Compassion International

Haiti Earthquake

or, text "disaster" to 90999

to make a $10 donation

HopeChestPartners.org LIVE today!

From Tom Davis...

This Christmas, we've set the goal of raising $500,000 to help 5,000 orphans in 2010. To do this, we've launched a new Web site: HopeChest Partners

A HopeChest Partner is someone who gives $25/month or more toward establishing new orphan ministry through HopeChest.

Your gifts will help feed orphans trapped in extreme poverty and support programs to reduce sex trafficking among orphan girls in Russia.

Become a HopeChest Partner today!

These are CRITICAL gifts that form the foundation of our programs. Without that foundation, we could never have grown to reach 10,000 orphans, and sit poised to reach another 5,000 next year. It is those gifts, your gifts, that make the difference.

Go to HopeChest Partners today for more information and to sign up.

REFERRAL-versay

11.25.09

will mark the one-year anniversary of Micah's referral. The first day we saw his face. This will be a very special day...for the rest of our lives. This year we'll commemorate our one-year referral-versay by joining Compassion International's Child Survivor Program for Ethiopia:

Tragically, nearly 26,000 children under age 5 die every day, mostly from preventable diseases.

Child Survival Program
Care before and after birth

Since infant mortality is extremely high in some parts of the world, the first priority in promoting effective child development is to ensure that children survive the early years when they are most vulnerable to disease and malnutrition. That means educating the mother or primary caregiver, before and after her child is born, about providing critical care during the earliest years. They are provided education in these areas:

Growth Monitoring — steady growth is a good sign of adequate nutrition
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) — restores fluids lost to diarrhea
Breast-feeding — promotes infant growth, facilitates bonding with the mother, and reduces incidence of illness
Immunization — an effective way to reduce or eliminate many diseases that cause childhood death and disability
Female Literacy — the mother's level of education is directly tied to child survival
Food — food or supplements fight off malnourishment
Family Planning — greater spacing between births allows the mother's body to be better prepared for the rigors of pregnancy and to provide greater attention to each child's needs
What's more, recent research in child development is clear: The first five years are a crucial period in the development of a child and this development directly affects the quality of adult life. Brain development is almost wholly completed by age 2 and malnutrition rates peak at around 24 months of age. This implies the need for early interventions concerning:

Health/nutrition
Fine/gross motor development
Cognitive stimulation
Socialization programs
Exposure to Christian teaching and the gospel
This research suggests that it is crucial for Compassion to affect the lives of younger children during this crucial two-year window of development. Our Child Survival Program works — and pays big dividends as a child grows older.

Where will you be???

Sunday : November 8 : 2009

Orphan Sunday is the designated Sunday of the year for churches around the world to join voices and forces, raising awareness regarding the need and number of orphans world-wide.

I hope you've found an event to attend in your city, if not click here to find one.

If you're in the Birmingham area, please stop by Hunter Street Baptist Church during the month of November -- you'll be able to see pictures and read stories of adoptive families in our church.


Hunter Street is also hosting this live event, via webcast, on Orphan Sunday at 4pm : featuring Steven Curtis Chapman! Anyone is welcome to join us for this free event!!

think God can't use you?

If so, let me side-track for just a moment and say that, that is a completely arrogant thought! God. Not able to use you. That would make you bigger than God...

But, here's what I really want to share. Encouragement. Not my dogmatism.

Have you heard about Katie?
If not, you NEED to meet her!!

Click here to read her blog.

Click here to find about how God is using her!

When your finished reading, click here, that God might use YOU to help her!