Serendipity, happenstance, chance meeting, fate, it was meant to be — a wholly unique moment when you meet someone so special that you just know something bigger is at work.
You’re so astonished at how it came to be that you start analyzing every little detail and decision that culminated in bringing this person into your life. You begin saying things like, “If only I had done this or that, then we never would have met. What are the odds?”
A Series of Fortunate Events
My friend Ben Steed — who works for our friends at Heartlight — recently told me of one such moment.
As part of a trip to Ecuador in 2010, Ben visited the home of Monica, a mother in our Child Survival Program. She shared about how the program had lifted a burden in her life by helping her and her 18-month-old, Edison Ivan, who had been chronically ill.
Ben, with a son the same age, has never forgotten the impact of that moment on his life and his perspective on extreme poverty.
Fast-forward a few years. The Compassion Experience visited his town. He and his wife decided to take their daughter and son so they could experience what the life of a child in the developing world is really like.
At the Compassion Experience Ben’s family decided to sponsor a child the same age as their 3-year-old son so he could grow up knowing the value of sponsorship and friendship with someone his age across the world. And remembering his experience in 2010, Ben had a special place his heart for Ecuador, so that seemed the right place to look.
They went home, logged on to Compassion.com, and searched for a boy in Ecuador between 3 and 5 years old.
And there was only one result.
One.
Edison Ivan.
Ben and his wife knew. They just knew they were meant to sponsor Edison.
From Top: Edison’s mom, Sally and their home; Edison at 18 months old; Edison, now at 5 years old
What are the odds?
When Ben shared his story, my heart sped up a little and I got chills.
There are literally dozens of ways you can meet one of the awesome little ones in our program.
It might be at your church, school, or a For King and Country concert. It could be on our website, at the Compassion Experience, or through a blog you follow.
But here’s the thing: The child you meet is available to sponsor only through that one place at that one moment. Because we don’t want someone to fall in love with a child at an event, where they hold his or her story in their hands, only to find out that someone else met the child online and sponsored him or her just moments before. That kiddo is available in only one place at one time.
Not only that, but we have 13 other offices, in other countries, with children available for sponsorship. So a child available to sponsor in the United States isn’t available anywhere else.
You see where I’m going with this?
Our process does change from time to time in order to make sure we’re taking care of children in the most effective way possible. But here’s a look at some actual numbers from spring of this year:
- There were 204,478 children available for sponsorship.
- 8,894 were in Ecuador.
- 6,489 of those were available to be sponsored by someone in the U.S.
- On average, there are probably 200-250 children in Ecuador available on our website at any one time.
- 120-150 of those children are boys.
- Approximately 40-50 are between the ages of 3 and 5.
But not on that day in 2012. That day, there was only one.
One who wasn’t available in another country or at another event. One who might not have been there if Monica had never enrolled Edison in our Child Sponsorship Program when he turned 3 years old … or if Ben’s family had looked on a different day … or if the Compassion Experience had not come to his town …
It goes on and on.
Here’s the thing: At the end of the day, I don’t care about odds. I don’t care about what-ifs. I care that we serve a God of miracles.
Sometimes a coincidence is just a coincidence … until it’s not.
How did you meet that special child or young adult whom you sponsor? Do you have a story like Ben’s of how you just knew? Share your story in the comments below.
Read all about how Ben first met Edison Ivan at Heartlight.
And then read about their reunion!