Halftime Report
I’ve reached the halfway mark and it’s finally starting to get good. Why is that? Why is it that whenever I really start to fully understand and enjoy where it is that I am and what I’m doing, the end seems to be a mere few feet away?
The past three weeks here at Compassion have been some of the sweetest times in my life. As cliché as it may seem, I feel as though I have found myself. Or better yet, I found the Lord. Not to say He was hiding, but I feel as though my eyes have been unveiled and my heart has been opened to see and experience Him in a new way.
As with any halftime, the focal point has now turned from offense to defense. We have successfully created an idea that I think will be huge hit and now we need to find a way to defend it against the onslaught of logistics, financial resources and all other realistic killjoys. This is where it gets interesting.
Interesting also is the possibility of staying here at Compassion. I have recently applied for several positions which I am praying the Lord will make available. (more…)
Continue Reading ›Creation Revelation
I went camping for the first time this weekend. Turns out … I’m not made for it. There are aspects of it that I enjoyed immensely, such as setting up the tent (which I am proud to say didn’t take us very long), making a fire and cooking dinner over it (and by dinner I mean S’mores), and, of course, hiking.
My friends and I camped at “The Crags,” which lies directly behind Pike’s Peak. Words simply don’t do justice to the splendor and majesty of God’s creation. It is breathtaking and awe-inspiring. And that’s what got me thinking. Everyone needs to feel this small so they can see just how big He is.
As you know, I’ve spent the last several weeks brainstorming about how to capture Gen Y and move them to action. They need only to be given the right opportunity to go out into the world; because once they are there they can make a difference.
And now, an idea has been born!
- It’s about giving young adults the opportunity to completely participate in what Compassion is doing around the world.
- It’s about getting intimate with extreme poverty.
I can attest to the growing pains in my own soul, to see and experience God in a big yet intimate way. For whatever reason, there lies within me the idea that He is where I have yet to go: out there. Among people groups and areas of the world that our society says are off limits; dangerous.
I also know that my feelings are shared by many of my peers. There is an overarching sense of duty that we feel we must fulfill, a holy war we must wage. My generation is on the horizon, and we are ready to fight; we need only to be equipped with the proper armor and the opportune time.
There are still countless bases to be covered, details to be ironed out, and logistics to be overcome. But, driving the progression of it all is an extreme excitement about the possibility of taking my generation on a journey that will change our lives and the lives of those with whom we share the story.
I know that I am more moved and inspired by sitting down with someone over a cup of coffee and hearing about what the Lord is doing in that person’s life than watching yet another commercial that exploits pictures of children in poverty in order to tap into the pity that lies in wait within our souls. At the end of the day, pity fades. We forget about them, not because we mean to, but because we haven’t heard their story.
I think that as this idea takes shape and people who participate come back to share what they encountered, listeners would see in a new light the work that needs to be done.
The bottom line is this: God will accomplish His will in some form of fashion, using whichever generation will make itself available. My question is simply this: Why not us? Why not now?
Continue Reading ›Pennies for the Poor
Story and Photo by Barb Liggett, Global Strategy Office Intern
Eugine is an 8-year-old from Kenya who wants to be a teacher when he grows up. Compassion believes that he — and all kids with big dreams — can do it. So does Katie Peters. This 15-year-old, from Colorado Springs’ The Classical Academy, has been raising money for Compassion since 2002 to help kids like Eugine reach their goals. Katie places jars with the slogan “Pennies for the Poor” in classrooms and hallways around her campus, about a mile from Compassion’s Global Ministry Center.
Katie posted signs around the school encouraging students and teachers to drop loose change into these jars. This simple act has gone a long way.
To date, Katie has raised more than $880 to help children across the world. Although Katie humbly claims she “was not a huge part, and it wasn’t all [her] money,” she organized this effort to raise money out of a caring and pure heart. She took the initiative to get permission from her principal to set the jars out, and at the end of each day she collects the jars and locks them in cabinets for safekeeping.
Despite all this work, Katie hopes her efforts go unnoticed by peers. She says that “I don’t try and tell people that I am doing it … I almost hope they don’t know it is me doing it. I hope they just know somebody cares.”
This is the servant’s heart Compassion seeks, the type of heart that is so powerful when embodied in a young person.
Katie chose Compassion from a long list of organizations, but for her the choice was simple. Her family began sponsoring a boy when she was 5, so she was already familiar with Compassion’s ministry.
About her family’s Compassion child, she explains that “he had graduated about the time I started Pennies for the Poor, so I decided there were still others like him who needed [help] through Compassion.”
Her family’s sponsorship was not the only experience that influenced her. When asked what provoked her to start collecting change, Katie says that “I started thinking I wanted to do something after my class had a character lesson about giving.” This, along with understanding the results of child sponsorship firsthand, inspired Katie to become an advocate for impoverished children around the world.
Two Weeks Down, Four to Go
To all of you who responded with your encouragement, comments, and ideas, thank you. I cannot begin to tell you just how much I appreciated hearing from all of you. The time and thought you took to read and respond truly blessed me.
Another week has begun and my feeling of being overwhelmed has yet to subside. The good news is this: it is something else that keeps it afloat.
In my first week, I felt that the seemingly endless amount of information and research would overcome any ability I had to unscramble and make sense of it all. But, through much prayer and divine intervention, excitement and inspirations are beginning to summit; brainwaves are coming in with tides of insight.
If you have not noticed already, our society and culture are on the brink of monumental changes as a historically influential and significant generation (the Baby Boomers) are headed towards retirement. It is also no surprise that my generation, Gen Y, having grown up in such a technologically advanced society, are much more globally minded and aware than our parents were at our age. With the help of the internet, orbiting satellites, global political unrest and other end-time achievements, we are fully conscious and concerned about the part we play.
All that to say this: (more…)
The Intern Speaks
Hello. My name is Meredith Dunn. I’m the web team’s new intern, and I have never blogged before.
I recently graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in Business Marketing. I can honestly say that I have a true passion for business and a genuine love for marketing. They’re challenging, they inspire, they’re innovative, and they’re excellent examples of competition in our socially saturated and economically dependent culture.
At the same time, marketing stimulates and increases jobs, technology, products and services, as well as creates economic stability for our country and the world. Ever since my first week of college, I have wanted to be a business woman, never once having changed my major or my mind.
That being said, upon graduating, I was very apprehensive about entering into the “Corporate America” setting. I despised the idea of reporting to an office, sitting in a cubical behind a computer, and being forced to substitute “number crunching” for human contact.
More than that, I have a deep, intrinsic fear that I will get lost in some cosmic void, becoming obsessed with work, money, the stock market, and most of all … myself.
I have witnessed such lifestyles. The selfish pursuit of wealth has left its captives devastated, lonely, and feeling as though their lives are without an innate meaning or profound purpose.
Scared of becoming yet another cog in this immortal and endless machine, I desperately wanted to find a place to work that would fulfill the deepest passion and longing in my soul: to make a difference.
I think that any Christ-follower, because of the change that Jesus has made in his or her heart, wants every area of life to be reflective of His image and productive for His kingdom. He has in fact called some to go to “Corporate America” to be a light. Others He has called to the medical field, mission field, or asked that they simply mow a field. Whatever the individual case may be, God has absolutely created and fashioned each of us with a specific talent, tool, or trade that we are to use for His glory.
My new journey begins here, at Compassion, where I will be interning for the next six weeks. I am working in the marketing department, and as I said earlier, I’m on the web team.
For those of you who noticed, a first-time blogger might not be the best asset to a technologically savvy web team. But God has a sense of humor, and so here I sit blogging to you, my webby friends.
As an outlet of emotions as well as an avenue of ideas, opinions and some much needed help, I will be writing to you frequently to keep you posted on the inner workings and latest happenings of Compassion.
My specific task is to create a new marketing campaign that will not only spur and maintain your dedicated interest, but hopefully spark the interest and hearts of others.
As I attempt to complete this assignment, I would truly appreciate and welcome your input, thoughts, suggestions, and constructive criticism (note: criticism is the last on the list) 🙂 It is my hope to craft a marketing campaign that will be effective and efficient in gathering sponsors for our children.
You, Mr. and Mrs. Reader, are the target market. It is your attention that we want to capture and captivate. It is you we want to engage and involve. And with that being said, please be open and honest as I come to you with questions, ideas, etc. You know we will.
