So what else does Compassion do? Bite Back!

A lot of people know that Compassion International is a child sponsor program whose mission it is to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. But Compassion is so much more than this! I was thinking it might be nice to do some blog posts about some of the other things that Compassion does in the countries where they are working to help these children and their families be released from poverty.

Are you aware that people still die from malaria around the world? A person dies from malaria every 30 seconds and 3 out of every 4 of these deaths are children in Africa.This video does a great job of explaining how mosquito bites are still killing too many children around the world.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LftEavUydNk]

When Jordan Foxworthy (yes, the daughter of TV show's 'Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?' host, Jeff Foxworthy) went to Africa with her dad to visit their Compassion sponsored children, she came back as a changed young lady. (You can watch her video here. Scroll down to the third video.)  She worked with Compassion to start the Bite Back campaign to help provide insecticide-treated mosquito nets to children living in poverty. These nets help to protect the family while they are sleeping. This is the time when most mosquito bites occur.

Bite Back is a great way for teenagers and kids to become involved with Compassion. For just a $10 donation, a family will be provided with an insecticide-treated mosquito net to protect them from a mosquito bite which can lead to malaria.

Matthew was able to present Bite Back to our youth group and over the course of several weeks, they collected enough money to purchase 15 nets. You can make a donation today, or even better yet, order a presentation kit to share Bite Back with your church family. Help the fight to end malaria!

Preparing for our special visitor

We are pretty excited around here as we will have a special visitor at the end of this month! Since Olive will be speaking at a nearby church in the morning, Compassion thought it would be great if she could visit our church also. We will be putting together a special Sunday evening service so Olive can share with us what it was like growing up as a Compassion sponsored child in Uganda.

Yesterday, I ran by the library to pick up a book that was on hold and thought I should pick up a book on Uganda also.

I had forgotten that Katie Davis (author of the book, Kisses from Katie) was currently living in Uganda ministering to young orphaned girls. I am looking forward to learning more about Uganda over the next few weeks and learning more about this young lady who has left her comfortable life to follow what she believes is God's plan for her.

Help children in poverty AND get a t-shirt!

Every 30 seconds, a child dies from malaria. Compassion's Malaria Intervention Fund exists to provide children in poverty with mosquito nets.

This week, Sevenly has a goal of raising $7000 to purchase 700 mosquito nets. There are two ways you can help.

Option 1: In the next seven days, sponsor a child using this link and you will receive a free t-shirt from Sevenly.

Option 2: Purchase a t-shirt from Sevenly and $7 will be donated to provide a life-saving mosquito net to children in Rwanda.

This opportunity ends precisely at 9:59 AM PST next Monday, April 9 and you must use the links provided in this post.

I picked the olive woman's t-shirt...which one did you choose to help children in Rwanda?

Have you written to your sponsored child lately?

Tonight, I attended a Compassion Advocate training call on the Ins and Outs of Correspondence. I love attending these training calls! This training call reinforced for me the importance of writing to our sponsored children regularly.

The trainer tonight gave an example of a young boy in Indonesia. This young boy was discouraged because he kept losing his sponsors. He was considering leaving the Compassion program. Then someone starting sponsoring him who wrote to him regularly, encouraging him. This young boy ended up staying in the Compassion program, graduated out of the program, and is now working for Compassion in Indonesia. Because one person decided to make a difference in a young boy's life.

Need more motivation to write to your child? Here are 10 motivating reasons to write.

Not sure what to write? Here is a great blog post from the Compassion blog to help you get started.

Don't have a lot of time to write? Be sure to check out the new online letter writing tool!

Want to do something a little creative? Instead of sending them a blank coloring page, draw a picture for them!

Just think of your sponsored child's happy, smiling face when they receive that letter you took the time to write.

Keit, Andreas, and Pamela

Today, I would like to introduce you to three Compassion kids who are looking for sponsors.

Keit lives in Burkina Faso with her mother and one sibling. She just had her 11th birthday in December.  Keit likes to play with dolls, play hide and seek, and play group games. She helps her mom at home by washing clothes, running errands, and cleaning.

Andreas is an 8 year old boy who lives in Indonesia with his grandmother and one sibling. His school performance is above average, and he likes to read and bicycling. Andreas helps his grandmother by running errands and cleaning.

Pamela lives in Peru with her father, mother, and one sibling. She will be 6 in May. Pamela enjoys playing with dolls and helps at home by running errands.

These children would love to have a sponsor who will write to them and encourage them, be praying for them and their family, and share with them that Jesus loves them. Would you like to be that person? If you would like to sponsor one of these children, please leave a comment on this post.