National Reconciliation
“Let’s not curse the darkness, instead let’s light a candle.”
– Anonymous
Hello everyone. By now, I am sure some of you may wonder where I disappeared to. My blog absence has been for a good reason.
From December 27 to late January 2008 my country was plugged into what is now famously referred to as post-election violence; violence in which over 1,000 people lost their lives and over 300,000 more were displaced from their homes.
The impact was even more devastating in the slums, which saw the biggest brunt of the violence and left many people wondering, questioning, hungry, displaced and grieving the deaths of family and friends.
It was at this time that I decided to start a reconciliation program at one of the child development centers I grew up in. I wanted to try and help the children, who mostly live in the slums, understand what was going on, to give them a platform to share their feelings and a place for them to come and heal.
On March 20, I received a letter from the local government representative that I had been selected among 15 other young men and women in Kenya to join the national reconciliation program, which is a special program started by the government to bring the people of Kenya back together and help prevent a similar scenario in the future.
So all this time I have been traveling around the country talking to various political groups, communities, churches, elders and youth on the need for unity, and more importantly, forgiveness.
It has been tiring, but its all worth it. And it gives me a chance not only to share with people the love of God but put into practice the skills I learned through the Leadership Development Program,* to teach the importance of servant leadership, which I believe is the solution to the many problems here in Africa.
The program will come to an end on May 23 and hopefully by this time a nation will have been saved through the candles that were lit by 15 young men and women.
*This content honors our historical Leadership Development Program. To learn more about our current youth development opportunities, click here.
Continue Reading ›Why Me, God?
For about 35 years, once I first heard of such a possibility, I wanted to sponsor a child. But for most of that time, I simply could not afford even $10 per month.
About mid-2001, watching a commercial on TV for another organization, I realized I could finally afford to do something. But through which organization? Who could I really count on to use the money for the child’s benefit? Could I trust any of them, and how would I know? Having no answers, I did nothing.
I spent all of 2002 praying for God to show me what area of ministry He wanted me in. Almost every Sunday, I heard, “Find your passion and use it!” “Hmm…where can I get a ‘passion’?” I couldn’t have found a passion in me with a flashlight or a search warrant. So I prayed, and I waited.
Two weeks before Christmas, I walked out of church on a cold, gray day in a mood to match. I walked down three or four steps into the fellowship area and began to pass a row of ministry tables. Above and behind the first one was a banner saying something about Compassion.
I kept walking, but my inner skeptic wanted to know: “What are we being ‘compassionate’ about, today?”
I turned, looked down at a sea of packets, each with a photo of a child; the world stopped, along with all sound and movement around me. I knew what these packets represented.
I stood there, saying half under my breath, “I can do this! I can do this!” About the fourth time, a Voice inside said, “Yes, you can do this. This is it!”
A warmth started at the top of my head and flowed over me and through me, right down to my feet. I took home two packets, unsure about one child.
That afternoon, I went to Compassion’s website to look at more children. I didn’t realize how many photos they kept on there, and I quickly felt overwhelmed. “God, I can’t sponsor them all!” soon changed to “God, we’ve got to find sponsors for these kids!”
About the fourth time (what is it with four times?!), I heard, “Yes, we do!” Then I realized the “This is it” meant more for me than “merely” sponsoring. And I do not mean to minimize the importance of sponsoring!
So, as is true of so many advocates, if not all, I came into this ministry with a clear calling. There have been times when I have needed to remember that, when church doors refused to open, when people walked by the tables with hardly a glance, and I wanted to use a 2×4 on their heads to get their attention. (Thank God, I’ve grown past that!)
But let me mention some of the things that continually reaffirm the rightness of Compassion in my life, and as a real ministry in this world. (more…)
Continue Reading ›Taking Artists To The Next Level
People often ask me what I REALLY do for my job. It’s a valid question since for some of my friends it doesn’t seem like working with artists is that demanding of a job.
Actually, the time I spend traveling for this job should tell you how demanding it really is. I travel on average about 120 days out of the year.
As I try to master the art of video blogs, I’m going to bring you “A Day On The Road With Spence.” I’m sure you all will be glued to your seats for this Spielberg-like master piece.
So what does this have to do with taking artists to the next level? Not a whole lot other than I needed some sort of intro for this blog. On to the post….
When an artist decides they want to work with Compassion, I know going into this relationship that they have a heart for children living in poverty.
For most of us, that seems like its a “given.” For some artists, though they have a heart for it, they’ve never really seen the kind of poverty we are talking about and dealing with on a daily basis.
So on Compassion’s Artist Relations team, we take these artists overseas to see our work first hand. It’s a great experience for them and one of my favorite parts is watching these artist “get it.”
Meaning, you actually see them being transformed by what they are experiencing as they meet these children and their families and by learning how the local church is involved in these children’s lives on every level.
It’s at this point that an artist’s passion for releasing children from poverty goes to the next level. It becomes a part of their everyday lives. Not just a part of their show.
Last spring, I took country artist Bryan White to Ecuador to meet his sponsored child. It was an awesome trip!
After we got home, Bryan called me and said, “Spence, I wish I could travel with Compassion to visit every child in the program. This has changed me forever.”
You know…he was right. He talks to everyone he knows about children in poverty and how sponsoring a child changes children’s lives forever.
I love Bryan’s attitude. It’s what taking things to the next level is all about.
For Michael W. Smith, he has been talking about Compassion for over 20 years now. He’s been to see our work 11 times — 10 to Ecuador to see his sponsored child and once to Kenya.
I took Michael to Kenya in January of 2007, and we shot this video below. What you see on this video was a small example of watching a man, Michael, who had been talking about Compassion for all these years become even more passionate about the work being done for kids all over the world and the urgency to bring hope to these children in need.
Until next time friends…
An Introduction
I have always had a desire to write, but if you ask me, never in my wildest dreams did those thoughts include blogging. In a way this feels like God’s way of preparing me for that special role of sharing my life with others and using my past and my present to build others as He builds me.
At first, when I read the e-mail telling me that I was selected to be a contributor to this blog I was excited, but it was not until later that evening, when I was thinking of what to write for my first post, did I start getting cold feet with the realization of what I was just about to do.
I sincerely don’t know where God is taking me with this but my prayer is that at the end of it all relationships will be developed and through the many authentic conversations shared, communities will be fostered, trust built, and that I will have effectively and knowledgably shared with you about Compassion International and what it means to me and to the other many sponsored children, not only here in Kenya, but around the world.
My name is Anthony Njoroge. I was born 24 years ago in one of the largest slums in Kenya, Kawangware, famously known for drug abuse, prostitution, crime and high levels of poverty.
I am the fifth-born in a typical family, typical being where the mother is the bread winner, head of the home and the pillar of the family. It’s a scenario in almost all the slums because all the men are either too drugged to take care of their families or in prison.
It’s in this slum that Compassion found me, enrolled me in the Child Sponsorship Program, gave me the chance to go to school, and provided me with the chance to enjoy three meals a day, something unheard of in the slum. Compassion also provided me with my very first pair of shoes, and, literally, my very first set of clothes, because most of the clothes I had were either handed down to me from my big brother or given to me by a close relative. Most importantly, I got the chance to know Christ.
Once your heart is changed, your mind changes, your body changes and definitely the environment around you changes, and that’s what it means to release a child from poverty in Jesus name, for poverty is not only a lack of basic necessities but more so a lack of hope. It’s times like this when I look back at my life and the places I have come from and thank God for having brought Compassion International into my life and the way God has used the relationship with my sponsors not only to show me that I can make it, but that where I came from doesn’t matter and that I am not defined by poverty.
I am about to graduate from Compassion’s Leadership Development Program,* and I leave a better-fulfilled Christian adult with big dreams, a degree in information technology, and a servant leader. And that’s why it’s hard for me to truly tell you about my life and who I am without mentioning Compassion and my sponsors, for they have helped me be who I am today.
My life has had its ups and downs, and through the many conversations we will be having I will share these moments with you. Did I tell you how I joined Compassion? That’ll be my next post.
*This content honors our historical Leadership Development Program. To learn more about our current youth development opportunities, click here.
