My Best Day in Ministry: The Day I Was Used Most by God
Dan Trumble, a managerial accountant in Finance Business Partner Support, tells a story of one man’s salvation brought about in a way that only God can orchestrate.
Shine for Jesus: My Best Day in Ministry
Thomas Swaroop, Child Advocacy Director for South Asia, shares about the inspiration he received from a young girl who has an opportunity to shine for Jesus.
My Best Day in Ministry Was On a Sponsor Trip
Sean Dana, an International Trip Manager, has been leading sponsor tours for more than three years. On one of his first sponsor tours, he had an opportunity to bring a lifetime of joy to children who rarely get to play, run or laugh because they live in the midst of extreme poverty.
My Best Day in Ministry: Compassion Over the Past 10 Years
Jacob Kitonsa began working for Compassion in Uganda in 1999. He currently works in our International Program Group as a Senior Leadership Development Program Specialist.
Watch This Video and Dude Perfect Will Sponsor Some Kids
For every 100,000 views this video gets, Dude Perfect will sponsor a child. It’s all explained at dudeperfect.com.
Richmond Wandera: My Best Day in Ministry
Moody Bible Institute scholar Richmond Wandera shares how the telling of his story and one woman’s response to it reminded him that child sponsorship is a part of God’s work.
Always About Jesus
Compassion International CEO Wess Stafford talks about the history of Compassion’s marketing message and why it will always be about Jesus.
My Best Day in Ministry: Praying for God’s Purpose
Joseph Mayala is the Compassion Tanzania Country Director. He shares about his best day in ministry, a day the Lord spoke to him.
Josh Durias on Children in Poverty
We’d like to introduce you to Josh Durias and his photography.
Josh was born and raised in Seattle. He’s a father of two, and a husband to one.
We’re plagiarizing here … jes so ya know.
He’s a son of Philippine immigrants and grew up with his mother and father, sister, brother, grandmother, grandfather, two aunts, four uncles and five cousins (among other houseguests) in the 18 years he spent at home.
He enjoys people. And likes to laugh … even courtesy laughs … ha ha. 🙂
We met Josh through this blog. He sent us an e-mail with some photos he took on a Compassion trip. They are stunning. See for yourself.
We also asked him to share a little bit about the trip to help put the photos in context. We hope you enjoy Josh’s perspective on children in poverty.
Gearing up for my Compassion trip to Ecuador, I told my wife, “Ya know? In some ways I might have more in common with the Compassion kids than with the folks I’m traveling with.”
She needed a bit more convincing.
I reminded her that my cousin was a Compassion child in the Philippines, my mother grew up in a poor farming community in Zamboanga, and many of my family members are still living in situations like the ones I’ll see on the trip.
“Wow,” she replied. “I hope people can see that in your photos.”
With that, my challenge was set: Tell the stories of these kids as if they were my own family.
Back in June, I traveled with a group of donors to Quito, Ecuador. The first stop was Bernabe Student Center for a Child Survival Program (CSP) presentation. This was the same center where I met Edison and Paula.
Edison and his family opened up their home for us to see what typical living arrangements look like in this area of Quito.
After lunch with the family, the highlight of the day was Edison’s birthday cake. No, it wasn’t his birthday, but for Edison’s first five birthdays his family didn’t have the funds for a birthday cake. So on that day, Compassion sponsored Edison’s very first birthday cake!
We encouraged him to “go for it,” but Edison wanted us to slice the cake up for everyone to enjoy.
When we returned to the center, a little girl named Paula waited anxiously for one of the families on the trip – her sponsor family. She was shy, but excited about the meeting. Her sponsor family greeted her with open arms and grins from ear to ear, but what really broke the ice were the gifts.
The family unveiled (among other things) a “Dora the Explorer” blanket. Paula loved Dora.
From that point on hugs, smiles and tears of joy were shared by everyone in the room. To think, this is just the start of years of support.
The last center we visited (Jesus Rey de Reyes Student Center) was located in Otavalo. Here we met Jessica and her family and spent much of the afternoon doing typical tasks around their home.
A few of the members on the trip tried their hand at picking corn. Others worked the wool that the family used in weaving belts that were sold at the market. Some of the most brilliant colors and intricate weaving I’ve ever seen!
On the flight home, I realized how thankful I am. I am thankful for an organization like Compassion whose sole purpose is to release children from poverty.
I am thankful that kids like Edison, Paula, Jessica and my cousin can be given hope in places where there may be no hope. And I am thankful that I, the son of a poor farmer’s daughter, get to share the story of kids growing up in his own mother’s shoes and sharing them through photography.
Tony Beltran Preaching
About two weeks ago all the Moody scholars were in Colorado Springs, in advance of the new academic year at Moody Bible Institute. That was when we got to meet Jimmy Wambua, the newest Moody scholar, for the first time.
The four Moody scholars led worship during chapel, and afterward, Tony preached about the work God is doing in the world.
Now, here’s your opportunity to join us in chapel. The video is long, just short of 40 minutes, and Tony doesn’t begin preaching until the 8:30 mark, but if you have the time, we think you’ll enjoy getting to hear him speak.
Plus, those first eight minutes are good too. Jimmy, Michelle and Richmond share about what it means to be given an opportunity to study at Moody.
You can view the Tony Beltran video, and several more of our videos, on Vimeo.
The video does works, but there is about a 10 second delay between pressing play and then seeing anything happen.
My Best Day in Ministry: Leadership Development
Luis Colmenares is the former country director for Compassion Guatemala. He currently lives in Colorado Springs and works for Human Resources in support of our International Program Group. Luis shares about his best day in ministry with Compassion: the first Leadership Development Program graduation in Guatemala.
My Best Day in Ministry: Fruits of Our Labor
Spiritually speaking, some of us plant seeds, some water, some are the sun, but we all get to taste the fruits of our labor sometimes.
