Day 19: CCF and seeds

A number of years ago, there were commercials on tv about the Christian Children's Fund (now called ChildFund). Each time one of those commercials came on, I felt a tug in my heart but I never sponsored, I never gave any donations. The commercials were hard to watch. They showed pictures of children living in extreme poverty conditions, torn and ragged clothes, no shoes, obviously starving. I always wanted to help, but never did. What makes us turn away from that? Why do we talk about how much we would like to help, but then never do anything about it?

Maybe, all those years ago, God was working on my heart, planting seeds that would one day sprout leaves and then become a growing blooming tree. I think those early commercials did just that because now, I have a heart for the Compassion ministry. I feel compassion towards these children, not just sympathy. My husband and I sponsor a little girl in Brazil, I'm a correspondent sponsor to two other children, and I'm an official Compassion advocate.

Seeds are planted, watered, and harvested. Where are you in this growth pattern today? Are seeds being planted in your heart? Are you planting seeds in the hearts of others?

Thank you, God, for planting those seeds in my heart all those years ago!

In His peace,

Sharon

Day 16: Learning about poverty

Halfway through 31 days of compassion, I wanted to share a poverty quiz that Compassion has on their website. It's designed to help us learn more about global poverty. I took the quiz and found myself really thinking about my answers. It brought me back to the reason that I was drawn to sponsoring a child in the first place. Go here and take the quiz.

One question that really spoke to me was:

"How many children under age 5 die of hunger-related causes every minute?"

Every minute?!? Oh my word, that just breaks my heart. We have plenty of food in our house, and about a hundred stores around us. These poverty-stricken children are happy with just a few beans and rice, if they even get that.

Take the quiz, pray about how you can help end poverty, one child at a time, in the name of Jesus.

In His peaceful presence,

Sharon

Day 7: Bible verses

Compassion has compiled a list of bible verses on children and the poor. Let's get our bibles out, look up these verses, and then pray for the Lord to guide you on how you can help.

Galatians 2:10 -- "All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do."

Luke 14:13 -- "But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind."

1 Corinthians 13:3 -- "If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing."

Proverbs 19:17 -- "He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward him for what he has done."

Jeremiah 22:16 -- "He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know Me?' declares the Lord."

In His peaceful presence,

Sharon

Did you know...?

Did you know...

-more than a quarter of the world's 7 billion people are children age 15 and under?
-in developing countries, a thid to almost half of the population are children?
-about 153 million of the world's children are orphans?
-and, more than 100 million (of those 153 million) live and work on the streets?
-more than 100 million children who are school age do not attend school?

Children are our future. They are future parents, teachers, pastors, doctors, nurses, scientists, community leaders. Let's invest in their lives, both locally and globally. Help release them from their spiritual and physical poverty. Let's build them up and help our children to become responsible, healthy and happy Christian adults.

Sponsor a child through Compassion International today!

Click here...
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=126731

In His grace,

Sharon

Compassion Mobile Experience!

Compassion International has come up with a wonderful and exciting way to share the story of children in poverty. There's no way that I could explain it any better than Compassion does, so I'll just copy and paste their words from the Compassion website.  ( www.compassion.com )

Change the Story...what is it?

It's a traveling, interactive exhibit that allows you to journey through the lives of three real-life children who are affected not only by extreme poverty, but also by the Compassion ministry.

The Experience
What if you could see poverty firsthand? What if, despite age, health or finances, others could experience God's heart for the poor?

Now you can.

Change the Story will bring you as close to another country and culture as you can get without a passport. This interactive, immersive display allows you to step into the life of a child who has suffered under the crippling weight of poverty.

But the journey does not end there.

In the span of less than 30 minutes, you will travel with that child from hardship to hope. And in the midst of hope, you will see that child's story transformed through the support of Compassion and the child's life-giving relationship with a sponsor.

Change the Story is an eye-opening experience that challenges your views of poverty, transforms your understanding of the world, and moves you to be the change for a child who lives in extreme poverty!

Go here to find out where the Compassion Mobile Experience will land near you!

In His grace,


Sharon

I welcome your comments!

Introducing...Armando

Meet my newest correspondent child, Armando from Guatemala! Isn't he just the most precious little boy?!?

Armando just turned 7 years old last month. He lives with his mother. He likes soccer and football, and hide-and-seek! And, he also likes cars (a typical little boy "like"). The information that I received indicates that the family is in extreme poverty, and they don't have money to send Armando to school. That just breaks my heart. I'm going to try to send him not just fun things in my letters, but educational as well.


Armando lives in the mountainous community of Totonicapan. Typical houses are constructed of cement floors, mud walls and tile roofs. The most common language is Quiche. (Note to self: research Quiche. I've never heard of it.)


His little face looks so sad. I hope that through my letters to him, I can bring a smile to that sweet face. Please pray for Armando today.


In His grace,


Sharon

What more?

Spring cleaning...it's something that I dread and know I really need to do, but put it off as long as possible. Those ceiling fans could really use a good cleaning because it's one of those things that I just don't think about wiping off each week. And, those dust bunnies everywhere! Our hardwood floor isn't quite as shiny as when it was put down. The bathrooms sure could use a good scrubdown, and don't even get me started on my closets! (Well, that sentence just popped my big happy balloon!) Don't we all feel this way sometimes? I know I do, more often than I want to admit. I'm quite blessed, but sometimes, I don't appreciate what I have quite as much as I should!


And, then I visit the Compassion website, and blogs of sponsors who have gone to visit their sponsored children. I look at their houses made of cardboard and mud and whatever materials they can get their hands on. I read about the people in those other countries who are joyful at the thought of being able to eat one small meal on any given day. I look through countless faces on the Compassion website, wondering if today might be the day that this precious little boy will become sponsored. Or, that beautiful little girl will have her heart broken once again on the next letter delivery day when her name isn't called.


I look at what I have, and I feel so blessed but I also feel so selfish. Who am I to deserve this house, this car, these clothes I'm wearing, the freedom to worship when and where I want, the money to go buy a new pair of shoes when my old ones wear out? So many blessings I have, but so many children who need sponors and who would be grateful for clean water.


My husband and I have sponsored a little girl (Beatriz) in Brazil for a little over a year now. I'm also correspondent sponsor to Hosea in Tanzania, and Andre in Indonesia. It's such a blessing to have this opportunity, and I'm grateful. But, I look around my house, and see all the things that just sit there, looking pretty but not really useful. I look at my house, which isn't a huge house, but it's brick, not made of mud and cardboard.


Sometimes, I stand with the pantry door open, or the freezer, and wonder..."what can I fix for dinner tonight? we have nothing in here; I need to go to the store, but I don't really want to get out...I really need to re-fill the freezer, and I will next time I go to the meat market...guess I'll fix the old standby of hamburgers or spaghetti..." All of these thoughts, whirling around in my head, and on the Compassion website are faces of hundreds of children who don't know where their next meal is coming from.


I feel so...I don't know...blessed, yes, but also so unworthy of what the Lord has blessed me with. Questions start popping into my mind...how can I share what I have? what else can I do? how can I shave off a few more dollars from our budget so that we can sponsor another child?


Two questions keep popping into my mind...what more can I do and how can I make it happen?


I'm on a journey to find out the answers.


In His grace,


Sharon

Survive 125

Imagine having to choose between eating moldy food or starving. Or, getting your child a vaccine which may prevent her from contracting a disease or buying enough food for one meal.

Now, you can find out what it’s like to make these very difficult decisions by playing “Survive125”, a game created by 58: and designed to allow you to get just a glimpse into the kind of world that many people live in daily.

Did you know that well over a billion people around the world are living in extreme poverty? The purpose of Survive 125 is to get through one month surviving on $1.25 per day.

I played this game and I was shocked at the choices that I had to make on a daily basis. I read the questions and tried my best to put myself in this woman’s place, to really know and understand, and try to make the best choice possible for each scenario. Sometimes, I felt like I made a good choice, only to find out later how that single choice would affect another area of my life.

58: is an unprecedented global alliance of Christians, churches and world-class poverty-fighting organizations working together to end extreme poverty in our lifetime by living the True Fast of Isaiah 58.

Give it a try yourself by going to this link. Then, I would love to know what you think about it. Come back here and leave a comment letting me know how you did.

Here’s the link again:  http://www.live58.org/survive125

In His grace,

Sharon