The houseparent had marched me to the school’s dining hall, dragged a metal chair across the concrete floor, and slammed it down in front of my schoolmates. He threw me up on the chair and jammed the candle in my hand.

“Children,” he said, “you cannot serve both God and Satan. Wesley has tried. You cannot burn a candle at both ends without getting burned. Watch what happens when you try.”

Read the entire article at Christianity Today.

After you read the article, come back and let us know what you think. Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win a copy of Wess’ book, Too Small to Ignore.

We’ll randomly pick a winner on Monday.

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

“I learned in my childhood in Africa that a child may be born in poverty but poverty is never born in a child. The worst aspects of poverty are not the deplorable outward conditions, but rather the erosion and eventual destruction of hope and therefore dreams.”

Too Small To Ignore
Dr. Wess Stafford

Now that is an intense statement. One that requires reflection; allowing ourselves to read and re-read each word carefully, grasping at understanding.

Have you grasped it?

Even with my draw to aid children in poverty, I still struggle with getting it. I mean really getting it.

The Lord has taken me on many a great adventure. He has been my tour guide, my leader, even my travel buddy! And anyone who has traveled knows how important the buddy system is.

He gives me these glimpses into poverty, into what a majority of the world is faced with, and I dive into them with all my emotion, mind and heart. I studiously grapple with realities that are too surreal for me to comprehend.

I have seen immense lack of materials and absence of love, but I know I cannot rely on just experiences to fuel my passion. Especially when my desire is to do all things unto the Lord, and that can’t be put on hold when I’m just not feeling it.

But all is not lost. I simply read. That’s right … I am constantly reading. That person who is reading four books at one time … that’s me. I always have two books in my purse and even two journals. So, most times when I am in line or waiting somewhere I am either writing or reading.

I have come to see that my passion for social justice and my desire for reading are more intermingled than I realized. Reading helps me remember. It takes the disconnect I sometimes feel and lessens the gap.

For example, I read this from Too Small To Ignore (which was one of the four I was reading),

“Some people think the earth can’t keep up with the food needs of its population. That is not true. In fact, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared at a World Food Summit in Rome that the planet could produce enough food for every one of us to have a daily diet of 2,720 calories.”

And,

“The likelihood of a little Haitian child making it to his or her fifth birthday is so small that many parents do not even entrust their child with a name until then. They refer to the toddler as ti chape, ‘my little escapee.’ In other words, this little one has dodged death up to now, but who knows if he will actually survive? So why bother giving him a real name? We can always do that later, if needed.”

Hard to read? Yes! Does it help restore me to godly perspective? Yes.

Because, to be honest, today I have quite a few projects I am juggling at work, then I have to go grocery shopping (milk, bread and something with chocolate), I’d like to go on a run, then it is off to Bible study, then laundry … and all through this my passion is attempting to dodge the humdrum of everyday life so I can keep perspective. Although, many times, my fervent enthusiasm takes a back seat and the gap gets a little wider.

God knows me, I mean He truly knows me and He knows how to encourage me and it usually comes in the form of something I read. He lessens the gap. He gives me the proper lens to look through.

How does He encourage you? When all you wish you could do is fly over to the country where your sponsored child lives and give him or her a hug, how do you keep the passion?

Maybe it’s reading for you, too. Maybe it’s reading their letters. Or even writing. Perhaps today you can write him or her a letter.

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

“The opposite of poverty is enough.”

Have you heard us say this before?

Answer first, before reading on.

Wess talks about it in his book, mentions it in The Lie of Poverty video and alluded to it in a blog post.

It can be seen on the poverty wheel, is threaded throughout many other blog posts and can even enhance your body.

But despite all that, my mind still leaps toward wealth when I get the prompt:

The opposite of poverty is …

It’s like speaking another language. I think in wealth — in Western abundance — and translate into poverty.

Is that emotional disconnection or just cultural inculcation? Is it a symptom of something else? A life in transition, perhaps.

Those questions are mostly rhetorical, feel free to address them if you want, but I’m really interested in whether the phrase has any emotional punch for you.

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

• How do you balance your priorities between a “job” that is way more than a job and your family? (Amar Rama)
• I’d love to hear how Wess navigates the two worlds he inhabits. On one hand, he lives in a world of poverty and need. On the other, he lives in … well, America. (Kelly @ Love Well)
• I would like to know how you think your daughters were shaped and influenced by growing up in the midst of Compassion’s ministry. How did you balance giving them the joys of a carefree childhood while at the same time exposing them to the needs of the world in order to grow in them a heart for those living in poverty? (Jennie Thengvall)

It has been tough to go back and forth between these two worlds. My wife Donna and I determined we would give our lives in ministry to the poor but we promised each other that it would never come at the expense of our own children. That was a commitment that we made –- we would work very hard on behalf of the children of the world but not at the expense of our own. And so I have worked far harder at my role as father than I have even as Compassion’s president.

God gave me two daughters, Jenny and Katie. When my children were young and I was traveling, they knew that I would always rather be home with them more than with anybody else, no matter where I was in the world. So I sent postcards. (It was before e-mail.) I would call my children the last minute before I climbed on a plane to leave America and the first minute I was back.

In the evenings when I was home, I never missed a chance to put my daughters to bed. I thought bedtime was about the most teachable, precious moment I had. I taught my girls hymns every night. I told them a story every night of growing up in Africa. I was determined not to leave my girls behind. I didn’t want them to resent the poor. I didn’t want them to resent Compassion. I wanted them to know that this was their ministry, too.

I prayed with my daughters. One of the reasons they love Compassion is because it’s been a part of their lives since they were 2 and 3 years old. From the time my little girls could lisp a prayer, they prayed for the children that we sponsored.

I honored their mother. I spoke so well of their mother –- about what a hero she was –- doing so much in the house, which allowed me to travel overseas and not worry about my own home. Every three years I took them somewhere with me to see the work. Haiti, Brazil, Ecuador, Africa … I built it into their lives. The best proof is that they now sponsor kids with their own money.

In my book Too Small To Ignore there is a whole chapter on how we blended those two worlds. (By the way, all of the royalties from the book go straight to Compassion.)

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

I was reminded this morning of one of the reasons I love this ministry. Every Wednesday morning we meet together for chapel. It’s not something that’s required, but every week, it seems, the auditorium is packed out. It’s a great break from our desks, and more importantly, a chance to feel like a family – like the Church body. We sing together. We pray for our sponsors together. And we hear about how what we are doing as “work” every day is changing lives all around the world. It’s very motivating!

This week the room was especially full. Wess, our president, spoke. Anyone that’s been working here for any amount of time learns that when Wess speaks, it will be moving. He has a lifetime of stories. If you’ve read his book, you know that God allowed some pretty extraordinary circumstances in his life to bring him to where he is now. I love to hear Wess speak because every time he does, he shares straight from his heart. And once you hear him speak, you want to hear him again. Apparently employees here have figured this out because there wasn’t an empty seat in the room. 

The talk, of course, was great. But something that he said this morning really resonated with me. He said that what we as employees are doing here is exactly the same as what Jesus’ mission statement was while he was here: 

Wow. A job description literally right out of the Word of God! It doesn’t get much more motivating than that, huh?

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