Peru & Inca Cola Anyone!

Do you want to experience Peru first hand?  Have you already been there and when you see a picture you get that sugary bubble gum taste of Inca Cola setting you saliva glands into a whirlwind of chaos!  You can see all the colorful buildings and the smiles of the people around you.  You feel them hugging you and kissing you on each cheek. The warm friendly people of Peru.  Then a closer look and you see the houses built on top of mountains of sand that could melt away into a landslide if the region ever got rain???  And you look closer and closer and for a little while you are transported back.  Maybe with smiles on your faces or tears in your eyes.  If you have never been to Peru?  No worries you can virtually go there November 13 - 17th with the Compassion Bloggers.  Follow along - Read - Cry - Laugh - Be Changed - I Double Triple Dog Dare you!  If only I could reach through the screen and get me some of that Inca Cola or hug on a Peruvian family. 
I will also be finding my way in Ethiopia with Compassion in the near future.  Stay tuned!

Compassion Bloggers - Praise God

The results are in and the Compassion Bloggers ran a great race.  An amazing race actually but well that is another show..... Like that show this journey may have road blocks and double u-turns and detours as all journeys in life do.  But the prize is worth so much more.  The experiences that the sponsors will have in building relationships with their new sponsored young people are priceless!  Here are the official results for the month of September for all those who blogged and prayed.  We thank you!

The word from Compassion is.........

Congratulations bloggers!

Thanks to you 3,159 children were sponsored online in the month of September. We exceeded our goal of 3,108 children by the not so insignificant number of 51 additional lives.
We are taking time to thank  and praise the Lord - Ugandan Style!

Be sure to follow the next team of Compassion Bloggers to Peru from November 13-17.

From Poverty I Am Released

I have traveled a little and have seen some challenging things. It was the Compassion Bloggers who first introduced me to Mathare Valley in Kenya which infiltrated my senses and begged me to do more. I hope to stand inside Mathare one day but for now have only seen it from afar. Why would someone want to go to such a place when you could choose to travel many other all inclusive destinations. But this destination holds some treasure for me in the names of Florence, Daniel & Ruth.

Ruth is the newest member of my extended Compassion Family and lives in Mathare. Her smiling face came to me only a few days ago and we have yet to exchange letters and get to know each other and build the relationship that God has for our families. I do know she has been waiting since December of 2011 for a sponsor. This week during Compassion's blogging month we are to write a letter as if we are the sponsored child to our sponsor. So until I receive my first letter from Ruth I will imagine it is from her with sprinkles of Florence and Daniel mixed in.

Dear Sponsor I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Please enjoy my poem as a gift to you.   Mathare Valley, Kenya, my home, is a harrowing, dangerous place. But with God and you dear loving sponsor, I know you see my face.

This 8x8 we call our home made of cardboard, wood, and metal tin sheets.
Is where I wake at four to make the fire and roll up the mats where we sleep.

On my way to school my eyes feed my thoughts and what is this I see?
Thick sludge rotting garbage infested streams they are surrounding me.

The tiny narrow path I walk between refuse and decay.
Off this path and beyond I do not want to stray.

I can hear the music drifting out of every bar and brothel I pass.
The voices taunting me to come inside make me hurry onto class.

I know my Mum tries her best to sell Samosas in the market every day.
She works and toils endlessly making less than a dollar - is this okay?

Then here they come those daily lies that whisper in my ear.
You are no good, and never will be. they could be right I fear.

It is then that I arrive at school and reach into my pocket.
I have your letter in my hand and my thoughts soar like a rocket.

I see these visions dance and spring as if straight from my heart.
Those things that being sponsored brings right from the very start.

We now have a doctor, food, and school and an almighty God.
It is enough I need no more He takes me in even though I'm flawed.

My dreams and hopes beat back the dark and go beyond the lies.
Doctor, lawyer, teacher, nurse I could be any of these come the cries

I know I'm loved by Mum and sis and thank my God it's so.
Yet there is but another one that loves me this I know.

It is someone I yearn to see and hope some day I can.
It is you dear sponsor, yes it is, I hope it is in God's plan.

For now I fix my thoughts on God and trust His perfect peace.
And jump for joy and shout aloud from poverty I am released.

Please pray that I will be clever in my education.
- Ruth

If you want to see children who have been waiting the longest to be sponsored click here.  Maybe you could find it in your heart to start a relationship with someone in Kenya then click here.  We only have until September 30th to reach the goal of 3108.  As of Monday there have been 2006 sponsorships!  That means at least 4012 lives will never be the same.  Let's finish strong - please click, pray, sponsor and help us reach the finish line!

3108

What’s that you say? The year 3108? The raise you would like to get every month on your pay check? The times you tell your kids to clean their room! Bottles of soda on the wall...take them down, pass them...? How about the number of kilograms you’d like to take off of your weight! Ha, I’m sure that doesn’t makes sense. I would go for a calculator but it would be easier to Google for a converter.

Here is something that does make sense. The month of September is blog month for Compassion International and they are laying down the gauntlet, taking it to the mattresses to get 3,108 children sponsored in the month of September. Whoa, don’t click away just yet – unless you are helping me work on that calculation. Forget the calculation and read in 5 easy steps how you can help. Skip right to step 3 if you are in a time crunch.

Step 1: Click here to Compassion’s page. It will take you to someone with a bright, shining, look and magical names like Kezia, Pongpan, Fabiola, Yenifer and Yeferson. Names and faces that could launch the next Trilogy. Names that could help you solve the question of what should we name the baby? Names that are unique but they are so much more than names.

Step 2: Read a little more about them and Compassion. Don’t be afraid to hit the more link except of course in the case where the boss is looking over your shoulder and you should be working. If you have more time maybe you can even work in a geography lesson for your children and maybe yourself. Okay well maybe it is only me that needs the lesson.

Step 3: (Time crunchers click here) Pray for this young shining star. If you’re not a prayer warrior well then think positive thoughts. These children need our positive thoughts and we need to think positive thoughts in this world of political ads and other negative things.

Step 4: Don’t be afraid to come here and click on this once each day in September to pray for different children and maybe learn more than one geography lesson.

Step 5: (Optional) If you are so inclined you could sponsor one of these children who I guarantee you will turn your world upside down. But I know your prayers and positive thoughts will accomplish this as well.

That’s it!

Yes if that number happens I will practice my jumping skills and promise to jump more than a measly 6 inches off the floor. Yes Hailey - I will take your advice and may just have to use the aid of a chair against my better judgment. Maybe you could help me with jumping lessons. No need to further subject you to more photos of me not defying gravity. Please join us this month of September
Okay I did Google the kilogram converter and no, unless you are a dinosauer I don’t think you could lose 3108 kilograms. Leave a comment and let me know who you prayed for!