An Amazing Young Man

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

Last May I wrote an article about Michelle Tolentino and whether Compassion's model works. Last weekend I attended our regional retreat for the Northeast Compassion Advocates and had the opportunity to hear another testimony. We were fortunate to have in attendance Miguel Figueroa Casina who is currently in a Masters program at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. I wish I could record here his entire testimony (covered over two days) but will try to do it justice in the following:

Miguel is a former sponsored child from Bolivia. He entered the program when he was eight years old but was actually on a wait-list until he turned twelve. His earliest memories of the project he attended were going to a breakfast program with his siblings and cousins.

His family of eight lived in a dwelling that measured 12' x 12' with two beds. They did not have running water. He remarked "I was the running water ~ I had to run two miles each day to get fresh water." He remembers sweeping the dirt floor to keep the dust down.

Violence, drugs, gangs were all part of the norm. He got his sponsor when he turned twelve and the sponsor was a teacher from Canada. His sponsor did not write a lot but the letters that Miguel got were powerful in their encouragement and support.

Miguel accepted Christ shortly after his 12th birthday and became very active in the church and the project. He studied hard and did good in school. Because of his church involvement, excellence in school and his leadership abilities he qualified for Compassion's Leadership Development program. In a nutshell this provides sponsorship for a LDP student to attend a University and Leadership training.

Miguel graduated and in fact has two BS degrees and a Masters. He is at Moody working on his second Masters and he is only 26 years old. He owns his own company which provides funding for micro-enterprises and has travelled the globe. In October of this year he will be travelling with Wess Stafford to the 3rd Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

One thing really stood out to all of us was his humbleness. His testimony was not about him but rather what the ministry of Compassion and what God did in his life and through him. An incredible illustration of this was that he was speaking on behalf of some political leaders at a conference and was basically offered two million dollars as a donation for his company. This would have gone a long way to making the company solvent and not relying on contributions but in effect it was a bribe which would have endeared him to support Socialist politics.

Based on his faith he turned it down and in some circles has been blacklisted. I think of all of us sat there wondering if we had been in those shoes would we have done the same. It is not an easy choice but for Miguel it was a no-brainer. God had brought him out of poverty for a reason and he plans to stay true to his values.

One thing that he mentioned and I hold true to my heart is his feeling that Compassion is not a sponsorship organization or a non-profit but rather it is a ministry. From birth to adulthood all of its programs are meant to minister and release children from poverty. It has many programs and funds but at its core everything is done with the thought of impacting one child and making a difference in that child's life. That is Compassion's focus and Miguel's story proves that it works.

Chuck is a Christian husband and father who has served in part-time ministry for 17 years, and is a deacon at his church. He has been a Compassion International Advocate/Area Coordinator for several years, finding families to sponsor Compassion children throughout the world. His passion is letting others know how important it is to release children from poverty. Be sure to check out his blog, Sharing Compassion.