Month Two

For month#2:
This month of sacrifice landed during lent and I had decided to give up internet. This went well for about about 2 weeks. One of my fellow Compassion advocates made me aware that there was an e-mail request for help at a local event for Compassion. For those of you who are not familiar with the work of Compassion. It is a child sponsorship program that joins together with the local church to meet the spiritual, economic, social and emotional needs of children located in third world countries. So I had to wander on to my hotmail account for details of the event. The event led to 67 sponsorships! At the event I was so taken by this story that I wandered back on to the computer to tell my Compassion friends on http://www.ourcompassion.org/
a social network for sponsors.  This story is one of sacrifice and is all about what live 58 is all about. This girl who was about ten years old kept lingering around the table looking at the profiles of kids from all around the world, some who were her own age. I started to ask her some questions and she told me that she had chosen a child but would need to ask her parents as they already sponsored some other children. She kept looking over this profile. You could tell she was probably praying over her hoping that her parents would say yes. After the service she came out and let me know that they were going to sponsor her and that she agreed to babysitting her siblings for free so they could afford the $41/month. They never used the excuse we already sponsor X number of children, we can't afford it. If only we all would think this way. I can give this up if it means a child will be released from poverty. Despite my down fall about not going online I still donated the cost of monthly internet to the cause that month. Fixing broken wells in Haiti to allow the Haitians clean drinking water with Living Waters International. About 2 years ago I was in Uganda with Samaritan's purse to construct water filters. While there I got extremely sick, I speculate that it may have been contact with contaminated water.I realized quickly that these people live with this everyday but they probably don't have the luxury of taking the day off. Not showing for work could mean losing their job and any income they would need to feed their family. They do not have the luxury of sick days. I couldn't imagine working in the condition I was in. I understand so fully now how important clean drinking water is. So I ask you today what is one thing you would give up to release a child from poverty or provide clean drinking water for a family?













Local water source in Kamwenge Uganda and little boy bringing home his water for the day