My wife and I attended a contemporary Christian music concert that featured several live performances. I think there were five acts all together. But the most moving part of the experience was a heartfelt plea (a thirty minute "commercial") for Compassion International.
Compassion International is a worldwide charity that focuses on poverty in developing countries. The idea is to have people in developed countries sponsor a single child to help lift that child out of poverty and break the cycle. The children are given food, health screenings, education and opportunity. It is a long-term approach to helping impoverished communities. Children who live in corrugated tin shacks in communities where the average wage is one or two dollars per day, if that, are given a holistic opportunity that addresses needs at all levels.
Compassion International is a commitment to help. A commitment to a single child. My wife and I sponsor one little girl in Central America. We pay 38 dollars per month to ensure that this child is given a proper education, food, shelter and opportunity. We are able to correspond with the child through Compassion International. Words of encouragement can offer hope in a way that augments the financial support. One day, I would like to take a trip to visit "our girl."
The thing I like most about Compassion International is that it is not an adoption agency. It allows children to remain with their own families who might otherwise have to give them up for adoption due to poverty. The financial support helps keep that family together and hopefully give the children opportunities that will lift that one family out of poverty eventually.
Poverty may seem like a losing battle. It is rampant in many countries. People can make a difference by donating to any variety of international charities, which we also do. But this is more personal. It is not small donations for a variety of causes. It is a singular commitment to one child. It is opportunity. It is love. It is caring. It is support. It may not change the world. But it will change the world for one child. If that is the best we can do, count me in.