Start A Change Reaction

Today, we took the girls and my parents to a Compassion International experience in Lansing.  It was phenomenal for the girls to witness a little of what life was like for the two children...Jey from Kenya....and Kiwi from the Philippines.  I think it is hard to show our kids just how rich we are by telling them about it because all they know in comparison is other rich people in the United States.  We don't even think in these terms very often because our perspective is based solely on what is relative to us....and we forget that most of us are in the top 1-3% wealthiest people in the whole world....regardless of how "poor" we feel sometimes.

Very few of us understand the concept of true poverty....but, this experience helps us start to have an understanding.

Understanding leads to compassion.....we were talking to a lady after finishing both stories and we asked some questions.  Even the girls were asking questions, which thrilled me because I want them to allow God to stir up a passion in them.  They are not too young to be led by the Holy Spirit.

They need to be aware of these kind of needs.  Even Karly asked if all the kids had Bibles yet....so sweet to hear her little voice asking a question like that.  I asked the girls what they thought we could do and we all agreed we would pray for these kids and the girls talked and selected a child from Guatemala to sponsor...Karly said through a couple tears...."I wish I could save them all!"

Compassion leads to action...We agreed that we would forfeit one night a month of eating out so we could sponsor a child.  The monthly cost is about the same as all of us going out....BUT, I didn't want it to just become one of those things that gets automatically withdrawn and we don't stay committed to the prayer and support part of the decision.  So, I decided that on that night we will only eat a type of meal that they would have access to in their countries and we would take time to pray and learn about our brothers and sisters abroad.

One of the parts that hit me pretty hard was in Kiwi's story....I had planned that after the experience we would get an early dinner with my parents and then stop by an Apple Orchard and pick up some pumpkins to carve.  Kiwi's story included a section about how she always wanted to try an apple, but that they couldn't even afford the rotten ones.....I was doing OK controlling that lump in my throat until that connection.  At the very end of her story there was a picture of her wedding and she talks about being able to take her parents to an Apple Orchard :)  God really made that contrast personal for me.  I'm thinking our monthly compassion meal will include an apple for dessert.

Maybe one action will start a CHANGE reaction.....Ready, Set, GO!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toCKscre-qE