Stories to Connect You With Compassion & Grow Your Faith

The 2015-2016 fiscal year has brought another year of growth for Compassion. Here are some highlights from our 2016 Annual Report.

We believe the solution to making poverty history in our world begins with our children. Invest in their development, give them the right tools, and empower them to become history makers and world changers themselves. What better way to start off 2017 than by taking a look at some stories that highlight the people and developments that are are making history in the world of poverty? From new technology, to thousands of new sponsors, to Compassion Alumni fighting corruption, here is what we think is “Totally Worth It” this month.

A few years ago, we launched Compassion’s Second Friday Letter Writing Club. We wanted to create a place for sponsors to share letter-writing ideas and stories about the impact of letters on the children we serve. We’ve been amazed at the response. More than 180 of you joined our collaborative Pinterest board, collectively pinning nearly 1,000 ideas for your letters and for the more than 18,000 followers of the board. Many of you have shared fun ideas in comments on the blog posts. But at the same time, there’s been a lot of change in the past year. Our guidelines and processes for letter writing have changed, and there have been some bumps along the way.

Those of us from an instantly gratified and constantly moving culture do not always understand the fire started by masters. This is extremely evident in fighting back the cold reality of extreme poverty around the world. We often prefer a quick relief style of change. A magic bullet. But those fires go out as fast as they start, and can even injure folks in the process.

You’ve made it. It’s the end of 2016. And while many of us are shaking the dust off our feet as we’re leaving the old year, it’s wise to take a few moments to look back before entering the new year. These are the most popular blog posts of 2016 with a little extra “behind the scenes” peek at how they were developed.

Instagram is full of faces. Faces of kids. Of families. Of sponsors. Of people. These faces reflect pain and joy and hope. And I think that’s why I notice them – because life is filled with pain and joy and hope. When I look through Instagram, I see a reflection of life. Here are Compassion International’s top Instagram posts of 2016.

It was a perfect December day to listen to Christmas music. I was out running errands, driving in a light, winter snow. A lesser known Christmas song filled the car – “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” I’d heard the song on the radio before. But this time I paid attention to the lyrics. And what I heard stunned and saddened me.

If you’re like me, you are welcoming 2017 with open arms. Forget you, 2016. You were hard! Bring it in for a hug, 2017. I will be walking boldly away from a year where our world faced hurt, hate and heartache. But if you’re really like me, you also don’t want to head into the new year without looking back and seeing, really seeing and celebrating, the joy amongst the trials. What happened in 2016 – in the world, the Compassion world, your world?

I was 10 years old when I went to summer camp for the first time. I still remember the feeling as my mom drove away in our family’s station wagon. Utter and complete dread. I cried in the nurse’s office that night, clutching my stomach, telling her I was sick. She understood what I couldn’t. Sadness can feel a lot like a stomachache.

The idea is simple. You give your child (really, anyone in your life you might be inclined to “over give” to) something they want, something they need, something to wear and something to read. And that got us thinking. We could do our own 4 Gift Challenge! But with the Compassion version, you could give those gifts to children in poverty.

Over the past week you – sponsors, donors, child advocates, partners and friends – have sent more than 33,000 letters to Congress ahead of Tuesday’s testimony by Compassion before the House Foreign Affairs Committee! Here are four important facts that have come out from the committee’s hearing.

Due to the government of India’s decision to restrict Compassion’s funds from reaching our partners this year, many of our centers in India are are at risk of permanent closure, leaving more than 130,000 kids – the most vulnerable of India’s population – even more vulnerable. But on Dec. 6, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives will hear testimony from Compassion about the situation with the Indian government. And your voice could help us find a resolution. Will you help us advocate for the children and communities we serve in India?