Poverty

So there's this blog that I read. I've followed it for almost a year. I've never commented on it and the author of the blog has no clue that I have read her blog. She has gone through several trials in the last year and for some reason I have been attracted to her blog. I think it is because through all the trials she has held on tight to the name of Jesus. She has stayed focused on her relationship with Christ. It is what I hope to do but fail miserably at. When things start to get stressful at work or when I miss my friends, I start to get depressed and leave out my relationship with Christ.

This week, the blog has been focused on her trip to Kenya with Compassion. The pictures have highlighted the poverty that these people find themselves in. Poverty that in America we can only dream about because in all honestly we don't have slums like these. Yes, we have a LOT of poverty in the United States. Yes, we have a lot of areas that I prefer to pretend don't exist in the United States instead of stepping out and helping. But among each story of poverty and desolation they are seeing and experiencing hope. Hope. Hope that comes through Christ. Hope that these children and families have because of the work of Compassion and the people that sponsor children through Compassion.

As I've read day after day this week, I have been reminded of the poverty of Cambodia. The trip that shook my world and the pictures that will just not escape my head. The poverty I saw in Cambodia is somewhat like Kenya in somewhat better than Kenya. Either way, I still remember the feelings I had and the confusion I had of how to respond without forcing my "Western" views on these wonderful people. An answer I still don't have.

From what I'm learning, Compassion is an amazing organization that is truly striving to help lift people out of poverty. They use the money as needed on each person's personal needs. They teach parents jobs they can do to earn a living and to begin lifting their family out of poverty. They help give each child an education and most importantly they share the love of Jesus with each person they work with. It's amazing really. I looked and they are not in Cambodia. They are in many Asia countries that have the same needs: India, Thailand, and Philippines to name a few. I wish they were in Cambodia. But they are doing amazing jobs so I am NOT complaining. They are already working hard across the globe to reach out to the "least of these."

Each blog that is written by the team in Cambodia is to highlight and share about the lives each of these Kenyans are living but to also share the truth of what Compassion is doing and the real difference that $38 a month for sponsorship truly changes lives. Each time I finish reading a blog, I don't finish thinking I need to sponsor a child. I think "I need to be in Cambodia." Each time I finish reading a blog, my desire it to reach out to those people I met in Cambodia to help lift them out of poverty but most importantly to share the name of Jesus with them. My heart is aching. It aches for those in Kenya whose faces have been in front of me this week. It aches for Cambodia. For a place and people group that I love so dearly and feel that I am doing so little for.
Will you join me? Will you pray for these people? Will you pray that God will continue to move through Kenya? Will you pray about sponsorship? Will you pray for Cambodia? Will you pray that God will show me what He wants me to do for the people of Cambodia?

If you desire to read more about Kenya, follow the bloggers from here. You can also learn more about Compassion here. And as always, thanks for reading.

Blessings,
Caroline