Today was such a
great day! This morning we visited the
East India Compassion Office and were able to see how they do their
ministry. First though we were involved
in their staff devotional, where we sang hymns in English, Bengali, and
Hindu. Roger, our president then led us
all in a devotion on Mark 2:1-12 about Jesus healing the paralytic. He pointed our three take away thoughts from
the passage: 1) in verses 3-4, it talks about the four men who brought their
friend who was paralyzed to Jesus; they were a team and worked together to
bring him to Jesus. This was then
compared to the ministry we each do and how we are each a team with individuals
working together to bring people to Jesus.
2) in verse 4 it says the friends dug a hole in the roof to lower their
friend to Jesus since there was no room to get him in anywhere else. This reminds us to do whatever it takes to get
people to Jesus at any cost. 3) After
verse 4, the four friends were not mentioned again in the story, instead it is
about their friend and Jesus. Jesus
focuses His attention on the paralytic and not on the friends who brought
them. This reminds us that this ministry
we do is not about us but about Jesus and whom we are blessed to minister
to.
It was really
incredible to be together with the Indians at Compassion and our American staff
as we worshiped the same God. This is
something I will not forget.
So I have mentioned
Compassion a lot and realize that not everyone reading this may know what they
do or who they are. Compassion
International is a non-profit, non-denominational ministry that is ‘helping
release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.”
They do this through different programs.
The Child Survival Program (CSP) is a program that helps mothers-to-be
with preventative prenatal care. This is
for mothers and children age 0 – 2.
The Child
Development Sponsorship Program (CDSP) is the next program for children age 4 –
22. This program reaches out to the
poverty-stricken families, specifically a child, in different communities and
provides basic needs such as education, health care, food, and spiritual
guidance. All these things are provided
through the local church where a social worker, project director and accountant
work together with the country’s office to help each child. Each child is to have a sponsor, someone who
‘steps in the gap’ and points them toward Jesus, someone who believes in them
and tells them they matter. The sponsor
also provides for the child monetarily, $38 a month, of which around 80% goes
directly toward the child sponsored. The
other 20% goes to the general fund which helps support the children who do not
yet have a sponsor. Every child in the
CDSP receives all the above benefits, not just the sponsored children. The sponsored children though get the benefit
of having a relationship with someone who cares for them and wants the best for
them. This relationship is very special
and often times children call their sponsor sister, brother, uncle, or
aunt. In some cases children in the CDSP
do not have parents and their sponsor in a way becomes like a parent to them.
The other main
program in Compassion is called the Leadership Development Program or LDP. This program is for students who have been
through the CDSP and are now seeking a college degree. LDP students are sponsored as well and it
usually is around $300 a month to sponsor them.
LDP students not only go to college but also get training in leadership
and discipleship. This is the program
Student Life brings their interns from for the summer Compassion
representatives. Each Student Life Team
has an LDP who will get the chance to share their story of how they got into
Compassion, how they came to know Jesus and what their life is like today. It is a very unique and neat opportunity to
have these students with us on our camp teams.
The LDP students are also the main reason we are here in India. We are meeting the possible students who will
be working with us and seeing what their lives are like here so that when they
come to the United States we will be able to relate to them better because we
have been to their home.
Compassion also has
a program called CIV which helps meet the needs people in the other programs
might have, such as clean water, epidemics, emergencies, etc.
Other than the LDP,
we work the most with the CDSP. At each
of our summer camps we provide the opportunity for people to sponsor a
child. We walk step by step with them
through the process and are very transparent about the program.
It was actually at
the first ever Student Life camp I went to as a family group leader with my
church that I heard about Compassion.
That week I felt led to sponsor a child, so I began to sponsor Mariam
Nazareth Solis Parodi from Nicaragua.
She was eight years old when I began sponsoring her and I sponsored her
for 2 ½ years. During this time we
exchanged letters and encouraged one another.
This past summer as I was working on a Student Life summer staff team, I
began to sponsor another girl, this time from Kenya, Nyokabi Faith, who is
13. Most of the time when you sponsor a
child and you correspond with them through letters there is translation
involved. But with Nyokabi, she speaks
English and is old enough to write to me herself so that is very special. Right after I began sponsoring Nyokabi, I got
the sad news that Mariam’s parents took her out of the program because it was
not safe for her to walk to the church where the Compassion project was
held. I was literally devastated as I
felt I had lost a little sister or niece.
Mariam is no longer getting the benefits of Compassion as her parents
removed her from the program. I pray for
Mariam still and pray she will come back to the program one day or better yet
know Jesus from her short time we knew each other.
So I was back to
sponsoring one child but felt that the Lord had asked me to do more. Then this trip to India came up and we were
shown packets (information and pictures of the children needing sponsors) of
kids in the CDSP at projects we were going to visit. If we sponsored these children, we could
possibly meet them! I began to pray and
see if this is what the Lord wanted me to do.
When I looked at the pictures of all the children one little girl stuck
out to me – her name was Shinia Parveen, an eight year old from Kolkata. I did not immediately sponsor her but instead
kept praying and coming by to see her picture in the office. It was not until the Friday before we left
for India that I decided to sponsor Shinia.
By this time, I found out that her project got taken off the itinerary
and that the likelihood of me meeting her was slim. That was okay though as I was still able to
bring her and her family a gift and the Compassion office would give it to
them. So Saturday night after getting
into Birmingham late from Atlanta, I went to Walmart and filled a tote bag with
items to give to Shinia and her family.
Once we got to
India, I talked to Keith our Compassion representative and came to the
conclusion that it was still a long shot for me to meet her. So this morning I took her bag with me to the
East India office and planned on leaving it there for her project facilitator
to take to her. Then this afternoon we
went to a local project where three of our LDP candidates grew up and we
visited with the children. After our
first visit, Sam, our in-country Compassion liaison came up to me and asked if
I’d like to meet Shinia! The Compassion
office had worked it out for Shinia and her mother to get to the project, an
hour and a half away from their home so we could meet! I was shocked and so excited at the same
time! I then went to meet this small,
shy, beautiful little girl. Words cannot
express how excited and happy I was (still am!)
I am so honored to be able to be someone in Shinia’s life – to point her
to Jesus and let her know I love her and am praying for her. I spent about two hours visiting with Shinia
and her mother. Communication was
limited as Shinia speaks Hindu at home with her family and then Bengali at her
school and Compassion project. She knew
very little English. Sudi and Nehe, two
of the LDP students helped us translate, but mainly we sat in silence, me
beaming and her huddled on my lap. I
gave her and her mother the gifts I brought them, which was a really neat
time. Shinia absolutely loved the teddy
bear I got her and never put it down.
She also enjoyed the bubbles and coloring book and crayons. I have posted some pictures – but many more
to come.
After we played
with the toys I got her, it was time for Shinia and her mother to go home. I had the chance to pray for them both and
got a hug and a smile from Shinia before they left. My biggest prayer for Shinia is that she
would come to know Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Shinia was wearing a necklace that indicates
Islam so I do not believe her family are Christians. I am so happy she is in Compassion where she
will hear about Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross for her.
It was such a
blessing for me to be able to meet Shinia and her mother. It is something I never thought possible but through
God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).
I would encourage you to pray about sponsoring a child. Sponsoring a child through Compassion is
fulfilling God’s Word in Matthew 28:19-20 by making disciples of all
nations. Compassion shares God’s Word
and love to people all over the world and when people hear God’s Word and see
and feel His love, lives are changed forever.
Please go to www.compassion.com
to learn more or ask me – I’d love to help in anyway I can.
After saying
goodbye to Shinia, I went with our team and visited a home of a boy who is in
the local Compassion project. We met his
family and learned how their lives are affected by Compassion. This family’s house was one room with a loft
above. It was about ten feet by seven
feet with six people living in it. It
was very modest but did have some electricity.
It was very humbling to see. This
family, though they do not have many material things, does have hope and joy
because their son is involved in Compassion where he is getting provided
for. Compassion helps the family by
providing food and general items needed in the home. They are also helping by providing for all
the education and health care costs for the boy. It was good to see all this first hand as now
I can explain better to others about Compassion and how they are using the
funds provided. I can be a better
advocate because of what I have experienced.
We finished the day
by going to a local mall for a dinner filled with Lebanese and Mediterranean
food – my favorite being the hummus of course!
During dinner we got to know the LDP students better and enjoyed
fellowship together as a team. I can’t
believe the second full day here is gone!
So much has happened in such little time – I’m eager to see what else
the Lord has in store for us! Now off to
bed – sorry for the long post but I’m not much for short and quaint – I’m an
all kind of details kind of girl!