We are the Brasile family from Hamden, Connecticut:  Thomas and Esther. We have two daughters, Larissa and Leah. We believe in the ministry of Compassion International. This story is written by Esther.

Music and art are very important parts of our lives and household. Phil Keaggy is a musician we try to see in concert when we can. Phil has been a strong advocate for Compassion for many years

In 1993, Larissa was 9 years old and Leah was 5 years old. The four of us were at a Phil Keaggy concert when we decided to take another Compassion Child Packet. We chose the photo of a lovely little girl, from the Philippines, named Michelle.

As we began to correspond with Michelle, we learned she had a mom, dad and two brothers. She could write and express herself very well in English.

Immediately, we also saw how privileged we were to have a relationship with a godly young lady who was older than Larissa and Leah. Michelle was someone they could look to as an example even though she was far away.

Michelle’s photo was proudly displayed among our family photos, reminding us to pray for her. The most significant truth that was expressed in all of Michelle’s letters was her passionate desire to please and glorify God in all she did.

On a more human level, we had an immediate connection with Michelle through our love for the arts. Michelle told us she was learning sacred dance and was using that skill to glorify God during worship services. She was also learning how to play the tambourine.

I always thought of this when I brought Larissa and Leah to their dance lessons. I reminded them that Michelle was also a dancer. This artistic connection carried over through our lives as Tom played guitar in church, as Larissa, Leah and I sang in the choir, and as Larissa and Leah refined their writing and drawing skills.

I am a professional calligrapher and printmaker, so this common interest was fun. We also told Michelle about Tom being Larissa’s and Leah’s soccer coach, about Larissa’s and Leah’s mission trip, and mentioned my Dad’s promotion to heaven.

Michelle wrote to us about her culture and heritage and we shared some of ours. I remember feeling encouraged, humbled and convicted to learn simply through letters that Michelle was obviously taking advantage of every opportunity that God gave her. She was not going to give up. This gave us a serious sense of responsibility toward her.

Tom describes his part in sponsoring Michelle as “shoveling coal,” as though helping to propel a great steamer toward its destination. We knew that we were helping to provide the support Michelle needed to go as far as she could go in Christ in this world – and go far she did!.

Our family is the proud sponsor of Michelle Sheba Tolentino. (more…)

Hello Compassion Blog readers.

Sorry I haven’t contributed much lately. I’m still here and still handling crisis communications, in case you were wondering. There is something that has been on my mind that I feel compelled to share with you.

I’m gonna step outside my comfort zone for a minute to share this with you. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was diagnosed with it when I was 15, so I’ve had it for half my life, but you’d probably never know it if you met me. I don’t talk about it much. Most people I interact with on a regular basis don’t even know. In the past 10 years the medical research and pharmaceutical industries have come a long way in treating the disease, and this has allowed me to live to a virtually pain-free, symptom-free life.

But here’s the thing. I have a normal life simply because I happen to have been born in the United States. I have access to powerful drugs. I have insurance to cover the (outrageously high) cost of them. Certainly I am grateful for this, but lately I’ve been thinking about what my life would be like if I were born into poverty in a developing country. What if I was from rural Rwanda? Or a slum in the Philippines? Or a poor community in Nicaragua?

I’d more than likely be totally crippled by now. At 30 years old.

This thought really freaks me out, to be honest with you. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not be able to stand up straight, to walk, or to grip things. To live in constant, life-altering pain. I feel guilty for being happy I was born here. I don’t have to try to live with this disease without the help of drugs. I am not crippled. I assume it’s similar in a way to the guilt a person feels when they survive a car accident where the other passengers died . . . the ugly injustice of it. I understand that God’s ways are higher than our ways, but I struggle to understand why He chooses for some — why He chose ME — to be born into affluence and why He chooses some to be born into poverty. It’s not fair.

Nowhere is this injustice more evident than in the fight against HIV and AIDS. December 1 was World AIDS Day, and Brianne told you about our AIDS Initiative. The amazing thing about this program is that it literally restores justice to an unjust world. Without access to antiretroviral drugs, those battling AIDS in poverty-stricken countries fight an unwinnable war. By providing the antiretroviral therapy, Compassion allows children with death sentences another chance at life. A chance that, had they been born here, they would have had simply by virtue of their nationality.

If anyone is in the position to get this, it’s Godfrey. He understands that he is alive today because Compassion is fighting the injustice of HIV and AIDS in Uganda. His life is his testimony.

Compassion’s AIDS Initiative is more than just drugs. It’s nutritional support. It’s the critical laboratory testing. It’s psychosocial support. It’s treatment of opportunistic infections. It’s transportation assistance. It’s income generation. It’s housing repair. It’s all the opportunities that a person suffering from HIV here in the U.S. would have.

The AIDS Initiative essentially levels the playing field to give every victim of HIV — no matter where they were born — an equal chance to survive this devastating disease.