Compassion International: One Child At a Time
STACEY GAGNE – “God mobilizes the heart of the world even for just one child”. When I visited the Ethiopian office for Compassion International, the Country Director said this and it really impacted me. Of course He does. God did it for me. He did it for you and He is doing it all over the world… creatively drawing people to Himself. I am confident that Compassion International is one of those ways.
Child sponsorship is so powerful because it focuses in on the individual but then impacts many. As we “honor the image of God” in a young person and value their holistic care we are also speaking to the fact that they matter. As a sponsor you get to be a part of a childs journey as they are fed spiritually, economically, socially and of course physically. You also get to encourage them to follow Jesus as they pursue their dreams. Your sponsorship also encourages that childs family, community and the local church that is hosting their project.
I invite you to pray about taking this journey with a child this week. Call 1-866-392-3690 Wednesday or Thursday or click here to sponsor a child right now.
I was curious if we were able to make a one time donation.
Hi Mike,
Yes, if you go to http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=127262 and then scroll down to the bottom of the page there is a place to click on donate now. Or, if you call our phone volunteers can help you. or 1-866-392-3690
Thank u Stacey. Good luck
Hi Stacey,
My name is Karen, and I’ve been listening to the wonderful work WJTL is doing to support “one child at a time” by encouraging listeners to become a sponsor through Compassion International. As I listened, I felt led to contact you about a little something that a few families do here in Millersville to support Compassion Children.
First, let me give you a bit of background knowledge. I used to lead the youth group at my church, before I had children of my own, and we used to take the youth to Creation every summer. It was there that I was first introduced to Compassion. I remembering wanting to sponsor a child right away, but I felt that God was telling me that it wasn’t time yet. For years I thought that when my husband and I had children of our own, that it would be great to show them how important it is to have compassion for others, and sponsoring a child through Compassion International would be a great life long lesson.
Roughly fifteen years later, God placed a friend in my life that had a wonderful idea, that came to mind while talking to her seven year old daughter in the car one day. Her daughter wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion, but her Mom didn’t just want to write checks for her daughter each month, rather, she wanted her daughter to take ownership of the sponsorship. The conversation was focused on what passions and or talents her daughter had that she could use to raise money to sponsor a child. Her daughter enjoyed helping Mom in the kitchen, so cooking was the passion, and a camp was the answer to the financial piece of the sponsorship.
The two started a cooking camp named after the child they sponsored. Saara’s Cooking Camp began that summer in their kitchen. There were about 8 girls that attended the camp which was held for 4 mornings. The girls learned about baking, as well as the child that was being sponsored. They held a bake sale at our hometown grocer and sold the yummy treats they had made all week at camp.
My daughter was part of that original group. The camp was so successful that more families were interested in becoming part of it. It went along with my mission to have our daughter learn that it is our responsibility to care for God’s people, and I wanted it to be a lifelong mission. That meant that she would have to be responsible to provide for the needs of others, using her own resources. If we give money to our children to give to someone else, there’s no ownership in that. We wanted our daughter to earn the money to support a child.
There is so much more that I could tell you, but the main point of my story is this: Saara’s Cooking Camp has be the main source of funding for our family’s 2 sponsor children. Our two girls are student leaders of the camp and help us moms organize and run camp each summer. Last summer there were 63 campers and we raised $6,000 running a 3 day camp. Over the years, we’ve raised thousands of dollars that goes to supporting numerous children through Compassion and World Vision. Through the camp, we’ve been able to raise awareness of the good work what Compassion does. We’ve also touched the hearts of the campers so much so that the main purpose of attending camp is not only the cooking aspect, but also the mission lessons that we provide. Two life long skills that have flourished in the lives of many of the children that attend camp.
Anyway, as I was listening to WJTL’s 26 Hours of Compassion, I heard a lot of listeners say that they knew they always wanted to support a child through Compassion, but that they were not sure if they had the financial resources. It is a big commitment. My thought was, that maybe others would want to consider starting a camp like Saara’s Cooking Camp. We have had a few requests to put what we do into print, so that others can start a camp at their churches. We would be happy to share our information and are in the beginning stages of pulling it all together.
I was wondering if you, or anyone else would be interested in meeting with us to discuss the possibilities of expanding this mission so that others can benefit from it also? There have been numerous children sponsored through the efforts of this camp, and we would love to see many more sponsored in coming years.
Kudos to you for the wonderful work you are doing! I love to hear all the good things happening in the name of Jesus Christ!
Please don’t think that you need to respond, as you a probably very busy with the tasks that God has placed before you; however, I felt led to share with you about what children in the Millersville area are doing to support such a great cause.
May God continue to bless you and your ministry,
Karen Reen
Hi Karen,
Thanks for sharing that with us. We’d love to follow up with you later about your ideas. It would be great, if you would be able to call our listener hotline to hsare your story? We could then play it back on the air to inspire others. 717 397-8090
Thanks so much Karen, and thanks for what you and your friend are doing and have done for these precious children!!
Be Blessed!!
Stacey Gagne for WJTL
Which little boy were you just talking about with the green shirt and how he was not cute but you should look into his eyes because he is so tiny?
His name is Abebe. It looks like either someone is considering sponsoring him or he has been sponsored because he is not showing up on the page right now.