Mood:  a-ok

Most of you know that this past week marked the one year anniversary of the terrible earthquake in Haiti. I don't have any Compassion International children in Haiti but I have been reading the accounts of many of the children in Haiti. Here is a video of one of them. In my title, I said that it was a success story. With all of the accusations of mis-allocated donations it is good to hear a success story. But, although this is a success story in one way, with most tragedies, you have to measure success one stage at a time. You will see what I mean when you watch the video.

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Mood:  a-ok

Okay, this really isn't just for people involved with Compassion International, it's really for everyone. But, since I did some stuff on it for my Compassion kids, I'm featuring it as a Compassion post.

As Compassion International sponsors, we are really encouraged to write to our kids. There really isn't much encouraging needed for me. I love to write to them and the letters that I get back from them are precious. Usually I use Compassion's on line email feature. The email really isn't sent to the kids directly. Most of them don't have computers. Really, many of them don't even have electricity! Anyway, the emails are sent to the countries national office where they are translated and then sent to the Compassion project that the kids attend. Then, whenever the next mail day is at their project, they will get their letter. It still takes a few weeks to go through the entire process, but that beats the two or three months it takes for a snail mail letter to get to them.

If you send a snail mail letter, you send it directly to the Compassion headquarters in Colorado. They will log it in and send it in a big batch to the country headquarters which then translates it, sends it to the project and the child finally gets it. 

The only time I use the snail mail feature is if I want to send them something like a picture, stickers, or something else. I usually try to send a packet of things to my kids about every three months or so. Some dedicated sponsors send out packets once a month! Maybe someday. At this time it is all I can do just to send them out every two or three months. I do email them quite often though - two or three times a month.

I am just now getting a packet together for them. It has some Valentine's Day things in it even though I know it will be way past February 14 when they get it. It doesn't matter to the kids anyway. They don't have a Valentine's Day in their countries, so they won't really care when they get it. I plan on explaining what Valentine's Day is all about in my letter, but also put a Christian spin on it so that they know that they are very much loved by God. Here's one of the things that I'm going to send:

Marcelo

Feyber

Somi

Emmanuel

Ismael

These are actually only a fourth of the page. Each child is going to get 16 small valentines of himself. I'm going to explain that in the United States it is a tradition to give valentines to your friends and family to show that you love and appreciate them. So, they can cut these out and give them away.

The program to do this is free and you can find it at http://www.picnik.com/ . They have a lot of neat things on their website that you can do with pictures. Check it out.

So, why do I do this for my kids? Well, because I want to show a little love to kids that don't see or get much love. Everyone needs to know that they are loved. If you feel led to love a child by sponsoring them check out Compassion International's website. Trust me, the love you will get in return will make it all worth it!

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Not a real goat...well, someone will get a real goat but not your friend...let me explain.

You know that I've been promoting Compassion International on my blog for some time now. I know that many of you would love to be involved, but just aren't able to financially support a child monthly. Well, here's a way that you can still help no matter what your budget is.

Compassion International has put out a catalog called the "Gifts of Compassion Catalog" where you can send a one time physical gift to a needy child or their family. They have items ranging from $10 to $5000. Like I said - they'll fit anyone's budget.

What did I mean about your friend getting a goat? Here's how it works. What you do is look through the Gifts of Compassion catalog by clicking here or on any one of the hi-lighted links. Then you pick the item(s) that you would like to purchase. In return, Compassion will send you a gift card along with information on how your gift will be used. You give this card to your friend explaining what you did in their honor. What's really neat is that the Gifts of Compassion catalog has suggested gifts to give to your friend along with the card. For the goat, you might give your friend (or family member) some goat cheese, a cheese cutting knife and the card that explains that you've purchased a goat to give to a needy Compassion International child's family. Isn't that a neat idea?! Of course, you don't have to give the extra gift, but it is a cool thought.

Like I said, they have all kinds of gifts for any budget. You can buy mosquito netting for $10 to help a child in a malaria plagued country. You can give $150 to help a child's father open up a car mechanic business. You can spend $500 to give a computer to one of Compassion's child development centers. You can even donate $5000 to help cover the costs of major surgery that some of the Compassion kids need.

There are loads of other things that you can purchase as well from soccer balls to farm equipment. After your money has been spent, you will get a report explaining how your money was used. Just click here or on any one of the hi-lighted links above to get to the Gifts of Compassion catalog. Thanks for caring and giving a Gift of Compassion this year.

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Mood:  a-ok

Stayed tuned for a special announcement about Compassion International coming soon!

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I know. You all can only take so much of Compassion International. I also know that many readers just don't bother reading the post when they see the words "Compassion International" in the topic line. Really, I understand. But, you have to understand that Compassion International and BCM International are both near and dear to my heart. They are both a part of me. I can't get away from either one so I keep on talking about them. And, if I can get just one person to sponsor a Compassion Child it will be worth it. If I can get just one person to give a little of their love to a child that has little to no love, it is worth it. I have seen what a little money and a little love can do to help a child that lives in a horribly poor state. Really, it's not much each month. Just $38. That's the price that you would pay to go to a mediocre restaurant. That's the price that a latte a day would add up to at the end of the month. When you think of it that way, it's not much. That's all I will say for now, but please, as you watch this short clip, prayerful consider if God is leading you to sponsor a child. Then click here for more information.

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