Dignity

This week our Compassion Blog Month assignment was to write about what we feel the following sentence means to us:

The presence of dignity doesn't mean poverty is absent.


To me, this has a lot to do with Compassion International.  Just because someone is poor, doesn't mean they lack dignity.  They may work long hard hours to provide for their family, which gives them dignity in their hard work, yet with low wages, they may remain below the poverty line. 

This is also shown in the pictures of sponsored children with Compassion.  Even though their family is poor, they might have one good outfit (or borrow one) that they meticulously keep clean for church and pictures.  They wear that outfit for picture day in order to try to impress a sponsor.  Some people might look at that child and think "they don't look poor, why do they need help?" but in reality they are poor, just with a lot of dignity in how they present themselves.  They take pride in keeping their appearance as clean as they can. 

Below is a children who needs a sponsor who did just this.  They present themselves with such dignity and presence, yet are obviously below the poverty line to need the help of Compassion International.  Please consider sponsoring her today.

Fidele Afi Alokpo

She is 4 years old and was born on April 24, 2009.  She lives in Togo and has been waiting 326 days for a sponsor (you would probably be her first!).  There are 3 children in her family and she lives with both of her parents, who are sometimes farmers.  Just look at that cute yellow dress that she is showing off in.  Such a sweet girl.

Click here to learn more about Fidele

Love

This weeks blog topic is about choosing one word.  Yesterday I chose Hope.

Today I'm chosing Love.....by advocating for some kids named Love!

Love comes in many forms.  Showing my sponsored kids love is easy and so rewarding.  I show them love by writing to them several times a month.  I encourage them and tell them they are special.

Love also comes from our faith in God.  He showers us with more love than we deserve!  I am so glad we have a merciful God who gave his only son to save us.

Love is a word I use for my family and friends.  My Compassion kids are definitely a part of our family and I wouldn't bat an eye in considering them my children.  To some we are "auntie and uncle", which is so sweet.

The two kids below are named Love and My-love......which I think is just darling.  they are both beautiful little girls.

Please consider sponsoring a child in need today!

Love

This cutie is named Love and she is from the Dominican Republic.  She is 8 years old and her birthday is on April 21, 2005.  She lives with her parents and there are 3 kids in the family.  She has been waiting 194 days for a sponsor so please consider loving Love by sponsoring her today!

Click here to read more about Love

My-love

This little cutie is named My-love and she is from Haiti.  She is 7 years old and her birthday was on March 3, 2006.  She lives with just her father, who is sometimes employed as a farmer.




Click here to read more about My-love

Three Things About One Word: Hope

This weeks blog month assignment is to write three things about one word.  The word I chose was:

HOPE

Hope can come in many forms.  Through Compassion International, the sponsored children learn about and have hope for their future!

First and foremost, the children can learn hope in Jesus!  Through the Compassion projects, the children attend Sunday school, church, and learn about the word of God.  This can give them a hope for their future by putting their faith in God.  They have hope through prayer, uplifting and encouraging verses, communion with other believers, and a joy in the Lord.  This is something we can all connect with each other over as well, which is a great common ground when writing the kids letters.

Second, with an education they can have hope for a job, hope for a better life, hope for a change in circumstance.  Without Compassion International, some of the sponsored kids would not be able to attend school or afford the basics like school tuition, books, uniforms, etc.  Through this hope, their world can change!  We are so fortunate here in the US with free education, but in other parts of the world, there is no such thing as a free education, which is sad.

Third, they can have hope in a relationship with us, their sponsor!  My sponsored and correspondence children all have the hope that we will send them letters of encouragement, to lift them up.  I love getting a letter in my mailbox from them, and I know they feel the same way.  They have said the sweetest words regarding how much letters mean to them, even short letters.  Never underestimate how valuable hope through caring words can be!  My kids have a hope that we will someday visit them (I sure hope I can!), but more than anything, they just hope for a loving relationship and friendship.  Please give them that relationship if you already sponsor, and if you are not currently sponsoring a child, please give hope to a child awaiting a sponsor today!

Please click on the below link to see children in need of a sponsor.  Give them HOPE for a bright future today.

Click here to sponsor a child today!

A Conversation With My Childhood Self

This weeks Compassion International Blog Month's assignment is to write a note to our childhood self to think of ways we could have encouraged ourselves when we were younger.

Thinking back to my childhood I had a lot of great people around me who did encourage me.  There were of course a handful of classmates or others who would pick on me because of my acne and the mole I had on my face (since removed by plastic surgery).  I always felt self conscious of my face since a very early age.  I knew my parents, friends, and family loved me (and of course God too!), but it still bothered me that I had to deal with acne and the jokes from others.  Other kids can be cruel (and adults too sadly).

Now, years later, looking back on it, I wish I could have told myself that it would get better, that my face would clear up, that surgery to remove my mole would happen, that I would eventually get married, etc.  At the time I wasn't so sure any of those would happen, but now looking back I know I should have prayed more about it, accepted how I looked, and have confidence in my personality to shine through. 

I know as a child, it would have helped to hear all of this, or to hear encouraging words instead of insults from classmates. 

Because of this, I make sure to tell all my sponsored children with Compassion International just how loved and special I think they are.  I make sure to tell them how pretty/handsome they are, how much I love them, how unique and important they are, and how much God loves them.  I hope my words of encouragement mean as much to them in their young lives as I know it would have meant to me to hear it growing up.  For those of you that do sponsor a child, please make sure to write them often and encourage them in their schooling and life.  Even if you don't think you have anything exciting to write to them, they love just hearing about your day, or the fact that you are thinking of them.  A short letter to say hi is always appreciated, as it makes them feel special getting mail on mail day at their project.

I had a great family and childhood growing up, but my appearance definitely made me shy/self-conscious until it cleared up.  My sponsored children may not be going through physical appearance struggles (I hope!), but I'm sure they have their own struggles with family finances, missing parents, struggling in school, worrying about their futures, etc.  I pray that they won't have to worry about any of those, and through Compassion International and the child sponsorship program they can get their needs met to overcome those obstacles.

I want you to consider sponsoring a child today.  There are a lot of kids on the Compassion site that still need sponsors so feel free to click on the link below to pick any child that jumps out at you.

Click here to sponsor a child today!

 I have also found a few children on the site that I would like to advocate for from Rwanda who have been waiting to receive a sponsor for over a year now!  These children could use all the love and support that you can offer to them through your monthly financial help as well as your precious letters that you send them.  My kids from Rwanda write great letters and are so thankful to hear from me, that it always brings a smile to my face to read their letters.

Uwimbabazi Dianne

Her birthday is November 2, 2006 (so she is 6....soon to be 7).  She lives with her parents who are sometimes employed as farmers.  There are 5 children in the family.

Click here to see Uwimbabazi Dianne's profile

Irambona Gaudance

Her birthday is July 30, 2006.  She just turned 7 a month ago and has been waiting over a year for a sponsor.  She lives with her mother and there are 4 kids in the family.

Click here to see Irambona Gaudance's profile

Ndayishimiye David  

His birthday is November 18, 2005.  He is 7, almost 8 years old.  He lives with his parents and helps carry firewood and water.  There are five kids in his family.

Click here to read more about Ndayishimiye David

Please consider sponsoring one of these 3 children to put a smile on their faces :)  Otherwise, please feel free to look through the Compassion site to find a child with a certain birthday, name, from a certain country, etc.  There are so many ways to search for a child that I encourage you to explore the Compassion page today.

Compassion International Blog Month!

This month is a super cool month.  It is blog month with Compassion International.  All month long I will be blogging about Compassion, my sponsored kids, or other kids that are in need of a sponsor.  Other sponsors will be doing the same thing as well.

If you are also a part of Compassion International and have a blog, why not consider joining Blog Month?  Or if you already do blog for Compassion, consider joining the Bloggers Network.  There are prize entries for posts, getting kids sponsored, etc. so please consider joining today to advocate for kids who need sponsors.

Click here to join the Compasssion Intl. blog network

or

Click here to learn more about blog month

or

Click here to see the profiles of children in need of sponsors