Friday, November 14, 2008

Having Compassion

For about a year and a half, I have sponsored a child through Compassion International. Her name is Scarle, she is six-and-a-half years old, and she lives in Peru. According to the info on my sponsor account, the average monthly income in her community is about $96. Lately the Lord has been challenging me to expand my faith and take on a second sponsorship (something I've wanted to do for a while but have been afraid to do because of my extremely unpredictable income). Last night I took the plunge.

I wanted an older child who'd been waiting for a long time for a sponsor, so I did a search. Only about half-a-dozen faces popped up, and one in particular drew me. She was the only young woman who showed up in the search. Her name is Allen, she is seventeen and lives in Uganda. She is in about seventh grade (when I was seventeen, I was in the middle of a challenging high school curriculum!) and the average monthly income in her area is $3. Yes, I said three dollars a month. That's less than I pay for a Starbucks cup of coffee, which only lasts about half an hour if you drink it slowly! All I could think was how incredibly privileged we are here in the United States, that we'd spend more on a single drink than some people make in a month. Incredible! I can only imagine how far my measly $32 per month will go in Uganda. From what I could tell, Allen has been waiting since at least last December for a sponsor, and I am glad to be able to meet her need. I just wish I could see her face when they tell her she's been sponsored.

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