One Mom Gets a New Start
When Silveria left her hometown in the Peruvian Andes, she and four of her children climbed into a truck and took the long trip toward Lima. Her husband had abandoned them three years prior.
Learning How to Be a Good Mother
When Jenny became an adolescent, she faced early motherhood, conceiving her first child before she was 15. Inexperienced as a mother — and emotionally and financially unstable -– she sought refuge in alcohol.
Pray for Me and I’ll Pray for You
Alejandro and Nixon are cousins who have also been friends most of their lives growing up in El Salvador. They are “first cousins,” a term that, in their culture and language, means a close relationship and is literally translated “cousin-brothers.”
Combating Malaria in Haiti
Malaria, nearly non-existent in many other Caribbean countries, remains the third-leading cause of death among children under 5 in Haiti. Haiti lacks the public health, sanitation and human resources needed to deliver crucial preventive health and medical services to the population.
Servant Leadership Lived Out
Our ministry in Bangladesh has been blessed by excellent managers who are contributing to the lives of marginalized children. Piyush is one of those making differences in the local community with his intelligence, talent, creativity and, most importantly, his heart for God and children.
What Can a Hard-working Person Accomplish?
It’s 5 a.m., in the midst of complete darkness, and members of the Pentecostal Church of God in Batey Magdalena are gathered in one of the dusty streets of this sugarcane-cutting community. Worshiping the Lord, they pray for spiritual healing for their people.
Claudio, now a civil engineering graduate through our Leadership Development Program, is in charge of leading these gatherings.
As he was leading the group one day, the area’s most-feared voodoo leader came after him with a machete. The man shouted death threats and claimed that “those prayers” bothered him. But as he raised the machete to attack Claudio, the man’s body began to tremble and he collapsed to the ground. His sons picked him up and took him home.
Despite threats Claudio faces while doing street ministry, he persists. He is accustomed to overcoming obstacles.
During his early years, this young adult’s life was similar to the lives of many other children in Batey Magdalena: He and his twin sister were being raised by their uncle while their mother, Clarissa, worked on another island.
Then his mother returned home and, to better support her children, she began to make iced drinks, corn pies and fried wheat goods. Claudio sold trays of these goods and iced drinks to the community.
He learned at a young age that hard work and determination would help him accomplish his goals.
In his last year studying civil engineering, he flunked the exams in two classes and passed one class with a very low grade. He was called into a meeting with our country office director, Kleber Isaias Lora Bautista.
“I remember when I was called to Kleber’s office, I said to myself, ‘Well, in this lap, I’m out.’ But Kleber said, ‘Let’s do something that I have never done before. I’m going to write a letter so that you can get a time extension.’
“He said, ‘Claudio, I know that you are going to finish well; I know that you can.’”
Claudio was able to feel the grace of God in this time of trial. (more…)
Serving Jesus in Lamphun, Thailand
Lamphun boasts of its beautiful Buddhist temples where pilgrims come to offer merits. It is a paradox, however, that the moral ethics of Buddhism have not contributed much to improving the social decadence of the province.
Finding Forgiveness After the Rwandan Genocide
Compassion Alumni Methode was 6 years old when he witnessed the 1994 Rwandan genocide, a systematic massacre of more than 1 million people of the Tutsi ethnic group.
The Prodigal Is Now a Pastor
German moved completely away from God, but God did not draw away from him. One day, when German was 19, things dramatically changed.
Singing for Jesus at Easter
Tabitha leans on the table and writes to her sponsor about how she and her family will celebrate Easter.
She is the younger of two children in a family with a strong Christian background. Her father is an evangelist and singer, and recently released his second album.
In one of his songs, Tabitha’s father defines Easter as the celebration of Jesus’ sacrificial death for humanity. This joint passion for the gospel and music is something Tabitha’s father passed on to her.
Next to Tabitha sits another girl of the same age, Roussina. The two girls have been friends since grade one and share many things, including plans for Easter. (more…)
Celebrating Graduation and a Bright Future
On graduation day, families celebrated not only their completion of the Child Survival Program, but also the end of the most vulnerable time in their children’s lives.
Standing Up to Prejudice and Abuse Through Awareness
Violence in its many forms, exploitation for economic aims and the denial of basic rights remains the portion for many women and children living in Burkina Faso.
