Why Help People in Poverty in Other Countries When People Need Help Here?
Our time and resources are finite, yet there seems to be infinite need. We want to be kind to people in poverty and we want to do it wisely. Here are a few things to consider as you struggle through this question for yourself.
Continue Reading ›What Poverty Tourism Gets Wrong
Is poverty tourism just a harmless way to gain insight into what it’s like to live in poverty? Sidney Muisyo explains the underlying and deeply flawed messages that slum tours are based on and can further ingrain in us. He also explains how you can visit an impoverished community in a way that is mutually honoring and beneficial.
Continue Reading ›
Pink
Pink is associated with purity, love and compassion. It communicates gentleness and freshness. Pink represents good health and life, which you offer to children in poverty.
What Does Isaiah 58 Have to Do With Poverty?
How does Isaiah 58 relate to extreme poverty? How does it relate to oppression and corruption? Does Isaiah 58 have anything to do with these topics?
How about its relevance to how we serve the Lord today? What are your thoughts?
Purple
Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes wisdom, nobility and ambition. It communicates wealth and extravagance. But it’s also the color of dignity – something you’re helping give to children in poverty.
How Do We Teach the Children in Our Programs?
Our holistic child development model is central to our mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And the curriculum standards we have put in place in all of our programs are key to achieving this goal. We have created a global curriculum to help develop children holistically—physically, spiritually, cognitively and socio-emotionally. It is designed to be nonacademic, similar to an after-school enrichment program. For example, instead of learning math, children learn how to apply mathematical skills.
Discovering Child Advocacy
Several years ago when I started sponsoring a child through Compassion, I thought I was doing a good thing. I made a small but noticeable donation to a nonprofit doing great work. Some little kid had a better life, I felt good for caring for the poor, the kid probably felt better because he had more food to eat, I was being oh-so-Jesus-like, and all was well with the world.
Then, I went. I went to where “the kid” lived. And I discovered something.
Orange
Orange is a bold invigorating color suggesting strength, endurance and success. It represents enthusiasm, encouragement and determination. It is the banner of success carried by children released from poverty in Jesus’ name.
White
White symbolizes goodness, innocence and purity.
It’s the color of perfection and safety. It’s the color of light — the Light of the World we share through our ministry.
How Valuable Is a Little Encouragement in a Person’s Life?
Now a successful man who owns a large egg-selling business, Wolly Towoliu was once known as a little boy who had a very bad attitude. Wolly liked to hit his friends, sometimes even with stones. His mother once even said, “It would be better if you just went to the forest. I can’t stand any more of your attitude.”
Yellow
Yellow is the color of sunshine. It’s associated with joy, happiness, intellect and energy. It’s an optimistic color, one that communicates a brighter future for children in poverty.
Green
Green is the color of nature. It represents balance and symbolizes self-respect, growth and harmony. It also symbolizes freshness, – like a fresh opportunity, a chance to succeed and break the cycle of poverty.
Redeeming Haiti
No one in their right mind would call the earthquake that hit Haiti a good thing. It was utterly devastating. And yet still there is good.
Because of the earthquake’s destruction, Haiti is now having to start with what feels like a nearly clean slate. The [corrupt and inefficient] government was toppled. The [inadequate] school system was destroyed. Proof of [unjust] land ownership is now virtually impossible. The [enormous and unbridgeable] gap in economic status was decimated, putting government officials in tents next to poor slum-dwellers.
Blue
Blue symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth and heaven. It is the color of the sky. And it is the color of Compassion. It represents the unlimited potential of the children we serve.
