Is it a motorcycle… or was that motorcycle simply a photo op?

One of the things I learned on my trip, and that I seem to have to keep reminding myself of, is that poverty is relative.

The poverty in Mexico is different than the poverty in Kenya, than the poverty in Haiti, than the poverty in India, etc.

It all stinks. It’s all hard to swallow. It all tells the same lies to the children, “You don’t matter. You’re worthless.”

But it doesn’t all look the same.

I have a preconceived notion of what abject poverty in the developing world should look like, and it doesn’t involve a DVD player, television or motorcycle.

My preconception doesn’t mean the child isn’t in need. It just means that the child doesn’t seem to be in the type of need that I feel as rewarded in fighting, when compared to other children’s needs.

To me, this is the same thing I face when I look at all the other needs in the world I’m not helping with – the homeless in America, the persecuted church in China, etc.

I can’t help with everything so I have to make judgment calls based on something, and sometimes that something happens to be appearances.

None of the children Compassion helps is financially “alright.” None of them are living high on the hog and exploiting the system. There is genuine need, and that need is assessed and judged by our church partners in each community.

Teams are created for the child screening process. A team is typically made up of a child ministry worker, one staff member from Compassion and local church members who know the people in the community, at least that’s how it is done in Tanzania. I’m assuming the team composition is similar in most of our countries.

The teams are assigned different geographic locations around the church. Each team goes from house to house in search of children who are in need.

Each child enrolled in our sponsorship program, regardless of country, is visited at home by someone from the church. That person interviews the family, observes the living conditions, compares it to other families in the area and then makes a recommendation for registration or not.

Only the neediest families in a community are assisted.

I do have a question related to what you are talking about. I sponsor a child in Mexico and visited her. Now, the visit day was absolutely wonderful and I really really loved it, but I couldn’t help but notice how nicely dressed and accessorized the child and her mother were. Now, I don’t want to be judgemental of them, but they seem to be very well-off, and not just based on their clothing but also on their resources. I do want to continue sponsoring this child and I really love her, but I am curious – How does Compassion do their selection process of the children? Do they really evaluate the families situations? What do you think about this kind of thing? i don’t know, I just want to be reassured that this child really needs Compassion…

Hmmmmmmmmm……

Over the next several weeks, even a few months, I began to realize some changes that were directly tied to the tour. Give God and yourself time to find those changes in you; I’m betting some will surface.