Remembering Roselyn
Several weeks ago, Compassion internally released a book communicating its brand, its mission and its character to employees worldwide. I eagerly flipped through the pages, as I always do, looking for photography by my co-workers.
On the second page was our mission statement, “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name,” and a picture of Roselyn.
I remember the first time I read about Roselyn. It was my first month on the job. Edwin Estioko in the Philippines had written a story about her in September 2007: (more…)
Child Sponsorship: What Happens When a Child Leaves the Program?
We’ve noticed variations of this question – Can I stay in contact with my child if he or she graduates or leaves the sponsorship program? – popping up in several of our posts about letter-writing. So we approached our contact center to help answer it.
Heartbreak in Bangladesh: Cyclone Aila
They are the most heartbreaking reports I’ve seen during my 12 months in this job. (Not that you can really quantify or categorize something like this, but last week was the first time I cried reading a crisis report.)
Cyclone Aila. If you haven’t heard about it, don’t feel bad. It really hasn’t been in the news much at all.
None of the major world news sites say anything about it. When I checked yesterday, they all had headlines about singing sensation Susan Boyle, but nothing about Cyclone Aila. However, just because there are no headlines doesn’t mean there is no news.
Over the past week, David Adhikary, our communications specialist in Bangladesh, has been sending photos and reports from the midst of the cyclone’s aftermath. They are devastating. Here are a few excerpts from his reports …
“During the disaster night, the children and their families suffered a lot. The cyclone took down their houses, and after that the dams were destroyed. Some of children had to stand in water for the whole night. The center staff found many of the children in a wet condition.”
“The Compassion center staff and the parents of the children are very anxious about the aftereffects of the flood. The dead animals could cause dangerous diseases, and the probability of malaria is very high.”
“There is not a single house in the village that hasn’t been affected by floodwater. The village is near the sea and the river water is very salty. The floodwater mixed with their water sources and made it impossible to drink.
“The water crisis is the major problem for the people. People were seen drinking the polluted floodwater to put off their thirst. The floodwater is very dirty and stinky. The dead animals and fish are floating all over the water. Children of that area are also drinking the same water.”
Worse …
“The affected families have taken shelter at the nearest market. The families are staying with the animals in the market. The marketplace is badly polluted as the people are using the place for all kinds of uses.
“There is no toilet and the people are using free spaces for a toilet.
“The adult girls are staying with their families in the marketplace. Their parents are very anxious about their daughters because at nighttime they have to stay with lots of unknown people together in the marketplace.”
And perhaps saddest of all …
“This morning we received very sad news about one of the children we assist. Her mother committed suicide just after the cyclone disaster. Their house was broken down and she committed suicide out of her frustrations. She lost her husband last year during Cyclone Sidr. She faced many challenges last year and finally gave up. [The children] are now orphans and vulnerable. They lost their father and mother in two consecutive cyclones. Please join us in pray for these children.”
Oh, God.
It feels like it’s too much, doesn’t it? When I read stuff like this, I find myself begging Jesus to hurry up and return and make all things right. It’s difficult not to get overwhelmed with despair.
The crazy thing is, though, God has placed Compassion right in the midst of this mess. Because of our unique church-based structure, our child development centers are distributing food and water where even relief agencies haven’t been able to access!
Families who lost their homes and have nowhere to cook are receiving hot meals at the child development centers. During the next few weeks, the centers will provide them with dry food, oral rehydration therapy and water purification tablets.
If you sponsor a child in Bangladesh and your child has been affected by Cyclone Aila, we will contact you as soon as we receive information about your child.
What is Poverty?
What is poverty? Our President, Wess Stafford, defines poverty and describes our solution for releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.
UPDATED: Nov. 18, 2011 – We also have a photo essay from the Compassion Bloggers trip to Ecuador which asks the same question; What is poverty?
Child Sponsorship Releases Generations From Poverty
People often ask me what my favorite part of my job is. For me, the answer is easy: the people I get to meet and know around the world. There are people working for Compassion with such heart and passion and such incredible stories of their own. Henry Guarin is one of those people.
Henry’s fun and funny, he sings in a rock band, he has a passion for his job. And he used to be a sponsored child.
Here’s a little more about Henry, in his own words.
It’s 7:15 a.m. in Bogotá, Colombia, it’s cold, as usual, and I am waiting for the school bus to pick up Juan Felipe, my 5-year-old son.
As we stand at the door of the apartment building we live in we are talking about his favorite TV shows, dinner, games with his friends at school, and other things, just like every day.
The school bus finally arrives, so I give him a big hug and a big kiss and I tell him,
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him; and he delivers them.”
I come back to my apartment and Xiomara, my wife, is finishing feeding our little son Lucas. He is only 5 months old and he is happily kicking in his cradle, and he smiles at me as he sees me coming in.
Xiomara and I sit and start talking about how different things were for us when we were children. (more…)
I Write My Sponsored Child
It’s been a month and a half since we last “halfed” it. Do you remember what to do? 🙂
I write my sponsored child because . . .
God Uses Children to Make an Eternal Impact
Compassion Bloggers in India
Since April 26, and through May 2, five bloggers have been experiencing firsthand what Compassion’s ministry to children in poverty is all about.
Visit compassionbloggers.com to travel across the world to the impoverished neighborhoods of Kolkata, East India, and through their stories, pictures and videos rediscover hope.
The Lowdown on Reciprocal Letter Writing
As with many aspects of our ministry, we have a set of standards for the letter-writing process. When I talk about “standards,” what I mean is certain expectations that we’ve given to every church partner. However, as with anything involving fallible humans, this does not guarantee it will always happen.
Do Not Show Partiality to the Poor
What God wants from us isn’t to become judgmental of the rich and syrupy sappy with the poor. What he wants is justice.
Visit Compassion’s Fun Kids Web Site
Are your children pretty web savvy? Do they spend a LOT of time online? I mean are they typical kids? 🙂
How about you? Are you a kid at heart?
If you said yes to any of these questions, we have some exciting news just for you.
We just launched our new kid’s Web site, Quest for Compassion, and we think that it is not only engaging but entertaining too! We love it, and are confident that your kids will as well. Not only is the site fun, but it’ll educate your youngsters all about the ministry of Compassion.
The site is designed for children between the ages of 6 and 10, and it provides a virtual opportunity for them to travel around the world — to four different countries where we work: Ghana, Bangladesh, El Salvador and Brazil.
It helps your kiddos experience a Compassion child development center and the surrounding community, and will give them perspective on what a child’s life in the developing world is like.
Each child will “build his or her own buddy” to travel with — by choosing gender and skin color — and will be able to give the buddy a name. Then they can pick a region of the world to travel to.
Each town and country is filled with objects to click on and games to play. And with the help of their “buddies,” your world travelers can also learn key words and phrases in each country’s native language. Through these various games and fun facts, your children will get to see and hear about the life and culture of our Compassion kids around the globe.
We created the Web site through the use of real-life still shots taken in the countries where we work, which we brought to life through the use of animated children, teachers and animals that your children will meet along the way.
This is a new, fun and safe way for children, and even for you, to learn more about our ministry.
Visit the site today with your children to discover who and what awaits you! And be sure to tell us what you think.
A Sponsorship Story for Ordinary People
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.
