Our First Launch

When your children are little, many older moms always tell you to enjoy the moments you have with your children because the time goes quickly.

The days turn into months, and the months turn into years. After all the good times and hard times, you finally arrive at that moment.

You know the one, the moment when your first child is ready to leave home.

Over the past few years, we have had the opportunity to volunteer at many Compassion events. Concerts, conferences, and the Mobile Experience, Matthew has graciously come along side me to be my traveling companion.

Then, an incredible opportunity came about for Matthew. One that would give him an opportunity to travel around the country, and be a part of making a difference in the lives of children waiting for sponsors with Compassion.

On Sunday, we dropped Matthew off at the airport so he could fly out to his new job! He is now employed at Brewco Marketing Group as a Brand Ambassador for Compassion with their Mobile Experience!

I am over the top excited for him, but I have definitely had some weeping moments over the last couple of days. So much of my life has been poured into my children. I am not sure if there is anything that anyone can say or do that makes this any easier.

But I do know one thing...I completely trust in the Lord that this is His plan for Matthew at this point of his life. As much as we will miss him while he is not in our home, we know that he is going to be making a huge difference in the lives of many children around the world.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

Colombia Day Four: Building for the Future

When working at Compassion events, a couple  of the most frequently asked questions are 'How much of the money is going to the children?' and 'What is the difference between the $38 per month and the $45 per month option?'

Having traveled with Compassion twice now, I have seen firsthand that the 'at least 80% of each $38 per month' is making a difference the lives of many children. Children are being clothed, children are being fed, children are receiving medical attention, children are being tutored, and children are learning that Jesus is their Savior.

But what about that extra $7 per month? Often at an event, we share with potential sponsors that the extra $7 they can contribute goes toward disaster relief, malaria prevention, medical needs, and other priorities in the country where their sponsored child lives.

On this trip to Colombia, our group was able to see how one project used the funds from this 'extra $7 per month' for the benefit of many children in their community.

When we arrived at this center, we each had our own personal greeter. David was my greeter (I just love his hair!) I have to tell you, these centers really go out of their way to make each one of us feel so special. In a way, I feel like a representative for many sponsors when I have been blessed to go on these trips. Which is one reason why I love to share my photos and experiences with you.

After our initial greeting, we split up into groups to spend time in the classes with the children. But before we got to the classroom, this pretty much stopped each one of us...

...wait a minute...those are our names on the wall! We were all overwhelmed that this church and these children would be so excited about our visit that they would spend the time to remember us this way! Wow!

So, our little group spent time with the little guys. The kids in our group were pretty quiet to begin with. The teacher handed out some plasticine (modeling clay) to each of the children. And a couple people in our group did a bit of face painting on the children.

Soon, most of the children started warming up to us. But little Angelica, oh! She ended up being a delightful chatty little one!

I noticed there was an ark painted on the wall of the classroom, so we started asking the kids what sounds the animals made. Angelica spoke in such rapid Spanish and she made many animal sounds. She was such a delightful and energetic young lady!

Before we left the classroom to prepare for serving the children lunch, the kids covered us with stickers. And yes, we kept them on for most of the day!

We had quite an assembly line going serving up food and washing dishes to feed the children in shifts. It was quite hilarious at times (and warm with all of our serving gear on!)

And if you ever let someone else use your camera while on a trip, you never know what you might find on your memory card when you get home!

After lunch, the staff and volunteers shared with us one way they were able to apply for and use some of the Complementary Intervention Funds. Basically, that extra $7 per month that I talked about earlier in this post.

The staff showed us a binder filled with applications, receipts, and many forms that were necessary for them to apply to have some of the Complementary Intervention Funds available to help them build onto their existing building to add more classroom space and another bathroom. Many community members came alongside the church to help with the building process. So this was truly a community project to help build the future for many more children in this community. More children will come to know Jesus because this church, and this community see the importance of investing in the children.

Thanks to Cassandra for this photo!

Before we left this project, the staff and volunteers painted our hands so we could each leave a handprint on the wall.

I don't think any of us realize how much love we have to give until we leave bits and pieces of it on these trips. Praying that one day I will have the opportunity to go back to this center and love on these children and this church body again.

Colombia Day Three: Music, Dancing, Games, and Hiking

One thing I have learned from going on these Compassion trips is to have no expectations and be prepared for just about anything. As a Type A personality, I kind of like to have a plan and have control over...well, many things. But one thing I love about these trips is that I learn to follow where He leads.

When you first arrive at any Compassion center, there are always many children eager to greet you, and some that you kind of connect with right away. These sweet kids crowded around me to squeeze in for a picture before the official welcome began:

After we all got settled a bit, the church and the children welcomed us all with songs and dancing. Here are just a couple for you to enjoy:

After the welcome, we all split up into groups and started playing games with the children. For a bit of time, many of us were outside playing dodge ball (the youth group at my church would have been proud of me!), then I ended up inside playing another ball game.

The challenging thing about this game was, we had no translator right there with us. So imagine, trying to learn a new game, and not speaking the same language. Makes for an interesting interpretation of what we were suppose to do! We tried following along with what was happening and how the ball was being tossed around, but we just couldn't figure out the game. After a bit of time, one of  the translators was able to make his way over to give us a helping hand. Ah! Things were much more clear now!

Before the trip, I found a few simple puzzles to bring along with me. So I pulled one of them out for this group of boys to work on.

It was great to see them work together to put the puzzle together. I was able to show them where I lived compared to where they live. 

After our time of games with the kids, we split up into our groups to head out for home visits. Somehow I was paired up with all the people from Colorado and we ended up hiking up the side of a mountain! Really! I was thinking I would be ready to climb Half Dome after this! 

It was incredible to see how many houses were built along this mountainside. And these were not houses like we are used to in the United States, these were basically small shacks built from concrete bricks or tin, probably no bigger than most people's bedrooms.

Once we arrived at the home, I recognize one of the girls from the center that I had met just a couple of hours earlier. We begin some good conversation with the mom and her daughters. We asked the daughters (two of them are sponsored) if they had any letters from their sponsors. Immediately, the younger one shares with us a stack of letters.

This letter is from almost three years ago, and little Nelsy still hangs onto it and has a special place for all of the letters she has received from this faithful letter writing sponsor. It was encouraging for me to see this because some of the other children I spoke with at the center told me that they do not receive letters from their sponsors.

Letter writing is not a requirement for sponsorship, but I sure do wish that more sponsors would realize how important letters are to these children.

Before we left Nelsy's home, we were able to pray with her and her family, leave a gift, and gather for a group photo.

Then we began our hike back down the mountain to the center:

The view was really beautiful from up there. But when you think about it, at home in the United States, people pay millions of dollars for homes to be built on the sides of hills like this one to have a view like this overlooking cities and oceans. In this community, only about half of the people are working, and those who do work earn about $134 per month. Quite the contrast, isn't it?

These families have everyday struggles to provide for their families and have to overcome things we can't even imagine.

But they keep going on.

They keep climbing those hills and mountains.

They keep sending their children to those child development centers.

They have hope, knowing that their children can pursue their dreams.

They are learning to trust Him to provide for their daily needs.

Most of us have our daily needs met.

Would you consider giving a bit to help one child have a bit more? Maybe today is the day where you can follow where He leads you to make a difference in the life of a child.

Compassion Blogs on Pinterest

Some of you may know that I spend my mornings helping to manage Compassion's Pinterest account. Over the past three years, I have seen and pinned a lot of ideas I have found on Pinterest and on the internet to help make letter writing more of a priority for sponsors, and to help them find creative things to mail to their sponsored children.

But for a while now, I have wanted to have one place, where Compassion Bloggers can share their own blog posts, so that other Compassion sponsors can read what these amazing men and women share about their own experiences with Compassion.

So this morning, I created a group board on Pinterest!

I am excited about this new board and the possibility of reading more stories of how Compassion is impacting sponsors and their sponsored children.

Would you like to join us? Leave a comment below with the link to your Pinterest profile and I will add you to our board.

Colombia Day Two: Child Survival Program

Day two of our trip took us to a coastal community southwest of Santa Marta. The church we visited has been in the community for the past 20 years and has partnered with Compassion for 7 years now. Currently, they are making a difference in the lives of 340 children and their families.

Today, we learned about the Child Survival Program, or CSP. Currently, the Child Survival Program is in operation in all 26 countries where Compassion is partnering with the local churches. This program is a little different from the child sponsorship program. The CSP functions to assist pregnant and new moms until their child is three years of age, and it is more of a home based program.

On this particular day, the moms and their babies spent time with us at the church, entertaining us, helping us with a craft, and answering questions we had for them. The one thing that really impacted me here was one mother's answer to a question about what they are learning as part of the CSP:

 "We are learning to love our children."

These moms and their families are learning about the importance of the church in their community. Many of the families are now attending church...together. They are realizing the hope of the Gospel and how it can transform their lives, and the lives of their children.

In the afternoon, we split up into groups to visit homes of the CSP moms. Our group visited Jamie and her family. Jamie was a gracious hostess and gladly welcomed us into her home. She told us that she likes spending time learning about God and Psalms is her favorite book of the Bible. Luis, the father of her two children, is really happy that Jamie and Luis David can attend the CSP. Jamie told us that she receives a lot of encouragement, is learning income generation skills, and is learning how to help Luis at home.

Jamie and Luis have dreams for their children to finish their studies and find a good career. They are really no different than any other family. Don't you have the same dreams for your children?

By partnering with Compassion's Child Survival Program, you can help give moms and babies a chance to thrive. And not only thrive physically, but to thrive spiritually as well. In the past year, over 4200 moms came to know Christ as part of the CSP around the world.

For $20 a month, you can help support a CSP and help moms and their babies today!