Haiti Earthquake Video Message
Get the latest updates on the Haiti earthquake and it’s affect on Compassion and the children we serve.
Images of Child Development Centers in Haiti
UPDATED: Jan. 29, 2010 – List of child development centers affected by the Haiti earthquake
Here is a Google Earth image showing the approximate location for the earthquake’s epicenter in relation to our child development centers.
The image is just intended to give perspective not definitively identify where all the centers are located. However, there is a discussion thread in Facebook about the location of some centers.
The fact that many development centers are so close to one another means that some centers can’t be seen. And obviously the size of the image makes it difficult to read the numbers that are visible. We published a larger image in Twitpic and in Facebook.
The blue icons represent child development centers, and the red icons represent child survival programs. Most red icons hide behind the blue ones, but for some reason a few show through.
The orange circles represent earthquake activity in the last week (or so).
Here is an additional Google Earth image that highlights a 750 square mile section of Haiti relative to the earthquake so you can more clearly see which child development centers are closest to the epicenter. (more…)
Who Can You Sponsor a Leadership Student With?
In 2006 my wife and I went on a sponsor trip to the Dominican Republic. Before our trip, we thought we knew what Compassion did, but our understanding of the ministry fell far short of what we saw.
When I came home from that trip, I signed up to be a volunteer. I made coffee mugs with photos of my sponsored children on them, and I spoke of the kids often.
“Hey Patterson, you know those kids that you’re so fond of? ”
“Yeah, Norm.”
“I think we should sponsor one of those kids as a shift.”
I explained to Norm that a typical child sponsorship is under $40, but then I told him about the Leadership Development Program. I suggested that if we were able to get 12 firefighters together, we could sponsor a Leadership Development Program student and it would cost only $25 per person each month. (more…)
Does My Sponsored Child Really Need My Help?
In all the time and through all the experiences you’ve had with Compassion, have you ever questioned whether the child you sponsor really needs your help?
Have you ever seen a photo of a Compassion-assisted child and thought, “That kid doesn’t look poor. Does he really need Compassion?”
If so, you’re not alone. Those thoughts even enter my mind – The Poverty of ME.
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 refrigerator.
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.
So in light of this,
Would your child’s easy access to e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc. affect the level of poverty you perceive your sponsored child enduring?
Comfort the Afflicted and Afflict the Comfortable
We must ignite passion for children in poverty, to the glory of God. Nobody is garbage.
I No Longer Sponsor a Child
You know the scene in any coming-of-age movie when a teenage girl is about to go to her first dance and she appears at the top of the stairs and her parent (usually a widowed father) stands there with tears in his eyes and a huge lump in his throat, totally entranced by his daughter’s newly uncovered beauty? That’s how I feel.
Was My Sponsored Child Affected by That Crisis?
In a perfect world, here’s how the process would work:
On Letter Writing: Would You Rather … ?
The topic of letter-writing always sparks lively discussions. It even seems to spontaneously come up in posts on other topics.
So seeing as we genuinely value your input (and OK … I admit … in an attempt to stimulate a discussion), I hereby pose the following question to you:
Would you rather receive more general letters from your sponsored child more often or more detailed letters on a less frequent basis?
Discuss.
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.
Does Giving Gifts to Our Sponsored Children Make a Difference?
One of my earliest lessons in the importance of our gifts came from Tausi (Tanzania). I began sponsoring her soon after her stated birth date (which later proved to be wrong, but…) and immediately sent a gift of $25.
Committed Love Moves a Sponsor to Ecuador
Allen Charles Graham is single, but he understands the meaning of the word “commitment.” He started sponsoring children in 1989 when he lived in the United States, working at a TV network. Currently, he lives in Ecuador and is the Training Director at HCJB Global Voice radio station.
“This was something I always wanted to do ever since I looked at the advertising spaces in some magazines.”
Allen had the opportunity to take a closer look to the blessing of sponsoring children when he came to Ecuador for the first time back in 1989 as a “working visitor” for HCJB. He was assigned a prayer partner, who happened to sponsor an Ecuadorian child.
When the prayer partner visited his sponsored child at the coastal city of Guayaquil (260 miles from Quito), he came back and he showed pictures to Allen and shared about that experience.
That was when Allen received that special motivation and knew he was going to commit to sponsor a child as soon as he went back to the United States.
Actually, that was one of the first things Allen did when he was back home. He looked for a Compassion ad in a magazine, cut the invitation to sponsor a child, filled it out, and sent it including this note: “I prefer an Ecuadorian child.”
“In September 1989 I received a package with the information of a boy, Marcos from Guayaquil.”
This boy, the first child he sponsored, was 10 years old.
Surprisingly, a couple of months later in 1990, Allen received an invitation to give some lectures at the English Fellowship Church in Quito. Of course, he took the opportunity to visit Marcos.
So in July of that year, Allen met Marcos in Guayaquil. Marcos was 11 years old by that time, and he just talked and talked all the time.
“I didn’t speak Spanish and Álvaro, the translator, couldn’t translate fast enough all the things Marcos said.”
Sign language and, most of all, the language of love … hugs, tickles and smiles, let Allen and Marcos establish a strong friendship bond. When they were saying their good-byes at the airport, Marcos said, “I will pray a lot for you to come back to my country.” … And God did answer his prayer!
Allen was called by God to move to Ecuador as a missionary. In March 1992, HCJB accepted his application and later that year he traveled to Costa Rica to learn Spanish.
August 19, 1993, is a day Allen will never forget since it was the day he arrived in Ecuador after a special call by God. He was not just willing to be a missionary with HCJB, but was yearning to see little Marcos again, for Marcos had stolen his heart, and God had listened to Marcos’ innocent prayer.
Since that time, Allen has sponsored a half dozen children. He is currently sponsoring two children — a girl in Ecuador, Mariuxi, and a boy in Bolivia, Pedro.
From all those children, Marcos is the one who left a very deep imprint in the life of this communicator highly committed to children.
At the present time, Marcos is 30, and this sponsor/sponsored-child relationship has evolved almost into a father-son relationship. (more…)
Funny Things Kids Say
What puzzling, quirky, amusing things have your sponsored children written in their letters to you?
