Monday, April 12, 2010

Real Compassion

When I first heard Dr. Wess Stafford, President of Compassion International, speak at the Vineyard National Conference in 2009 he broke my heart for the poor and for children. His personal story and humility crashed through my cynicism and I knew that somehow my life was going to need to change.

I immediately went up to meet Wess after he spoke that day. As a public speaker myself, I know it can be an overwhelming experience when people line up to introduce themselves. I usually choose not to add to that chaos, but on that day I had no choice. After we spoke Wess gave me his personal e-mail and I followed up the next week asking him to come to the Vineyard and speak whenever his schedule would allow. He accepted the invitation to come this last weekend. I couldn't have been more pleased with the gift he gave our community at VCC.

Compassion International is consistently rated as one of the most successful and integral charities in the world. There is no doubt that this is in part due to Wess's leadership. He is the real deal.

Our family sponsored our first child through Compassion this weekend. $38/month provides Michael the medical, educational and survival needs he cannot provide for himself. If you are interested in learning more of sponsoring a child head over to www.compassion.com.

Check out this video told from the point of view of three sponsored kids who have now grown up and are actively working to see poverty eliminated in their home nations:



Follow Wess Stafford on Twitter at @Wess_Stafford.
Follow Compassion on Facebook.

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