Compassion is an organization I’ve been aware of for the majority of my life, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that this organization has set itself apart from others (I wrote a bit about it here). My dear friend, Sabrina, whom I met while in university, has taken two trips with Compassion over the past two years. As a missionary kid, she has seen a lot of well-meaning people hurt ministry so when she first arrived back from her trip with Compassion, I naturally was curious about her perspective of an organization that I already admired.
Below, I’m asking the questions, and Sabrina is answering!
1.First of all, a little about yourself! Who are you? What do you love? How do you want to be known?
I was raised by incredible parents who devoted their lives to overseas missions, modeled Christ in their marriage and parenting, and committed themselves to a life of change, discomfort, constant learning, cultural differences, and loving big even when it hurt…all so that Christ could be made known among the least of these in the Amazon basin of Peru. I have three incredible siblings (I’m counting my brother’s fiancé because, well, she’s like my sister already!) who love adventure and are passionate about people and cultures. I am married to my best friend Aaron. I love that we get to be travel buddies as we journey through life together and seek to live missionally wherever God leads us.
I love climbing trees barefoot, exploring the world, loving on precious children, laughing until my side hurts, investing in community, making disciples that make disciples, and abiding in the beautiful, overflowing, crazy wild love of my Heavenly Father.
I want to be known as a disciple of Jesus that loves big, loves well, and loves faithfully.
To quote a pretty awesome guy named Bob Goff: “Being engaged is a way of doing life, a way of living and loving. It’s about going to extremes and expressing the bright hope that life offers us, a hope that makes us brave and expels darkness with light. That’s what I want my life to be all about – full of abandon, whimsy, and in love.”
2. When did you first hear about Compassion? Were you dubious or enthusiastic immediately?
Honestly, I don’t quite remember where it was that I first heard about Compassion. I think it was one of those things that I was made aware of in college (along with so many other things!). I heard people mention the organization and talk about sponsoring kids – but to be honest, I had no idea what that really meant or what it looked like.
Actually, confession: I did kind of know what it looked like because my wonderful freshman roommate Alysha sponsored a precious child from Africa. I remember thinking “Oh, that’s cool!” But can it be real?
3. You got to meet your supported child this summer. How was that? Do you think this has changed you in some way?
YES!! I wish everyone could meet their sponsor child. It’s a game changer. Hugging your child, seeing their smile, hearing their voice and the ringing of their laughter…it all becomes real. That precious human being receiving your letters is real.
It became deeply personal when Aaron and I were led around the house by Elvis. He tugged at our hands, begging us to see his favorite toys, his yard, his pets, his swing, his mom, his sister. He held our hands and sat on our laps. He shrieked with delight when we lifted him into the air. This was his life, and we were getting a precious glimpse into it.
Now when we write him letters, we can visualize his home, hear his laughter and see his smile, we can ask how his sister Katy is doing, we can ask if he’s finished completing the astronaut puzzle we gave him. It’s personal now. I have dreams of Elvis completing high school. I have dreams of going back to visit him again. How cool would that be for us to be there for that? To stand beside his family and cheer him on as he receives his diploma. Man oh man, that’s my dream.
4. What made you want to support a child through Compassion?
It took getting on a plane in April 2014 and going to Ecuador myself to play soccer with, laugh with, share meals with, travel with and live beside Compassion staff, project leaders, and sponsor kids for me to GET IT.
The light bulb went on and my heart came alive with understanding and literal COMPASSION. Last year I went as a translator for an “exploratory” trip with my church pastor, a media team, and other individuals to visit the town of Chillanes in Ecuador. Our church sponsors a Child Survival Program in Chillanes through Compassion. This program works with expectant mothers and children ages 0-3 years. Compassion’s role is vital. Guys, every year up to 1.5 million babies die within the first 24 hours of life!
The Child Survival Program (CSP) gives prenatal care, equips, and educates mothers. The care doesn’t end when the baby is born! Workers from the program make regular home visits for hands-on, one-on-one training. The Compassion project leaders not only shared stories of transformation with us, but they allowed us to experience it ourselves by taking us to visit the homes of these precious mommas.
Compassion empowers the local church to say:
“Not in our country. Not in our community. Not if I have anything to say.
We are the church! Let us walk with you and love you.”
My cheeks were wet with hope-tears. After starting with the CSP, we were then shown the Child Sponsorship Program. These numbers and statistics suddenly became radiant little human beings full of laughter, joy, and a future. To bring things full circle, we spent our last day in Ecuador sharing a meal with college students in the Leadership Development Program (LDP) who had graduated from the sponsorship program. When a sponsor child graduates high school, many of the exemplary students are chosen by Compassion to enter the LDP program. Compassion partners with them so they can go to college.
It was crazy cool to sit across from these bright young adults – eyes full of wisdom beyond their years and sparkling with the hope of Jesus Christ. For many of them, their encounter with the God who loves them and sees them came through their sponsors faithfully loving them. Again, the water works. I’m pretty sure my cheeks were constantly wet during that week in Ecuador. I was a hot mess, overwhelmed by the change in these lives, overwhelmed by the impact this organization was having. Even more than providing nutrition, a safe place, and education, this organization is being the hands and feet of Jesus.
So in answer to your question…it was seeing and experiencing Compassion first hand that turned me from doubter into full believer and supporter. I came back from that trip with heart full, hope restored and dreams big. Suddenly the words “sponsor child” were no longer words on a page, they were alive. I had hugged them, tickled them, laughed with them, and loved on them. I believe in the mission of Compassion. Ultimately I believe in what God is doing through Compassion to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. When our church received a new group of sponsor packets, I poured over little faces eager for a sponsor, a friend, an advocate…Aaron and I chose Elvis Gabriel Ibarra Cabezas.
5. As a missionary kid, you’ve seen a lot of good-intentioned people really mess things up. What does Compassion do right that sets them apart?
Hmm…yeah. Unfortunately I have seen it too often. Good intentions can be extremely hurtful. Aid can turn into a debilitating crutch of dependence instead of an empowering opportunity.
Compassion gets it. Compassion is different.
How, you ask? I think my husband’s words sum it up better than I can: heart and organization.
Compassion has both heart AND organization.
Compassion has a heart for all people. True, they focus in on the children, but they recognize that change for the child has to come through a change in their families. Compassion sees the big picture. The big picture is reconciling broken people everywhere with their Savior, the God who loves them wildly, passionately, and unconditionally. During our trip in Ecuador, I saw Compassion staff get real, moved to tears by the children we played with, the stories of the precious mamas that we heard, and the impact and transformation that is happening in the community through Compassion. They do this all the time. These stories aren’t new to them. And yet, they are deeply moved.
Compassion has organization. The caliber of leadership I saw left me speechless. On this last trip to Ecuador, we got to walk through the Compassion Office in Quito, Ecuador. As we walked from office to office, we got to see behind the scenes. We talked with the secretaries, the accountants, the curriculum supervisor, the individuals who translate the sponsor letters, organize letters by project site, and mail them all over the country…Compassion pursues a high level of excellence because it is needed! I appreciated how authentic and open the staff was to show us everything. They opened their accounts, their budgets, their manuals to record weekly home visits, etc. for us to see. They said they had nothing to hide and wanted people to see everything! Wow. This is stewardship.
One last thought on Compassion’s organization. Remember how I mentioned earlier that many organizations create dependence rather than empowerment? Yeah, Compassion doesn’t do that. They have recognized that to be the most effective, they must use their own people to reach their own people.
Ecuadorians being Jesus to other Ecuadorians. They are a self-sustaining organization utilizing the incredible gifts and abilities of their own people in that country. The Compassion staff knows the language, the culture, and even subcultures of different geographical regions in Ecuador. As we talked with the curriculum director, he explained how they have adapted the curriculum to fit specific cultural regions in Ecuador. They have changed the language, the wording, and even the pictures in some of the children’s books and curriculum books for different Compassion sites across Ecuador. What might work to communicate effectively along the coastal areas is very different than what would work to communicate in the farming community of the highlands. I love this!
Organizational leadership is effective. Compassion is effective in the way it staffs its own people but also in the way it recognizes the vital role of the church. Compassion only runs through an existing local church. They will not go in to a new community and start a sponsorship or Child Survival Program unless there is a church there. They work through the church. The pastor and church staff become the Compassion site leaders for that project site. Um, how cool is that??
Compassion says,
“Hey, it’s not about us as an organization. Our name isn’t important.
Let us empower YOU to reach your community.”
In some places, the families that are a part of the Compassion programs don’t even know that it’s Compassion, they just know it as their church. It’s the church’s program. That’s it. The church. Compassion recognizes that Christ called the church to love the orphan, care for the widow, make disciples that make disciples. They want to be the resource for churches to do that. They don’t want it to be about them as an organization. It’s about the Gospel.
6. Why do you think we as human beings and dwellers of earth should care about children in other countries?
Christ showed us extravagant mercy, scandalous grace, and love undeserved. He came to US. He met us where we were at, looked us in the eye and said “I choose you. I see you.” We were not saved, loved, and given a second chance just to soak in the grace alone. We were lavished with amazing grace that we may be that grace to someone else.
As human beings, we weren’t designed to be alone, we were designed for community. A community that says no to injustice, no to preventable diseases, no to abuse, no to a lack of education but yes to opportunity, yes to linking arms with others to be a lifeline for those in need, yes to loving big, yes to taking risks, yes to doing everything in our power to reach those who are physically and spiritually impoverished. It’s in our blood, in our DNA, in our heart beat. We were made in the image of a Savior God. We were made to be an extension of Him.
Check out this link that explains how child sponsorship helps and makes a difference.
7. If there was one thing you’d want someone to know about Compassion, what would it be?
Compassion is legit!! Seriously though, I’d want everyone to know that at the end of the day, Compassion’s sole aim is for lost souls to come to know the joy, the certainty, and the love of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That to me is the most important thing and it is incredible to partner with an organization that lives this out daily.
8. Thanks for your time and thoughts. Just for fun. What would be your ideal autumn afternoon activity?
Ooooh I love autumn! I would have to say that my ideal afternoon in autumn would be horseback riding around a lake or lush meadows, stopping for a picnic lunch, taking a nap under the turning leaves, playing some barefoot soccer in the field, and then hopping back on my horse to gallop home. Too much? I think not.
Thanks for joining Sabrina and me for this look at Compassion! If you’re looking for a way to make a difference in a life, you definitely should check out Compassion International.
