Life as a Sponsored Child
From yesterday’s post:
Compassion staff decided to extend grace and enroll ages 4 to 12 years.
That was the moment I knew I was now completely netted. I could see my mother smiling broadly after the pronouncement. She had her fingers crossed all this time.
I was among the first lucky ones to get a sponsor, and when I did I had a new family — the Pendleton Browns from Atlanta, Georgia. I became a big brother.
They had two sons: Eliakim, who was 5 at the time, and Ace, who was 4. Later my sister, Hossanah Joy Brown, was born.
I remember going to school with the family photo they had sent me, and when I showed it to my friends, they asked me, “Who are those?”
I answered them with so much joy — “My family in Atlanta!”
One of the kids gave me a mean look, then replied, “Hmm … they’re white and you’re black.”
Sure enough, it did not matter to me what color they were or what color I was not. All I knew is that I had found a family. I cherished every single letter they wrote me.
Every Saturday I attended the Compassion Saturday program. When I was first enrolled I knew for sure the weekly meetings would interfere with my soccer time, which was also on Saturdays. But when sports were introduced I became comfortable with the idea of attending.
I looked forward to receiving a letter or photo from my family, and if I did not get one, I went home unhappy thinking that maybe I did not do a good job in replying to their last letter.
Compassion took care of my educational needs by buying school uniforms, books, clothes and other necessities. This played a big role in restoring my self-image because I used to go to school in a torn pair of shorts that had patches all over and some of my classmates made fun of me.
Medical care was also provided by Compassion, which played a great role in ensuring that we had access to better medical facilities.
Health screenings at the child development center ensured monitoring of health conditions and those cases were referred to the medical facility before it was too late.
Spiritual development through the Saturday devotion program and Bible study at the child development center facilitated my decision to receive Christ as my personal Savior at the age of 15 when I was in high school.
I became an active Bible Study leader and during Compassion Sunday, I got a couple of opportunities to preach and share my testimony before the congregation in church.
During the vacation, the child development center organized camps, hikes and game park tours. My social life was now active through exposure from various activities offered by the center.
Life skills training also became an integral part of life at the child development center. I learned soon how to cook, weave and how to operate computer applications.
Continue Reading ›From the Outside Looking In
Back in May I published a photo and asked you to give it a caption. I also included a little context from the photographer.
“Along the wall outside the Compassion project, many children watched and waited while the other children played and sang. With hundreds and thousands of children needing the hope that Compassion brings, our hearts broke to see the ones that could not be helped. Hundreds more are waiting for their chance to be sponsored, to be given hope, to be shown the love of Christ.” — scfish7
Then recently, I received the following e-mail.
“I read the blog about the children who are registered who are able to sing and enjoy meals while the unregistered ones just stare at them, wishing they were one of them. I have a hard time imagining what this is like.
“Is it like there is a ‘Century Fence,’ so to speak, that separates these two groups, where the unregistered look in and feel sad as they watch the sponsored eat hot meals and be carefree?
“Does this make them feel more unloved?
“Is it appropriate to send a picture or have one on this Web site so I can see what you are talking about? I have a hard time understanding this and maybe a picture would help.”
What are your thoughts? What do the children on the outside looking in feel?
One Million Children Sponsored
I am overwhelmed with gratitude as I write this. Today, as we do every day, we have the privilege of acting as a bridge between caring sponsors and children in need.
However, this particular day we have a sponsorship that is very special in that it represents a milestone for our ministry. Compassion is currently serving 1 million sponsored children! One million!!
I wish we could all be together today to celebrate this joyous moment. What a day it is!
Thank you sponsors! Thank you for your love of children. Thank you for your faithfulness to God’s call on your lives.
I love you, and I love serving the Lord with you through this amazing ministry!
Updated at 4:30 p.m. MDT
“Look at the nations and watch – and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.” – Habakkuk 1:5 (NIV)
Tune into Fox and Friends tomorrow (May 21) at 6:50 a.m. EDT to “meet” our 1 millionth child and his sponsor.
The newly sponsored child lives with his father outside Togo’s capital city of Lomé. Togo, a country whose population is seriously affected by the devastation of AIDS, is the most recent country to join the growing list of nations where Compassion works.
The child’s sponsor is from South Korea, the country in which Compassion began its mission 57 years earlier. The sponsor is most recently noted for a gold medal she won at last year’s Beijing Olympics.
I Pray
As a stay-at-home mom of three girls, ages (almost) 6 and under, my To-Do lists are never ending. Yes, you read right — list(S). When I don’t get them done, which is quite frequently, I feel lazy, discouraged, and just plain ole’ not good enough.
Thankfully, I am aware that Satan is just trying to deceive me again. So I turn to the One who can get me through those feelings — God.
Sometimes those lists gets smaller, my energy goes up, and I’m not so discouraged if everything seems to not get done in time.
And sometimes it doesn’t. Boy does Satan love what happens next — I doubt myself and God. Did He hear me? Am I not good enough in the eyes of my heavenly Father? Maybe I ticked Him off (by snapping at my kids, the dogs, and my husband) and he’s giving me the silent treatment. Hmm … Perhaps I didn’t pray the right way?
Then I really start to wonder: If Satan is trying to deceive me, then you can bet he’s trying to deceive those who are truly suffering: those without food, medical attention, water, clothing, the list goes on and on.
Just a little background as to why I think this.
I have always felt that my sponsored children’s faith was stronger than mine. They have so much hope. They seem to always be positive and thankful. I figure that Satan would try to deceive those who have a stronger faith.
Why?
Because whenever something goes “wrong” for me, I start to complain:
My daughters and I had ear infections awhile back and our doctor is an hour and a half away. I complained.
Or, my husband had to work late and I had made dinner to be ready for him when he got home. I complained.
Or, “Mr. Fast and Furious” speeds past me, but I am the one who gets pulled over by the policeman for going 5 miles over the limit. I complain.
I know I should be giving thanks to God that we have a doctor, my husband has a job, I have food to prepare, I have my own mode of transportation, and that He will hold other people responsible for their actions.
It seems like even though my sponsored children are living without basic necessities, they’re so thankful for what they DO have. They know what it truly means to be without — they see God working in big ways, because they have so little.
Whereas, since I have more and live with so many more opportunities, I don’t see (or it’s harder for me to see) how God is working.
So, I pray for those who know what it is like to suffer. I pray for my sponsored children.
One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 54:17 – “No weapon formed against you shall prosper.” I pray that my sponsored children will be protected from any weapon — sickness, hunger, thirst, violence, loneliness, discouragement, fatigue and deceit. That those weapons would crumble into dust as my Savior protects them.
After praying for THEM, my lists don’t seem all that important. In fact, my focus has, more often than not, turned toward another piece of paper, one that will contain the words to build up my sponsored children’s self-esteem and to help them battle Satan’s lies. I write my sponsored children and assure them of God’s infinite love, of how special they are, and how proud I am of them.
Interestingly enough, I find that as I write those words, God speaks to my heart as well: God loves you, He hears you, and you are His beloved.
Visit the Clarke family website.
If I Could Spend Christmas
If I could spend Christmas with my sponsored child . . .
Amazement
My sponsored child amazes me . . .
Mistaff Meets His Sponsor
Stories and photos By Consodyne Buzabo, Compassion Uganda field communications specialist
An air of anticipation and excitement hung over the Muzahura Child Development Center on the morning of August 26, 2008. While any day at the child development center is always a day the children look forward to each week, this day was going to be extra out of the ordinary.
Special guests were coming to visit. On this day, 13-year-old Mistaff had a mixture of trepidation and expectancy coursing through him. Questions swirled through his mind. “What would they think?” “What do they look like?” “What will I say?”
On this bright and sunny day, Mistaff was waiting to meet his sponsor for the very first time. (more…)
Do You Love Your Sponsored Child?
Do you love your sponsored child? Really love your child?
We already know I’m an emotionally disconnected person, so help me out here.
Explain to me how you know that what you feel for your sponsored child is actually love.
Come on y’all. I want to know what love is. Sing it.
Why Am I Here?
As you may have read recently, the Global Leadership Forum has been in progress all week and all the “big-wigs” are in town talking about . . . stuff. I don’t actually know what they are talking about because I wasn’t invited. But I’m pretty sure that my lunch on Tuesday was better than any silly forum 🙂
When I walked into the New Delhi Café (get it?), I was startled to see most of our tables occupied by little boys and girls . . . FROM AFRICA! A group of about ten kids, roughly eight to twelve years old, from Tanzania were all sitting down having lunch and drinking Cokes. They were bright-eyed, big smiled, beautiful kids.
As I filed in with many others for what we thought would be a normal lunch, I overheard someone say that they were all Compassion sponsored children.
“What an awesome reminder,” I thought to myself. “I’m working for them, their friends, and families.” Despite the fact that they were all well and healthy, I still found myself pitying them because they had to be “sponsored.”
But then, all of the sudden, they stood up, gathered together, started swaying in unison . . . and started singing.
I have never heard anything like it. Besides being on perfect key, they sang in harmony with one another. I can’t begin to tell you just how moving it was to listen to them to sing praises to the Lord. More powerful than their voices, though, were their hearts behind it.
As they sang and swayed, they all either had their eyes closed or their eyes wide open and hands raised to heaven. I never knew the power of a child’s faith until that moment.
And yet these are not just any children. (more…)
I Share Love
There aren’t any half ton puns today, but there is some cheap rhymin’ goin’ on.
‘Scuse us as we put on our business faces.
Alright. Finish this half for us.
I share love with my sponsored child by . . .
My Sponsored Child Taught Me
My sponsored child taught me . . .
Dear Sponsor: A Letter From Rwanda
“Life has meaning when someone touches it at tender age. Someone stood out and shaped my life. I believe in life of fullness. Thank you my sponsor where ever you are.” – Ruzamba Niyomwungeli
