Prayer 7/3/9

Compassion's Prayer Calendar:
Please continue to pray for the victims of several bombings that tore through Tanzania.

Penury

My Dictionary.com Word of the Day today was Penury:

 

"Extreme poverty; also insufficiency.'

 

Ironical.

The Humanity of Poverty

Today, Compassion's Blog on Child Poverty quoted Morgan of the Twinkie Project: http://www.morgan-givetolive.blogspot.com/.  She captured an inarticulated concern in the blurry areas of my heart and what is likely a sad byproduct of the trendy philanthropy that is working it's way through pop culture:

 

I wonder if we have been overexposed to the idea of poverty to the point of forgetting that it is not simply about a continent, a country or a group of people ... it is about a life. It is one heart, one mind, one prisoner, one child, and one future.

 

A friend recently commented that the people of this generation do not have beliefs, they have causes.  By associating ourselves with an established movement, we gain identification and a platform from which we can have a voice. We are masters at compiling ideas yet often don't pause long enough in our research to truly contemplate the ideas or really to contemplate at all.  We have uprooted the roses altogether and replaced them with low maintenance landscaping.  Yet, while we have this brief moment of blessed pause, may we absorb the truth of this statement, understanding that poverty is not an issue of social justice.  It is personal, an undeniable reality which affects real people. 

 

To be fair, it is much easier to become overwhelmed by a problem when you focus on the smallest pieces.  Looking at a sea of hopeless faces, poverty's sheer magnitude threatens to crush us.  However, the somewhat abstract idea of poverty is much more manageable. When we start dealing with poverty as a singular issue, rather than a mass of individuals, then we feel we truly can make a difference. It is counterproductive to, as you are raising money to help distribute the number of children who will die of AIDS despite their donation. While this may make us more likely to take action, we risk losing the humanity associated with that mass of people. Perhaps being staggered, being overwhelmed, by the number of people affected by poverty is not such a terrible thing.

 

Commendably, the contemporary champion's of social justice have made supporting their causes simple, attractive, and even trendy. It certainly seems that everyone is at least aware of the issues and does seem to care for the troubles of those in faraway lands.  However, as with so many things, we have relegated compassion and social action to the t-shirt/bumper sticker industry. Because it is so easy to support a cause, the depth and importance of that cause is being lost. When something costs nothing of you, it has small value. Certainly purchasing a t-shirt and donating $10 to a cause is better than doing nothing at all, but we have created an army of $10 donors who remain unchanged by their actions. There are now masses of individuals who are aware of widespread disease, poverty, war, and hopelessness and care exactly $10-worth about them.

 

Let us take care, as we support our causes and buy our t-shirts, to remember to care for individuals, for people. I pray that we are never afraid to reach out and touch the fear, hopelessness, and pain of others. Otherwise, how can we possible hope to experience true compassion? A picture of a starving child may bring tears to our eyes, but we must remember that our twinging heart cannot possibly compare to the broken heart of the father unable to save his child. More importantly, our 3 minutes of sorrow cannot compare to the eternity of sorrow that the Creator feels as the child he fashioned with his own hands falls broken, hungry, afraid, and lost. I pray that I may reach out and feel the weight of hopelessness and realize that my shoulders are far to weak to bear it. And in those moments of weakness and hopelessness, I pray that I, that we all, grasp not only the humanity of poverty, but it's only solution in Jesus Christ, our Hope (1 Timothy 1:1).

 

This kind of compassion, that I have yet to experience, costs much more than $10, it costs my comfort, my way of life. This kind of Love, rare as it is, costs my entire life. Oh, but how precious it is!

Not my will...

My first self-initiated Compassion event was a few weeks ago during an annual summer festival in my community. I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly the event coordinators agreed to allow me to have a booth.  I was even more pleased when I learned that my table would be right in the midst of food vendors and other events, plenty of foot traffic! 

 

I prayed going into the event that God would be glorified and that His will would be done by this event, not my own.  Yet as I sat, stood, and prowled around the table full of precious faces, some smiling, some looking a bit frightened or confused, some even smirking into the camera my while hundreds of pedestrians walked by, my confidence grew into impatience, which grew into frustration, which grew into outright anger. 

 

There was no mistaking the message of the table.  A 4x3 cardboard message board invited passers-by to change a life by sponsoring a child.  The table was covered with faces of children and the tablecloth declared that Compassion exists to release children from poverty in Jesus' name! I know the message was not discreet because many slowed their walk just a fraction to read the sign. Yet onward they walked to purchase their bags of kettle corn and ride the giant purple super slide. 

 

To be fair, I did get to speak to two individuals in depth about the ministry of compassion and they both were very supportive of the cause, though this support stopped far short of taking home a child packet.  Not a single child was sponsored that day, not one.  I very nearly wept in disappointment and anger.  Blown glass unicorns will sell, tye dyed onesies will move without a whole lot of effort, event the overpriced tacky handmade brooches found homes that day but not a single person felt the need to change the world of a child.

 

Granted, I am not much of a sales-person.  I will not go out and work the crowd neither will I try to "pitch" Compassion's ministry to the fence-sitters.  I wholeheartedly believe God can and does provide sponsors for His children without the use of my excellent marketing skills.  Moreover I must admit that there is a part of me that is not willing to do so, simply because sponsorship should not have to be "sold." If the world made any sense at all, people would be knocking one another over for the chance to be a child sponsor.  The realist in me knows that this is not and will never be the case.  If you truly want people to get behind a cause, you often have to lead (read: drag) them by the hand there.  But this is still something I am not willing to do.  Sponsorship is the privilege and honor of the sponsor and not one I would bestow on one unwilling to participate.

 

But the point is, that regardless of my beliefs about sponsorship, Compassion's ministry, people, or God's will for His children, I was disappointed by humanity and myself at the end of that day.  Yet, how faithful is our God!   As I labored over the "should-have"s, the Lord gently reminded me that these were His children that I was grieving over, and He had not forgotten them.  He also reminded me that I am no more responsible for the failure of someone to volunteer for sponsorship than I am for their willingness to sponsor a child; He convicts hearts and He deserves the glory! I suddenly remembered that while I was sitting at that table I was able to pray for each an every one of those children, for their families, and for their Child Development Centers. It struck me that perhaps this was the real reason the Lord had me go through the motions of having a sponsorship event, perhaps He simply wanted to give me the opportunity to pray for these precious children!

 

Since that event I have continued to struggle with disappointment and a sense of failure, yet my heart knows that God is faithful and He cares for His children far more than I ever could.  So I continue to pray for them, not knowing what their future holds, only that it is full of good plans, to prosper and not to harm (Jer 29:11).  Just as the grace of God compels us run from sin and pursue righteousness and good works, so also the goodness and omnipotence of God constrains us to labor as part of His will.  I will not stop pleading the case for the helpless and lost and communicating the urgency of this need to the people around me, but I must know that I do this simply because I am obedient to God, not because it produces visible results. I am a Compassion Advocate not because it is such an instantly gratifying job or because I always see results, but because the Lord has called me to do so.

 

On a brighter note, as a result of hosting that Compassion table, I have had the opportunity to explain to one of my coworkers about the ministry of compassion and he has shown a great deal of interest.  I continue to pray, knowing that it may come to nothing, but really what do I know about God's will other than it is greater than my own?

 

www.compassion.com

Compassion's 1 Millionth Sponsored Child

Compassion announced on June 11th that it had sponsored its 1 Millionth child since its inception in 1952.  Although this is indeed an excited milemarker in the ministry of compassion, it means so much more to Fellow Kpodo and his family who are now at the beginning of a revolutionary new phase in their lives.  Read the full story here: http://snipurl.com/kayjg  [www_compassion_com]

 

There are few things in our world that are truly simple but our directive as Christians is one of those precious few, to love our Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love one another as ourselves (Luke 10:27).  How wonderful is our God that He has taken the whole of the law with its impossible system of crime and punishment and created a way for us to please Him that is simple and straightforward.  Even more, He graces us with the ability to walk in this simple Way by the power of His Spirit.  Yet, even this simple credo is easily complicated by our own ministry programs and church development models.  In this time of the "Church Business," it is essential that we make an effort to distill our ministry and return to the pure calling mandated by scripture.  All things and every thing we do must somehow be directly tied back to the purpose of loving God and loving people.  Otherwise it is simply wasted time and effort. 

 

Sponsorship is one of the most basic ways that we as Christians can minister to our brothers and sisters but it is at the very heart of what we are called to do.  James said "if you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'you shall love your neighbor as yourself,' you do well" and that pure and undefiled religion is "to visit orphans and widows in their trouble and keep oneself unspotted from the world" (James 2:8 & 1:27).  Psalm 82:3 says "defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy.

 

May God bless our labors with good fruit as we seek to serve and love him with purpose and purity.

 

www.compassion.com

 

 

 

Happy May Day!

This month Compassion's Senior Vice President, Mark Hanlon has a special prayer request,

 

"I think it's very telling that, universally, children love to shower their mothers with gifts. Children seem to have this ingrained desire to express their love through a handmade card or a fistful of wilted flowers. Mothers give and sacrifice — and their children are constantly trying in whatever way they can to show their gratitude.

I see the sacrifices of many of these mothers when I visit Compassion-assisted families. They skip meals so their children can eat. They go barefoot so their children can have shoes. And these precious children pick flowers and make cards just like my own son did. They recognize those sacrifices and the love their struggling mothers give them.

I ask that you pray this month not only for the children registered with Compassion, but also for their mothers. Also, please pray specifically for the mothers registered in the Child Survival Program, which ministers to both mothers and their infant and toddler children. Pray that the lessons these mothers learn through the program will help them raise happy, healthy children.

As always, we appreciate the prayers you lift up for our ministry worldwide. Your participation in the Prayer Partner Network is an essential part of Compassion's ministry to children and families in poverty."

WEEK 1
Friday 1
We praise God for the opening of our first Child Survival Program in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Feb. 9!

 

We praise You, Mighty God, for providing the resources for this vital ministry!  Thank you, Lord, that we can have confidence that You care for Your lambs with a fierce determination.  Thank you that we know that a lonely sparrow cannot fall outside of Your awareness.  If pray that the staff of this new CSP in Indonesia would be overwhelmed with the miracle of Your grace and that they would be ever mindful of Your continued provision.  I pray they would never lose confidence that where You have planted Your people, You will continue to water and grow them until the fullness of fruition.  I pray they would lean heavily upon the guidance and strength of Your Spirit.  Thank you, Father!

Prayer

April 2009 Prayer Calendar:

"Pray for Stefani from Sangir Island in eastern Indonesia, who is suffering from epilepsy"

 

Father, thank you for Stefani and for bringing her to our hearts and minds.  We thank You that You love her so much that You will not allow her to become a nameless statistic.  Father You are such a fathful friend and protector and we praise You that Your goodness transcends even our understanding.  Hid Stefani in your hands right now and touch her body with healing.  May she live in the confidence and joy that comes with knowing you rather than fear or frustration.  As she battles the effects of this disease we pray she would have faith and hope in You but at the same, that she would be able to find Your purpose in it.  We pray Father, of one accord, that she may take this cross and glorify You with it.  Bring others into her life to encourage and edify her and make her into a strong pillar of Your body.

 

Thank You Father for bringing a sponsor to Luz Mari this week!  Bless that relationship, Father, may they be faithful on both sides in prayer.  May Luz Mari be filled with joy and thankfulness as she welcomes this new person into her life.  Be with her sponsor, Father, teach them how to encourage and love Her from far away.  Thank you father.

 

Father I pray You would bring someone into Jordy's life this week that he may be able to experience the same miracle.  I pray also for the one that You have for him.  I pray You would speak to this person's heart and give them clear direction.  I pray their hearts would be burdened for Jordy and that they would have a deep desire to be a part of His life.

 

Lastly Father I pray for Fabiola.  Continue to raise her up and form her into a woman after Your own heart.  May she be a blessing to her Mother, Father, and little sister as well as her church.  Keep her safe and healthy Lord and teach her something new today.  Show her Your unfailing love for her and give her confidence of Your purpose in her life.

www.compassion.com