Special Sunday

Special things happen in churches that are highly supportive of Compassion’s ministry. I was speaking for Compassion Sunday in a church that has 50+ sponsors now. This would not be unusual, except that this church only has about 300 members. This means that one in six people in this church sponsor a child, and the number is growing. What has been the result of such a large response? More giving to church missions, more interest in traveling to poor countries, more bonding between members. When one of the Compassion children died in an accident, the entire church grieved. They had received a phone call from Compassion’s Global Ministry Center, advising them of the accident, and telling them that their names were mentioned at the funeral of the child. This is one of the things I love about Compassion: the careful attention to detail and personal feelings. They didn’t just send out a form letter; they took the time to make a personal phone call, because they knew that losing your Compassion child is like losing your own.

On this particular Sunday, when I sat down after giving my presentation, the Pastor stood up for prayer time. He said, “I just had a thought. This will take a little time, but let’s all mention the names of our Compassion children and where they live. Let’s pray for each and every one of them.” You can imagine the feelings I had as I listened to people all over the room call out their childrens’ names, one at a time. I had been keeping a list of children sponsored through the years as I’ve spoken in churches. It’s numbered from 1 to 440, but as I listened to these sponsors pray for their children, I was reminded that these aren’t numbers; these are childrens’ names and countries. I even recognized some of the names from previous times I had spoken in the church. Tears welled up in my eyes and I counted it a joy to have helped, in some small way, to bring these sponsors and children together. Both lives are forever changed. Both lives are blessed through the sharing of prayers, funds and encouragement. It was a special moment in my career as a Child Advocate, and a Special Sunday, indeed.

~ by Juli Jarvis on April 26, 2008.