"Fellowship of the Unashamed"

Compassion's blog post of the day provides the following description of an Unashamed Christian.

“I’m a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I’m done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.

My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!”

- Contributed by Dr. Nina Gunter who got it from veteran missionary Louise Robinson Chapman. Today this commitment statement circulates among Christians as author unknown.

Imagine what the world would be like if all Christians made it their New Year's Resolution to live more like this, as much as we are able. Really commit to it, not half-heartedly, excusing ourselves under the "as much as I am able" clause and thinking that they're not very able. Not allowing this resolution to fall by the wayside of so many other New Year's Resolutions and dropping out of the running, off the path, forgetting their commitment by February.

Print out the quote from above (including the contributor, etc., to give credit where credit is due). Post it somewhere that you'll see it on a regular basis. In your Bible, on your bathroom mirror, on the fridge. Multiple copies, if that'll help!

Join me in the fellowship of the unashamed. Ask me again in a couple of months whether I'm still a member, or whether I've dropped out. I personally need the accountability.

Gabriel's Blankets update

Well, I finished a blanket yesterday that I had started during Thanksgiving break, so it's a reasonable estimate to say it takes a month to make an afghan (a full-size one, that is, rather than a smaller lapghan).

The one I finished is a green version of the one I had hoped to bring to Gabriel at some point (although, since I have no plans to visit Indonesia at any point in the next year, it'll technically be for sale--I'll have time to make another one, if I am able to travel). Different version = same brand of yarn, same pattern, just different color.


I'm also working on one for a lady who's traveling on the Compassion group trip to Peru in April, to bring to her sponsored child. It'll be a brown and green version of my red & pink three-panel afghan. However, this one is thicker (due to the climate where her girl lives), and knitted instead of crocheted. I've picked out the brown, I'm just still debating on the green for the middle panel--there's two that I'm looking at, a darker forest green--a bit like the one I just finished--or a lighter one that when placed next to the brown reminds me of the Andes chocolate mints. Hey, lightbulb--gotta check my sources, but aren't the Andes in Peru? If so, we've got a winner! Actually, I would have picked that color anyway just because it shows up better than the darker green.

Even though this one won't be for sale, I'll still post a picture of it on my other blog (gabrielsblankets.blogspot.com), and maybe here too.

I enjoy school holidays, since I can get some work done, and "work" doesn't get in the way! :)

I also have some green yarn leftover from the afghan, so I'll start a lapghan in the same pattern. I might have enough yarn leftover to finish it; at most I'll need to buy only 1 or 2 more skeins. But first, before I spend too much time on that one, I've got about 4 hours of definite time when my mom isn't here (she's working on Christmas Eve, bummer for her) to finish a set of mittens. I've completed one and started on the other. Shh! Don't tell....

Child packets

I had recently received a box of 10 child packets that I had requested from Compassion a few weeks ago. After contemplating what to do with them, I decided to split them up, and bring half to work and take half to church--the two places where I regularly come into contact with the most amount of people. They're generally the same people day in/day out, but that might be a good thing. It's a repeated reminder of kids that need a sponsor.

I had displayed the packets I brought to school along the chalkboard in the teachers' lounge. Yeah, we have a chalkboard, but no bulletin board. We haven't gotten around to covering the chalkboard with corkboard yet.

I know that someone has been noticing them. I haven't heard anyone talk about wanting to sponsor one, but I came in to the lounge the other day to notice that someone had written the ages of each of the kids above their packets. :)

Today is the last day of school before Christmas break, so I'll be removing the packets from the board. I'll likely add them to the display at church for the next couple of weeks. But then what? The packets don't expire until mid-January. Maybe I'll do a swap. The ones currently at church can be brought back to school, and the ones currently at school can stay at church...

I haven't heard anything about a date for a faculty meeting, where I might talk about Compassion, which I had mentioned in a previous post.

I know that God's timing is often (usually?) different than my timing. Sure, I'd love to see all of these kids sponsored. Heck--at least one would be nice! But just by displaying the packets and a couple of brochures, I'm at least planting some seeds for potential future sponsorship.

Yet I still feel like there's more I need to do before these kids need to be sent back to Compassion. Perhaps the school can "adopt" a kid, and it can become a writing assignment for the kids. It'll have to go through the administration, of course, to figure out the financial aspect of sponsorship. If we did, I'd hope for some sort of stability on behalf of the child--more so than I've seen at the school. In the year and a half that I've been there, I've seen quite a bit of turnover (mostly over the summer). Since we're a charter school run by a local college, perhaps the funding can come from the charter office, and the child can be assigned to the school to write the letters. (Who knows, if if flies, then maybe the college will sponsor more than one child, one for each of the charter schools.) Just dreaming here, of course, but it's dreams that spur action.

Another "dream" is getting the adult Sunday School at church to sponsor a child. The children's classes collectively support a girl in Ethiopia, and the youth group supports a boy in India. Why should it stop with the youth? I'll suggest it. However, I realize that the timing may not be the best at the moment (or is that just my timing again, and not God's?), since it was just announced that we've been approached by another church who wants to buy our property (for more than it's worth), and there "just so happens" to be a lot for sale that would meet our needs and allow for a bit of expansion from our current facility (it's a half acre bigger), and it's on a busy street, rather than a residential neighborhood (more visibility). The floorplan for a building the session has drawn up has gone before two different contractors and deemed "doable" with our budget. But due to time constraints placed on us by the other church, we have to make our decision by Jan. 4th. God's definitely doing something in the life of our church. But it may be too much to think about right now, with the possibility of a future move, and the idea of taking on a Sunday School child.

Maybe I'll plant another seed, though. Mention it, and then see what happens. Who knows, God's timing is different than mine. He may surprise me! But even if it doesn't go through--and I have to keep that as a definite possibility (in fact, I expect it)--it may happen in the future, when things settle down a bit.

And even though people at church (who had seemed to show interest in sponsoring a child) haven't picked up packets to commit yet, may do so whenever we schedule a Compassion Sunday. After the holidays are over and people aren't concerned with spending money elsewhere (at least not so much).

But, just because these 10 kids don't have sponsors yet, when I'm taking 5 back home from school, doesn't mean that they won't. I still have time before they "expire", and I need to make the most of that time.

What are you giving Jesus for His birthday?

Something that I've seen floating around Facebook and other people's blogs is the idea of baking a birthday cake for Jesus (why not, since we bake cakes for other people's birthdays?), or giving Jesus a gift.

Ok, so we'd "help" eat the birthday cake, but what about the gift? Sure, we could pick up something at Walmart, wrap it and put it under the tree, but what to get for the One who really does have everything? Not to mention, who'd unwrap it?

How about an idea straight from Jesus Himself?

Matthew 26:35-40 describes what Jesus wants: "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eatl I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

In other places, we are instructed to care for the poor, for the widows and orphans.

Compassion International ministers to the poor. Some of the children registered are orphans, often by HIV/AIDS. For all of the children, food, clean water, and clothing are provided as needed. The children have access to medical care that they would not normally have had without Compassion's funds.

Where does Compassion get the money for these acts of mercy (in addition to school fees/uniforms as needed, after school tutoring, and spiritual training)? Partly through donations to certain funds, including the Unsponsored Children's Fund and Partners of Compassion; however, the main source of funding to assist each individual child is through child sponsorship.

For $32 a month, you can give hope to one child in desperate poverty, by providing their basic necessities. Often this impacts their families as well.

"What you do for the least of these my brethren, you do for me."

Will you give Jesus a birthday gift by sponsoring a child? Visit www.compassion.com to search for a child to sponsor today!

When children are taught about God and his provision:

I just got an email from my pastor asking us to pray for a family whose house caught on fire yesterday, affecting the garage and one of the walls.

I'm still coming to grips with what happened, but I had to pass along part of the message, regarding the children's reaction to the loss of --at least some of-- their posessions.

"Pray for Ross, he lost his special blanket and is very sad about it. The other children seemed to be ok. Sam said that the only regret he had is that he did not clean out his closet, because he had a lot of good stuff he could have given to someone else. I feel so blessed to have the children I have. They are not complaining, just reminding me that all things are just rust and moths. Praise God from whom all blessing flow."

Did you catch the bit about Sam, who thought about others before himself? This boy is about 10 years old.

It's the kids reminding the mother that material posessions are "rust and moths"--perishable.

God, thank you for children, for keeping us grounded in Kingdom reality.

Study: Poverty dramatically affects children's brains

Article written by Greg Toppo, USA Today

"A new study finds that certain brain functions of some low-income 9- and 10-year-olds pale in comparison with those of wealthy children and that the difference is almost equivalent to the damage from a stroke.

" 'It is a similar pattern to what's seen in patients with strokes that have led to lesions in their prefrontal cortex,' which controls higher-order thinking and problem solving, says lead researcher Mark Kishiyama, a cognitive psychologist at the University of California-Berkeley."

---

I was recently told by my area manager for Compassion that the oldest a child will be initially registered at a Compassion center is 9 years old. I am speculating here, but I wouldn't be surprised that many of the kids who are registered would not normally be able to attend school--even with a free public education offered by the government in some countries, there are often uniforms and other school fees which many families could not otherwise afford (but which is provided through the sponsorship fees).

Coming from a background in education, I'm seeing more kids with reading problems in older grades (3rd and 4th) that didn't get the foundational skills at a younger age--for a variety of reasons. Lack of attendence in school is likely attributing some of the deficiency for these 3rd/4th graders here in the New Orleans area, since schools were only open for the spring semester, and they were promoted on to the next grade the following year. But I suspect that we can only blame part of the problem on Katrina (since some of the kids in these classes are doing quite well, and are advanced). Part of the issue is also likely due to some of these kids coming from lower-income families, which in general aren't able to provide as many educational experiences when the children are very young--from trips to the zoo (etc), to print-rich environments, to general vocabulary.

I have not spent much time in other countries, and I am by no means an expert in psychology and brain development, but common sense leads me to believe that this trend can be extended worldwide. Parents who have the training/experience with early childhood development and the resources to provide for these needs will often do so for their children, whereas parents living in poverty are less likely to have the training, experience, or resources to provide for the earliest development (before age 3).

This is where Compassion's Child Survival Program comes in. They work with the mothers to help the children have a healthy environment for the crucial first three years, and train the mothers on how to care for their young children. No doubt this positively affects their brain activity, better preparing them for school.

But this study is still something to keep in mind for the children who are registered older, who didn’t receive the benefit of the Child Survival Program. They are growing up in poverty, and their ability to learn is being affected by it.

Shaun Groves' blog posts

I haven't been reading up on Shaun's blog in a while, but these two posts from his tour grabbed my attention.

You can go to his blog and look for the ones titled "Coincidence" and "Remember", or click on the following links. Either way will get you there. :)

http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/comments/coincidence/
particularly moving story about a woman who took a picture of a little girl on a trip to Guatemala, then saw the same girl's profile on a Compassion table.

http://www.shaungroves.com/shlog/comments/remember1/
remember: God has been working through the ages, and He's not done yet, even if He seems to be temporarily silent.

Prayer

So often I neglect to pray. When I do, it's usually after something that God has placed in my life because I've been drifting away and haven't been by to visit with him in a while.

I've been taught that prayer is one of the greatest priveleges we as Christians have, since we no longer need a priest to pray for us and offer sacrifices, we have direct access to God.

But not only is prayer a privilege, this Burmese orphan helped me realize that prayer can be a delight. It's simply talking to our Father. Sharing with him our concerns and asking for advice, but also running to him, as a child runs to her daddy when he gets home from work, to share the latest "A", art project, or other joy.

LORD, teach me to pray like these children in poverty. Help me to see past my "things" to take delight in the One thing that really matters!

Advocate training packet arrived!!

My advocate training packet arrived in the mail today! Ok, I think it was by UPS... but YAY!!

Not only did I get a volunteer badge to wear at a concert on Dec. 20th (gee, I'll feel fancy!) and a t-shirt (wearing it now; wanted to change out of my work clothes), but there was a packet for a little Peruvian girl who needs a sponsor. How exciting! Now I can show my principal what an actual packet looks like, rather than just the biography card for Gabriel that I keep on my desk at work. Not only that, but I can work on getting Luisa a sponsor.

In addition to those neat things is an armload and two brains-full of information to look through over the next couple of weeks.

I may be exaggerating a bit on the "two brains-full"; I guess I'm a bit tired after work. It was a long day. I wish I had more energy to delve into it all. I'm excited to get started! I've already begun browsing through some of the paperwork, but there's still the CD-Rom training modules to go through. I'm going to pop in the CD to get a feel for it, but I'll save most of it for this weekend and into next week.

Looking forward to getting started!

Compassion enters a public school!

If you've been following Compassion's blog lately, you've probably seen the post allowing sponsors to order packets to present to people they come into contact with. This is usually reserved for advocates, but it's a way for non-advocates to get involved without making a long-term committment, as well as hopefully getting many more kids sponsored by the end of the year.

Even though I've begun the process of becoming an advocate, I haven't received an "advocate number" yet, so I am not able to order packets AS an advocate yet (although I likely will when I am able--the advocate number is a required field on the order form, and is a different field than one's sponsor number). I'm grateful for a way to order packets before I'm fully in the system as an advocate.

I had made plans to talk to people at church (there are two families I know that are interested in sponsoring a child, so I'll approach them first, and address the congregation as a whole on Compassion Sunday). I thought I might even leave one on my windowsill (in a manner sheltered from the wind, near my window cling encouraging its viewers to sponsor a child, directing them to the website). We don't get many visitors except the mailman and the occasional UPS delivery guy--and the Kentwood water guy once a month. But these people still go on our porch, and while I won't usually be able to talk to them directly, they may still see the packet and decide they want to sponsor that child.

Here's the biggest thing, though--I had wanted to bring this campaign into my workplace somehow. Since I tend to be rather introverted, I had thought about displaying packets in the lounge, and letting people browse and select a packet when they had time, and as their desire led them. BUT--considering I work in a public school (albeit in New Orleans, a city with a large church influence), I knew I needed to check with the principal before I did that--I didn't want someone reporting us to the school board because I'm bringing "religion" into a public school. (I'd check with the principal first even if I worked at a parochial school, though, just like I checked with my pastor before moving forward with plans for Compassion Sunday--simply because it's best practice for the administration of any organization to know what's going on).

The principal didn't say I couldn't display packets in the lounge. She did say I could say something about the packets at the next FACULTY MEETING!

Remember I'm an introvert? :)

But this is a good thing, though--since not everyone goes into the lounge. Or they might not notice the packets.

And I don't have to make a long presentation. I can do this! My goal is to present the opportunity of giving a poverty-stricken child the gift of hope and a better life this Christmas, and then talk to those that are truly interested one-on-one or in a small group later on.

And I even happened to have a couple of brochures on hand to give to the principal--I figured she could look over them to learn more about Compassion, if she needed to think about it before making up her mind--but she actually asked for them to pass along to her mother who may be interested in sponsoring a child! I told her that one of the brochures could be used to request a child packet (narrowed down to boy or girl in a specific region), or they could go on the website to browse children in a certain age range in a specific country. Who knows--if the mother does not yet sponsor a child, she might now, because I had the brochures and took the time to talk to my principal. I wonder if the principal will decide to sponsor a child, too? She had asked how much it costs, and acknowledged that the $32 will go a long way for these kids....