Compassion Project

Today we visited one of the Compassion projects in a small town. Their main ministry is helping young mothers care for their children until they are old enough to be sponsored in the actual Compassion program. We met with a bunch of the mothers at a Spanish Salvation Army that is Compassion's home base. They told us their testimonies and sang songs. After some of the mothers spoke, our translator asked if anybody wanted to say some words of encouragment to the mothers. Kim, one of the ladies in the group stood up and talked. She almost made me cry, it was so touching. Then Rick asked Aunt Michelle if she would say something. She told the mothers that she ahd five children and they all got really excited and wanted to see them. If anybody could offer words of encouragment, it was Aunt Michelle. Afterwards Uncle Steve prayed for everyone and we started walking around to all the mothers and talking to them and their children. One mother had a 10 month old baby girl named Abgail. When Abgail was born she had hip problems, so she's had to wear a brace pretty much since that time. She was the most adorable and beautiful girl. Aunt Michelle asked me if I wanted to hold her and she came right into my arms. She lights up the entire room. Everyone stopped to look at her. Her mother was glowing watching everyone take turns holding and playing with her. I wanted to take her home with me. It was such a great day.

Tonight we went back to Extreme Response and had dinner with two kids from LDP. LDP is for kids who have outgrown the Compassion program. They get sponsored and the money is used to help them go to college. I talked with Jonathan who is studying Mathematics and wants to be a teacher. He could speak English pretty well. It was so refreshing to be able to hear English for a bit. He talked about being in the Compassion program and it really helped me understand it better. I had no idea how much of an impact it makes on them. He said that two of his sponsors never wrote to him. When he said that, his entire expression changed. It made me realize how important it is to write to your sponsor child. He said that when he was younger and would get letters, he would go and show all his friends and they would read it together. If you have a sponsor child, please, please write to them regularly. You have no idea how much it means to them. It will change their lives. Well, that's all for now. Write comments and pray for the rest of the trip!

Kathleen