STACEY GAGNE – My heart lept when I received an email this morning from one of our friends at Compassion International who was a part of their recent Sponsor Tour to Ethiopia.  One of the projects that they visited on the tour was Tedecha Mekane Yesus …they are standing where I walked in January 2013 and WJTL listeners in turn sponsored many of these  children during our 26 Hours of Compassion!    JoAnn shared how amazing the Pastor and Project Director at the project are and how the team was impressed and enjoyed their time there with the children.  Maybe you can spot your sponsored child in this picture?!

Our friends from Compassion will have a booth at Creation Festival and there will be opportunities for you to sponsor a child.   If you are at the festival, I encourage you to stop by and prayerfully consider  … or visit the website today and help release a child from poverty in Jesus name.

There are many organizations and ministries lending aid to those impacted by the storm in the Phillipines.  Please pray for the victims and prayerfully consider how and where you can pitch in to those in need:

AMG International :  AMG has a large ministry presence in the Philippines, including in the hard-hit Visayas Region. Our field staff there, led by national director Hector Araña, has sprung into action collecting relief supplies, working to establish communication with our partners in the affected areas, and preparing to travel into the disaster zone to assess damage and distribute supplies to the thousands of families AMG serves through our childcare ministries there.is providing relief supplies from our Disaster Relief Fund (www.amgdisasterrelief.org), and funds are urgently needed to sustain this response. You can donate now at www.amgdisasterrelief.org, over the phone at (423) 894-6060, or by mail to AMG International, 6815 Shallowford Rd., Chattanooga, TN 37421.

HarvestNet International: Gifts through this link will be entrusted to pastors with congregations in the devastated area.  Locally based HarvestNET International has over 100 partner churches and ministries in the Philippines.

World Vision:  World Vision is launching an emergency response to help affected children and families in the Philippines.

Compassion International:   Your gift makes possible interventions such as: emergency food and water, temporary shelters, personal items, cooking utensils, trauma counseling and spiritual support, replacing clothing, school supplies and household items, restoring supplies a family needs for earning income, providing continued counseling and support as needed

Samaritans Purse:  A Samaritan’s Purse disaster response team is in the Philippines to help in the aftermath of one the strongest storms ever recorded.  “Our multinational team is coordinating relief efforts on the Leyte and the neighboring island of Samar, working with local Christians to deliver relief to those most in need. Community water filters, protective tarps, blankets, hygiene kits, and emergency family food packets are being rushed to affected areas.”

SEND International:  SEND has set up a Typhoon relief option that will allow people to give to Filipino churches who will aid in disaster relief

MCC:  Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is responding to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, providing funding for relief, supporting an initial assessment team of an MCC partner organization and working with partners to determine needs for longer-term recovery.

CCT: Center for Community Transformation:  HOPE International’s local partner, the Center for Community Transformation (CCT), works in the regions hit hardest by the typhoon, and they are currently mobilizing to provide these communities with immediate help.

As the departure time for our planned Compassion Sponsors Missions Trip to Ethiopia has approached, some of you have been asking me about the status of the trip.   We were to have left  August 3rd, which (as I write this) is tomorrow! I can’t believe August is already here.

Unfortunately, we did not have enough people registered in time to make the trip possible for this year. We are talking with Compassion about options for rescheduling a similar trip in the future.  I am still anxiously looking for the day that you are able to meet the children that have been sponsored through the WJTL community.

Though it is disappointing that we are not able to go on the dates we originally planned, I am confident that God’s timing is perfect and still prayerfully have my sights set on an opportunity to return with you many of you to see the faces of the children that you sponsored.

I’ll take this opportunity too, to remind any of you who currently sponsor a child to send them a letter today … and if you don’t yet, check out compassioninternational.com to find out how.

STACEY GAGNE – I didn’t have a passport until 2010.  It only took one trip for me to gain a heart for people living in poverty and that was my trip to Ethiopia with Compassion International.

If you were one of the many who have sponsored a child from a project in Ethiopia during WJTL’s 26 Hours of Compassion, I would love to have you join me and other WJTL listeners August 3 thru 10 on a special trip designed just for us to go meet our children, spend time serving alongside the people in Ethiopia, and see firsthand how Compassion is working through the local church in Ethiopia.

You’ll attend a church service with our brothers and sisters in Addis Ababa, spend time with the children at the projects,  lead some VBS style activities, visit some children’s homes,  work alongside some church partners on some service projects,  get to know students in the Leadership Development program, and of course spend plenty of time playing with our kids and taking them on a special fun day!  What an opportunity to join together as a community and go share the Love of Jesus while making memories together.  Of course there will be sight seeing and many chances to learn about Ethiopian culture along the way.

Please check out the link with registration information,  Email Me or call 717-392-3690 with any questions.

STACEY GAGNE –

During our 26 Hours of Compassion events in 2010 and 2013, WJTL listeners have sponsored children from 2 specific projects in Ethiopia through Compassion International.  These sponsors are  beginning to receive details about a trip scheduled to take place this August 3 through 10!  We will be traveling together from the listening area as a team to serve alongside the local church and Compassion staff at our projects in Ethiopia.  We’ll worship together, spend time at the student centers and meet with the staff there,  play with the children and serve through some fun VBS style activities.  Our team will visit some of the children’s homes,  participate in service projects like painting, clean up and other hands on work.  It’s going to be a treasure to spend time with our sponsored children and even treat them to a visit at an amusement park.  There will also be time for sight seeing and more.  I can’t wait!!!  I know that there are many church staff, children and families eager to meet the people that are impacting their lives!

Our trip will enable us to better sense God’s heart for this country, to join together as a community, to get to know the culture where our sponsored children live, and see the ministry of Compassion International first hand.   It will mean so much to the children and their families to know that you would come and visit them!  I am confident that lives will be changed as our community joins together to bring God’s message of love to these children and their communities in Ethiopia.

I will continue to give updates and share more about the trip and even give opportunities  for those who can’t travel with us to get involved.  Please pray for us as we continue to plan details,  for God to prepare our hearts and for provision for the listeners who will join us.

STACEY GAGNE –   It’s been encouraging to hear the response from listeners who were challenged, reminded and inspired to impact the life of a child during our 26 Hours of Compassion last week.  I’ve also gotten to catch up with some adult students  that I befriended during my trip.

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to chat with a couple of the college students in Compassion International’s Leadership Development Program who came up through the Child Sponsorship Program.   They were involved in some service projects this past week that included prison ministry, serving at Compassion projects in the local church,  serving by painting in the homes of some of the sponsored families,  helping to train parents and volunteers and just loving the children.  How inspiring to know that these young adults are already having such an impact!    This is the kind of God given hope and opportunity that our sponsorship provides!

We have heard from several listeners about ways that God has already reaffirmed things that He was speaking to their heart about missions, child sponsorship and our responsibility during the 26 Hours of Compassion.  I (literally) ran into someone in the mall who flagged me down to introduce their family to me and thank WJTL for this opportunity!

We discovered that there are still a handful of students at WJTL’s project that are still waiting to “get into the classroom”.   I’m highlighting their photo’s below.  Please consider the impact that you can make on a life or share the opportunity and this link with a friend.

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. 

STACEY GAGNE – The time has come!  WJTL’s 26 Hours of Compassion is this Wednesday and Thursday!  I am thrilled that we have another opportunity to come together with a church in Ethiopia and sponsor an entire project.  One that I had the opportunity to visit just last month! (if you missed them, call in reports are available at our wjtlcasts page)

Our focus for this event is the Tedecha Mekane Yesus Church Student Center located in Dukem, about 20 miles southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in Africa.  It’s home to about 22,000.   Through child sponsorship with Compassion we have the opportunity to help provide these children with Bible teaching, health screenings, field trips, sports, health education, educational supplies, school fees and HIV/AIDS awareness education.  The center staff will also provide opportunities for project involvement for the parents or guardians of your sponsored child.  HIV/AIDS, pneumonia, typhoid fever and typhus are a problem in this region. Most adults in Dukem work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $30 per month.

Together with the local church in Ethiopia and Compassion International;  we can help bring the light and hope of Jesus to many!  Tune in this Wednesday and Thursday to hear stories about specific children we met, testimonies and more.  Visit wjtl.com to check out videos as they are posted  and please be praying for this event and consider sponsoring one of these children.

STACEY GAGNE –  As we walked up to the home of little Mascelloo, the first thing I noticed was the drawings on the wall (I think drawn with chalk).  There was obviously a creative little someone in the home  and I was excited to meet them.

Mascello has an adorable little smile.  When we entered the home of the little guy in the purple Tele Tubbie tshirt and stitched up clothing,  you couldn’t help but love him.  He has the sweetest, shy little smile and was hiding behind a curtain separating their one room home into two.  He is almost 7 and his name means the cross.  He’s registered for the new project that WJTL listeners have the opportunity to sponsor.   Mascelloo lives with his older brother and his mother, Trungo.  Trungo works collecting dung, carrying it on her shoulders and she sells it to make a living.  There was a pile of dung outside her home drying.   She also works as a maid to earn money to pay her rent.  She is too frail to do any other sort of physical labor.  Trungo is divorced and not originally from this village or area… she had moved following an Uncle who left the area once they were settled.   Mascello’s older brother is 12 and he was out collecting dung while we were there for our visit.  When asked what her wish was for her sons, Trungo shared that she wishes for them to study and grow… to have opportunity that she did not have.    I think we were all moved by the amount of work this woman is undertaking as she tries to provide for her family.

Trungo was proud to pull out Mascalloo’s tattered writing tablet and nub of a pen that he had and show us his work.  I gladly gave him several pieces of paper and the pen I had with me at the moment and we drew a little together.  This little guy has talent and a desire to draw that I am sure could be cultivated as he has opportunities to go to school and learn.

I am excited by the opportunity we have to change the life of this family.  With the help of Compassion and the local church, we can help make their life easier, safer and healthier and offer the greatest gift of all … the gospel.    A member of our group prayed for Trungo to receive the Lord, though she was hesitant.  There is great opportunity for her to see the love and provision available to her family and really commit her life to God.    I know our being there in her home offered her hope that things would soon change.

There are so many families like this one … one parent barely hanging on and working so hard doing unpleasant labor that yields very little  reward.  She’s just trying to keep her family alive.  We have the opportunity to make such an impact with a small investment.   I pray Mascelloo is sponsored quickly during our 26 Hours of Compassion.  Please be praying for him and all the other boys and girls who dare to hope that they will be sponsored.

STACEY GAGNE –  This morning in church we sang the song: Healer.  As I sang the lyrics “I believe you’re my Healer, I believe you are all I need.  I believe you’re my portion.  I believe you’re more than enough for me.  Jesus you’re all I need” my heart returned to the home where we made our final home visit on Friday.

It was the home of a little boy named Masresh who is registered to be sponsored from the Tedecha Mekane Yesus Church.  This is the church project we will be sponsoring during our upcoming 26 Hours of Compassion.   When we entered his home,  his mother was breast feeding a 2 month old baby and he was sitting on a pile of blankets on the floor… his bed.  The father in the home passed away when she was 8 months pregnant.   This baby is named Mitiku which means substitute (for her husband) and Masresh means something like compensated… because this 6 year old came into her life after she had lost 2 other babies.   The mom was wearing black as she is still in mourning.    They are extremely poor… dressed in basically rags.   Mom washes clothes and does maid services in the village to try and support her family while Masresh (6 years old) stays home and takes care of the baby.   Their rent costs 150 birr per month.    When we asked what her hopes for Masresh were, she smiles and says for him to have a job… any job so he can be self sufficient.

After being in the home for a while, we discovered that mom was open to Jesus, and had been a part of a Pentecostal church years ago.  I had the opportunity to pray for her and with her and she prayed along with me to receive Jesus as her Savior and commit her life to him.   As we were leaving the home,  we noticed that there was something that was hanging in her doorway.   When Yoseph, our guide from Compasssion,  asked her about them, we found out that they were little bags of something (which turned out to be dirt) that someone had promised her would protect her.   Yoseph assured her that with Jesus in her life she doesn’t need superstition… that He is her protector and provider.    She willingly allowed him to remove them from her doorway and he later dumped them out on the ground.  We wonder how much she had to pay for this false protection.  Her neighbors had bottles of water hanging on their door, which were related to some other type of superstition.

The heart of Compassion is to “release children from their spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults”.   It is exciting to know that when Masresh is sponsored there will be people speaking into his life, visiting his home, teaching him about how Jesus is more than enough, and displaying that love through helping meet their desperate physical needs.    My prayer is that his mom will see it illustrated that God is with them, protecting and healing her and her family.   It would be amazing to have someone from our listening area be the one who helps make a way for this to happen.

I’m thankful that we have this opportunity to speak up for children that otherwise have not had the opportunity to ask for help, themselves.  Please consider what you can do and be in prayer as we look ahead to our 26 Hours of Compassion February 20-21.    I can’t wait to find out that Masresh has been sponsored and perhaps even take you there to meet him and his family yourself!