Compassion International

According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die daily due to poverty.

This statistic just echos in my head every time I read it.

22,000 Children? I have to admit, it makes me a little angry. At myself first, because I am sitting here in my $150,000 house watching my $500 TV and typing on my $1,000 laptop. I know, I know, I need a house. And in the kind of culture we live in, it's hard to know what's going on without a TV and almost impossible to work without a laptop. But when you add up just those three things you could sponsor 20 children through Compassion International for their entire lives. 

Wow.

What would happen if we would all pitch in? What would happen if everyone who read this blog said that $38 a month is not that much (by the way, it's not) and sponsored a child? It's really time for us to stop making excuses. 

It was not my intention to ask people to give money throughout this month, but I really believe that this is too important. 

I assume if you're reading this you were interested at some point in my child. So here's a picture:

My child is so precious to me. But every time I look at him now I am reminded that there are 22,000 Noah's that are dying today. It makes me weep.

Get involved. It's important.

I challenge you tonight to look through your bank account statement and see how much you spend every month on eating out. I did, and that's when I realized we just weren't as poor as we thought. And that's the night I contacted Compassion to sponsor Yanci.

I want to set a goal for this blog. I would like to see 31 children sponsored through Compassion this month. If you sponsor a child, either shoot me an email (kaseyacox@gmail.com), comment on this blog, or comment on my Facebook page. If you'll send me a picture I will try to make a collage of them and post them in September.

 Compassion International

I sponsored my first child through Compassion International the summer after my senior year in high school. Her name was Chinaika and she was from Haiti and I fell in love with her in a real and devoted way. Unfortunately I only sponsored her for two years when I realized that I could not financially make the commitment anymore. I called the Compassion office and told them, in tears, that I was a college student and could not support Chinaika anymore. The representative was kind and understanding, but I still regret giving her up.

I’m so glad that God blessed me enough to get involved again with this spectacular ministry. Compassion works through $38 a month sponsorships to feed, clothe, and educate children in 26 different countries. $38 is the average amount I used to easily spend on just a couple meals a week eating out.

Compassion works on a one-to-one system, meaning that my $38 goes directly to Yanci, my new sponsored child instead of being dispersed throughout the community. There are several reasons for this (just as there are several reasons to disperse the money as well), but to quote directly from Compassion’s website, “We've discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people's lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances.” They focus on building a child up from the inside out. Because of this and the fact that I, alone, am sponsoring Yanci, my letters, encouragement, and prayers are needed and sought after. I am important to Yanci, just like she is indescribably important to me.

There are several other reasons that I love Compassion: the Child Survival Program, the Student Leader Sponsorship program, and the ability to meet my sponsored child through Compassion-organized trips just to name a few. Please visit Compassion’s website for more information.

  In case you are curious, I did begin today. I will post pictures of my meals tomorrow, but I thought I would let you all know that I bought all of this:

For $27 and some change yesterday.

If you still want to get in on this action, let me know and I will share my meal plans with you.