Do you?

Do you have $38 a month?
Do you have room in your heart to pray for and love a child on the other side of the world?

Compassion is a Christian organization that sponsors children around the world. That is an easy sentence to write but really, it means so much more than those 11 words. Here is a bit about what they do with the $38 a month.

They provide healthy food to children who may only eat scraps of garbage riddled with bugs.
They provide shelter to children and their families who may live in nothing more than cardboard held together with what they can find.
They provide medical care and education about disease prevention to children and their families.
They provide clean water to drink so they aren't drinking water that has mixed with the raw sewage running directly behind their tin hut.
They provide education and necessary supplies or uniforms for the school.
They teach families how to help lift themselves from poverty to break the cycle for the next generation by teaching them a skill they can then use to produce products to sell and earn a living.
But you want to know the biggest thing Compassion does?

They bring the love of Jesus to people who would never feel that love otherwise.

Compassion brings the reality of the lives children are living in other countries to us by sending bloggers on trips to experience the lives of these children up close and personal. By reading the blogs of the people traveling they hope it will spark more people to sponsor children who desperately need it. I've been following a couple of these blogs over the past few days. Sponsoring a child has been something I've considered for several years but quite honestly I didn't do it simply because I didn't take the time to research which organizations were trustworthy. I had too much on my plate; or so I thought.

On Tuesday I decided enough is enough. We live a life of utter luxury compared to the stories I was reading about the children in Kenya. I wasn't putting it off any longer. I went to Compassion's website for children available for sponsorship in Kenya and spent a few minutes reading through the profiles of the over 800 children available. I chose one, a 6 year old little boy named Kevin who lives with his 5 siblings and is being cared for by his grandmother.

We will sponsor Kevin indefinitely and he will become a very real member of our family, albeit a long distance relationship. We will exchange letters and gifts with Kevin and get to know his family in Kenya as he gets to know our family here through our letters and pictures. With our mere $38 a month Kevin will be provided things in life he otherwise never would have gotten.

The bloggers currently in Kenya visited the largest slum in the country; it houses 800,000 people in 3 square miles. The ground is made up of decomposing garbage and the sewage runs between the huts. Smack dab in the middle of this slum is a school and church run by Compassion; the love of Jesus is in this slum.

Here is a blog post about the slum.
Mathare Valley
Then read these two blog posts about a young man who's been sponsored by a gentleman in California. He's lost his entire family to disease and the only reason he's still alive is because he's been sponsored.
Full Circle
Father to the Fatherless

To sponsor a child through Compassion, follow this link where you will be able to view pictures and information about available children. You can sort by country, gender and even age to find a child that fits your family.

Sponsor a child.

Deep Thoughts

"Does Anybody Hear Her" by Casting Crowns

I've heard this song many times on the radio as a drive my countless shuttle missions around town and every time it stops me in mid-thought. Only a few songs can capture my attention for the entire song and really 'speak' to me and this one does. I think our society as a whole brushes off teens, young girls especially, once they have taken a wrong path and rarely offers them the love of a second chance. This is even true with their own parents and family members, who may have contributed to the overall situation in the first place. It breaks my heart to know there are so many children and teens out there in broken homes. It is inevitable that the circle may be impossible to end; a child that grows up without being surrounded by love will never learn how to surround those around them with love when they are grown.

The second part of the video that speaks volumes to me is the "lofty glances from lofty people." Our churches are filled with lost and lonely people and they seek the one place that should be free from judgement but yet it is still one place that holds some of the most judgemental people I have ever met. This makes me incredibly sad. Jesus, the most holy person to walk the Earth lived and walked among with the poor, sick, outcasts, and all of those with bad habits. Religious leaders of that time called him "friend of the sinners", considered a derogatory term but Jesus considered it evidence of his love. If we can love and help those lost and lonely people, despite their scarlet letters, bad habits, financial status, etc. we can show that our love comes from a much more powerful source and can endure anything. If we can love others the way Jesus loves us hopefully we can continue the circle.