Dear Compassion Blog Reader,
My name is Darren. I work for Compassion, but I don’t sponsor a child.
No need to clean your glasses. I actually wrote that.
So as not to sully the good names of the many, many Compassion employees who do sponsor children, I should point out that technically I’m a Compassion contractor. I’ve been working on the Web Team since October 2010.
It’s a job that I’m growing to love, and the people I work with are superb. Day in and day out, I get to do bloggy, Facebooky, Tweety things that truly interest me.
There’s just this nagging thing. I don’t sponsor a child.
Not a soul on my work team has told me I need to sponsor a child, but it’s become the elephant in my private room now that I’ve seen how passionate – I mean truly passionate – Compassion employees are about releasing kids from poverty in Jesus’ name.
When I first set foot in Compassion’s Global Ministry Center (GMC) in August 2010, I was a skeptic of the highest order regarding gigantic charities, especially those that claim to rescue kids from this, that or the other.
Had I not dug deeper, I could have rebuffed the oversized statue of Jesus in the lobby of the GMC as a waste of money rather than appreciating the artist’s deliberate point of making Lord Jesus larger than life, which He certainly is.
I’m not exactly sure why I don’t sponsor a child, but here are my usual reasons:
- I did it once but it wasn’t a commitment of the heart, and I don’t want to leave a kid hanging again.
- I have four kids.
- I’m busy.
- I’m stressed.
- I really can’t afford it. (If I had to pick one that’s the most legit, this is it.)
- I drive an old car.
- I’m Canadian.
- I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed.
- Etc.
I’m a reasonably educated, well-traveled guy. I pay attention to the world. I’ve had my boots on all sorts of ground, done charitable work in foreign places, been around the block.
So what?
After working with Compassion for two and a half months, I’m about to explode with the need to get involved with a kid. Imagine being saturated in “Compassionese” all day every day and that not rub off on you? You’d have to be pretty heartless. I guess it’s a good sign that I’m getting pretty uncomfortable about not sponsoring a child!
So, I’m asking you now, dear reader, where do I start? I don’t mean in a literal way. I know I can “pick a kid” off the website and get going. I mean, how do I prepare my heart for the commitment? How do I take on the burden that God’s placing in my heart and not see it confused with condemnation?
So many of you sponsor kids, often many at a time, and I am anxious to hear from you. I’m anxious to get going, to really change a child’s life in the New Year.
I just want to get it right.
Your Friend,
Darren