Danielle, Bennett and I sponsor a child, named Koren, through Compassion. He lives in Kenya. We try our best to pray for him at dinner…….we don’t remember to as much as we wish we did. A couple of days ago, Danielle showed me a letter that we recently received from Koren. It says that he has started singing with a children’s choir (which I’m happy about), and that he wanted us to pray that he improves at school. He also was really happy that he can now read swahili words.

Danielle and I haven’t done a great job of writing Koren, so please don’t read this and think that we’re a model Compassion-sponsor family. But, I wanted to post about this because Koren’s letter has just melted me. I can’t imagine my daughter writing to people in another country to thank them for their generosity… I mostly can’t imagine this because Bennett can’t go past “d” while saying her “a-b-c’s”, so writing anything seems like a very distant thing. But beyond that, and more seriously, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a parent who works from sunrise to sunset every day and still can’t provide food for his family.

(Picture from Koren )

Most of you have seen in the news this week that the price of food is going up because of the grain shortage and gas prices. This shortage will mean very little to us in America. Sure, I might have to rediscover the delicacies of PB&Js…. I’ll wrestle with contentment, but adjust and be fine. I don’t mean to minimize the impact this food shortage might have on the US, but I do want to keep in mind that, even if we have to make significant sacrifices to our lifestyle, we’ll still have food on the table every day…. But millions around the world can’t say that. This shortage will be deadly for many children/adults around the world. They simply don’t have the resources to cope with drastic food shortages like we will.

So why talk about all of this? Because we have an opportunity to get involved with an organization that cares for families who live in areas of the world impacted by poverty, and that will, through our giving, provide what is needed for these families to live and hopefully thrive. Compassion is independently reviewed and audited, and has received the highest marks possible for a charitable organization, which means the money you give will be spent wisely. It will have the impact that you want it to have. And, most importantly, as people’s physical needs are met, they will also hear how their greatest need, reconciliation with God, can be found through Christ.

I guess my challenge for us is that we seek out how we can be more involved in the lives of people affected by poverty. I know for Danielle and me, a good place to start is trying to stay in contact with Koren more often and encouraging him and his family. I’m sure that the upcoming future might be tough for some of us financially, but I hope that we’re able to look outside of ourselves to a world in far more need.

You can get to Compassion’s website here.