A Heart For Achile

"Compassion is sometimes the fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It is the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for me until there is peace and joy finally for you, too." ~ Frederick Buechner

Jesus felt compassion for the hungry. And so He fed them.

Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out his hands and healed the blind and the deaf and the sick.

With a heart of compassion, He gave His all.

Because compassion involves action.

His name is Achile.

He's eight years old.

He lives in one of the poorest countries in the world. Burkina Faso in western Africa.

He's a Compassion child but can't take full advantage of his sponsorship or regularly attend school.

Because he's been in pain for five years.

Because he has a congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot.

Compassion International has provided medical care for the last two years at the National Teaching Hospital Yalgado Ouedraogo, but now he needs urgent heart surgery to save his life.

At a specialized hospital in India. Cost estimated at $20,449.

One child. With a name. With a face. With a critical need.

And an opportunity to show compassion. To share the heart of Jesus.

To give Achile a future and a hope.

By giving from the heart here.

Or by praying.

Or both.

Because compassion involves action.

Read about how Compassion helps other children with serious heart conditions, like Alex, here.

"It's criminal to ignore a neighbor in need, but compassion for the poor--what a blessing!" 

Proverbs 14:21 (Message)

We sponsor Nduta (Lucy) from Kenya through Compassion.  Do you sponsor any children?

Have you ever known anyone with tetralogy of Fallot?

NOTE: This post is part of the Bridget Chumbley's Blog Carnival on COMPASSION. For other thoughts, visit One Word at a Time.

Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King

Blessed Beggars

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

I traveled to Kenya during the past week. Not in body, but in spirit. Images described and photos posted by the Compassion Bloggers seared my heart. I sloshed through mud and garbage with them. I pinched my nose against the stench of hopelessness. I winced at eating food prepared in and by the unknown.

I heard the soul sobs. I wept.

Poverty. Abject poverty.

Dirt poor.

Crushed.

Powerless.

We have to grasp the tentacles of that kind of physical poverty before we can comprehend what Jesus meant about spiritual poverty.

"Poor" comes from a Greek word that means "to crouch." Those who are poor recognize they are destitute, suffocating with no spirit breath. Helpless. Dying. Hearts as dirty and cluttered as a slum.

 

Until they give up and give over. They creep through the dirt to touch the hem of compassion, beg for a crumb, cringe out of fear. And Compassion Himself reaches down and gives them the kingdom. Someone said the door is low, and only those who crawl can enter. They leave self on the outside. They crouch and receive a crown.

No longer hopeless. Now hope filled. The poor become rich.

Blessed. Happy. Dancing

Like these children in a Compassion International project in the midst of Mathare, the most dangerous slum in Kenya.

Kenyan Song in Mathare from Ryan Detzel on Vimeo.

John Bunyan wrote, "Christ makes princes of beggars."

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

Have you recognized your poverty? Then sing!

Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King

Go Here. I Dare You!

If you don't want to be uncomfortable, don't go here.

If you don't want to weep, don't go here.

If you want to see some beautiful pictures, go here.

If you want to read about an organization and a group of bloggers who are being changed, go here.

If you want to feel like you're there with them, go here

If you want to behold God and see how you can make a difference, go here.

If you want to see how others can sing and dance in spite of their circumstances, go here.

If you want to gain a new perspective on your own circumstances, go here.

Because here you'll find links to posts by some who are experiencing poverty up close and personal for the next week. They're sharing sights and sounds and smells and tears and joys. They're sharing their hearts.

Because they are beholding God in Kenya. They are beholding God in poverty. They are beholding God in the faces of children.

They are beholding God through Compassion.

I'm especially interested in this trip because we sponsor a child, a girl, here. I wish I was a part of it. But I am going vicariously.

You can, too.

Travel here.

Every day.

All week.

And experience discomfort. Let yourself weep and your heart break. Enjoy the photos. Behold God at work in the midst. And be challenged to join Him.

Here. Now.

I dare you.

Did you go here? How were you touched? How will you respond?

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves . . . Defend the rights of the poor and needy." Proverbs 31:8-9

Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King

Haiti Earthquake - I Want to Run

Heartbroken by the images. Overwhelmed by the tragedy.

I want to run. Away from the news reports and the graphic images.

I want to run. Away from the tweets and all the ways to help.

I searched for Haiti on Twitter. The number of incoming tweets in less than a minute sucked the air out of my gut.

Here I sit. In my quiet office looking out on a quiet field. Snow white.

And I want to run. Forget.

I can't imagine the fear, the pain, the screams, the smells. And I look out on the quiet field and see blood on the snow. Mangled, dead, and decaying people. Broken people. Parents and children and spouses.

Death. Brokenness. Fear. Grief. Disease.

And I want to run.

TO Haiti. To help. DO something.

And I can't. And I shouldn't. For now.

So I run to my knees.

And I pray for compassion. I pray for Compassion. And for the children. And for their sponsors here who wait for word. To find out if their child is living or dead. I know that feeling. I felt that during the upheaval in Kenya where our child lives.

And I pray over what I can send, what I am willing to give up, what I am WILLING to send, to an organization I can trust to deliver my compassion to where it's needed.

I want to run.

But there is no place to run. Except to the arms of the Source of compassion.

And I pray. It's the least I can do. And the most.

For now.

Consider donating to Compassion International's Haiti Earthquake Response Fund

Why Compassion International?
1. They already serve more than 65,000 children in Haiti.
2. At least a third of those children live in hardest-hit areas.
3. They are already working locally and with the high integrity.

NOTE:

All funds raised in response to the Haiti earthquake will be used immediately to provide for Compassion-assisted children and families affected by this crisis. Any funds raised in excess will be stewarded by Compassion for additional and future disaster relief efforts.
You can provide immediate relief today.
• $35 helps provide a relief pack filled with enough food and water to sustain a family for one week.
• $70 gift helps care for their needs for two weeks.
• $105 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain two families for two weeks.
• $210 gift helps care for two families' needs.
• $525 helps provide relief packs filled with enough food and water to sustain 10 families for two weeks.
• $1,050 gift helps care for 10 families' needs.
• $1,500 helps rebuild a home.
• $2,100 helps supply 20 families with the basics for three weeks.
Due to the high number of responses it may take longer than normal to process your transaction.

Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King