from the sidelines

i just finised reading a post titled from the outside looking in over at compassion’s blog. it doesn’t talk about the children who are sponsored through the program. chris talks about the children who aren’t sponsored and what they must be thinking watching the children who are in the program, singing, playing, learning, etc. he has a picture up that shows compassion sponsored children on one side of the fence and unsponsored children on the other. when i read his post i immediately was taken back to my trip to tanzania. one of the images that i can’t get out of my mind is one of about four children standing behind some bushes watching me and my friends play and interact with the children part of compassions program. my heart broke. i wondered what was going through their minds. do they wonder why they can’t wear the same uniforms? do they wonder everyday as they walk past why they can’t go to school and be a part of the child development program? do they wonder when their day will come to be sponsored? this isn’t the best picture but it gives you an idea of what i’m talking about. it’s a picture of one of the boys looking through the bushes.

even when we tried to get the children to come play with us, they were very slow to warm up. almost as if they felt that they didn’t belong. by the end of the week, we had connected just as much with them as we did with the children in the program. here is a shot of the same little boy that i took on our last day. he is the second one from the left.

i love his smile. doesn’t it just warm your heart?

there are thousands upon thousands of children who are sponsored through compassion. but there are thousands upon thousands of children who are still waiting to be sponsored. one of the things i was told from someone on staff with compassion is that as children are sponsored it allows room for other children to be put on the list to be sponsored. i was already sponsoring a girl from the dominican republic when i went on this trip. i decided to sponsor a boy from tanzania. i wish you all could have been there with me to see first hand why child sponsorship is so important and what it does for these beautiful children. how it gives them a hope that they didn’t have before being sponsored. i just ask you to prayerfully consider becoming a sponsor. if you have questions, i’d be more than happy to talk to you in more detail. and i can promise you that not only will you change a child’s life but your life will also never be the same.