The past two Saturdays of this month I have been able to work alongside Compassion International here in Busia, Kenya.
I have been familiar with Compassion for my entire life and had secretly hoped that I would be able to work with them at some point on the Race.
My family has supported many children and have frequently had a picture of a child from another country on our refrigerator over the years.
God would tug our hearts to give $30 a month to give a child a future they would not be able to afford on their own. They would be able to go to school and hear about the love of Christ.
But slowly but surely, our support for this child dwindled. Money would get tight and supporting the Compassion child was the first to go in our family budget.
It was easy to stop supporting the child. They were just a picture on our refrigerator after all. We had immediate needs or wants that we could see in our own life.
As I helped precious children fill out the letters to their sponsor and color a picture for them, my mind flashed back to the moments I had stopped caring for my own Compassion child.
I got to look in the eyes of John, an adorable 7 year old with a big smile. I got to hold his hand as we walked to the church to color a picture. I got to see the name of his sponsor from Korea.
I got to see the hope this child now has because someone who loves Jesus wants to make a difference in the life of someone they have never met.
John’s picture is on the fridge or desk of a man in Korea. This man may never get to meet John and see that beautiful smile on his face in real life. He will probably never get to feel his sweet little fingers wrap around his own.
But I did. And all the sudden, John represented all the children my family or I have supported in the past and every picture that is on the table of Compassion booth somewhere in a first world country right now.
Each picture represents a child just like John. A child whose family is unable to provide school fees for him. A child who otherwise would be helping his family around the house during the day instead of getting an education. A child who might have never known the love and abounding grace of Jesus.
