March Compassion Joys

Counting all the ways He loves me and blesses me through the ministry of Compassion International. 

Each month when I sit down to write this list, I am amazed at how God has so beautifully woven this ministry into our lives.

The month started off with an opportunity to work the Rock and Worship Roadshow 

107 kids sponsored at Rock and Worship Roadshow

Happy 20th birthday Bulu!

Bulu in East India

Letters from Luis, Bulu, David, Joylyne and Portia

announcement of Compassion's president elect and new CEO ~ Santiago Mellada

two new correspondent boys - Duncan and Stephen

guest post on Home Educator Mom blog

Happy 14th birthday Hondy!

Hondy in the Dominican Republic

Will you join me in taking a moment to note the Compassion related gifts God has given you this past month? Either share them in the comments, or write a post of your own and link up. If you do link up, please leave me a comment so I know to check out your post!

Easter

Here are some links to posts on Compassion's blog about how Easter is celebrated in some of the countries where Compassion works.

If you have sponsored children in any of these countries, I'm sure you will appreciate learning a little bit more about how they might celebrate!

Easter in Ghana

Easter in El Salvador

Easter in Peru


Easter in Kenya

Easter in Bangladesh


Easter in Guatemala

Citizen Kid Books

Have you heard of this collection of books from Citizen Kid that help inform children about the world?

The four I particularly like, because they address issues that affect holistic child development are One Hen, Mimi's Village, The Good Garden and One Well.

Mimi's Village and How Basic Health Care Transformed It

• takes place in western Kenya
• website   
• the efforts of this book are in partnership with World Vision, a ministry that has some similarities to Compassion.

One Hen How One Small Load Made a Big Difference 

• set in western Africa, specifically Ghana
• website

The Good Garden How One Family Went From Hunger to Having Enough 

• takes place in Honduras 
• website

One Well The Story of Water on Earth

• covers a wide variety of countries with helpful information like this:

And each book gives factual information that goes beyond the story.

Links, Links and More Links....

Happy Friday! I've decided to post a few of my favorite links from this week for you today.

First...I'm honored to be at Home Educator Mom talking about my family's journey with Compassion. Hop on over and say hi to Betty!

Amber VanSchooneveld, author of Hope Lives and a writer for Compassion, wrote three great articles about what meals Compassion kids get. Go to her blog for the link to all three articles. They are all very informative!

Emily at With Elephant Grace posted about her experience with coaching, which is offered through Compassion's Advocate Network. I'm a big fan of coaching and highly recommend all advocates take advantage of this opportunity. Like Emily, I found it awkward at first, but I've been coaching for more than 3 years and every single time I come away from a coaching conversation, I have clarity, new thinking and action steps.

Finally, if you read Compassion's blog then you have probably seen this....Research Shows: Child Sponsorship Through Compassion Works.  You gotta love it when research proves what we already know to be true from experience!

I hope you have a great weekend.

World Water Day

I really don't know a lot about this official day called "world water day" so I'm not going to pretend I do. But there is a website I (and you) can explore to learn more.

It's also a GREAT opportunity to think about and talk about how blessed we are because water flows freely from our faucets. If you have small kids, this is a great opportunity to educate them about how most of the world lives.

When this blog was new, I wrote a post called Water. In that post I challenged readers to count the number of faucets in their home and then donate X amount of money per faucet. Not only do we have instant access to clean water right inside our homes, we have several places of instant water access. My house has 12 faucets inside and out. 12!! It's hard to imagine life without easy access to water.

I've been really put out this week because we are remodeling our master bathroom. For the past week we've had no water in there. Can you believe I had to walk an additional 15 steps down the hallway to get a drink of water at night? What a pain! (I hope you are reading the sarcasm here...) When you think about having to trek miles for clean water and then carry it home, it puts it all into perspective, doesn't it?

Here are some ideas for you to do in celebration of World Water Day:

• Donate a certain amount of money per faucet in your house ($1, $5, $10 per faucet)
• Donate enough $ to buy a Water of Life system ($79)
• Carry a bucket of water as far as you can to get a glimpse of what life is like for so many of our Compassion children (this is a great one for kids to do)
• Drink only water all day
• Only use one faucet all day - maybe even consider only using an outside faucet (again, a great illustration for our kids)
• Most of all....be thankful for what you have, and pray for those who lack what we take for granted

What are your ideas?

One Meal, One Day

Wednesday

March 27, 2013

Here's what you do:

1. Skip one meal and donate the money you would have spent on lunch ~ the money will go to hungry kids in Ethiopia

2. Get friends and family to join you

3. See how much $$ you can raise and donate

4. Watch this video

One Meal One Day Challenge 2013 from Compassion International on Vimeo.

5. Go to the website to learn more information on how you can participate!

Two More Boys!

Every time I hear there is a need for more people to correspond with sponsored kids, I hesitate. Not because I don't want to, but because I find myself full when it comes to writing. With 20 kids of my own to write to (plus 2 from other sponsorship opportunities), I get a little overwhelmed sometimes.

A while back I sent an email saying I would gladly accept a correspondent child, but nothing happened. 

Then last week I saw another appeal for correspondence and again responded. I was thrilled to receive an email yesterday, informing us that we have been assigned to two wonderful boys from the same project in Kenya.

I am thrilled to be able to step into the lives of these boys and hopefully speak encouragement into them.

Mwanzia Stephen

Mwanzia (I think I'll call him Stephen), is 12 years old and lives with his grandmother. It appears both of this parents have died. According to his information, he enjoys group games and soccer.

Duncan Kitheko Musango

Duncan is 13 years old and lives with his mother, who is sometimes employed as a farmer. His father is deceased. Duncan enjoys group games, soccer and singing. 

I am eager to learn more about these strapping young fellows!

In an attempt to update my intense debate commenting system yesterday, I managed to completely delete the ability to leave comments on my blog. I'm hoping to eventually fix it, but don't want to spend hours and hours on it so it might be a while. In the meantime, if you need to tell me something, you can leave a comment over at Daily Bread or email me (fiddlejill at yahoo dot com).

Monday Mail Call ~ A Letter From Lian

Last week we received a wonderful letter from Lian in Colombia. At first I wasn't very excited because it looked like a form letter, but as I started reading I realized how much information was in this letter and how much we were learning about our precious girl.

I put the writing prompt in blue and her answers in italics....

When I grow up I want to become a teacher Because I like to teach math and writing And I'd like to study degree in math or Spanish at the University of Francisco de Paula Santander to teach children.

Lian is only 8 years old, so her career aspirations are likely to change. My own daughter is 8 and we love talking to her about what she will be when she grows up, so it's very endearing for me to hear this from Lian. And this information not only gives me a glimpse into her interests and strengths in school, it also gives me clear direction in how I can pray for her and her future.

Thanks to Michelle at Blogging From the Boonies for creating Mail Call Monday!

I'm excited to see if anything comes in the mail this week.

Too Small to Ignore Winner

Winner of Too Small to Ignore is...

Hannah H.

Congratulations, Hannah! Please email me (fiddlejill (at) yahoo (dot) com) your mailling address so I can get your book to you in the mail as soon as possible.

Too Small to Ignore Book Giveaway

To celebrate the announcement of Compassion's new CEO and president, Santiago Mellado...

Wess Stafford with the Mellado family during the live chapel service held Wednesday, March 13th.

I have a copy of Wess Stafford's book, Too Small to Ignore Why Children are the Next Big Thing to giveaway.

To enter simply leave me a comment. I will announce a winner on Monday, March 18th at noon EST. 

Be sure to tell your friends!

Compassion's New President-Elect

This morning at their weekly chapel service, Compassion announced the new president-elect....

Santiago (Jimmy) Mellado

It was wonderful "meeting" the new CEO and hearing Wess Stafford speak so highly and so enthusiastically about the future of Compassion under this new leadership. He said Jimmy was his pick from the beginning, but Compassion hired a team to find the right fit for a successor. And God led them to Jimmy.

Jimmy has been in a leadership position with Willow Creek Association for the past 20 years. His ministry partner, Bill Hybels, shared a few words with the audience and said..."Your gain is our loss. In other words, it sucks to be us." He also told Compassion they must take care of the Mellado family because "the Chicago mafia knows where you live." It was funny! 

An interesting side note....Jimmy's daughter Elizabeth was featured in last year's Compassion Sunday materials.

Do you remember the story of this Elizabeth sponsoring a little girl named Elizabeth? That particular campaign and story resulted in over 15,000 sponsorships!

If you want to know a little more about this announcement and about Jimmy Mellado, here is a link to an online article announcing the change that will give you more information. And Compassion's blog also has a post up. And here's another link to his bio on Compassion's website. There will be a few months of transition as Wess continues to serve as CEO, but also begins stepping away and letting Jimmy step up.

Will you join me in praying for the Mellado family as they make this transition? 

And for the entire Compassion "family"? 

And for the Stafford family as Wess begins to step away? 

Thank you, Lord, for providing a humble, Godly man to continue the mission and work of Compassion International. May you continue to be glorified through this ministry.

What to Write ~ When I Was Your Age

Sometimes kids have a hard time believing that adults were once their age. I know when I was a kid, this idea was beyond me. How could my mom have ever been 6 years old? I remember wondering what she was like when she was my age. What did she like to do? What were her favorite books? Who were her friends? What did she look like?

I think this topic would make for a very fun letter, especially around your sponsored child's birthday. And the great thing is, if you sponsor / correspond with more than one child, all you have to do is change the details according to your and their age!

So here are a couple letter examples....(with dorky photos of me). I had a lot of fun walking down memory lane, and these letters even passed the test of my own girls, ages 6 and 8. They loved hearing a little bit about my childhood.

Dear Joylyne,

I'm writing to wish you a very happy birthday. It's so exciting that you are turning 7! I remember what it was like when I was 7 years old. One of my favorite childhood memories was going to the annual All Saints Day party at my church every October. We would all dress up like Bible characters and there would be many games to play and treats to eat. One year I dressed up like Queen Esther. Another year I was Mary, the mother of Jesus. But when I was 7 years old, I was Miriam and my brother was Aaron. This was very fitting because my brother's name really is Aaron! Do you know Aaron and Miriam from the Bible? They were the brother and sister of Moses. Do you know the story of when Moses was placed in a basket as a baby and put on the river? I carried a basket with a baby doll in it. Here is the photo of me and my brother in our costumes. I was 7 years old in the photo - just like you are now!

Well, I hope you have a wonderful birthday. Please write back and tell me how it feels to be 7 and how you celebrated your big day. I love you so much and pray for you every day.

May God bless you! Love, Jill

Dear Ruth,

Hello sweet girl! I am writing to say Happy Birthday! Can you believe you are 5 years old now? You are growing up so quickly. I remember my 5th birthday. This is a photo of me on my 5th birthday. Can you tell what present I got from my parents and grandparents? I got this beautiful bike and I remember riding it up and down the sidewalk in front of our house. This was a very, very special gift. I especially liked the basket on the front and would put my favorite stuffed animal in there and take it for rides. Riding my bike was always a favorite activity of mine and I would ride to the park and also to school every day I could. 

Sydney and Kayleigh also love to ride their bikes. I don't ride my bike much anymore, but I love to run next to Sydney and Kayleigh while they ride. It helps me exercise to chase after them. Do you know how to ride a bike?

I hope you have a wonderful birthday. Please write back and tell me how you celebrated your special day. We love you and are praying for you and your family.

Much love, Jill

Dear Jerry,

Happy 11th birthday to you! How does it feel to be 11 now? Is it any different than 10? 

I was thinking back to when I was 11 years old and started going through photos. I found this photo of me wearing soccer uniform when I was 11. I was the only girl on the team and we were called "Orange Crush". I played soccer every year and was always on the same team as my brother. In our country, games like soccer are usually very organized. You are placed on a team and you practice with the same teammates all season and play games against other teams. I don't remember if I was very good at playing soccer or not, but I do remember enjoying the game. I also liked to play tennis and volleyball. When I was older, I was on the volleyball team at my school (in grades 7-11). 

I don't play many sports now that I am an adult, but I do enjoy running and hiking. I also like to do some rock climbing. What sports do you enjoy?

I hope you and your family are doing well. I hope you had a wonderful birthday celebration. I can't wait to hear about it. Please give my love to your family and tell them we are praying for all of you.

May God bless you! We are so proud of you and the wonderful young man you are becoming. 

Happy Birthday! Love, Jill


I hope these examples are helpful....3 different letters, 3 different ages, 3 different topics.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts!

My Secret About Comments

You know as well as I do that there are a lot of good blogs to read. I "follow" some, I have a couple different blog lists and others I randomly visit. But there is another way I choose which blogs get my attention.

Comments. YOUR comments.

That's right. When you leave me a comment, it almost always prompts me to visit your blog and see what's going on in your world. I try to return the favor and leave you a comment, but sometimes it's too hard. For some reason Safari (the web browser I use) won't let me leave comments on certain blogs. If I have extra time, I will switch to Internet Explorer and leave a comment that way, but usually I opt for being lazy and skipping the comment.

Anyway, just wanted to let you in on my little secret. You know...in case you want me to read your blog more often. (smile).

And THANK YOU for all your comments. I really do appreciate hearing from you.

Correspondent Kit Giveaway and Other Links for YOU!

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

It's the second Friday of the month and you know what that means?

It's time to write to your Compassion kids!! It's also time for another correspondent kit giveaway. Emily over at With Elephant Grace is giving away a correspondent kit and it's super easy to enter. Head on over to win one of these great kits.

Patricia from JonesBones5 is in the Philippines and wrote a post called When There is Love about the Child Survival Program. You have to click over and see how beautiful these babies are!

Lizzie over at Love is an Action wrote a post highlighting some Etsy shops that sell products to support their Compassion habit.

Finally I'll leave you with a great song and video....

if not us, who will be Jesus to the least of these

A Handful of Seeds by Monica Hughes

A Handful of Seeds by Monica Hughes is a beautiful story of a girl who lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother teaches her a very important lesson before she dies, and because the girls remembers what her grandmother taught her, she ends up changing many peoples lives.

The book is not clear where the story takes place, but it is likely in Central America or South America.

The illustrations are beautiful and together with the words, tell a great story.

I highly recommend you find a copy of this book to read. You'll be glad you did!

Only the Mountains do not Move ~ A Maasai Story of Culture and Conservation

In this beautiful book by Jan Reynolds, one can learn so much about the Maasai culture. The book is full of beautiful photographs and wonderful text, telling the stories and life of these people.

The Maasai people live in Kenya and Tanzania and Compassion works in both these countries with the Maasai.

If you sponsor a child who is Maasai, you will definitely want to try to get your hands on this book.

Compassion Sunday - Another Video

Watch this video and see what other fellow Compassion Sunday presenters have to say.

Be encouraged - you are not alone!