Here is a great example of how sponsoring kids through Compassion International can change their lives forever.

We found out that a girl who works in the Compassion office loves and listens to American Christian radio online.  The problem is she had never heard of the Wally show.  I had to do something about that.

Today we went to the Compassion regional office and met some amazing people.  These people work tirelessly to ensure kids get not only the help they need physically, but also spiritually as well.  They are making a difference for Jesus in a culture that is over 90% Buddhist.  Many parents come to faith in Christ because their kids get sponsored and between Compassion and the sponsors teaching the kids about Jesus whole families are changed.  That is why letters from you are so important and mean so much to these kids.  The words you speak stay with them for a lifetime.

We met a woman named Ko who was a sponsored child and she now works for Compassion helping others.  This is one time a vicious cycle is a good thing.  She still has the picture of her sponsors form 30 years ago on her desk.  I asked her if there was anything her sponsor said or did that really made a difference in her life.  She told me the fact that someone who did not know her would show her such love and tell her about Jesus inspired her to live the rest of her life serving God.  That is a sentiment that is echoed throughout the lives of most of the compassion kids.

This kind of change does not happen easily.  There are over 30 thousand Compassion kids in this region alone.  Compassion workers process over 15 thousand letters between children and their sponsors every month.  Why go to all that trouble? Isn’t it enough just to send a check?  While the check is great and gives the kids the physical things they need, the contact is where you get a chance to give the hope of a future to a child.  Compassion takes this so seriously they even encourage you to, if you can afford it, visit your sponsored child. You can check their website Compassion.com for trips they have planned or they can help facilitate a trip just for you.

One of the oddest stops of the day was at a Buddhist temple.  At this Buddhist temple people must buy certain offerings outside and then place them in the temple to get a blessing back. To me it was reminiscent of the story in the Bible where Jesus flipped over the tables of the money changers in the temple because they were profiting off of God and misrepresenting Him to people.  It is the same thing that made Jesus mad then and sadly, we still do it today.

One bizarre thing that happens is people, (tourists like us) are welcome to come in and walk around and take pictures while people pray.  As I thought about why that would never happen in our churches it hit me.  Perhaps this is a fundamental difference between Buddhism and Christianity.  One is about ritual and one is about relationship.  The Buddhists are worried about bringing the right gift when all Jesus asks for is that we come, just as we are, and offer ourselves to him.

The most disturbing discovery of the day was that for many kids in the slums a padlock is their babysitter when parents have to work at night.  The slums are not a safe place for kids left alone so when parents who are vendors in the local market go to work at night they are forced to lock their children in their houses from the outside.

To help, Compassion has instituted an after school program that at least minimizes some of the time kids will have to spend alone.  They help the kids with their homework and give them a safe place to stay at least for part of the night.  As a parent I can’t even fathom having to lock my child in the house to protect them from the danger that surrounds them.  That is a choice no parent should have to make.   

So, thank you so much for caring for kids who can’t care for themselves by sponsoring one of our At Risk Kids.

Today was a great day for 2 reasons.  One, I got to play with the kids in the Compassion project.  Two: I learned something I never new about Katie Rose.

Today was truly a blessing and a curse.  We got to see people at their finest when we visited a Compassion project that cares for kids late into the night so parents have someone to watch their kids while they work.  The Mom of this little girl gave God thanks for this program because she said now she could go to work and not worry about her daughter’s safety.  That is something we will touch on in a minute with the worst part of the day, but for now back to the goodness.  This mom asked us to pray that her kids will be safe, their family will be happy, and her kids will be able to make a better lives for themselves. 

Strange how you could mistake this mom’s pray for her children with your prayer for your own kids.  The difference is unless we step in and lend a helping hand the dreams she has for her children will most likely remain just that; dreams.

We got to do one of my favorite things today and that is just play with the kids.  I did not know that Katie Rose had a hidden talent for making balloon animals...what else has she hidden from me?  These kids are so polite and appreciate of every little thing they get.  We might be giving them stuff, but what they give in return in the form of sheer joy is far more valuable.

Now for the dark side of the day.  When we were told we were going to a hot spot for child and human trafficking I pictured the seedy underbelly of our society covertly conducting

their business in dark alley’s, but that was not the case at all. We went to a crowded market and you could not go 10 feet without someone handing you a menu. Not a menu for a restaurant, but rather a menu for prostitution.  This is an area of the world that does not try to hide it’s activity.  That is what shocked me most.  It was not the hundred strip clubs that are fronts for prostitution and child exploitation, but rather the fact that it is all so

out in the open.  It looks like a tourist attraction complete with neon and families.  That is one of the things that struck Katie, Zach and I.  Women are on the streets as live adds for what they do and people brought their kids here.  The other odd thing was the number of older couples you could hear negotiating with these women.  It truly is a place no child should ever be forced to be a part of.  Compassion believes it is far better to identify kids that are at risk of being drawn into this world and preventing that from every happening in the first place.  This stuff IS happening and just think if it was your daughter, I think you would want someone to help protect her innocence if you were not able to.

Today was one of those yeah/Awe days where you are excited to meet people in their homes until you get there and see how they are forced to live.  I can't begin to tell you how sad it is.

We traveled to a place I have no chance of spelling correctly to meet an amazing group of girls.  As cute and joy filled as these girls are you would never know that one of them was sexually abused.  Because of the Compassion program she is a very different girl now than when she came to live at their shelter.  The amazing thing is she has regained her innocence and found her smile again.  That is truly the difference that love, compassion, and Jesus make in the lives of these at risk kids.  She got a second chance to be a child, a life that depraved people tried, but could not steal from her.  Compassion works through local churches to help kids escape the problems that accompany poverty like lack of education, malnutrition, and worst of all human trafficking and abuse.  The saddest part was when the girls were asked how many were sponsored out of the six only 3 raised their hands.  I would love to see that change next week

This is the youngest resident of the shelter.  This a child is here because the abortion pills her mother took didn’t work, but even that didn’t stop this mom from throwing this beautiful child away.  How anyone could view this beautiful baby as disposable is incomprehensible to me.  I have to believe that God has his hand on this child.  This child is a living miracle and proof of the good things that can happen when people not only talk about Jesus, but instead choose to be like him and take care of the least of these.

From there we drove to a family’s house who welcomed us with what little they had.  I know bamboo hardwood floors are all the rage in our country, but these floors were literally bamboo...poles.  Each step into this house was an exercise in faith and physics,  as I wondered would they actually hold both Zach and I (I was mainly concerned for Zach:).  

I got the opportunity to give a small boy a toy car and I watched as his face lit up with excitement.  This was the kind of kid you wished you could pick up and bring home just to give him a chance at a better life,but

I know that doesn’t solve the problem.  It might help him, but what is better is when kids go through the compassion program, get educated and return to help their people.  That is how things  finally begin to change.

One of the weirdest moments from today was when I was asked to say a few words to the family to encourage them.  What do you say to encourage people living in a tin shack with holes in the ceiling, that is enveloped by a combination of the smell of stagnant water and garbage?  “At least you got your health?”  “Hang in there it will get better?” No that doesn't work because the father recently died and the mother works a construction job trying to earn enough money just to feed for her family. 

All I could come up with was to assure them they would be in my prayers and I would tell their story to as many people as I could to help them and their community.  I don’t think I have ever felt more helpless or inadequate.

Life for these people is hard.  There is nothing easy here.  I knew that for me, this day would end with a warm shower and a soft bed in a hotel here they will never be able to stay in.  It just doesn’t seem right.  The irony is God must have known my guilt so He made sure my shower had no hot water.  

Why do I have a good life, I certainly am no more deserving than these people so why?  I don’t know and I don’t like that I don’t know, but I do know that I have seen this and I have a responsibility to tell others so that together we can help these people.  That is what we are going to do next week so please be thinking now about sponsoring one of our At Risk kids and be part of changing a life forever.

Today was an amazing and heartbreaking day all in one.  We saw some of the best in humanity and the worst.  It was a rollercoaster ride of emotions that I can't wait to share. Right now the internet is real sketchy, so I will have to explain this picture in a later post.  Thanks for following us.

This was such a great way to start off our trip in Asia!

I got to meet my Compassion kid today. I was so excited, I was actually nervous.  I have never loved someone so much that I have never met. She is a sweet and shy girl named Yothika who just turned 11 yesterday.  After scaring her with an American birthday party (complete with hats, noise makers, and a cup cake with candles) I gave her the gifts that I had brought for her.  She had never seen a Barbie or a head band for your hair.  It took her a while to understand what to do with Play-Dough (it helped that Wally explained not to eat it).  But out of all the toys and clothes that I gave her, the thing she kept going back to was the picture of my dog that I had put in a small family photo album.  It was the smallest thing, but for some reason it was something that made me feel closer and not so different from her.

Yo had a big day. It was her first time in the big city.  In fact, it was her first time ever out of her village.  We took her 88 stories up to a rotating lookout point. You could see on her face that she was trying to size everything up. How could a city be so large and yet the cars just got so small. We went to go get something to eat and took Yo for her first train ride.  Over all she was pretty quite but on the train she got this huge smile.  She explained how excited she was to be able to go back and tell her friends all that she had done and seen. The thing was, we were not done yet. The girl had never had ice cream!  We had to fix that and that huge smile came back.  While we ate our ice cream it gave us some good time to just talk.

I always wondered what it was like to be the parent of a sponsored child.  Do they struggle with pride in allowing someone to help? Every question went away as I talked to Yo’s mom.  She repeatedly thanked me.  She was just a loving mom that wanted better for her daughter.  Yo’s family works farming rice, in fact, Yo’s brother had to quit school to work in the field. Compassion is that chance for something better for Yo.  It’s the difference that allows her to stay in school, break that cycle of poverty, and think about what she would like to be one day rather than what she has to be out of necessity.

Yo just flat out asked me, “Why did I pick her to sponsor.” I told her it was because she was special. To be honest when I looked for a kid online I was looking for a kid that needed to hear that. I wanted the child that had been on the list the longest. I wanted an older kid that knew what it meant to be chosen (and a lot of the times the older kids get chosen last for sponsors.  It is like puppies, people want the cute little one). Yo also has allergies and gets marks on her face as a result.  I looked at this kid’s picture online with no smile and a bunch of clips in her hair and wanted to be the one that told her she was beautiful, God loves her, I believe in her and that she is special. And I did just that.

Before they left I got to pray with them.  With the hugest lump in my throat and more love in my heart than I have felt in a long time, I prayed. By the end, Yo’s mom was crying and I was unable to make eye contact with anyone.  But I realized that I wasn’t just this distant sponsor that sent money, I was a part of their family.  I am a little girl’s role model and a mother’s hope for her daughter.