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Posted by Lori Freeland on Nov 5, 2012 in Christian living, Featured, Guest Posts | 0 comments

Today my guest blogger is Kirk Winter. He works for Compassion International.

My family supports two Compassion children.

I challenge you to join the cause.

Below is my interview with Kirk.

Kirk, you have a fantastic job. Can you tell us what you do for Compassion?

I honestly believe I have the best job in the world. I?ve been with Compassion for over six years now and have loved every minute of it. My official title is Director of Donor Stewardship and my position involves meeting with existing sponsors and donors to the ministry and exploring ways they might ?deepen? their partnership with the ministry.

This ?deepening of their partnership? can mean a number of things. It may mean they become ?advocates? for the ministry?presenting Compassion to their church congregation, a small group, or at a Christian concert. Or perhaps they deepen their partnership by funding a water project at one of our church partners in the developing world. Or maybe they deepen their relationship by traveling to meet the child they?ve been sponsoring for a number of years. It?s all led by the Holy Spirit and I simply get to come along for the ride!

One of the perks seems to be travel. Where did you go last and why?

There?s nothing better than traveling with Compassion and seeing our work firsthand. I?ve had the honor of doing this over half-a-dozen times and every time it?s the best trip I?ve been on yet. My most recent trip in April was to Kenya. We visited a Compassion ?Child Survival Program? which works with pregnant mothers and children up to age 3. To see the beauty and gratitude in these mothers was incredible. They were so thankful, so welcoming, and so appreciative of what the church in their community was doing for them.

Compassion partners with this local church to provide a ?clean birth,? proper nutrition, immunizations, toys for cognitive development, parenting instructions, education for the mothers?including literacy programs, vocational skills, and even loans to start a business. The program can truly transform the life of a mother and her child. It brings hope, security, and most importantly the gospel. The church partner we visited in Kenya is working with the Maasai people and they shared with us beautiful songs, dances, and pieces of their heritage. Such incredibly beautiful people. I?ll never forget our time with them.

Can you pick out a child you remember and why?

I was in Peru last year and we did a ?home visit.? This is where a small group, probably about eight people, travel to the home of a Compassion child and meet their family. The home we visited was on the side of a steep mountain and consisted of only one room. In this ?home? lived a mother and three children. The youngest was a baby girl in our Child Survival Program and the middle child was also a girl, probably five or six years old. She was in our sponsorship program. The oldest child was a boy of about 10 and unfortunately he was not in our program.

As we visited with the family, we learned their father had abandoned them. As the translator interrupted this for us, my heart broke for that ten-year-old boy. I looked in his eyes and saw the pain, the fear, and the hurt. Having lost my father at the age of 15 and having heard so many times, ?you?re the man of the house now? I couldn?t take my eyes off him for the remainder of the visit.

As we were leaving the home, I pulled this boy named Willie aside and prayed over him. I stumbled through a prayer that had all of us, translator included, in tears by the time I finished. I asked God to give Willie strength, peace, and the ability to help provide for his family. I prayed that God would bring a special protection to his family. Most importantly, I asked God to show Willie his identity lies in his Heavenly Father and not his earthly father. After the prayer, I gave Willie a hug, a strong handshake, and the promise that I would pray for him and his family. Then I hiked down the side of a hill, most likely never see Willie again, at least not on this side of Heaven. Turning to leave felt so heartbreaking. Yet Willie has been with me ever since.

What is God doing at Compassion?

I?m so glad you asked. This is one of the greatest challenges we as Christians face? seeing what?s REALLY happening around the world. We are daily bombarded with the negative side of the story.

X number of children under the age of five are malnourished. Y number of people have no access to clean drinking water. Z number of people live on less than $1 a day.

While these ?headlines? are all legitimate, they aren?t the full story. And if taken alone, they can crush our spirits.

But there is so much good news happening around the world. So much I wish Christians knew. We?ve seen DRAMATIC improvement?truly astounding turn around. For example:

* Every day there are nineteen thousand fewer children dying of preventable causes.
* Twenty-two countries around the world have cut their malaria rates in half in just six years.
* In 1981, 52% of the world?s population lived in extreme poverty. Today that number is 26% Read that again. We?ve cut the number of people living in extreme poverty in half in just one generation.

And these are just a few of the statistics. I could list dozens more. God is moving in a mighty way. The Kingdom is advancing and nothing can stop it. I firmly believe, and will argue this with anyone, that my two sons, ages four and two, will see the end of extreme poverty on this planet. Sound ridiculous? It?s not. I promise.

As for Compassion?s part in the above, we?re seeing tremendous growth and success?something that can only be explained by God?s Hand over us. We serve a God of the poor, the orphan, and the widow. When we collectively care for these, we should expect nothing less than God?s blessing? and He?s provided it in a mighty way. Compassion now serves just under 1.4 million children worldwide and we do it all through the local church. 5,826 of them.

We?ve also launched roughly 3,000 of our children into University programs where they are now earning a college degree. These graduates of our Leadership Development Program are becoming teachers, politicians, judges, and so forth. They are literally transforming their countries from the inside out. They know what it is to grow up in poverty, in the church, and in relationship with Christ. If there were ever young leaders who could bring the Kingdom to these nations, it?s these amazing young people.

And as I?ve mentioned before, our Child Survival Program is working with over 27,000 mothers and babies around the world. We?re providing all these little ones need not just to survive, but to thrive. And their mothers are responding in incredible ways. In just the last year, 4,000 mothers accepted Christ as there Savior.

What is God doing in you through your job?

God is using my work with Compassion to show me who He really is. I?m learning more about God?s true nature. He is a God of love, one who hears every cry of the poor, the broken, and the lost. He loves them more than any of us can fathom and He?s moving in a mighty way to bring an end to their suffering. He is a God of restoration. And that restoration is coming at tremendous speed.

Every day, I have a conversation with another believer who is passionate about God, the poor, the gospel, and being the best stewards they can be of God?s blessings. As you can imagine, this is tremendously encouraging. I see ?the church? arising and we all know that no power can stand against the church. Not injustice. Not poverty. Not even the enemy. There is a quote that goes something like this: ?Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world.? How much truer is this concept when those committed people are in the church, led by the Spirit, and at the center of God?s Will? Every day I meet these people. I show them ways in which they might multiply their impact through Compassion and other ministries. Then we share in the victories. So tell me, how do I not have the best job in the world?

How can we help?

First and foremost, thank you for wanting to help. If you?ve moved past the idea that the problem is too great, I?ll never make a difference, then you?re already well along in the journey. The most important step though is this?finding out what you?re passionate about.

I urge everyone to take this question to God and then wait for the answer. I believe that after accepting Christ as your Savior, nothing has more power than learning what you are passionate about.

Another way to say it is this: ?What am I designed for?? God?s placed those passions in all of us. For some he places passion for hurting single mothers. For some it?s children trapped in the sex slave trade. For another it?s an inner-city ministry. The answers are practically limitless. But the point is this, we all have a passion, a purpose woven into us by God. Find that passion. Ask Him to reveal it. Once you have that answer, everything changes. Your life takes on a purpose, meaning, and battle that you run to joyfully. And better yet, God brings all the tools you need for the fight because He is infinitely more passionate about your purpose than you are.

For some of you that passion will be children in poverty. If it is, visit our website and pray about sponsoring a child, or contact me directly and I?ll be happy to join you in your journey.

http://www.compassion.com?or kwinter@us.ci.org

For others, the passion will be something different. If it?s the slave trade for example, check out International Justice Mission or A21. These are ministries doing amazing things for the Kingdom in some very dangerous and truly horrific situations.

Find out what role God wants you to play. To use Paul?s words, if you?re a foot, go be a foot. If an eye, go be an eye. Once you find the purpose for which you were created, it all just falls into place. Everything just ?makes sense.? And then, join your Father in the fight and get ready to see victories you never could have imagined.

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