Teachers: Making A Difference In The Life Of A Child

By MAD21

We each have a calling in life. Most people who know me, know that mine is to work with kids. I am one of those people who could be in a room full of kids and be perfectly happy, but put me in one with a bunch of adults and I’m, well, not so happy.

When I was a young adult with no real responsibilities in life except to pay rent, I spent just about every waking moment outside of work doing something involving children’s ministries. Either getting ready for an event, or going to one. I ran a mid-week program for kids age two through 5^th grade during the school year, taught Sunday school during the summer, and was the recreation director for a week long summer camp for kids in 4^th to 6^th grades. Basically all of my vacation time from work was used to go ... play (because if you work with kids, even the ‘work’ is play—seriously!) :o)

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A Boy Who Overcame Terrifying Events And Became A Mentor

In a previous article, I wrote about one of my favorite ministries, Samaritan's Purse. They recently posted a great article about a 27-year-old boy named Sarko who overcame terrifying events in his life that left him handicapped an orphaned. In "Turning Brokenness Into Blessing" they share:

"The morning of March 16, 1988, started out like any other for young Sarko. He climbed aboard the bus for the ride to school, eager to meet up with friends from his kindergarten class. Several minutes later, there was a massive explosion and screaming. The bus with 30 children aboard had been hit by a missile...he found out he was the only child in the bus who had survived....[and] All of Sarko’s immediate family was dead. His parents and 10 brothers and sisters had been killed in poisonous gas attacks launched on Halabja by Saddam’s military forces on the same day as the bus bombing..."

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One Man Trying To Make A Difference

Updated on Friday, June 5, 2009 at 10:29AM by MAD21

As we near the 20th anniversary of the events in Tiananmen Square, The New York Times posted a great article that includes interviews with each of the photographers that captured what has become the most amazing "representation of oppression world wide."

A man known as "Tank Man," who is anonymous even still today, chose to take a stand against a line of tanks that eventually started shooting into the crowds of people that were now lining the streets. He had to know he had no chance of surviving a fight with those tanks, they could squash him like a bug, and in that country, could do so with no guilt or persecution.

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Kidsave

By Nicole

"Because Every Kid Needs A Family"

Kidsave is an organization that is dedicated to getting children out of orphanages and foster care and into permanent families. You can go to their website for all of the information – they do several different things! This year, we will be hosting for their Summer Miracles program. I don't yet know if it will be a boy or a girl, but to make this article easier to type and read, I will use “she” and “her.”

For approximately five weeks this summer, a parentless child from Colombia will become part of our family. This will give her the opportunity to experience life in a family, learn about another culture, and possibly do things that are not normally available to a young person in her position. Most importantly, we hope that we will be able to help find a permanent family for this child. The chances of this happening are excellent!

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Teens Making A Difference

By Chuck

Often we hear that teens don't "get it." They are wrapped up in texting, Facebook/My Space or too into themselves to really care. This past weekend I worked a conference downtown called "Acquire the Fire." This is a teen event to promote Christian growth and development among other things. Many vendors were there and I of course was there helping at the Compassion booth for child sponsorships.

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