contrast.
there’s so much of a contrast here.
we’re sitting in our bus, driving to another project, and no matter where it is i look, the contrast is striking.
the colors in nature…the rich greens and reds in the grass and the mud…and the unsaturated grey in the sky.
the cars and motorbikes that crowd the roads…and the goat i see about ten feet outside of my window…and the cattle that passed by our bus yesterday.
the skyscrapers in downtown kampala…and the rows of small markets of local vendors selling plantains and brooms.
we spent some time at a project yesterday with some of the brightest kids. this is a photo of henry and me. henry is in 7th grade. he is articulate, bright, and athletic. we stood behind the church which is under construction and he asked if things in america were constructed with wood or with steel. he told me about his sponsor family in the states.
“mr. and mrs. james peterson,” he said. “do you know them?” he asked with a spark of familiarity and hope in his eyes.
by the time we had finished touring the project and were about to leave, i headed back to talk to henry one last time. before i took two steps in the small lot where he stood with his friends, two little children in rags, wiping their drippy noses with dirty hands latched on to each of my legs.
while looking holding them tightly to me, i looked up at henry.
the contrast between these local neighborhood kids, who aren’t in the program, and the children who had been in the program for a while was more drastic than anything i had seen on the trip.
it is absolutely unbelievable what the $32/month mr. and mrs. james peterson so graciously provide does for henry. he’s educated. he’s healthy. he’s clean. he has a plan to go to university. “it’s only five years away,” he told me excitedly.
and henry isn’t the only one. there are over 900,000 other children like henry out there in the world. who have a shot at changing the course of history in their countries.
countries like uganda, hidden away between some of the world’s most volatile and violent nations.
i’m not going to beat around the bush. nobody’s telling us what to write about what we’ve seen. all of us on the trip know the communities on our blogs, and i know you guys don’t like fluff. so, here it is.
many of you are feeling what we are feeling. many of you are feeling moved. and that is great. but you have the ability to to do something about it, and do something about it now.
shaun said something great in our devotional time this morning with the ugandan compassion staff. compassion is not just releasing children from poverty in jesus’ name, they are releasing americans from our burden of wealth.
don’t hold on to your stack of cash any longer. it is needed here. it is needed now.
the link is up there on the right. find a child. sign up. it will take just a few moments of your day. don’t wait any longer. your child needs you now.
do it.
Comments
29 responses to “UGANDA: the burden of wealth”
If it is of any encouragement (which I hope it is), I just signed up to sponsor a child. You and Henry were very moving. Safe travels to you all. In Jesus’ name.
Wow. Look at him…he looks so happy and healthy. That photo right there is amazing proof of what Compassion is doing there. It’s great to see his smiling face.
Thank you for bringing these children “home” for us.
You’re all in my prayers.
Sue
. . . releasing Americans from their burden of wealth . . .
wow. that is exactly how i feel when i think about my commitment to sponsor betzabeth and karuri . . . a little released from my burden of wealth. and very quickly, my burden of wealth starts becoming a joyful opportunity to make jesus smile.
Amazingly written, my friend. So thankful that you are willing to bust our hineys on this and speak truth. I need it.
The burden of wealth…hmmm. That’s about the best description of us Americans I have ever heard.
I miss you but I’m glad you’re there.
I’m going to sign up now…Thanks for the push and the picture that I needed in my head!
It’s great to hear about your trip and all the things you guys are seeing and experiencing. Keep it up!
However…
I hate to be the stick in the mud, but I also really want to be convinced that sponsoring a child is the best way to help. What does it do to the children who aren’t sponsored to see Henry getting so much? I would expect that to cause all kinds of rifts and problems, especially in a family.
I’m not trying to argue that as a reason not to do anything, but it seems like a more equitable distribution might avoid problems like that.
Anyway, it should be really easy to challenge us to sponsor with stories of simple reality, but I hope you can also answer some of these more practical questions while you’re there.
thanks
Amazing. Thank you Anne. You guys are all making me cry a lot.
thanks for helping tell these kids & Compassion’s story. the work done by Compassion is some of the best that I’ve seen & experienced. thanks for using your platform to help these kids & help us Americans.
anne, i am convinced that you are having a true “Kingdom” exprerience there.
thanks for how you are serving God, these kids, and us through this journey.
keep your heart dangerously soft.
as always, love and prayer to you from ky…
Thank you for pleading for help for the least of these our children. !
If you get the chance to visit Bethany Children’s home on the Island off of Kampala, don’t miss it. Its a half hour boat ride from the dock at Gabba. Don’t forget the mosquito repellent, but you have got to see it, its awesome.
Thank you for sharing your story with us! I think we all need a dose of perspective. My prayers are with all of you!
Adrian and I are signing up. I look forward to hearing more about your experience in Uganda and I am so inspired by your words right now. Amazing.
kevin-
those are great questions. thank you so much for asking them.
to touch on them…
families have the opportunity to register their children to be sponsored. because so many families have very many children, the limit is there in order for the community to have a more equitable balance, instead of only certain families receiving the aid.
when a child is sponsored, and gets assistance … it is a gift to all. culturally, it’s almost like every one is family. i heard a story from a compassion staff member who went on a trip once. while she was there, a letter came for one of the children. ALL of the children celebrated with the one who received the letter.
also, when a child (or children) in a family is/are sponsored, the family directly and indirectly benefits from the sponsorship. they receive medical care, interact socially, and the things the children learn in school (reading/writing/health, etc.) they take home to their caregivers and siblings, and are able to teach them.
it’s easy how easily we can color things “american” – i know i would get jealous when my brother got something and i didn’t…but the way the sponsorship impacts the child, the child his family, and the community…is something to celebrate. when all you have is god and your fellow man, it comes a lot easier when someone you love is blessed.
I love that your heart is being tugged.
I already adopted a girl from compassion in January but id not write letters of encouragement to her. I feel so sad now that she doesnt know who I am, I will write her today. Thanks for the encouragement you are all doing a great job!
You’re in our prayers! The stories and colors are so amazing. Our boys Judah (6) and Mace (4) helped pick out a 5 year-old boy, Brighton, from Uganda last night on Compassion’s website. We are now praying for Brighton and financially supporting him. I’m so glad you’re giving us a glimpse into such need and hope.
Thank you Anne. It’s great to get that on-the-ground perspective.
Hope you’ll let me keep asking the questions…
-Is sponsoring children one at a time really the most economical way to help? It seems like it’s geared to engage us as Westerners more than it’s the best way to help.
-What happens post-sponsorship? Are these sponsored children able to climb out of poverty with the education they’re given?
-What kind of back and forth can happen between the child and the sponsors? My family sponsored a child through a different organization for 7 or 8 years (until the program was phased out) and the correspondence always seemed terribly fake. Can the relationship be real and honest when it’s based on the fact that I’m paying the bills? (is there a sense among the sponsored children that if they don’t do well or please their sponsors they’ll be cut off?) And I’m sure there’s a disparity of responses children receive–some sponsors write all the time and some never do. Does that have negative effects?
Again, sorry to be the wet blanket. Your stories are powerful–but I want them to be more than simply emotional pleas. Helping kids is a no-brainer–but I want to hear that this is the absolute best way to help those kids.
thank you
I love that Henry wanted to know if you knew his sponsors. That is so touching. I try to write to my two Compassion kids every month, and I always wonder if they are as excited to get my letters as I am to get theirs. Thank you for giving us a first-hand perspective on Compassion’s work and how it’s changing lives.
ok…i really need to write my sponsored children!
that was the message i got as i read your blog…Stop sitting here blog-reading! You have 3 kids in Guatemala and 1 in Albania that need to know they are thought about by a ‘mr and mrs someone’ in america”
and i eagerly look forward to another week this summer in Mozambique sitting in the dirt with the children there.
you are right…a dollar goes a LONG way and can provide so much there and if we hang on to it and spend it here, it is usually frivolous and fattening! over there it is LIFE and FUTURE.
Anne, some of the concerns raised herein can be answered by the parents and church leaders Compassion is working with. Do you mind interviewing any of them?
Wow, breaking us from afar!
Kevin, If you need more of a relationship or your not comfortable sending money without freakish assurance and constant proof, get on a plane and go. Build a well, help fund a micro load bank there, teach, do something other then pick apart a program that is doing something.
Sorry, but your questions Are a wet blanket. This is an emotional plea, that is what gets us off our butts and doing something. There wouldn’t be a child watching others be sponsered, and there wouldn’t be a need for these questions if everyone would just get busy doing at least something.
Carole, part of the criticism of sponsorship programs like this is that it’s relatively easy to send your $32 a month and not be changed by it. You get this guilt trip, you grudgingly give, and then you think you’re a great person because you’re sacrificing $32/month.
The American church is swayed by emotionalism. I think we need more than that. Because emotions change like the wind.
And Carole, I am doing something. My family is in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia.
Kevin, I appreciate you asking the hard questions. I am not an employee, but I have been speaking and singing (and blogging) on behalf of Compassion’s 100,000+ unsponsored children for a few years now and I’m always thrilled when someone thinks through the work of Compassion before sponsoring – they’re the sponsors who stick to the commitment best and “recruit” others to sponsor children as well. On to your question…
I’ve visited Compassion projects in four countries (Ecuador in 2002, El Salvador in 2005, Ethiopia in 2007 and now Uganda) and while there is a template and unchangeable essentials in Compassion’s ministry in all twenty-four countries where they work, there are also variables which can be adjusted, after much research and deliberation, to better fit the distinct needs and sociology of a given culture.
You’re asking, if I’m understanding correctly (forgive me if I’m not), whether it’s such a good idea to enroll one child in a family in Compassion’s ministry and let the others be left. First, no one is left out – more on that in a second.
Second, in Uganda, the answer is yes, it is best to enroll one child per family (with exceptions allowing for more children in a home to be sponsored.) We must try not to think like Westerners and instead think like Ugandans. Ugandans (not Americans in some distant office) made the decision to sponsor one child per home. Let’s, first of all, trust that they know what works best in their own communities.
Third, they do this, as they explain it to me, FOR equality – not to undermine it. When one child is sponsored the rest of the family reads the encouraging letters from the child’s sponsors, gets nutritional counseling, gets visited by the church/Compassion staff (all projects are church buildings staffed by highly trained church members and held accountable by Compassion International). Parents are taught how to read and taught a skill so they can be employed. The whole family benefits from home repairs and many many other aspects of Compassion’s care for the one child. No one is left out. Sponsoring one child helps the entire family. The research proves this…in Uganda.
By enrolling one child per household, Compassion can minister to more than 50,000 DIFFERENT families in Uganda at present…without there being more sponsors. That, they’ve determined, is the greatest impact Compassion can have on THIS country. Better to have 50,000 families living better lives than 10,000 living better lives and 40,000 dying. Makes sense right? But, again, this is not the way it’s done in EVERY country.
Sorry for the length, but I wanted to be clear and thorough. If I wasn’t, please e-mail me (shaungrovesfanmail@bellsouth.net) with any questions and I’ll get back to you shortly.
Geez, Kevin, I answered the first question you raised without scrolling to the many others you’ve posed. My apologies. No space hear. it’ snot my blog. But I have solid emotion-free answers for you. Satisfying answers for skeptics like us. Email me. Would be glad to discuss.
anne, thank you so much for what you’re sharing. the words of you and the other bloggers on this trip are inspiring.
kristi and i have been talking about sponsoring a child for a while now, and i wanted to let you know that we made our commitment tonight. his name is muwonge bashir. if you meet him, give him a BIG hug for us.
we’re praying for you guys, anne… please keep the updates coming!
I love that your heart is being tugged.
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