Through the Eyes of a Child

For the final week of Compassion's Blog Month, I have been asked to write from the perspective of a sponsored child.  I decided to go a step further and give a voice to a girl who is still waiting for her sponsor.  Please keep in mind while reading that, while this is a real child, the writing is fictional.

My name is Patricia.  I am 8 years old and live in El Salvador.  I was registered at the Compassion Child Development Center over a year ago but I do not have a sponsor yet.  I do not know why I have not been picked.  Most of my friends already have sponsors.  Some of them even get letters and goodies from their sponsors.  They are always sharing with me but it is not the same.  

Still, I love to go to the Compassion center.  We do lots of fun things and I have made many friends there.  The staff helps me with my homework and teaches me about the love of Christ.  The only day I do not like is letter-writing day.  All of the sponsored children are so excited to write letters to their sponsors.  But me and the other unsponsored children have to do other things.  I often dream of what I will write to my sponsor about.  I will want to know everything about their life.  Will they have children of their own?  Will they keep a pet chicken in the backyard and love fresh mangoes like me?  I know that I will love my sponsor very much.  I will want to tell them all about my life too.

I will tell them that I live with my mother and my older sister.  My father left us when I was a baby and I don't remember him but I mother tells me that he was not a nice man.  My mother tries to get work as a laborer but sometimes she cannot.  During those times, it can be hard to buy food for us, but she is thankful that I will get to eat at my Compassion center.  I like to help my mother at home by cleaning the house.  We live in a two room house made of cement.  I help sweep the floors and wash dishes.  I also run errands around the neighborhood to pick up things that we need.  Sometimes I like to sing while I do my chores because it makes it more fun.  I like my school as well and do fairly well.  My friends and I go to school in the morning then come home for lunch before walking to the Compassion center together in the afternoon.  Sometimes my mother worries that something will happen to us on the twenty minute walk and she will not let me go by myself.  My sister tells me that there are bad people who will hurt children if we are not careful.  My sister is 11 and we are very good friends.  She worries that she will have to quit school in the next few years so that she can go to work and help support our family.  We pray that she will not have to- she really wants to be a nurse when she grows up.  

Thank you for listening about my life and for caring about me.  Before Compassion I did not know that anyone cared about my life but now I know that I was wrong.  Please pray that I will find a sponsor soon!

Please pray for Patricia and all of the other children waiting for sponsors.  To find out more about this lovely girl please click here.

Letter to God

My dear Lord,

Writing, as you know, usually comes rather easily to me.  However, this feels very awkward and open to me for thoughts that I would normally keep between the two of us.  It makes me feel vulnerable, but I realize I should be humbled before you.  What is allowing me to publish this is the fact that I am not doing for myself, but for her, for that sweet daughter or yours whom you led into my life three years ago and for all of the other children just like her.  The children you have placed in my life, Marlen, Predilien, Rhean, and even Kalkidan, have blessed me immensely (and to a lesser extent my family as well).  I pray today that you would hold each of them firmly in your hands, that they may never falter in their understanding of your love for them.  And God, beyond 'my' kids, I pray for all of your precious children who are growing up in areas where all they ever hear is 'no': "No they can't go to school, have a good meal, or get a decent job."  "No they are not loved and not they don't mean anything to anybody."  I pray that these kids will hear your voice calling for them, dispelling the myths that are being whispered in their ears.  I pray that they will embrace your love and acknowledge your unconditional acceptance of them.  And God, please continue to bless organizations, like Compassion International, that go to the far corners of the world to show your children the love that you have for them, to feed them and clothe them and educate them and, most importantly, to lead them out of the darkness of poverty and into the light of your arms.  Lord protect and guide those who choose to follow your calling to them even when leaving the safety of home could prove fatal.  Lord may all of your children hear your words to Habakkuk when he asked "How long, O Lord, must I call for help but you do not listen?  Or cry out to you 'Violence!' but you do not save?  Why do you make me observe injustice?  Why do you tolerate wrong?  Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds.  Therefore the law is paralyzed and justice never prevails." (Hab 1:1-4)  Lord for far too many of your children the prophet's woes are still reality.  They live in a world where violence and conflict are all that surround them.  It is hard for them, as well as for those of us blessed to live in wealth and look on, to remember that you have not forgotten them, that you have a plan for each of their lives and a reason for allowing them to suffer.  Let them find comfort in your answer to Habakkuk: "Look at the nations and watch- and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to do something in your days that even you would not believe, even if you were told." (Hab 1:5)  May your children find comfort in your promise to them Lord.  May they understand that you have a purpose for their lives that they cannot yet comprehend.  Remind them that they are never alone when they trust in you.  For "who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." (Rom 8:35-37)  May all of your dear children across the world go to bed tonight knowing that no matter what tomorrow may bring, you will be there for them and no matter where they go or what they do, you will never turn against them.

With all of my love and humility, your daughter, Emily

Spreading the Word

For the month of September Compassion has asked sponsors to blog about child sponsorship in order to raise awareness about the needs of children in poverty all over the world.  As part of this initiative, they are hoping to find sponsors for over 3,100 children in need of love and support.

I would like to encourage you to visit Compassion's website and pray over the children.  Maybe one will stand out to you to sponsor or to commit to praying for for the remainder of the month or until they find a sponsor.  Maybe it will be a little girl with a single mother and several siblings.  Maybe it will be a young boy with a handicap.  Whoever God leads you to you can be sure that the child desperately needs your prayers that he or she will come to know Christ and that He will protect him or her from the many devastating situations poverty can place a child in.

Please pray for these children today!

She needs to feel the love of Christ!