Category Archives: World Vision

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Giving Thankfully: Compassion and World Vision

In the wake of the recent destruction in the Philippines, I am so incredibly thankful for Compassion and World Vision, and their responses in aiding the people affected.

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Typhoon Haiyan is being called possibly the strongest storm in recorded history, and the Philippine government today reported a death toll of 2,275, while officials on the ground have said they fear as many as 10,000 might be dead.

Please click here to view a short video of the typhoon’s destruction.

About 9.5 million people are affected, according to World Vision. Residents of the hardest-hit areas are dealing with lack of clean water and available food, blocked roads, loss of electricity and, in some areas, looting.

You can help Compassion’s relief efforts by clicking here. Your gift will make possible interventions including emergency food and water, temporary shelters, trauma counseling and spiritual support, replacement of clothing, school supplies and household items, and restoring supplies families need for earning income.

You can help World Vision’s relief efforts by clicking here. Your donation will provide essentials such as blankets, mosquito nets, hygiene and food kits, emergency shelter and clean water. World Vision is seeking to raise $20 million for this effort.

Please consider reaching out to these people who so desperately need help.

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Giving Thankfully: Freedom

This Veteran’s Day, I am thankful for freedom and the sacrifices of all those who have served in the U.S. military to gain and maintain that freedom.

These heroic individuals who answer the call to serve give up countless days, months and sometimes years away from home, often living in danger on foreign soil. They face unimaginable situations, while the rest of us live out our daily lives at home in safety.

While a great part of these individuals’ sacrifice is made up of the dangers they face abroad, another part includes everything they miss while they are away: holidays with family, births of babies, children’s milestones, anniversaries, deaths of loved ones, and all the daily events that we take for granted.

Without starting a political discussion, I want to point out that Compassion and World Vision work in many struggling countries around the world where the idea of freedom is very different from ours. If you chose to sacrifice about one dollar a day, you could sponsor a child in one of those countries by clicking here or here. Your sponsorship can give a child the help he needs to rise out of poverty, and there’s no telling what he will accomplish in our world after that.

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Giving Thankfully: Food

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When my children are hungry, I feed them.

Whether that means walking into my kitchen and making them a meal with food from the refrigerator or pantry or driving them to a restaurant, they never go hungry. Unfortunately, that is not the reality for many mothers around the world.

I am thankful for access to food for my children because one in eight people in the world do not have enough to eat. That’s 870 million people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

This lack of nutrition affects children greatly. According to the same U.N. source above, children who are undernourished suffer up to 160 days of illness each year, and poor nutrition plays a role in at least 5 million child deaths each year.

World Vision helps to combat this problem by training communities in agricultural practices and providing food to those in need.

You can help, too, by sponsoring a child through World Vision. Click here to see children available for sponsorship.

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Annual Reports from World Vision

Cover of World Vision-Romania’s Annual Report

As a way to keep sponsors up-to-date on their sponsor children, World Vision sends out an annual report on each child.

I recently received two reports, and being fairly new to World Vision, this is my first experience with the updates. I was happy to receive these and impressed by their quality.

The reports are printed on a nice quality paper with bright colors. They include basic answers covering several topics. When opened, the paper measures about 8 by 12 inches.

But most impressive to me is the actual photograph of the child attached to the report. It’s really nice to see your child’s growth and changes over a year, and I look forward to receiving many of these reports in the future.

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Cristian’s Annual Progress Report

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Andrei’s Annual Report

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Gift in Romania

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Dragos, 13, of Romania, with his gifts.

Dragos, 13, of Romania, sent me this wonderful photo of himself with gifts he purchased using a family gift I sent to him. According to his letter, he bought: “a jacket, a tracksuit, pajamas, oil to cook, rice, beans, sneakers, t-shirts, preserves, pens and many other things.”

I think his smile in this photo is better than all of those items together!

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World Vision Gift Photo

World Vision Gift Photo

I received this photo from Andrei in Romania after sending his family a financial gift earlier this year. It looks like he got quite a few clothes, and I’m so happy to see that he got something fun – a soccer ball!

His letter:
“My dear friend,
Thank you so much for the wonderful gift you sent me. Thanks to you, Easter holidays were wonderful. My family and I are grateful for your goodness.
We will pray for you!
God bless you!
With love,
Andrei”

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Role Reversal: A Gift for the Giver

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Virgin Mary icon card

Sponsoring a child could be described in many ways.

Giving is one word that sums up a sponsor’s role well. It covers the spectrum from giving money to financially help a child to giving love and encouragement through letters and giving small gifts like stickers and coloring pages.

But what happens when the giver receives a gift in return?

I recently found out the answer to that question.

Last week, I opened a letter from my sponsored boy Dragos, 13, of Romania, whom I sponsor through World Vision. Tucked inside his lovingly-written letter was a small photo of a painting of the Virgin Mary. He wrote, “I’m sending you an icon of Virgin Mary to protect and to bless you and your family.”

It left me completely humbled.

There are a lot of gifts I receive from my sponsored children without them even being aware that they are blessing me, like words of love and gratitude, beautiful drawings and the occasional photograph.

So what made this gift so different and so special?

This is a child whose poverty is great enough that he is enrolled in a child sponsorship program. This is a child whose parents are unemployed, living in a poor, rural area, and raising six children. But this boy sought to bless me.

And he did.

And as Jesus explains in the following verse, the effect was far greater than most gifts.

Luke 21:3-4 – “I tell you the truth,” he said. “This poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”

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Blessed by Giving

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Cristian, 4, of Romania, with gifts purchased using family gift money.

I’ve sponsored children in poverty for 2 1/2 years, and the thrill of receiving a sponsored child’s letter in the mail has not worn off.

Today, I was excited to find a letter in the mailbox from a child I sponsor through World Vision. I was even more excited to open the letter and discover two photos inside.

The photos showed Cristian, 4, of Romania, with items his family was able to purchase using a monetary gift I sent them in December. It warms my heart to see so many items stacked on the table in front of him. The purchase of food shows the family’s need, and I’m so thankful to have been able to help them out.

Because Cristian is too young to write, one of his older sisters writes letters for him. I’ve learned several things about his family in just 6 months of sponsoring him.

He lives in a two-bedroom home in rural Romania with his parents and six siblings. They suffer through very cold winters, with lots of snow, often piled as high as their house. One of Cristian’s young sisters has cancer, so she spends some time at a hospital. And, like children everywhere, his siblings like to invent games and make paper airplanes.

Today’s letter thanked me for the gift and listed items purchased: “canned goods, chicken legs, rice, sugar, beans, flour, peas, pasta, bread, biscuits, diary products, tomato sauce, diapers, washing powder, jam, cheese, apples, bananas, oranges and many other products.”

And these words, which humble me in ways I can’t describe: “Thank you so much for the wonderful gift you sent me when I needed it the most. We were going through a difficult time, and your help saved my brothers and me.”

I’m thanking God today that my own children’s needs are met every day, and that we can share God’s blessings with another family.