hope through relationship

The Compassion bloggers flew home from the Philippines yesterday.  You can read their final posts--and all their posts--here.

I don't know whether you had time this week to read any of the Philippines' posts, but if you did you're probably emotionally exhausted from the buckets of tears.  

Learning about abject poverty is hard for all of us.  

It's even hard for Shaun Groves, who for six years has chosen successful Christian bloggers and taken them on these trips (different location, different bloggers, every six months).  

On his blog, Shaun describes the intense joy he felt on the last day in the Philippines, as he played with the wonderfully sweet, unspoiled, joyful Compassion Child Development Center kids.  Shaun's words in red:

"At that moment that child development center may have been the happiest place on earth. And I was honored, amazed to just be there."

Then he noticed the kids gathering on the other side of the fence, watching the fun with longing eyes.  They weren't Compassion kids.  They didn't belong.  They didn't have hope yet.

As he watched them line up, Shaun's joy left.  

"I don’t know if it was just plain old corrupted me or some dark power creeping up unseen, but something pulled the drain plug and out ran all my new happiness. In an instant it was gone. And in the empty echoed a voice – a convincing voice. My voice?

You’ll never save them all.

 All those miles traveled. Words spoken from stages. Pleas written in pixels. Thousands sponsored over the last six years. Insignificant.
 

You’ll never save them all."

When you read such powerful words, you want to do something.  Desperately.

But what if you don't have anything monetary to offer?  What then?  

Then it becomes even harder to learn about abject poverty.  

Our economy is still ailing and I know $38/mo. is a lot right now, with gas prices squeezing most of us into some meatless meals, or into predominately ground-meat meals. When you can't buy the foods you prefer, or when you constantly eat the same meals over and over because they're cheap, making a giving commitment beyond your church tithe--called an offering in the Bible--can seem overwhelming.  

You might ask yourself:  What if I don't have the money some months--what will happen to my sponsored child then?  What if I have to abandon my sponsorship commitment altogether?  How can I take that risk with someone's heart?

Like tithing 10% of your income to your church every month, offering money to the poor regularly takes a mighty leap of faith. Faith is actually considered a spiritual gift, just like teaching, helping, administrating, mercy, hospitality, discernment, leadership, etc.  Many of you have probably had a spiritual gifts inventory done at your church, and you may already know if you have, or don't have, the gift of faith.

If you can't take that leap of faith, if it's just too foreign to you to commit money you can't justify on paper, I have good news for you!

There is another, non-monetary way to help these kids, and in many ways it means more than the sponsorship money.  

Letter writing.  Relationship.   

Each of the three Compassion trips I've covered here (Africa, Guatemala, Philippines) emphasized that the relationship developed through letters, pictures, and other correspondence give these children a sense of hope.  

Poverty can easily be defined as the absence of hope.  The posts from the Philippines were littered with photos of joyful Compassion kids.  They are still in abject poverty, but it doesn't define them. They have hope. 


Someone decided to be the face of Jesus and give them hope through relationship.

Isn't that how Jesus gives us hope on a daily basis?  Through relationship? 

I believe you, dear reader, would make an excellent friend to one of these kids.  Open your heart, your life, and write letters to a child who needs to hear that she matters. That Jesus loves him.  That you love him, that you're praying for him, that you're proud of her.  

You can also send monetary gifts or little trinkets to your child, as extra money comes to you.  No cash commitment ever, just your choice to give--when you can do it. 

Juli Jarvis, a Compassion employee, wrote a post about being a correspondent. I have included excerpts from it below.  Read it to learn how you can become a messenger of hope and love. 

____________________________

What is a child correspondent? 

A person who writes to a child in place of the sponsor.

  

Why is letter writing so important that correspondents are necessary? Isn’t financial support enough?

When you become a sponsor, you tell a child in need, “Yes. I want to know you. I want to have a relationship with you.” Your sponsorship models Christ’s love through your involvement in the child’s life, through the act of writing letters.

Poverty tells children, “You don’t matter!” But that is a lie. Your letters shine light into the darkness. They say: “You do matter Suzana.” “I care about you Renato.” “Jesus loves you Lerionga.”

The power of words, the power of a letter is tremendous, and for an impoverished child to know that you, someone from across the globe, cares . . . well, that’s the difference that can release the child from poverty.

Sponsorship is much more than just the financial support. Obviously, the financial support is critical, but it’s the letters a child receives that play a crucial role in his or her development and growth on many levels –– emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually.

How do I sign up to be a child correspondent?

If you want to be a correspondent, call 800-336-7676. Any sponsor relations representative can help you.

Your name will be placed on a list of willing correspondents. If the need arises, you will be contacted to correspond with a particular child, and that child packet will be sent to you.

Please realize that you may or may not be contacted, depending on the need. Also, it could be several weeks or months before you receive the opportunity. The number of children on the list varies greatly from time to time.

Can I send gifts to my correspondence children? Can I visit them?

Yes. Call 800-336-7676 to send a financial gift to your child or visit compassion.com for a list of gifts that can be included with your letters or to arrange a visit with your child.

Guest Post: Amy's Prayer Warrior Journey, Vol. 1

Remember my asking for volunteers to share about their prayer lives?  This wonderful post was written by Amy.

I am a 33-year-old mother of 3 girls.  I have twins who are 5 and my youngest daughter is 1 1/2.  I have been a Christian since childhood.  I remember praying the salvation prayer as the pastor led at church one Sunday morning, but do not know my exact age.  I think about 7 or 8.  Prayer has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.  My mom would pray with my sister and I each night before bed.  As we got older, I continued to pray on my own each night before I  would go to sleep.  It became a habit and a desire.  As I entered college I began using a devotional book along with prayer each night before bed.  Some nights I would not do the devotional, but would still pray.  

It became more difficult to pray before sleep after I became a mom.  I was so exhausted.  Since then, I have had times where my devotional/prayer time was consistent, and other times when it was not.

 

This past fall/winter has been difficult.  I can't really explain why, but I have dealt with exhaustion, anxiety, and feelings of being overwhelmed.   My prayer life suffered.   When Christine began writing about consistent prayer time, I was convicted to begin again.  She reminded me of using the ACTS plan to pray.  I have been praying each night using that outline.  It has helped me organize my thoughts and reminds me to begin with praise/adoration. 

 

What went well this week was the feelings of peace I experienced as I prayed.  I gave my worries to the Lord and spent time praising and thanking.  When I was experiencing a difficult day with my children, I didn't feel like praying.  I was tired, angry, and overwhelmed with how to deal with certain behaviors my two oldest girls have been struggling with.  I prayed anyway.  

Beginning with adoration, I became relaxed.  Confession humbled me, and thanksgiving made me realize I had no reason to be complaining.  Supplication allowed me to ask the Lord for help and answers.  

Slowly, I believe the Holy Spirit has revealed me to that I have taken all the responsibility of molding, and raising those girls, but in reality they are His girls.  His children.  I struggle with trying to do many things in my own strength.  I understood this when praying and was able to confess and repent and ask for help. 

 

Unfortunately, it is still difficult to keep this prayer time.  I know the importance and I have the desire to spend time with Jesus, but some nights I have started to make excuses that I am too tired.  I have still prayed each night, but one night it was more of duty rather than spending time with the Lord.  I feel ashamed because I make time for other things and I know how importance prayer is.   

blessings and trials

I sorely miss my writing time!  Just can't seem to make it happen much lately.  I researched for a post on the "Lord's Prayer" (as a model for prayer), but since then, I haven't had time to get it all down.


My Gratitude List:


- The mouse was caught at exactly 9:00 PM tonight, via a glue trap.  So grateful for the Lord's quick response to that fervent prayer.  Now we pray that his short stay here didn't involve any furry relatives.  


Tomorrow I shall suggest to the children that we write a children's book about two mice who take over the house after 11:00 PM.  Have you noticed how many children's stories there are about mice?  An insane number!  We shall contribute one of our own--minus the glue trap, of course.  Something in me wants to put a happy, humorous spin on this rather horrible problem.


- Sisters "helping" me sweep the driveway


- A clean, safe home in a safe neighborhood, with room for my children to develop optimally.


- Homeschooling, and the blessing of sheltering my children until they stand strong in Christ Jesus


- Newberry Medal-winning novels. We've read two since I last wrote an author's corner.  Hoping to get to that soon.


- Remembering that Mary used her last pair of clean underwear this morning.  I was headed to bed after a late night last night, but I thankfully remembered just in time to put in a bleach load of whites.


- Simple Mom's Compassion post  Do You Feel Guilty?  Don't.


- Passionate Homemaking's Compassion post  The Power of a Letter.


- Chatting at the Sky's Compassion post  How Stickers Can Change the World


- Shaun Grove's Compassion Post  Meeting the Neighbors Next Door


- Keeper of the Home's Compassion Post  Because I'm Afraid That I Will Forget

- As I type now, I hear another mouse caught in a glue trap under the stove.  My countenance has fallen as I think of the possibilities (were they a mating pair??), but I resolve to stand strong in my blessings, as I endure more insanely clean, sanitized days.  I do little more than clean and sanitize now, trying to keep us safe. To say this is an uncomfortable way to live--constantly wondering where the next creature is and are we going to get salmonella poisoning from them--is an understatement.  It makes me fall on my knees for all the poor mothers in third-world countries, who endure far worse.  I can take care of this problem, whereas they have generational poverty to look forward to.  I am reminded of Stephanie's words yesterday:

Thing is, there's one major difference between them and me. I can leave whenever I want to.

I can go back home to my developed nation, with its proper sanitation, indoor plumbing, hot water faucets and toilets that don't make me feel like I'm doing the 30 Day Shred.
Others don't have that luxury. Poverty is a generational curse. I can't tell you how many times already we've learned of families who still live in the same place where they were raised 20, 30, 40 years ago, or old men and women who have never left the slums and now care for their grandchildren in the same one-room squalor.

Poverty imprisons people in miry pits from which they cannot escape. Climbing your way out of a 100 foot dark, deep hole isn't really a viable option.

At least, not unless someone throws down a ladder for you to climb up. 

If you want to be that ladder and make a $38/month commitment, click here. If your finances won't allow it right now, can you forward these Compassion links to friends and relatives?

unexpected perspective, of the furry kind

One thing I know the Lord hates is self-pity.  A heart of gratitude, of thankfulness, He loves.

I woke up today to an ugly reality. Within minutes, all my gratitude came to a standstill.  I admit to wailing--yes literally wailing--in self-pity.

Did my house built on stilts over polluted waters collapse or something?

Did I wake up on the wrong side of my filthy cardboard bed, spread out on my rotting wood floor?

Did the pieces of wood that lifted me off my wet, slimey floor, covered in trash, drift away or something?


No.


I discovered that my 61-year-old three-bedroom house, complete with a large playroom and large dining room.......


......had at least one mouse in it.


That's all it took to send me into an ugly, pity-party spiral.


After reading more Compassion Philippine posts, I burned with shame.


How dare I have a pity party over a mouse?  


How dare I, when mothers in third-world countries don't hug their babies the first year, nor look them in the eye, for fear the baby will die of a preventable disease before the age of one. The mothers don't want to deal with the heartbreak of losing a baby they've fully loved.


How dare I? 


A little background...


In the last two weeks my husband has spotted, three times, what he thought was a small black mole.  We haven't seen one in at least two years, since he took care of some tiny holes in the laundry area.  


Puzzled at this return, we watched carefully for an opportunity to catch it and send it packing.  They're fast little buggers.


Last night, as I emerged from Beth's room for the second time, I found husband fast on the trail of our "mole", which had escaped under an Armour in the living room.  The tiny black thing pulled a fast one.


Husband missed him again.  


Meanwhile, I'm screaming, thinking the thing is surely going to run right over my feet in his escape.


Real quick like, I jumped onto the couch, while husband got an empty container and set it down on the floor at the back of the bookshelf, waiting for our "mole" to reemerge.


Bingo!  Got 'em.


I rejoiced!  


"That's no mole", my husband said (rather casually, I might add).  "Looks like a deer mouse."


Oh!  How my countenance fell!


Then it fell even lower, when the mouse jumped out of the 30-inch-high container!


Beth then woke up (maybe I shouldn't scream at night?).  I was forced to go back to the bedroom and nurse her allergy-miserable self, once again.


It must have taken me an hour to fall asleep later.  I had the eebie geebies.


Upon waking the next morning, I Googled how to get rid of a mouse.


What I learned, folks, sent me into the wailing self-pity mode I spoke of earlier.

- One Momma and Poppa mouse pair can have up to 80 babies a year.- Mice can jump 12 inches if standing, and 38 inches with a running start.- Mice carry dangerous germs, including salmonella and typhus.- If you see one little mouse, there's likely to be an extended family around as well.- Mice can damage electrical wiring, causing a fire hazard.

These facts alone--not the whole exhaustive, scary list--were enough to send me off the deep end. 


I suspect Peter's bird feeders, which are apparently too close to the foundation of the house, attracted mice.  Mice like seed best, and their second favorite food is grain.  Peter has been throwing the crust of his siblings' sandwiches out the window for the birds, for some time now. 


If you have holes in your foundation measuring larger than a pencil eraser, a mouse can gain entry.


When husband found mice in the shed awhile back, we should have set traps right away.  Those were the first mice seen on the property in the six years we've lived here.  I had no idea, and husband didn't either, what we were up against.  We just thought they were a cute little mouse family....or something stupid like that.  


Naive.


I prayed countless times today, and during my structured prayer time as well, "Lord, let it be just this one."


Five traps have been set.  I cleaned furiously all day, making sure every cupboard and floor was spotless--thereby giving the mouse nothing to forage on at night.  They're nocturnal little buggers.


If nothing turns up in the traps in the next few days, we'll call an exterminator.  I'll eat nothing but beans for a week if I have to, to afford an exterminator.  


Here is an excerpt from Stephanie's post, from Keeper of the Home:

It struck me today that the churches here in the Philippines are comprised of the very people in poverty whom they are seeking to reach. It's not just the well-to-do that serve those living in poverty, but the ones in poverty are serving others just like themselves. I have not seen a speck of self pity in this place.

Yet, I see it in myself.

Today was my 5th day in a row of running on very little sleep and I was feeling ragged. I worried how I would get through the day, with the hours of bus travel, the activity and the energy poured into visits, the stifling heat, and then still find the energy to blog coherent thoughts this evening. In other words, I was feeling sorry for myself.

Stephanie, with blunt honesty, describes the kind of poverty we suffer from in first-world countries.   

Discontent. 

Ungratefulness.  

It's as though we can never get enough.  We enjoy luxury, good healthcare, excellent sanitation, and yet we find things to complain about.....at least once a day.

Thank you for my mouse, Lord.  

Thank you for perspective.

Click here to sponsor a child from the Philippines today.

God's Wonder in the Yard

No time to write today, but I wanted to show you the Eastern Painted Turtle we found in our backyard.  That's right, folks, we can't afford to go anywhere, but God is determined to give these children a summer they will remember, once again!  The Lord is so faithful!  He gives us a life from just the beauty of his hands.  I bought 4 bags of sand and new sand toys, thinking it would give my children something to do. While they do appreciate them, when the turtle showed up, I realized God plans on keeping my kids amused and full of wonder; I needn't worry about buying them a thing.  Why complicate things?  God's wonder is enough for any child.  

 Here is my Beth with her allergy shiners (the tired-looking line under her eye, and puffy eyes).  I took her to the doctor last week to confirm that she's suffering from seasonal allergies.  He used her shiners as a clue, and the fact that her nostrils show swelling inside, which is not the case with the common cold. The swelling is a classic allergy sign.  I didn't realize it was so easy to distinguish the two.  He gave me some Claritin syrup, which the pharmacy sold me in generic form (loratadine). It makes her gag and vomit, so I have to call today for another solution.

We gave him fruits and veggies at first, but then consulted our field guide to learn that he lives in ponds and marshes.  Peter then went to get water laden with tadpoles and snails from our drainage ditch (aka frog pond).  We filled the container with a few inches of this water and decided to keep our little friend until Daddy came home and could enjoy him a little.  They eat snails, tadpoles, small fish, algae, leeches, etc. and bask on logs.

Compassion Blogging Trip
You will find a Compassion Blogging Trip button at the top right of my blog. Click on it to read all the posts from the current Philippines trip. The blog authors are from these blogs:  Inspired to Action, Passionate Homemaking, Simple Mom, Keeper of the Home, and Chatting at the Sky.  Shaun Groves leads these trips, and he also writes wonderful posts about them, at ShaunGroves.com.  The first posts went up yesterday morning, detailing the bloggers' visits with their own sponsored children, during which they visited the Manila Zoo and a restaurant.  Today they will each write about their visit to their sponsored child's home.