Sacrificial Giving

I do not know what has made me so empathetic in this disaster. Maybe it is because it reminds me of Hurricane Katrina, just on a much larger scale. A city has been destroyed by a natural disaster and millions of lives are affected. Katrina was similar in that respect. Of course, add on the poverty in Haiti that was so much more desparate than in New Orleans, and it is truly catastrophic. New Orleans is just now getting back to what I would call "normal." I am afraid that Haiti will take even longer. I am also concerned that some organizations will create dependence instead of training the Haitian people in independence financially.

That having been said, if you have seen me promote giving to an organization, I have already given to it. I plan to give small amounts monthly to Compassion because I think it is an organization that promotes the gospel and financial independence for the children in its program. Even if you do not want to sponsor a child and want more freedom in choosing amounts to give each month (or once a year), there are options.

Donate Online

On another note, our former employee Darlynn is back on American soil and should be arriving in Texarkana by Wednesday. I know that her family must be relieved, but as someone who dealt with the emotions of Katrina even though I did not have to deal with the storm itself, this is when she and her family need more prayers than ever.

Compassion and Haiti

Yesterday I briefly mentioned Compassion, but today I wanted to provide more information for donating to the Haiti earthquake disaster relief. Compassion International is a wonderful child sponsorship organization and has the relationships necessary to hit the ground running in response to this disaster.

Here is an excerpt of an e-mail that Compassion sent out today:

WHY GIVE TO COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL:

FINANCIAL INTEGRITY: The FBI is warning of several Haiti charity scams that have popped up in the wake of this earthquake. http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/01/13/haiti.charity.scams/
They are suggesting that donations only be made to organizations monitored and rated by CharityNavigator.org and The American Institute of Philanthropy. Both organizations have given Compassion International their highest approval ranking. Compassion International is the only non-profit in it's category to receive eight consecutive years of four star rating from CharityNavigator.org.
Links regarding Compassion International's financial integrity:
http://www.compassion.com/about/financial/default.htm
http://www.compassion.com/press/currentnews/charity-navigator-awards-compassion-highest-rating-8th-year-in-row.htm

FIRST RESPONDER: In this disaster it is crucial that first responders receive support quickly. Because Compassion International ministers through local churches to meet the needs of that church's neighbors, and because these church partners are respected aid workers in their communities, Compassion is uniquely positioned to assess and meet the needs of it's sponsored children quickly. This is an advantage of our church-based model in practice for more than 50 years.

IN JESUS' NAME: Compassion International does not accept government funds which could at times restrict our ability to meet the physical and spiritual needs of children in Jesus' name. Because of this Compassion International's primary financial support comes from individual donors.

HOW DONATIONS WILL BE USED: All funds raised in response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to provide for Compassion-assisted children and families affected by this crisis. Any funds raised in excess will be stewarded by Compassion for additional and future disaster relief efforts.
You can provide immediate relief today.
• $35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a family for one week.
• $70 gift helps care for their needs for two weeks.
• $105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.
• $210 gift helps care for two families' needs.
• $525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.
• $1,050 gift helps care for 10 families' needs.
• $1,500 helps rebuild a home.
• $2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.
Due to the high number of responses it may take longer than normal to process your transaction.

Donate Online

Haiti

If you are like me, you often want to help when you see a tragedy like the earthquake in Haiti, but you often do not know the best way to help. Since I believe that money should be sent to persons that already have relationships with the people on the ground and to places where I know it is going to be put to good use, I offer these two options for everyone to consider.

First, our office employed a legal assistant who is now a missionary to Haiti. Here is the e-mail that one of my colleagues sent out:

Dear friends,

News reports from Haiti show that there has been tremendous damage and loss of life in Haiti.

As you may know one of our former legal assistants Darlynn Hon is a missionary in Haiti working at an orphanage.

Prior to the earthquake Darlynn indicated to me that the living conditions were poor and basic food and water needs were barely being met.

One can only imagine the conditions now and I anticipate that the conditions will be poor for a long time.

We have contacted Darlynn Hon's church "Church on the Rock" in Texarkana, Texas and they stated that they are accepting donations in the name of "Church on the Rock" with a memo of "Haiti missions." They indicated to us that they intend to send support as soon as they can. If you wish to make any contributions I'm sure they will be appreciated. You can contact Church on the Rock directly at 1601 Mall Drive, Texarkana, Texas 75503.

Also, Compassion International is a wonderful organization that I currently donate to for support of two children living in poverty. Compassion has ongoing ministries in Haiti, and is accepting donations designated specifically for disaster relief. Here is the link to donate.

Compassion Update

My Compassion International child in India left the program. I had chosen a 3 year old so that I could invest many years into the child. However, due to religious conflicts in the country, his family decided that he could no longer attend the Compassion program. Now I have a child from Ethiopia. This time I went with a 4 year old (since my India child turned 4 while I was sponsoring him) and I determined that I wanted to sponsor an African child. Little Anwar lives in Ethiopia and will be 5 in April. His birthday is within a few days of my India child's birthday. Hopefully I will be able to add a girl to my sponsorship soon as well. I highly recommend sponsoring children through Compassion International. I think that the sponsorship is $32 a month, and you can set the sponsorship up on a monthly automatic payment (part of the reason that I cannot remember the amount right now). I think it is also a good idea for a Sunday school class or Bible study group to sponsor a child. There are opportunities for short term, long term, and one time giving. Again, I highly recommend the program and think that it is a cause that should be considered since you are developing a relationship with an individual child.

Compassion International

I made the decision in July to begin sponsoring a Compassion International child.  I had heard about the organization in college, and I have wanted to sponsor a child since then.  Finally, this summer, I realized I was in a financial position to begin sponsoring a child.  You can go to their website and choose your child by looking through pictures of children from all over the world.  I really wanted a little boy in Africa, but I also wanted a child that was under five years old so that I would be making a long term commitment to the child until the child is eighteen.  After looking through all of the children, I realized that there was not a little boy in Africa that was under the age of five awaiting sponsorship.  I narrowed my choice to two little boys, a three year old from India and a four year old from Haiti.  After praying about the choice I should make, I decided to sponsor the three year old (although I was really sad that I couldn't sponsor the little boy from Haiti as well).

My little boy is Arjun Ajith.  He is from South India.  He is the cutest little thing!  I have placed his picture in my office so that I see him while I am working and remember to pray for him.  I was so excited to receive a letter written by his mother that also contained pictures drawn by him.  I learned that he has a dog too, so when I sent him a picture of me, I included one of Lil T as well.  His drawings of a flower and a bus were precious.  I am excited that I have the opportunity to support him financially.  Since he is a Compassion child, in order to continue to receive the benefits of the sponsorship, he will be attending school at a religious center in or near his hometown.  Therefore, because of my financial contributions, he will be raised learning about the gospel throughout his childhood and teenage years.  I hope that one day I will receive a letter with him informing me that he has become a believer in Christ.

I would encourage everyone to sponsor a child through Compassion.  It is a trustworthy organization, as is evidenced by its many years of service and many success stories.  As for the Haitian boy that I was unable to sponsor, I found out a week or two later that he had been chosen by our youth pastor as the child the youth group would sponsor.  I have been able to contribute to his sponsorship as well, which makes me excited.  If you are unable to afford a sponsorship on your own, I would encourage you to sponsor a child through a group of people, such as a Sunday school class, a discipleship class, a group of friends or co-workers, you get the picture.  If you can't make a long term commitment, choose an older child.  I think this is a small way that individuals can impact the world in a very personal way.  My desire is for Arjun's entire family to be changed by the gospel, and I hope that the love of Christ is shown through each dollar that they receive.

(I do have to add that you should not sponsor a child unless you are already tithing in your local church body.  Support for your local church should come first.)