Two years ago, a trip to Uganda with Compassion International changed my life. It didn’t happen immediately. I wrestled with what I saw, and what I knew the Bible said, and how I loved living my own comfortable life.
I’ll never forget that trip. We’ve quit jobs. Moved. And continue to re-evaluate how we can better serve people who may not have the access to practical things — and hope — as we do.
My friend (and the designer of this blog) Brad is on a trip right now with Compassion and I’ve asked him to share some of his thoughts with you.
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“When African Eyes Are Watching”
Those of you who have followed Anne for a while may remember her trip to Uganda with Compassion in February of 2008. She was part of the very first Compassion Bloggers trip. It was her posts from Africa that gave me my first inside look at how Compassion works. I gained a deeper appreciation for Compassion as an organization by seeing what they did through her eyes.
Never would I have imagined when I read the posts from that first blogging trip that I would be in Africa myself with Compassion just over two years later. And yet here I am.
I’ve only been in Kenya for four days now but already Africa has melted my heart. I’ll be leaving on Thursday but I’m leaving part of my heart here when I go.
The thing that has just rocked me to the core are the eyes of the children I see.
They’re absolutely riveting.
Like this little Maasai girl I saw when we visited a Compassion Project on Saturday…
Or this precious little girl I met at the Kabuku Compassion project on Friday…
or these adorable children who kept peeking back at me when we attended a Kenyan church on Sunday (seriously…how can you pay attention in church when you’ve got adorable faces like that staring at you?)
The reason I love looking into their faces is because I can see the power of child sponsorship in their eyes. Every face you see in those pictures represents a sponsor who has stepped forward to release that child from poverty.
For only $38/month (less than the cost of eating out once a month) you can ensure a child has access to education, medicine, nutritious meals and vocational training. You can read some of my first-hand accounts (and those of the other bloggers who are on this trip with me) of real people I’ve encountered who are being pulled out of the worst kinds of poverty through Compassion intervention and sponsoring relationships.
Anne has already done such an amazing job of telling Compassion’s story through this blog but perhaps there are some of you who haven’t yet taken the leap.
Can I encourage you to step up and make a difference in the life of a child? A small monthly investment from you means the difference between poverty and hope for these children.
Compassion is a one-to-one sponsorship organization which means you’ll be connected with your sponsored child through more than just a monthly check. You’ll be able to write letters to and receive letters from your sponsored child (here’s an example of a letter I recently received). You may even one day be able to meet your sponsored child like I did this week.
These beautiful African eyes have melted my heart this week…
…when they’re watching, I just can’t look away.
Click here to see Kenyan children waiting for sponsors right now.
yes! i’ve been following along…heart cracking…loading that burden onto my back…just where i want it to be.
thank you, anne. praying for you and everyone there, brad.
blessings, megan
megan´s last blog ..African multitudes
Brad, I’ve enjoyed — wrestled with your posts and all the other blogger’s posts over the last week. My evenings are spent with tears rolling down my face. I’ve been more than moved. I’ve been wrecked, messed up.
It was because of Anne’s trip to India last spring that we finally sponsored a little girl. Sponsorship is a life changing event. Not only for the child but for the sponsor also.
anne, thank you so much for writting your “heart” out. i appreciate your blogs no matter what the content. keep it up
Matthew Ryan Wood´s last blog ..last thoughts from 7 Deadly Sins
Wow…I was just getting ready to write a post about Jesus’ eyes. I thought I’d check my reader first.
And there were beautiful eyes, right there with the light of Jesus in them. Holy cow.
it’s their eyes that get me every single time.
i’m so glad you’re there, brad, and that you’ve gone as well, anne. i love that you’ve met and fallen in love with “my” africa.
alece´s last blog ..other than let’s party
How interesting that I really appreciated your comments about ‘Baby Blog or Uber Blog?’ and wanted to affirm you in that- but when I click on that, it says:
Not Found, Error 404
Hmm, kind of interesting considering what your comments are in that particular blog. Oh well, I was able to read it in my email- so it got through to me at least- and I think you are way on to something in:
“A small group of people with big hearts moves more mountains than a big group of people with small hearts.”
I’ve often thought about that in regards to churches (so I can see how it applies to ‘church blogs’ too). Sometimes in my strange imaginations, I wonder if there is a rapture if we will find a lot of big churches still full of a lot of people. Americans seem to be enamored of numbers, but Jesus didn’t. Oh yeah, God desires that none will perish, but Jesus was never going after the crowds. In fact, he often seemed more interested in stealing away to have a quiet lunch with Laz and his sisters- he seemed to look for the ‘deeper’ connects than the ‘wider’ connects.
Last night at church we watched a video in which someone made a joke about people leaving a particular denomination in droves, and that even God had joined them in the exodus, but that was fine with the denomination, they were carrying on without Him. It made me cry- because it was not a joke- how many churches are so man-centered that they can carry on fine without Jesus?!
Anne, thank you for reflecting the heart of Jesus in these comments- and making a commitment to be a “church” blog that cares for those overlooked- how the church is supposed to be. And thank you for caring more about being God-pleasing than man-pleasing, regardless of whether stats suck. God cares about men/women, that is for sure, but if we are man-pleasers more than God-pleasers, we miss out.
Yes, I just tweeted her about this, Melinda. I was on my way to comment too. Oh well, she probably published it on accident… or took it down to replace with this post.
-Marshall Jones Jr.
bondChristian´s last blog ..How I wrote a recommendation letter – what would you add?
That post made it to my reader too.
Anne, I stand with you in saying that I would rather be fewer in number and greater in truth and love and grace. Thank you for your voice and your heart.
Brad, I have been reading Kent Shaffer’s posts (http://churchrelevance.com/)about Compassion in Kenya this past week and your post speaks vividly about the greater work Compassion is doing in Africa. Thank you for the words and pictures.
Sherie´s last blog ..Bible: metaphor or real
I read that entry in my reader, also.
Anne, what you wrote was important and brave. The church needs to be reminded often of their lack of thought for the most basic of things.
I’ve been blogging since december 2002, and I’ve had uber stat days (when my blog was a big deal in the small blog world days; when my book first released) and baby stat days. I’ve learned that writing my heart is what matters the most.
Thank you for doing what you do. Thanks for knowing how to manipulate your readership and not doing it. Thanks for posting your heart.
For those inquiring about the “Baby Blog” post that mysteriously appeared in some RSS readers but not my blog, I will repost it tomorrow.
Those are powerful pictures!
Kevin M.´s last blog ..Sermon Synopsis 3/7 – A disciple passes on the good news
Good to see you here too, Brad. I’m enjoying following along, even only from a distance. I’m constantly amazed how far a little money can go. Thank you for the encouragement to get more involved, and thanks, Anne, for inviting Brad over (even if it kills your traffic). :)
-Marshall Jones Jr.
bondChristian´s last blog ..How I wrote a recommendation letter – what would you add?
This is haunting, and I think that is a good thing.
they are watching and often times I need to be reminded of that.
their eyes light up with so much life.
If we ever say we can’t find Jesus anywhere, then we’re just not paying attention. What beautiful children. To see joy that has no regard for circumstances is why (I think) we get caught up in stories like this and in Haiti. We all have so many things here in the US, but we all don’t have that. I find myself envious of the joy that I see in their faces.
My wife and I have not had the chance to visit Africa, but the letters of our sponsor children warm our hearts like nothing else. My wife’s sponsor child (a girl in Rwanda) always starts her letters to her with, “I greet you in the name of Christ Jesus…” – gets us every time.
Thanks so much for the post, Brad/Anne!
Josh´s last blog ..A New Look (in progess)
I discovered your blog last week at work in between dressing people for the academy awards and fell in love. I kept purposely leaving it on my screen in hopes that a client would ask me about it. Thanks for that.
Those pictures are just amazing. And beautiful.
Amy´s last blog ..Book Review(s):: Raven’s Ladder and Lady Carliss
Awesome. I sponsor two kids from Compassion (one is from India and the other is from the Dominican Republic). One of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Great pix!
Jeff Goins?s last blog ..Why You Should Lead a Mission Trip at Home
Love these photos. When you look at their faces it reminds you how we are all created in the image of God.
Thanks for being a voice to those who don’t have one Anne!
Jason Salamun?s last blog ..If It Be Your Will
WOW!!! BEAUTIFUL! IT SO GIVES US HOPE!! LOVE FROM BRAZIL!
WOW! I love this! I went to Kenya and my favorite pictures are the ones of the beautiful faces and those eyes. Those storytelling eyes. Your post made me go back and pull out my pictures from that trip. Thank you so much!
Jacklyn´s last blog ..Chafing- The Mark of a Champion