Life in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso — translated as “country of upright people” — is one of the poorest countries in the world (172 of 182 countries, according to the United Nations Development Programme).
Continue Reading ›Can My Sponsored Child’s Siblings Be Sponsored, Too?
Our goal is to assist as many children and families as possible. In order to do this, we allow three children per family to be enrolled in our program.
However, the child development center staff is able to change that allowance to one or two children — based on the community’s needs. Particularly in Africa, one child registered per family tends to be the limit.
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When AIDS Threatens a Family, Your Sponsorship Helps!
“Sponsors have had a great impact into our lives and have supported us in many ways. Really, we could have died. I urge them not to feel tired when they are helping us. I know that God will bless them. I’d like to give the sponsors this verse — Lamentations 3:22-24. It inspires me a lot.”
What Is There to Love About the Church?
“The Church is the Bride of Christ through which the world should know the Lord, and to my knowledge God has not planned an alternative.” — Palamanga Ouali, Country Director of Compassion Burkina
The Life of an Abducted Bride
Despite the Ethiopian government’s efforts to eradicate bridal abduction, it’s still frequently practiced in some rural areas. Bridal abduction has been illegal since 2005, but outside of the capital, the law is interpreted very loosely by the police and judges. Hence, girls as young as 11 years old are abducted and are given in marriage to men much older than them.
Preparing Children for the Leadership Development Program
Preparing students for the Leadership Development Program is a longtime process and one that requires long-term planning. We believe that if we work on the foundation, our children will be competent in any setting. Therefore, we invest in them starting from their childhood.
What Do Sponsored Children Do When College Is Not an Option?
With the support of our staff, Fausta pushed on and tried her best to excel. However, when her Primary Leaving Examinations results came back, she had failed. It was then that Fausta made a decision to discontinue formal education despite Compassion’s willingness to pay her school fees. She decided instead to train in tailoring.
Your Sponsored Child Prays For You
As sponsors you are held in high esteem by the staff in our Ghana office, by the staff of our church partners, and among all the children in the child development centers. Compassion would not be Compassion without you. The children would not have the lives they have without your response to Jesus. We in Ghana appreciate you and pray that your relationship with us will be a lifelong one. Amen!
The Enticement, Disappointment and Redemption of Green Grass
When I wake up each morning, I usually feel angry. I’m not exaggerating. Three or four days a week I wake up with a sense that my soul is drowning, like I’m 300 feet beneath the ocean surface, on the fringe of complete darkness.
I can vaguely see a place without anger. I can vaguely see some light, but I don’t know how to get to it. I can’t swim. I can’t move.
Who Are the Highly Vulnerable Children We Serve?
Destu and her brother lost their parents and were left under the care of their aunt, who was also a prostitute. Destu assumed the responsibility of raising her brother and managing the house since their aunt was never at home to care for them.
How Do We Help Sponsored Children With Serious Heart Conditions?
There are nearly 6 million children worldwide with potentially treatable congenital and acquired heart defects that do not have access to care. In 2009, of the estimated 6,000 children in Uganda in need of cardiac intervention, only 172 received treatment (Uganda Heart Institute).
Alex was one of the statistics — a child with a heart problem with seemingly no hope for treatment. Alex’s father recalls:
“It started as a fever. My wife and I took my son, Alex, to the hospital, but it did not get any better. And when we took him to a bigger hospital, his symptoms baffled the doctors. They had no solution for us but to refer us to the Mulago Heart Institute where we started on a course of treatment.
“This went on for three years with no change. At that point I started to pray to God, saying if it is God’s will to take him away from us then so be it. I spoke to Alex as well and he was of the same mind. Because the doctors saw that I was poor they feared to tell me about the operation abroad because they knew I could not afford it.”
Like many children whose heart conditions go untreated, Alex and his family prepared for the worst. (more…)
My People Are Destroyed From Lack of Knowledge
The Pastors Discipleship Network (PDN) is an initiative begun by Leadership Development Program graduate and Moody Bible Institute scholar Richmond Wandera. It exists: “to train and equip local pastors in Africa with basic study tools for accurately interpreting God’s Word through monthly seminars, accountability relationships, and the provision of study resources.”
