As we last shared with you in May, Compassion’s Prayer Network is focusing on gratitude this year. We sent out a call to our field staff across the globe, and I am genuinely thankful for the stories of thanksgiving they have shared. And that I get to share them with you!
This month, I want you to meet Odette, a supervisor in our Compassion Burkina Faso office. Odette shared about her own childhood growing up in rural Burkina Faso in a large family that struggled in desperate poverty … I was touched by her story, and as a sponsor, I was incredibly moved by the way she compares the staff in Compassion Burkina Faso to the love of her amazing mother.
Enough from me, though …
A Letter From Odette
Dear Friends,
I am from a large polygamous family with many households and many kids. My late father was a primary school teacher who struggled to send me and my 12 siblings to school. Unfortunately, in March 1984, he lost his job due to a strike. The future looked dark and compromised for me and my brothers as some of us were to drop from school.
Determined to see her children succeed, my mother started a small business and my siblings and I supported her during school breaks, selling all kinds of vegetables and fruit.
Later, she started working on mining sites pounding stones, winnowing to look for gold. Whenever she got some thin gold particles, she would come back home, sell them and buy some cereals and pay our remaining school fees before returning to the sites.
The Lord rewarded her sacrifices as we all got a good education, and now the neighbors call her “the mom of officials” because they view my siblings and me as important people!
When I see the amazing ministry of Compassion International in Burkina Faso, I am reminded of a mother tirelessly working to provide her children with a better future. I am grateful our dedicated supporters and donors, like this brave mother, give their best to save the lives of many vulnerable children.
Would you please pray that the Lord bless sponsors and staff, so they can see these special children succeed in many ways?
Thanks and shalom,
Odette
Share Your Gratitude
I hope Odette’s story reminds you that each child Compassion serves is surrounded by tutors, pastors, directors, sponsors and family who are invested in their future! We also want to invite you to share your own story of gratitude and praise with us on our virtual Gratitude Wall today!
8 Comments |Add a comment
I am so grateful to the Lord for what He has achieved in your life.
I have noticed your commitment to the Lord since you were in school.
It’s true what you have said about your parents because I have known him.
Keep it up! never lost your commitment to children and to this wonderful ministry.
God is good all the time!!!
Blessings
Thank you Odette and your team for the amazing work you do helping these vulnerable children blossom in an environment where love and care are given to all. Your mother is an inspiration, what a wonderful women. I will continue to pray for the work Compassion.com do, your office at Burkina Faso is particularly close to my heart. I pray to the Lord that all your children succeed in life.
Hello Dear Brandy et al,
So grateful that you helped post/or appreciated my childhood story.
Thank you also for your prayers for my mother and siblings. I really appreciate!
Shalom,
Hi, Odette! Thank you for your kind words! We are deeply honored to share your story and encouraged by your work in Burkina Faso today. May God bless you continually!
Mere Courage! Brave mother! Thank you Odette for sharing this story, it is so touching…. I wish long lif to your mother so that she can bear the fruit of the seeds she sowed.
Thank to Odette for this amazing testimony that reinforce our engagement to serve children through CI ministry
Surely ,prayers can move mountains ,This has reminded me to increase my prayer sessions to all beneficiaries in the world.
What a powerful testimony, in every successful child in third world countries where resources and infrastructures are limited, is dedicated mother, neighbor, tutor, teacher, friend, relatives, etc behind the seen. in the same manner for every child in Compassion ministry, some dedicated people played a part behind the scene. God bless you all who heard God’s call that says whom shall I send to address the cry of a child in a forgotten place/situation to bring change and prayers answered through your obedience and dedication.
Thank you for sharing such a powerful story, let us uphold each to finish it well and strong so that we can pass the torch to those who will come after us.
Blessings