Compassion Bloggers In Uganda! :)

This week (and still at the moment - till the 31st) a team of people are in Uganda on the five year bloggers anniversary trip. They've gone back to Uganda, the first country that a team of Compassion bloggers went to and are having some amazing experiences.

They are each blogging daily and their blog posts are addictive! They are a window into another culture, a connection with sponsored children and their communities, and a way to understand more deeply what child sponsorship is and why it's amazing to be part of it.

Child Development, Community Blessing! :)

Child development reaches far beyond the individual child that is sponsored. When a child is sponsored the effect ripples out into their family and community. Much like the well known analogy of a single pebble making many ripples on the water, sponsored children makes many ripples in the lives of their community.

Sponsor Bracelets! :)

My friend Lizzie makes beautiful bracelets that represent each of the countries Compassion works in. She has bought beads from each country that represent the different countries and weaves them together into a bracelet. She is doing it as a not for profit venture but she does get a little profit from each bracelet which all goes into supporting her Compassion International children. 

The bracelets are also a wonderful way to talk about Compassion's work and/or your sponsored children as each bead represents one of the countries that Compassion work in. You can get a get a bracelet with beads representing your specific sponsored children too; for example, if you had two sponsored children, one in Bolivia and one in Tanzania, then you could get a bracelet made with a Bolivian bead to represent your Bolivian child and a Tanzanian bead to represent your Tanzanian child. :) They're also a great bonus reminder to pray for your child/ren. 

Compassion Assignment Idea: My Word For 2014 :)

Each year for the last five years (since the Compassion bloggers network started!) Compassion has encouraged their bloggers to choose 'one word' to embody what they want to achieve with God in the New Year. The word is meant to encapsulate your theme for the year and help you to focus on drawing closer to God as he helps you grow in the new year.

I have decided to choose the word 'Love', it may seem a simple choice at first glance but there is a lot packed up in that one small word.

With God's help, I am going to be even more focused as I strive to be:

Welcome! :)

Welcome to my blog! I started this blog to be part of the Compassion International Bloggers network and be able to write about their awesome work as well as writing about the little girl I sponsor through Compassion.  Her name is Chinaidine Mesidor, she is four years old and she is from Haiti. I’ve only just started sponsoring her so I do not have a photo yet but I will post one on here when it arrives.  I decided to sponsor her in particular because she had a real look of hopelessness in her eyes which melted my heart and she was also a ‘waiting child’ which meant she had been waiting longer than six months for a sponsor after being registered by Compassion.

The Compassion Bloggers network send out ‘assignments’ once or twice a month (more during September – blog month) so this blog will be updated at least that often but also when I have something new and exciting to share about Chinaidine or just a Compassion related post I feel like making!   I've initially put up a few posts as a sort of 'starter kit' and now I plan to build on that with the Compassion assignments and news about Chinaidine. 

My aim for this blog is that it will help others to learn about the wonderful work Compassion is doing, have fun learning about Chinaidine with me and to share not only about Compassion International but about where the Compassion is sourced from – Jesus Christ! 

I would love for you to join me as I go on my Compassion International Journey through letters, blog posts, and updates! 

Jess  .

Community Development and Child Development

When it comes to Child sponsorship there are two main ways that it is accomplished. Both of these ways can accomplish a lot and be a great tool in the fight against poverty.

Who's Rich Enough?

I always knew I was very blessed and felt very grateful for everything God had given me, not just physically but friends and family including the best husband a person could ask, a wonderful job and most importantly salvation through his son Jesus!

It's a Heart Issue

When it comes to giving money it's not a question of 'how much' but instead 'how'. The way we give our money is more important than the amount that we give. Jesus brought up this point when he was teaching his disciples (Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4)

Don't Put Your Blinders On!

Horses can be easily distracted or spooked so if your livelihood depended on getting a horse to go somewhere in an quick and efficient fashion then you would want to use blinders. Back in the day when horses for used for almost everything blinders were a common sight, now you would probably have to go to the racetrack to see them. Contrary to how they sound they are not cruel - thank goodness!, they do however restrict how much a horse can see and generally limit the horse to only seeing out in front of them.

Urgent Philippines Appeal!

In the wake of the Typhoon that hit the Philippines, the people of that country are in desperate need of medical care, shelter, food, clothing, and other necessities as well the knowledge that others are caring for them across the world. Two great ways you can help with this is to donate to Compassion’s Philippines fund and to pray for the people in the Philippines. Any amount of money you’d be able to give would be appreciated as every bit goes a long way to helping these people have their immediate needs met and start the recovery. This is a good opportunity to show love not only to our Christian brothers and sisters over there but also to our international neighbours and to be able to offer a beacon of hope through our heart-felt donations and prayers.

If you want to make a donation, no matter how small it might seem, here is a link to the Compassion website or just click on the picture on the right! 

Philippines Typhoon Appeal

Here is also a link that contains updates about Compassion’s child development centres in the Philippines and specific prayer points, so far all the Compassion sponsored children from the Philippines are safe and accounted for – praise God!

Compassion Child Centres - Philippines

Galations 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ.