David’s Family and Compassion

A couple months ago, I wrote to my LDP correspondence student, David, and asked him how the ministry of Compassion has impacted his family. This weekend I received a letter from him and was touched to read his story. It’s a little long, but I don’t want to leave any of it out. (I have added emphasis to some sentences that really stood out to me.) If you don’t have time to read it all, please read his last sentences.

In answer to your question, it was God’s grace that my family is blessed by Compassion. Years ago when my parents got married, they got a piece of land in a neighborhood that did not have anything but stones and sand. At that time our house was made of mats and sticks.They had to work really hard to make improvements in the house. My mom worked in her grocery shop and it was really hard and my father did not find a job at that time. Then, my first brother was born. However, since my mom had to work very hard and because of my house conditions and the sudden change in weather, my brother died of pneumonia. They felt deeply sad. My mom kept working and when my sister and I were born, my house was more comfortable. It had cement walls but the roof was made of mats. My parents were going to a church (the same church we go to today) and since it was in a poor area, Compassion opened a CDSP program and my parents registered us in the program. There we learned about God, had skill workshops and ate very good food which we could not find at home because sometimes money was not enough. My mom went everywhere to find food for us and she did not care if she did not eat as long as my sister and I were fine. I will never forget that. When I was 8 years old, the project in my church closed because of infrastructure problems and we were transferred to another project.

shanty towns of Lima, Peru – similar to where David grew up

While I was in the project, my father got a job and my mom would spend more time in her business. My sister and I kind of spent our childhood in her shop for many years and we helped her to sell products. My house improved more and more. Now we had a cement roof and years later we built a second floor. My mom used to tell us that if some day we went to university or to another school and invited our classmates over, she did not want us to feel embarrassed about having a house made of mats and sticks. That is why they worked hard to build a second floor. When we were in high school, our mom always encouraged us to study hard and told us, “I may not have given you good clothes or a nice house or good toys when you were kids, but with the little money I earn, I want you to get an education because nobody can take it from you.” And during this time, it was also by God’s grace that Compassion helped us. They encouraged us to do something in life, to have great dreams because God was giving us the chance to get rid of poverty through out education and hard work. This is what our directors and tutors told us and I believed in their words.

David and his parents – 2008 – high school graduation party

In my last high school year I had classes in the mornings and afternoons. I could not go to the project often and I was about to be taken out of the program, but by God’s grace the main office did not cancel my sponsorship as my reasons of absence were school reasons. So, in order to consider my involvement in the project, I had to help in the church services. Now I understand why God let me stay in the project. It opened doors for me to enter LDP and get a university degree, learn about leadership and help my family overcome poverty and help others. My parents would not have been able to pay the university education of their two children. My sister had already started going to a private university and money was only enough for her. Before I joined the program, I thought about working and taking classes at the same time, but I know that it was God and my mom’s prayer that I stayed in Compassion. It has been a great help for my family because we receive financial and spiritual support as my parents also participate in different workshops. I see how God has been working in my family. I see my family committed to the church work in their ministries. My mom always takes food to people in need or visits sick people. And my father does his share with the pastors. They visit homes and encourage people and help them spiritually and financially. My sister also practices what we learned when we were in Compassion. I look up to her because she is now working in a small church as a Sunday School teacher. This is a church that has a couple of years and located in a very poor place. Their pastor is a true servant and started this work from scratch. I had the chance to help there and was moved by the poverty in the place and the infrastructure of the church which is made of mats with chairs supported by bricks. She also does different things there. She saw the needs in this church and she is now a blessing. I feel very happy about it and I thank God for this.

I know Compassion made this possible. Compassion helps children become servants and it blesses not only the child but the whole family, raising a new family of servants.

David (far left) and other Peru LDP students - 2010

This, my friends, is one of many testimonies of how Compassion impacts a whole family. We may technically be sponsoring a child, but families are being changed – hopefully including our own.