it, where we upload our photos … but we don’t get out of the office that often ’cause we be Webbies, so we don’t get a lot of photos to upload.

We’re working on that.

We also have this suh-WEET! Flickr group where anyone can upload photos – even YOU!

Especially you.

Right now, we only have 23 members in the group and 121 photos. But what we do have is … well, why don’t you tell us what you think? And while you’re at it, add something to the stream.

drewfrancis1 took this photo. Click on it and you can see his whole photostream.

And our own Brandy Campbell took this photo when she was in Ethiopia earlier this year.

You remember Eric (aka chappyphoto), right? It’s his photo in the blog’s banner.

All of that is to say this, which if we were following sound web writing pwinciples we would’ve said at the beginning of this bwog post …

It’s time to change our banner. And we want the next photo up there to be yours.

So upload your photos to our Flickr group now ’cause we wanna see what u got.

You know all those precious email forwards you get from your great aunt brimming with puppies and kittens and babies? The ones with soft music playing in the background and inspirational phrases slowly fading in and out of the screen, which you quickly delete from your inbox?

Well, I delete those too, but I think there must be something in the water here at Compassion, because I think I might be becoming one of them! Each time I receive a cute baby picture from one of our field countries, I call my cube mates over to my desk so we can ooh and ahh over their chubby cheeks. And these babies each have an incredible story behind them — babies whose lives have been changed and even saved through Compassion’s Child Survival Program.

So I couldn’t help making my very own cute baby montage for your viewing pleasure. (And I won’t make you listen to any soft elevator music … but I can’t promise that there won’t be puppies.)

See the photo? The one at the top of the page. It was done by one of you.

Eric Chapman (aka chappyphoto) took it. He’s a friend we met by way of our Flickr group.

We liked his photos so much we asked if we could use one in our blog header. Then we asked if he wanted to write a post for us. We do that sometimes.

But enough of that. It’s time to focus your attention on what Eric says when he’s not behind a camera.

I’ll start by saying this: It’s very hard to explain impact a Compassion trip can have on a person.

For most of my life, the only thing I knew about poverty was the Sally Struthers commercials. You know, those spots from the ’80s with all the slow-motion shots of children crying. I have been given the opportunity to go with a video production crew to various countries to film the work of Compassion. In some way, I expected to see this Sally Struthers image. I was totally wrong.

I’m a sound engineer for Student Life. We produce large camps, conferences and a variety of additional resources for churches. About the time I started working there, Student Life had just partnered with Compassion. Since then we’ve always had a Compassion presentation at our events, and work to educate our attendees about what sponsoring a child means.

Last year we were sent to Uganda to interview students from Compassion’s Leadership Development Program (LDP). Our hope was that some of the students would travel with our camp teams throughout the summer and lead the Compassion presentation from stage. What better way to show the work of Compassion than to put living proof of that work on stage?

Before this trip I had already been on one Compassion video shoot, but it was a 48-hour whirlwind trip to Guatemala. It was a fast turnaround, and we were only able to see a few children. Our video focused on one child’s experience meeting her sponsor. I could see the impact Compassion was having on a single child, but what would the finished product look like? All I knew going into the Uganda trip was that LDP students had grown up through the Compassion child sponsorship program, graduated, and were then sponsored through college. These students were the cream of the crop.

We arrived in Kampala and tried to get some rest. The next morning we had our first LDP student interview. His name was James.

This was initially a typical setup for our team. We had done hundreds of interviews. What I did not know was that my life and perspective of Compassion would be changed forever by the testimony of this man.

James was more educated, well spoken and passionate about his relationship with God than I could say I have ever been. He described his childhood –- one that was riddled with loss of parents and siblings, leaving him alone to live with an aunt. He spoke of being malnourished and without hope. Then he said all that changed when he joined Compassion.

I could have probably predicted most of his interview to this point. We had asked most of the questions, and it was the picture of so many nonprofit companies and others who serve those less fortunate than most Americans. He was a child in poverty who was given a chance. It was his answer to our last question that stopped us all cold. (more…)

Hey! I have new photos of Amisi. I was so blessed to meet him on my trip to Uganda last month.

He’s such an ambitious child! As soon as I gave him his new coloring book, he was on a serious mission to get every page colored.

I bought him some ice cream, but he wasn’t crazy about it at first. He’d never tasted anything so cold. Once it melted though, he became a fan.

I was told the outfit he’s wearing, along with his shoes and socks, were purchased through the Christmas Gift Program.

Amisi is so full of life and joy. It’s hopeful to know he’s receiving health care, food and educational opportunities. And most important — he’s learning about God’s love. To be just a small part of this is such a blessing. Even though he’s only 5 years old, I pray he remembers my visit through the years and knows that I adore him.

During my visit, I also gave him a banner that says, “With God, all things are possible.” As he grows up, I hope he clings to this message. I can’t wait to see how God works in his life. He may be living in a poverty-stricken African village now, but with God, the possibilities for his life are endless.

Have you visited your child? I’d love to hear about it. Leave a comment and tell me!

And if you have any photos, add them to our Flickr group. Be sure to include brief descriptions and I’ll share some of them here in a few days!