El Salvador Day 2

So - frankly - I came this week and my mindset was that I felt a little guilty asking any of you to sponsor a child. I know we are in a recession. I know a lot of you have lost your jobs and possibly even your homes. I know a lot of you are struggling financially and asking you to sacrifice to sponsor a child - maybe it was too much. I try to be sensitive to the fact that a lot of you might not be in a great place right now.
And I'm still very sensitive to that - but I don't feel guilty to show you that even in a recession - we have SO much! We have NO idea. I want to share a little with you and I hope that your hearts will be open to help.

The children were so excited to greet us this morning at Project ES808!

It's a little surreal to me that I've seen Shaun Groves in concert twice and love his songs......and today - I totally sang back up with him! (Okay - maybe not - but we did as a group sing for the children - we sang "Open the Eyes of my heart Lord" and "Lord I lift your name on High".)
The children gathered around us and prayed. They just swarmed us and hugged us! They were so full of love and appreciative!

I just wish you could see the joy on their faces. When I asked them about their sponsors - they lit up!!!

Look at this beautiful face!

Shaun and some boys

The kids LOVED having their pictures made

Heather got to meet her sponsored child today (the little girl in brown) and spend the day with her! It was such a special day for them!
I thought this was the most beautiful little girl. She has a family but if they said I could adopt her - Harper would have a big sister! I just loved her. Keely took these amazing pictures!

And look at the joy on this face - she was so precious!

I just wanted to share a lot of pictures with you because I want you to see the children who are being sponsored by Compassion. I want you to see that it's real. These children are given so much opportunity. They are given food, clothing, medical help, spiritual guidance, and even training to help them support themselves.

So - we spent the morning with these beautiful, happy children. And then this afternoon - I got a glimpse at the rest of the story. I saw where the children come from, how they live, a little about the families they come from. And my perspective totally changed. I realized that Compassion truly is saving them.

I thought I understood "poor". What I didn't have a clue about was POVERTY. I was just in unbelief over how these people live. They live in just slums. Tin homes with dirt floors.

Literally - conditions I wouldn't want anyone to ever live in.

This is Marcos and his mother. My life will never be the same after meeting them today. They have a story of complete sadness and desperation but it's also a story of hope.
Marcos is literally one of the sweetest, brightest boys I've ever met with a smile that could light up a city. He read the Bible at the project today and you could tell he was destined to be a pastor so it was no surprise when he shared that he dreamed of one day being a doctor or a pastor. His mother works so hard every day selling garlic. She makes $1 per bundle and sells around 6-8 a day. Like most families - they live on about $150 a month. Marcos has people in his life who tell him terrible things and break him down. The same goes for his mother. They wept as they opened up and shared their heartbreaking story with us.
I was so burdened for his mother. She is living in such poverty, works so hard, and has no one to support her or love her or encourage her. I told her that she was a wonderful mother and she cried and said no one had ever told her that before. I kept thinking that I live in a nice home, have a sweet husband, a beautiful baby I prayed for years to have, parents that love and support me, a million friends that I spend time with and laugh with and yet there are days that being a mom is hard and I just get down. And then I tried to imagine Marcos' mother and how she has no one. Nothing. But she has God. And she shared of her love for Him. And she shared of how Compassion was helping Marcos. We told Marcos about the leadership development program that Compassion has to help certain students who qualify and meet a lot of criteria to go go college and we told him that he could be the kid who could do that. I wish you could see the joy and the glimmer of hope in their eyes and the huge smiles as they pictured a future for both of them. And that future is made possible by Compassion.
They have nothing. And I mean NOTHING. But they have Compassion and because of that - they have Jesus. And He is everything.
I was able to pray with Marcos' mom and I told her I would ask my readers to pray for her. Would you? She and I have nothing in common except for being moms and loving Jesus. And I'm pretty sure that was enough to bond us for life.
When you climb down the hill from Marcos' house (literally - climb down a steep hill) - you come to the house of another family. They live in a one room house half the size of Harper's bedroom. They all 4 sleep together in one bed. But they were so happy and proud. The little girl is part of Compassion and she is graduating this week from kindergarten. She gave me her graduation picture!
(I forgot this important part of the story last night):
These parents work VERY hard to earn around $150 a month. The mother works very long hours making tamales and soup to sell. They have to lock their son (who I think was about 18 months old) and their little girl in their house (in a very dangerous gang area) and go to work when the grandmother is working and can't help. This is very common in poverty areas. I'm scared to leave Harper in another room while I run grab something for 5 minutes. Can you imagine having to leave your BABY home by himself for hours? Oh I pray for this mother's heart.
This couple has become involved with the church who runs the Compassion project. That is part of the outreach of Compassion. Because it is run by local evangelical churches - as children become saved and as their parents see how they are being helped - many of them come to church and meet Jesus themselves.

So when you sponsor a child - you are saving a child from complete poverty. You are also making an eternal impact by indirectly bringing these children to Christ.

I am praying that God will open your hearts. If you do choose to sponsor a child with Compassion - will you let me know????

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
1 Timothy 6:17-18

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