Back to Honduras

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

In less than three weeks I will be returning to Honduras to complete a promise I made over four years ago.  Those of you that know me understand that my journey with Compassion began in 2007 when I met my first sponsored child Linda. To make a long story short I looked into her eyes and my heart was broken. I understood we could make a difference! I became an advocate and Area Coordinator for Compassion and the focus of my life changed because of this one little girl. Back then she made a special request of me. She told me that she had no father and she thought of me as "her father." Talk about an honor. She asked me to attend her Quinceanera when she turned fifteen. For those that are not familiar with this occasion it is similar to our "Sweet Sixteen." It marks the transition from childhood to young womanhood. I promised I would do my best to be there.

We returned to Honduras in 2009 to visit then our three sponsored children Linda, Jeyelly, and Jorge. Number four was to come shortly after the return from that trip. We knew Jeyelly's sister (Sofia) was available for sponsorship but we would not be able to sponsor her until the end of May. I debated having Compassion bring her to the meeting day but did not want to get either of our hopes up. Therefore we kept it a secret until it could actually happen. I took the time to sit down with Linda and tried to tell her (through a translator) how important she was in my life and how she had changed my focus. She was just as responsible as me for getting other children sponsored. I promised I would be back for the Quinceanera.

So here we are just about 17 days until we return back. This time we are taking our daughters Courtney and Stephanie. Our flights are made and the hotel confirmed. All I am waiting on at this point is our itinerary from Compassion and the Honduras Compassion Country office. We are hoping to spend one day with each of our children. We want to visit their home (and pray there) and their projects. We want to take them to lunch and just have a special day with each of them. Then of course we have a day set aside for the Quinceanara. We are actually hosting and paying for this. Compassion will assist with all of this including in country transportation, translators and other things. I am excited that both of our daughters are excited about going. I had kind of felt we were forcing them to go along with us but it is a blessing to know that they are just as excited as we are. Everything is starting to fall into place. I am asking for prayer that this trip will be everything God wants it to be. I have looked forward to this for the past four years and am just afraid that our enemy will try to mess things up. You know how sometimes things you really look forward to just don't live up to expectations? Pray that this trip is truly special for all of us. There is a bit of a political situation developing in Honduras over the next two weeks. Pray that this does not change or affect our trip. Most of all this is about Linda- Pray that this day is truly special for her. 

In 2009 I started my blog to allow people to experience my second trip to Honduras. This time I will again be updating it with daily experiences and pictures so please check it out between (6/11-6/17) as well as my Facebook. In the meantime we covet your prayers as we begin our final preparations.

Chuck is a Christian husband and father who has served in part-time ministry for 18 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.

Our Daily Bread

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

I can remember going to Colorado for a National Conference for Compassion. Our hotel was right there nestled in the mountains. It was so awesome just to see the snow capped peaks and to gaze at the majesty of the Rockies. The leaves were changing and everything just spoke of God's creation. I stood on the balcony in awe and just praised Him. Amazingly enough that evening I happened to mention the sight to one of the hotel workers and was kind of surprised my her apathetic response. How could those glorious sights become so familiar that the beauty did not excite her anymore.

Reminds me of the Israelites in the wilderness. Shortly after their exile they ran out of food and cried out to God. In a wonderful fashion he provided them with their daily bread-their manna. I can only imagine the wonder they had each morning as it appeared and fed them. Yet after awhile they grew tired of the same food and began to gripe and complain. God had provided and yet it became familiar and boring to them.

Each day God provides for us. He gives us shelter, food, friends and family, employment-everything we need. Not everything we want but everything we need. I can not imagine anyone reading this in need of anything more than they already have. God gives us blessings each and every day for which we should be thankful for. Take a moment and think whether you are taking them for granted. Have they become so familiar that we are no longer grateful for their provision? I am not just speaking about the material things He gives us but what about our health, strength and life. Each day should be counted as a blessing and we should be thankful.

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Keeping Up With The Joneses

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

I am guilty! I admit it! It is just so easy to get caught up in the materialism of this world. I don't have the latest 4-G phone but the one I have is not shabby. I don't have a 54" plasma television but I do have a 28" high def version. My lap top may not be the best available right now but two years ago it was one of the better ones. Even recently when my step-daughter turned eighteen we new we had to get her something special. The problem is she has almost everything you could want. The other side of the family is not Christian and they have made sure that she wants for nothing. We ended up getting her an iPad. She has a laptop, an iPod touch and and iPhone....did she really need an iPad? We so easily get caught up in the trap. We see something and we want it. The Joneses next door get the next latest and greatest thing and we begin to wonder how we can do without it.

I have been to Mexico, the Dominican and Honduras. I have seen poverty and I have had my heart broken. In fact at one point I felt so convicted that we ended up downsizing from a four bedroom colonial to a more modest split foyer. I have come back from those trips feeling so changed. I see families of seven people living in a home the size of my family room. I have seen four adults sharing a bed. I have seen these people cooking over an open flame and I worry how long it will take to cook my dinner in the microwave.

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Defining Moments

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

Here we are again at the start of a brand new year. Not only that but it is a start of a brand new decade. It seems really hard to believe that ten years have gone by that quickly. We started the decade worrying about the Y2K crisis. We saw 9/11 occur which impacted our lives in so many ways especially in the way we travel.We have watched an idea called Facebook grow and change the way we network and communicate.  Finally we have ended this decade going thorough one of the worst recessions in our lifetime. If you take a moment and sit down and reflect we all have been touched in one way or another by these defining moments. These are events that at the time we may not realize it but they are impacting us in ways that will change our lives and touch us in important ways.

Let me share with you personally how those three events have touched and changed me as a case in point. Travelling prior to 9/11 was easy. I used to work a job that required travelling. I could easily breeze through airports with no worries with what I was carrying or the time needed to get from one gate to another. Can I say that now? Facebook is now a major player in my life. I never used a MySpace or a blog but several years ago I began to Facebook (see even the terminology has changed), it has allowed me to connect with others in a ministry in a whole new way. Farmville aside it has proved to be a great ministry tool in connecting sponsors to children. The recession obviously caused me to be laid off for a period of four months and to find a lesser paying job (I'm still grateful though) and of course our investments became devalued. Each of these touched me in ways that I never anticipated.

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One Word At A Time: Compassion

By Chuck (Sharing Compassion)

Compassion [kuhm-pash-uhn]
synonyms: commiseration, mercy, tenderness, heart, clemency
verb: sympathize, pity
noun: pity, mercy, sympathy, commiseration, ruth, clemency
Compassion is a feeling of pity, sympathy, and understanding for someone who is suffering as well as the desire to alleviate it.

Interestingly enough I never really thought much about the word before. However in 2007 my world changed and the word Compassion has become an active part of my vocabulary as well as my actions. I have always had a heart for children through ministry and education but not to the extent I do now. In that year I had the opportunity to meet the child I sponsor through Compassion International. Those of you that know my story know the life changing moment that was for me. I went from caring to passionate. I saw the love that she had for the simple act that we were doing in sponsoring her and most of all I saw the difference that I was making. Compassion became a verb to me and a ministry.

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