Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Teaching Compassion


In our world that is filled with instant access to water, electricity, iPhones, hundreds of television channels and enough toys to start a daycare, how will I teach my children to have compassion for those who are not as fortunate?



If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
1 John 3:17 (NIV)


If you are trying to teach your children about compassion, what better way than to reach out to the world's poorest children, who are desperately in need of someone to tell them they are special, that they matter and there is hope


A New Beginning
When you sponsor a child through Compassion International you change their life - forever! That's because the organization tackles poverty from several angles at once, ensuring them the best possible means to escape devastating poverty. All of this is done in Jesus' name and while by bringing the children, and often those around them to Christ. 

As a former auditor, I am impressed that it has been a trusted, independently audited charity since 1952 with over 1 million children sponsored. They have also received Charity Navigator's Four Star Rating. 


Change the world. One child at a time. 

Whatever you decide to do about sponsorship, I pray you and your family will please visit the Sponsor a Child page and pray for the children waiting for sponsors. This would make such a wonderful impact on their lives.  

Five Ways We Teach Compassion

1. We start each meal and end our day with prayers for our Pascaline, Elibie and two other Compassion children who are special to us. We pray God will protect them, provide shelter, food, and drink. We also pray that they will have many reasons to smile that day and know they are special. 

2. I give gentle reminders when we are being wasteful with food or water to remember our special friends and their needs in Africa. We also use this as an opportunity to be thankful for all the blessings in our lives. 

3. We write letters to our girls in Rwanda and Burkina Faso. We've gotten to know what they like to do for fun, how they help out their parents around their home, what they eat and more about their countries. We send cards, stickers, bible verses, coloring pages, pictures of our family and artwork Teagan and Isla make for them.

4. Pictures of Pascaline and Elibie are on our refrigerator. They have become a daily part of our lives and we consider them family. When we receive correspondence from them it is an exciting day! We talk about their pictures and letters at dinnertime with daddy!

5. We visit and pray over the thousands of children still needing sponsors at Compassion International by visiting their Sponsor a Child page. There, we talk about their names, ages and countries. Compassion also has an online Christian Homeschool Curriculum that I can't wait to share with the kids as they get older. 

Questions: 

How are you teaching compassion in your home? 

Are you currently a Compassion sponsor? 


We'd love to hear from you in the comments below!

Blessings, Michelle

9 comments:

  1. This is wonderful! We have a girl in Rwanda. I love that our family can help mend that country in one way. God does such wonderful things through our small acts of obedience.

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  2. Oh so cool! We have little Pascaline in Rwanda and Elibie in Burkina Faso. I often think about what Pascaline's future country will look like. I pray the work Compassion is doing there in the hearts and minds of the next leaders will help prevent the atrocities that her parents experienced in their generation.

    Blessings and thanks so much for all you do, Jen!
    Michelle

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  3. Blessings. Sorry I think I lost my comment when I went to post. Thank you for inviting me to link up with your compassion posts. I will come back to visit often. Your blog looks great.

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    1. Thank you, Donna! Your Compassion story about Jimmi touched my heart. We've started praying for him too. Would love to keep up with updates on him. I just became a follower on your blog...even though the pictures of the SNAKES made my heart race. I am very happy that that snake seller didn't sell any of his snakes to Patrick! *LOL*

      Hope to see you back here for Tuesday (general) and Friday's (Compassion related) link ups!
      Michelle

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  4. Beautiful. Compassion is one of the most vital ingredients in life. I am blessed with a very compassionate and thoughtful child....we try and demonstrate compassion with others where possible. I guess that reflects on her.

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    1. Hi Zanni! After visiting your blog I can totally understand how your wee one developed a compassionate heart! Such a beautifully written blog and I look forward to being back there often.

      Thanks for sharing!
      Michelle

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  5. Christie,
    Thanks so much for stopping by. I spent a lot of time on your blog. My nephew is adopted and I love hearing stories like yours. I also hadn't heard of some of the buttons you have on your side bar. Lots of fun learning and exploring. I look forward to getting to know you more and hope you'll be back!

    Blessings, Michelle

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  6. What a GREAT reminder Michelle. I love Compassion and World Vision for their willingness to reach the least of these. What a great way to help widows and orphans or those in need. Thanks for linking up at Rethinking My Thinking. too.

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  7. We sponsor a child through World Vision. Thanks for the homeschool curriculum link. That will go great with our around the world study this year.

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