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

When I reached the lady at Compassion, she told me the startling news. Our sponsored child, Mutuyimana Valentine, had just died. They did not yet have any details to share as they had just received the report from the field.

I went into my old paramedic mode and stoically asked a bunch of questions. There were no answers as to WHY at this point. That response might come in a week or so. But it almost did not matter.

The precious girl whom I had hugged in Rwanda last October was dead. Her mother and father had lost her, and she was only 11.

After five minutes of conversation, I hung up, and I became “un-stoic,” if that is a word.

Sad, sad, SAD.

The little shy girl who we had exchanged letters with and had “adopted” was dead, and I felt extremely sad. I wondered about her parents and her siblings and her funeral. I wondered why she had to die so early.

Compassion had completed health screenings on her, and she had no major health issues.

I began to question … why had I not written her more? I was thankful we had met in person.

I was grateful our church provided the Bible on an MP3 player that I gave to her during our personal visit. I had asked the Compassion worker to make sure she got into the Word and to remind her how to use the machine we gave her.

How many kids in the world die because there are not enough antibiotics? Or no doctors available for them? Or because their families lack clean water or the knowledge to treat illnesses? In Roanoke, if our kids have an infection we just go to the doctor and get medicine. ”All better.”

In Rwanda, especially in rural areas, that is not always the case.

I am so grateful that in her young life, she met the Lord and was trusting in Him. I am so glad God let people halfway around the world know this special little girl.

Write to and pray for your sponsored child.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Quigg Lawrence is a Compassion sponsor from Roanoke, VA, where he currently lives with his wife, Annette. Quigg is the senior pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit and enjoys photography and any sport where you get to hit something.

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 have prayed. You have asked your friends to pray. You would wear sackcloth and ashes in the streets of your neighborhood if it meant you would experience a breakthrough in a request you made to God so long ago.

“How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, ’Violence!’ but you do not save?” — Habakkuk 1:2, NIV

Now, at this point, you can’t help but feel doubt. You begin to wonder if the cynics and critics are right — that the Christian walk can be summed up as an emotional crutch for the weak and unfortunate, and that only the lucky and strong survive.

If this is your experience, I have one comment: Do not give up.

After all, if this world is just for the lucky and strong, how do you explain the advances and positive turn of events experienced by the children, young adults, mothers and families we serve? Do their successes come merely by chance, or are they the result of your prayers, commitment and reliance on Christ?

Just read the Bible and you will find saints, prophets and leaders asking the same questions as you are asking: Where is God and why hasn’t He answered me?

Whether it’s David, Job, Naomi or Habakkuk, almost every character in the Bible encountered, at one time or another, fear, confusion and uncertainty when it came to their faith. So you are not alone.

However, don’t make the mistake of judging God because you haven’t seen His work in action. Remember, crying out to Him about your pain is not a lack of faith, but denying that He cares and is working for you is.

For those of you who are tired from the load of your circumstance, I invite you to read the book of Habakkuk, especially chapter 2, where the prophet says, “I will stand at my watch … I will look to see what he will say to me. … For the revelation awaits an appointed time.” [1]

God hasn’t given up on you. So don’t give up on Him. Wait on Him and on His appointed time.

1. Habakkuk 2:1-3 (NIV)

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

Today is the National Day of Prayer in the U.S., and I want to share with you the importance of prayer in our ministry.

I felt wildly unworthy to write on this topic, so I sought wisdom from Eleanor. She is our Prayer Ministry Manager.

At first I thought I would share with you some of her insights, but I think I will keep it simple and share with you an example of the power of prayer.

Every day in our contact center, we speak with sponsors who are going through difficult times. When we receive a prayer request, we send it to Eleanor and she compiles a weekly brochure.

This brochure is passed out to every employee at chapel on Wednesdays and we take time to pray through the prayer requests listed.

On May 2, 2001, we prayed for Cindy’s* 16-year-old daughter, who had run away from home. We asked for God to protect her and lead her back to her family.

Ten years later, Eleanor received this letter from Cindy:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

It’s been many years since I received this amazing letter from you. It so overwhelmed me to know there were others out there praying for my daughter when all I was able to put before Him were tears and an occasional ‘Jesus, help us. Jesus, be with her.’

From that I have a framed verse on my desk: Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who built it; unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for He gives to His beloved even in his sleep (Psalm 127:1-2).”

The letter continues:

I know it was such a small thing compared to the parents whose child had bone cancer and needed to have his leg amputated, or the lady whose husband had died, but the moment we discovered our child was gone is a realization I’ll never forget.

We must live with the fact that she so badly wanted to get away from her life here. Once, the police called to let us know she’d been picked up for hitchhiking and scolded us for being bad parents. We also had to listen to what other ‘Christians’ said to us. Ouch.”

But God is good, and He answers our prayers.

My daughter and her husband now live in California and she made me a first-time Gramma last year. Although her husband told her to ‘get rid of it’ when he heard she was pregnant, she kept the baby.

She told me that she loves God and is through making mistakes. She is now taking very difficult university classes and is excelling with a 95 percent average. More importantly, we are a family again. Thank you and love to you for your prayers.”

How has the power of prayer changed your life?

*Cindy’s name was changed to protect her identity

LINK UP: If you write a post about the National Day of Prayer or about the importance of prayer in your life, please link up with us so we can all benefit. Thanks.

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

You are more than a sponsor. You are an answer to prayer, a vital helping hand, a voice of hope, a mentor and a friend.

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

In my humble opinion, Compassion more than does its part to help children in poverty. Since I’m not part of their staff, I can say that! There are things like the letters I receive from my sponsored child and there are also the country spotlights. I’ve even received letters from pastors whose churches host the Compassion child development centers where my children are enrolled.

I was reading over some of the more recent posts on this blog and I got to thinking:

How do we get into — and stay — in our child’s world?

Compassion offers this blog, Facebook, Twitter and probably a dozen other social media outlets that I don’t know anything about. I’ve even visited a couple of kids in their home countries, met one of their parents, and met a development center director.

All of the pieces are available to help me connect with my child.

But sometimes … often … I still find myself very disconnected.

How do I stay in my child’s world?

I ask this question for a deeper reason. Sure, I want to be in tune with the lives of my sponsored kids so I can ask culture-appropriate questions in our letters and really build our sponsor-child relationship.

But more than that, I want to know how to pray for my kids. More than knowing how to pray, I want to feel a constant compulsion to have to pray for them.

In my head, I know my sponsored children need constant prayer. Let’s face it, all of us do. But unless I’m in their world, I’m ashamed to say that I don’t pray for them regularly. Or even consistently.

I don’t want to just be that supporting sponsor only when I get a reminder from Compassion. I want to be a sponsor who covers her kids in prayer all of the time.

So I’m asking you, our dear sponsors with a wealth of knowledge, experience, with some of the deepest hearts of anyone I have ever met —

How do you stay in your child’s world?

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

Compassion UK first posed the question in Twitter.

Grab the last letter you received from your sponsored child and share the closing sentence with us.

We liked the question so we asked our Twitter followers and Facebook friends to participate. Here’s a sample of what they shared.
‎

“I pray that we may live with God up to the end and may God protect us.”

“I say goodbye with many hugs — so long.”

“Please pray that my father will stop drinking liquor.”

“I want to tell you that I already can pray. I keep you in my heart with so much love.”

“Thank you very much for your sponsorship. Do you have happiness? Wish you have happiness.”

“When I grow up I want to be a doctor so I can help all of the kids because I really like the things that the doctor from the center does for us. Goodbye with love and affection.”

“Does the earthquake always happen to your country? Me, I do not know if it will happen, only God knows. Keep on helping me pray for the two months of vacation that I will have. I will pray for you. I love you.”

“With the $25 I bought cookies, candles, milk and Kellog’s, thank you for everything with love.”

‎”Do you have a swimming pool in your house?”

‎”I hope to read you soon. For the time, I kiss you. See you soon.”

‎”One day we will never separate and we will be in our homes, in the place God prepared for us.”

‎”I dismiss with strong hugs and lots of love.”

How did your sponsored child close his or her last letter to you?

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

How do you define a miracle? I heard once that it is “a divine or supernatural invasion into human affairs.” Pretty simple explanation, don’t you think?

I find myself praying for miracles every day and they all look and sound quite different. Some are for healing for friends who are sick. Some are for perfect provision for families. Some are for little, personal things like …  returned e-mails. Perhaps that seems trivial or petty, but there has been an e-mail I have been waiting for, hoping for really, for months now. At this point, it would seem like a miracle to get a response.

I don’t know if you’ve heard, but here at Compassion many people believe that we can eliminate extreme poverty in our generation. Let’s put a little more structure in that statement, shall we?

To eliminate means to remove, to expel, to exclude, even to murder.

How big is the problem of extreme poverty? Three billion people worldwide and 1 billion children deep.

You might think we’re “drunk on the spirit,” and that our goal is unrealistic, completely irrational or even not Biblical. I will be honest with you, I thought it was out of reach, too. Truly, I thought it to be an impossible task.

But lately, both personally and professionally, God has been asking me this simple question — “Do you have any idea who I am? I know you think you do. But do you believe that I am the God of the Bible? The one who parts seas, makes rivers in the desert, and brings bread from boulders?

“Do you believe I am a God of signs and wonders? Do you believe I am as big as you tell others I am? Do you believe I still perform miracles, Meredith?”

I wonder if I am the only one who preaches bigger than they pray. I used to be Baptist, which means I get excited when I talk about Jesus and I get loud when I read Scripture. You could say I’m passionate.

But I also play my prayer life safe. I don’t pray big prayers because I’m scared they’re too lofty, too much. And in the event that God would say “No,” to one of my astronomical prayers, I don’t want to be disappointed. So I don’t even risk asking.

Here’s the thing — this is not how we are instructed to pray or live. As Christ kneeled in the garden of Gethsemane, He asked the Lord to take the cup of sacrifice from Him. God said no. But Jesus obeyed, did as He was told, and saved humankind for all time.

We, as believers, are called to defend the poor and needy, to advocate for the oppressed, to fight injustice. If we do as we are told, if we obey God’s call and mandate on our lives, we would be crazy to think that He won’t show up in a big way, being faithful to what He has promised to do.

He cannot deny Himself — and if He is present in your soul, making Himself manifest in your thoughts, words and actions, then He will not deny you or your request.

Pray bigger with me. Pray for miracles. Pray for signs and wonders.

Pray that extreme poverty would come to an end in our lifetime. And after you pray, do something.

It’s not radical …  it’s Biblical.

Editor’s note: Extreme poverty is the severest state of poverty. People living in extreme poverty cannot meet their most basic needs for food, water, shelter, sanitation and health care.

The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than U.S. $1.25 per day, and estimates that more than 1 billion people currently live under these conditions and another 2 billion survive on less than U.S. $2 per day.

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

I sat in a crowded, dank space and listened to the rain water dripping.

I squinted in the dark and leaned in to hear the quiet voice of Vincent, a sponsored child, living in the heart of Kenya, in the middle of Hell, known as Mathare Valley. He was an orphan, a child thrust into adulthood too soon, leading his family of siblings, alone.

He answered our questions with a kindness in his eyes, eyes that lit up when we asked about his sponsor. He said his sponsor’s name in a revered tone and told us words he’d memorized from his last letter. Someone in our group asked if he had a copy of a letter.

He sat on the edge of his couch/bed and reached behind the thin, tattered sheet that divided a small sleeping place and pulled out a much loved, worn letter from under his blanket. Vincent held the paper and grinned as he held up a picture of his sponsor, lightly touching the edges, pride evident on his face.

In that moment I realized the significance of sponsoring a child through Compassion International. Child sponsorship is a small part of our busy lives, but in many ways and circumstances, it is a child’s life. Without sponsorship and the concern and involvement of Compassion, Vincent, in his words, would probably be dead.

In my busy American life, child sponsorship was a dedicated $38 that I didn’t even miss. It was an occasional letter and maybe $10 for a birthday gift. Maybe. Sponsorship was something I did without thinking about every week or even every month. It was another thing, albeit good, that was on my long list. But I couldn’t help think how insignificant it had been to me: a few letters a year, little prayers whenever I remembered …

In many ways, child sponsorship was like an ending for me, something that made me feel good about myself, my contribution, a check off my list. But it is a beginning for a child, a new chance.

Seeing child sponsorship from both perspectives changed mine as I watched Vincent cherish his letter. It came alive to me in that tiny shack. In his soft voice he spoke sincere words I’ll never forget. They echo in my heart: “I pray for my sponsor. I pray for him every day.”

Vincent’s sponsor is a blessed man.

It was something we heard every time we asked a sponsored child about his or her sponsor. They would run and get their letters and say, “I pray for my sponsor.”

If sponsorship rescues a child from poverty, that makes a sponsor a hero.

It’s time I started acting like one.

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

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” – Ephesians 6:18, (NIV)

Imagine this.

You’re at work and you run into a coworker. You ask them how they’re doing. Their aunt has just passed away, and they’re having a hard time dealing with it.

Then you’re sitting in a meeting at work. You look around and realize that every single person in the room has had a loved one die in the past month. One a cousin. One a pastor. One a father.

Now imagine that you haven’t slept in your own bed for one month. 30 full days.

You’re not sure your home is safe, so you, your spouse and your kids are sleeping in a tent outside. At night you hear the dogs bark and cars roaring up steep hills. You don’t remember the last time you got a full night’s sleep. You duck inside your home in the mornings to shower, but other than that, you stay clear away from those uncertain walls.

Now imagine you have also just had your brother and and a good friend both pass away on the same day.

You haven’t had the time or space to grieve. You go to work each day and the day is jam-packed. There are so very many things that need to be done.

You and your coworkers try to keep up each others’ spirits. You play hangman at lunch, laughing together to relieve some stress. The busy-ness and the laughter help you get through each day.

I’m not trying to be dramatic or to emotionally manipulate you. I’m just trying to paint a realistic picture of what our brothers and sisters in Christ in Haiti are going through right now.

Will you continue to pray for our staff, the saints, who are being used but are being put to the test?

It’s been beautiful to see how the Body of Christ has been raised up through this tragedy. Christians in the Dominican Republic have been volunteering every day for weeks to help. Christians around the world have been raised up to pray and give. The church in Haiti itself has raised up to be a light in Port-au-Prince.

One month after the earthquake, Christians in Haiti held three days of fasting and prayer, gathering at the Champ de Mars near their destroyed presidential palace to beseech God. They spilled into the streets wearing white and black in remembrance of loved ones.

Wess will be visiting Haiti at the beginning of March to speak to our staff and to speak to the church in Haiti, encouraging them to continue being a light, being the ones stepping in to help the hurting.

Though this is a time of grief, it is also at time, a time such as this, for which God has prepared the Church.

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