Stories to Connect You With Compassion & Grow Your Faith

Some days, most days – they’re just that. Days. And then one day. A day that seemed like it would be just a day, breaks open like a piñata you’ve been swinging at for years.

Yes changes lives. Yes can change a child’s life forever. Yes can change eternity.

Each Compassion Blogger on this trip to the Dominican Republic has an amazing personal story to share. All different. All unique.

Yet as you get to know Ruth, Bonnie, Holley, Lisa and Bri this week, you will see something in their blog posts, something special they all have in common – a deeply held love for God and for His children.

Developing a meaningful long-distance relationship through letters with 5- to 10-year-olds isn’t very complicated at first. Tell them you love them, tell them God loves them, tell them you are proud of them. Send them stickers, coloring pages, and photographs of your family. Repeat often! But as any parent knows, as those little ones develop into teenagers and young adults, your communication style needs to change.

With a team of Compassion Bloggers heading to the Dominican Republic next week, we thought it’d be a great time to learn more about the beautiful island country, its customs and its people before you experience it with the bloggers. So to buff up on your Dominican Republic knowledge and our work there, here are some great resources for you.

A team of Compassion Bloggers will be in the Dominican Republic from February 16 through February 20, 2015, blogging for children in poverty.

When we wrote the blog post “30 Adorable Things Kids Say,” it was no surprise we saw a great response from you on the blog and Facebook about the joy contained in the letters you receive from your little family member in their far away land. Even through separation of distance and culture, you are developing a beautiful and genuine relationship. Your sponsored child’s letters contain more than just words. So to make sure the cute things they say never get lost in translation, here is our latest infographic to use as a fun and handy translation guide!

My heart is overflowing as I return to the dry climate and high altitude of my Colorado Springs home from my first trip to the island of the Dominican Republic. I left with a deepened assurance of the investment that the project staff have in each child. Have you ever wondered about the hearts of our staff? I pray that I can convey just a glimpse of the depth of compassion they hold within them.

Financial integrity is of extreme importance to us. And so is transparency. Our 2014 Annual Report has been released so you can keep up to date with the who, the what, the where, the how…and specifically, the how much. So where does the money go? Here are a few highlights from our 2014 Annual Report.

The idea of being able to end extreme poverty in the world often feels overwhelming. But with the latest news from the United Nations, coupled with independent research about our sponsorship program, it no longer feels unattainable. In fact, it could even be accomplished within our lifetime. This good news is our motivation to fight harder than ever before to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name!

In March of 2013, I visited Haiti. I was unprepared for the devastation that I saw and it upset me so much that I cried myself to sleep the first night. I wondered where the hope was in Haiti. Over the course of the next few days I quickly found that hope can rise out of places where we least expect to find it.

Families who lost everything in the 2010 Haiti earthquake needed help starting over. That’s why we initiated a low-interest micro loan program to qualified recipients to help them start new businesses in their communities. The results have been spectacular!