Six Word Friday ~ Cover

He will cover you with his

feathers, and under his wings you

will find refuge; his faithfulness will

be your shield and rampart. Amen

Psalm 91:4

a tarp covering a large area
provides much needed shade for children

When I think about the poverty

that plagues so many people around

the world, I feel very overwhelmed.

I'm so thankful for ministries like

Compassion International who are working through

local churches to reach the hopeless.

Through Compassion, I can make a

significant difference in the life of 

a child and his/her family.

I can do sponsorship and change 

the world for a child/family.

Because of their focus on holistic

child development, Compassion covers it all...

physical, spiritual, emotional, social and economical.

linking up with Six Word Fridays

Back to School With Compassion

If you've spent much time around these parts, you probably know that I'm pretty passionate about child sponsorship. Personally I've been sponsoring children through Compassion International for the past 20 years and I'm very intentional about including my own girls in the sponsorship experience. 

Both my husband and I have traveled to see Compassion's ministry in action (me to Peru, him to Nicaragua) and this past March we took our daughters with us to Thailand where we met our sponsored child, Orm.

As a homeschooler, I love all the opportunities Compassion sponsorship provides us in our education. It throws open the doors to a global world view and serves as a very practical way to put our faith into action.

Homeschooler or not, you can also incorporate sponsorship into your child's educational experience.

Here are a few very practical ways to combine sponsorship and education:

• Geography - locate your sponsored child's country on a map and know where it is in relation to where you live
• Writing - teach how your child how to write letters to your sponsored child (the art of letter writing seems to be dying in this world of emails, tweets and texts)
• Reading - check out books and stories about your child's country from the library to read (you can check out my country expert posts for book ideas)
• History - learn the history of your sponsored child's country
• Language - learn how to say a few words or phrases in your sponsored child's native language
• Cultural  - learn about the customs and traditions of your sponsored child's country. (holidays, lost teeth, art, music, religion, dress and so much more)
• Culinary - if possible, try eating food from your child's country. Better yet, learn how to cook a traditional meal from that country and let your kids help.
• Spritual - memorize Scripture, pray for your sponsored child, encourage your children and teach them to "love their neighbor"

As an advocate, I usually have child packets on hand and right now I have packets for two children who are waiting for sponsors.

Griselda lives in Bolivia and was born April 6, 2009. She lives in an area that is considered high risk for child rights violations. Sponsoring her will help her get the education and opportunities she needs to remain protected from such violations.

Daniel lives in Ethiopia...a country that has been highly affected by AIDS. He was born November 11, 2009.

If you are interested in sponsoring either of these children, please let me know - either through a comment or through email (fiddlejill(at)outlook(dot)com). I would love to get you connected and help you being your sponsorship journey.

Just This....

 

 I have four child packets for kids in Thailand who are waiting for a sponsor.

Will you be part of their story?

Please leave a comment or email me at fiddlejill(at)gmail(dot)com 

if you are willing to step up and be the friend they need.

{p,h,f,r} - Thailand

taking a moment to find joy in the little things

There really isn't anything little about a trip to Thailand, but the trip was HARD. I had to find joy in the little things to get me through this experience. 

{pretty}

There were so many beautiful flowers in Thailand - I'll be doing a separate post of all the flower pictures I took next week, so if you are interested in seeing a wide variety of different flowers, be sure to come back. 

Our friends live on 20 acres of an old 100 acre mango orchard.
We enjoyed walking around and exploring the property a bit.

We spent the last few days of our trip in Phuket - an island in southern Thailand. This area is Thailand's paradise, unfortunately there is so much tourism and they've (in my opinion) ruined their paradise.

sunset over the Andaman Sea

{happy}

We met our Compassion child, Orm, on our first full day in Thailand. I'm so happy we met her, but it was not a fairy-tale meeting by any means. You can read more about the details and our time with Orm here.

Despite the hard times, there were a lot of happy moments and memories made on this trip. The girls loved riding in the back of the pick up truck - everyone does it in Thailand. They loved the speed boat ride, swimming in ponds, lakes and pools, snorkeling in the Andaman Sea, riding horses and seeing friends. 

{funny}

Thailand has some interesting potato chip flavors. Both the lobster plate and sweet basil chips were too spicy to eat. Other flavors we didn't try included oyster, salmon and scallop. 

We saw several of these "vehicles" near the Thailand/Burma border. It's powered by a generator and moves pretty slowly, but it's much cheaper for the villagers to travel this way than by car or motorbike. 

What can I say? Squatty potties are an adventure in and of themselves.
You squat, pee and then rinse the toilet with the water. This was one of the nicer ones we saw.

I had really hoped we'd get a chance to ride an elephant, but instead my girls rode a goat! 

Almost as exciting.

{real}

One of the things that struck me most about Thailand was how much these people - this country - needs God. Every person needs God and every country is full of people who choose not to believe. But Thailand is 94% Buddhist and the idolatry of Buddhism and animism is apparent everywhere you look. The kind of Thailand is highly revered, and he's been a good king, but even he gets worshipped - there are posters and shrines to him everywhere, too.

There are also many ethnic refugees who have been forced to leave Burma by the Burmese army. We had the wonderful opportunity to cross into Burma (illegally) and meet one group of Karen people. Some have left Burma and now live in Thailand, others live near the border, but on the Burma side. They have nothing, yet they welcomed us and extended hospitality to us by feeding us. I'll be writing more about this experience later. 

I've mentioned a couple times that this trip was hard...it was. There were 10 flights, 20 hours of driving, extremely hot conditions, mosquitoes, a sick child, a hurting back, a difficult language barrier, large tourist crowds, funny smells and tastes, disappointments, unmet expectations and more. Yet I saw and learned things about Thailand that I will remember forever. Things you can't learn from reading a book. I met people who are giving every day of their lives to help the oppressed. When I compare my life to theirs, I feel lazy and useless. 

I have many more stories and photos to share...I hope you'll come back to hear them.

I'm linking up with Life Through the Lens, It's the Little Things, {pretty, happy, funny, real}, Little Things Thursday

Black and White Wednesday ~ Thailand

We are just back from Thailand and I'm eager to share some of our experiences with you. I'm still processing it all, so bear with me as I fight jet-lag and find the words to describe our experience.

For now, I'll share a few black and white photos from the trip....

a typical home at an idp camp in Burma
(idp stands for internally displace people...the Karen people of Karen state are
greatly oppressed by the Burmese army. We were fortunate to meet some of these
lovely people and share an evening with them in their village)

the flowers in Thailand were gorgeous - in color this is red and yellow,
 but I thought it lent itself nicely to a black and white edit

Linking up with  Black and White Wednesday 

I'm Going to Uganda Next Week

Well, not really...but I'll be following a group of bloggers who are traveling with Compassion International and reporting from the field. 

Five years ago someone (I think it was Shaun Groves) had a crazy idea....

What if a group of well-read bloggers went to see and experience Compassion's ministry first hand? What if these bloggers were allowed to ask questions, interact with kids, meet local pastors and families, look into records, visit homes and then write whatever they wanted on their blogs?

It's been hugely successful. Thousands of kids have been sponsored as a result of the trips to Uganda, Dominican Republic, India, El Salvador, Kenya, Guatemala, Philippines, Ecuador, Tanzania, Peru and Nicaragua.

It's the 5th anniversary of this crazy idea and next week, the Compassion bloggers are headed back to Uganda, the country where it all started.

This trip is full of great bloggers and co-leaders.

Here's the line up:

• Joy Wilson (Joy the Baker)
• Jeff Goins
• Emily Freeman
• Myquillyn Smith (the Nester)
• Wess Stafford (former president and CEO of Compassion)
• Mike Varel (photographer)
• Bri McKoy
• Shaun Groves

I'd love to invite you to follow along with me. You can either choose one blogger and read their accounts each day, or read them all. For easy access to all the posts, the Compassion blogger page can be found HERE.

Disaster in the Philippines

My heart is heavy as I look at images and hear reports of the devastation caused by typhoon Haiyan last week.

So many lives lost.

So many lives displaced.

So much destruction and devastation.

The people of the Philippines need us. Yesterday on Compassion's blog, there was a great post about things to consider when choosing a charity to donate to in times of crisis. I highly recommend you read it yourself (HERE), but the three main points are these:

1. Was the nonprofit working there before the disaster?
2. Will the nonprofit stick around after the disaster?
3. How will your donation be used?

Shaun Groves also wrote a great post on his blog about the importance of researching charities. He claims that it's unloving to do nothing and naive to just do something. Take a little time and research the charity or organization you plan to donate to. He gives you four concrete ways to do a little research (HERE).

If you choose to donate through Compassion, you can do so HERE. They have set up a donation site that will be updated as information becomes available. You can also click on the image in the side bar of this blog.

In the meantime, do you have a child you sponsor or correspond with in the Philippines? If so, please leave your child's name in the comments and I will pray for them by name. I would encourage you to look through the comments and pray for any named child as well. 

One Meal One Day

It's time for One Meal One Day.

One Meal One Day is the one day of the year we skip a meal and donate the $ we might have spent on that meal to Compassion to help feed some truly hungry kids.

Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. ~ Isaiah 58:10

Have you ever been hungry? Have you ever said "I'm starving!" Have you ever opened your refrigerator or kitchen pantry and said, "There's nothing in here to eat."

I'm sure most of us can answer yes to the above questions. But I'm pretty sure most of us have never truly been starving or really had nothing to eat in their cupboards. 

REAL hunger causes swelling in your abdomen, reduces your body's ability to heal, causes your skin to change color and your hair to fall out. That's the kind of hunger we are trying to alleviate.

Watch this...

One Meal One Day from Compassion International on Vimeo.

Will you join me? Will you be hungry on purpose? 

I need your help in raising donations. If you skip one meal and decide to donate money, would you please consider sending your donation to me so I can meet my goal? If so, leave a comment and I'll let you know where you can mail the check. 

Poverty ~ An Opportunity to Serve

"Poverty is not necessarily an issue to solve; it is an opportunity to serve. As we go through each day, our heart's cry should be, Lord, where would you have me give, serve, and invest myself to bring hope to the poor?" - Johnny Carr

I love to write. I don't mean that I love to string words together to create sentences and paragraphs. I mean that I love to sit down with a pen and paper and write words by hand. It's probably one of the reasons I have decent handwriting. Well...that and a pretty strict 4th grade teacher.

Earlier this week Compassion gave us bloggers this quote to reflect on. Our assignment was to reflect and then blog our thoughts.

It's taken me four days and quite a bit writing. I've filled several pages just writing this quote out - over and over. For some reason writing things out helps me meditate and internalize things. I like to emphasize different aspects of what I'm writing by using capital letters, highlighters, even the form of the passage.

There are several things that stick out to me in this quote.

First...poverty is not something we have to solve. I can't solve it. You can't solve it. Even working together, we can't solve it.

Second...within the situation and circumstances of poverty, there is an opportunity - an invitation - to serve God. Over and over in Scripture God calls us to serve Him through serving others.

³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹ When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’⁴⁰ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fireprepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’⁴⁶ “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” - Matthew 25:31-26 (emphasis mine)

Third...a daily prayer with three parts. How can I give? How can I serve? How can I invest myself or spend myself?

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

 

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

 

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

 

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

    and your night will become like the noonday.

- Isaiah 58:6-9 (emphasis mine)

 

Finally...Hope. We can play a part in bringing hope to those who have none.

Today I leave you with this...

Stop trying to solve poverty. Or maybe the supposed need to solve it is so overwhelming that you've become paralyzed and therefore do nothing. Solving poverty is pointless and doing nothing is pathetic.

Accept and welcome the opportunity to serve.

Pray daily that God would open your eyes to how you can give, serve and invest yourself.

Bring hope to a child. That hope will spill over into the family and community.

Through sponsorship, you can serve God and bring hope to a child. Sponsor a child - you won't regret it. At the very least, click on that link and pray for the children who appear....the children waiting for someone like you to grab this opportunity and give, serve and invest yourself on their behalf.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

{p,h,f,r} - Compassion and Sponsorship

I'm taking a different approach to {p,h,f,r} today. If you are a regular reader here at Daily Bread, you already know that September is Compassion blogging month. Each week we are given an assignment by Compassion International and we write - with the purpose and hope that our readers will be moved to sponsor a child. 

This week our assignment was to choose one of Compassion's photos and tell a story. The story I'm choosing to tell is that through the ministry of Compassion, I regularly see pretty, happy, funny and real things. 

The children are pretty, happy and funny.

Poverty is real.

Having a sponsor is happy.

Sponsorship works - it's real.

Leading a child and their family to Christ is the most beautiful thing. And happy. And real.

{pretty}

{happy}
 Thanks to one of my readers, Maria in Colombia has a sponsor!
Grateful for the role God allowed me to play in connecting the two.

{funny}
Kids will be kids

{real}
There are so many children waiting. 
Some have been waiting more than a year.

See for yourself who is waiting.

Younger children
Older children

Children in Africa
Children in Central and South America
Children in Asia

Boys
Girls

Sponsorship works...there is research to prove it.


Sponsor a child today.
If you feel compelled to step into the life of a child, 
please use the link above to choose a child.
And please let me know. 

All photos are from Compassion International.

I'm linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter