My Baby Boy!
I was checking my e mail today and saw I had an update from Compassion International. They are such an awesome group! I love what they are doing for children and families in need around the world.
"There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread."-- Mahatma Gandhi
My heart broke again as I was reminded of the suffering and neglect that children in poverty face. It's bad enough that poverty leaves children hungry. But even if the children survive the hungry days and nights. Poverty tells them that they do not matter.
"When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed."-- Mother Teresa
Compassion's projects do an amazing job of not just feeding empty stomachs but filling empty hearts with love. Helping them realize that God's love will never leave there side even if the world and there stomach tries to tell them other wise. That is a powerful combination!
I have sponsored Afework since 2000 or so and it has been a blessing to see this little boy grow into a young man. In this picture he was 8 going on 9. This picture is always in my wallet and I love to show him to people that I meet!
"To me, a faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned with the poor ... it's nothing." -- Bono, U2Of course time has passed since then and My Baby Boy is now a teenager. He's 14!!! He's a young man by Ethiopian standards. And each year that passes now makes friends with money from dead end jobs look like a more effective way of helping his grandma and the rest of his family than the slow road of education. He has a love of cars and would like to be a mechanic someday.
I love getting letters from Afework and hearing about what he is learning and seeing how much of an impact my little $32 a month has on his life. But like I said it's more than the money. My support, my letters to him from the other side of the world, help him see that he is not a mistake of over overpopulation or an uneducated mom. He is not unwanted. He is not garbage. He is a human being made in the image of God, unique and lovely among all creation!
Please join me in praying for Afework and other children like him around the world! That they would hear God's loving words and feel His tears as they suffer in ways that we could never imagine! Lord we know you hold these children in your lap, may they feel Your love. May we be drawn to action as we listen for Your guiding words! Amen!
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/waystosponsor/all_children.htm
"Let us be the ones who say we do not accept that a child dies every three seconds simply because he does not have the drugs you and I have. Let us be the ones to say we are not satisfied that your place of birth determines your right to life. Let us be outraged, let us be loud, let us be bold." -- Brad Pitt
posted by Keith @ 10:00 AM
1 Comments:
I have a compassion little girl. I have helped her since I was 16 and she was 2. Now she is 9 years old. I can't believe how old she is and beautiful she is becoming with each letter. Rock on Keith. Glad to read your blogs and your life in Japan... you should come to Tokyo. I hear it's lovely this time of year.
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