Don’t have any friends living abroad? …at least not any you really want to visit? I have a suggestion! Sponsor a child through a program like Compassion International and write back and forth. BAM, you now have a friend abroad too! Now go visit them! Visiting my sponsored kids in Ethiopia and Indonesia were experiences I still cherish.
I wrote an post about why I love Compassion International here: No matter how Small, No matter how Far.
One of the neat things is that when sponsoring a child, Compassion International allows you the opportunity to visit your children. You can experience life in another country with your new friends. Compassion offers tours, but thankfully they also allow you to plan your own trip (Recommended!) and will help coordinate a visit.
“You’re off to Great Places!
Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
I was privileged to visit Fatma in Ethiopia and Adhisti and Ida in Indonesia. I cherish those visits and write about them in this post. Take a peek if you want to know what a visit could look like.
Visiting Fatma in Ethiopia
My first experience to visit one of my sponsored children was visiting Fatma in Ethiopia. The town she lived in was in a far corner of the country that can be hard to reach. While Compassion can arrange to have your child meet you in a major city, I wanted to see where she lived. I also wanted to have a means to get further on to Lalibela, an area famed for its 12th century rock carved churches. Therefore, I arranged my own plans, but coordinated with Compassion the day I would spend with Fatma.
The whole experience was a grand adventure. The city where Fatma lives was just over a large mountain, and as we approached, the roads had been shut down for the Muslim call to prayer. Prayer mats covered the street and I watched, looking over the city and waiting for what I would find.
As we drove into town, we found the main roundabout, with the only hotel in town. There I met the Compassion representative. He encouraged me to have a bite to eat. I, of course, ordered one of those layered smoothies – the Ethiopian’s just call it “juice”. This juice was blended avocado, mango, and papaya, each with it’s own layer. The colors tantalize and are incredibly delicious after a long drive.
A Warm Welcome
We then walked toward Fatma’s home. Fatma found us on the way. She was running down the ravine carrying a welcome gift– two woven baskets and flowers.
As excited as Fatma had been for my arrival, she got really shy for the first part of our visit. We went to her house where I met her family and was was welcomed with popcorn and a small cake. Looking around, I saw pictures pinned to the dirt wall… me racing in triathlons and climbing mountain!. I was also offered a small orange Fanta saved just for me. I knew I did not need the Fanta and they would have enjoyed it more, but I was the guest.
That Fanta, it may not have been much where I came from, but it felt like way too much in that moment.
The Compassion Center
After a brief stay, we went to the school, where Fatma finally started opening up and getting past her shyness. She showed me all the books in the Compassion center’s ‘library’ (a bookshelf). She told me would try to read them in attempts to catch up with her class. I felt for her. Some kids find it easier to learn, and Fatma was not one of those. She was often lagging behind in her report cards and had not passed her last grade.
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
To tell the truth, I could relate. I’d been there too. I struggled to know how she might ever make a break to truly succeed. Yet that is exactly what Compassion is there for. To help her get to school, as well as help her in those after school hours.
Besides helping with schooling, the center also offers vocational schools, sewing, wood and metalwork skills. They use these to teach the older kids skills they can use to make an income when more formal school is no longer an option.
The Compassion representative confided how many sponsored children they had at the project and wondered if I could help. So, one by one, I took pictures of all the kids needing sponsors and wrote down their numbers. When I got home, I asked friends and posted about the need on Facebook.
An Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
After leaving the school, we went to the nearby church. Every Compassion center is set up under the oversight of a local church. This ensures that there are local people who truly know which children have the most need. It also ensures that the children have the opportunity to be spiritually developed. Note, it is not a requirement that they go to the church. Fatma for example, is from a Muslim family.
At the church, the school presented me with a traditional coffee ceremony dress. It was beautiful. I was incredulous that they had even sized it perfectly for me.
A full Ethiopian coffee ceremony was in order and I was sat under the church porch. A coffee ceremony includes the actual roasting and hand grinding of the coffee beans, all before brewing the coffee and popping popcorn. This is done on a small little fire, right in front of you. (An Ethiopian coffee ceremony deserves a post of its own, but I did write a post about coffee in the Balkans).
All the ‘important’ people were there. We sat with the pastor, the outreach director, and the teachers. Fatma also sat there, who I imagined must have felt a little out of place among all the adults.
Holding Hope
As we sat around in a circle, the team asked me to pray for them. We prayed a long prayer, and they confided in me the difficulty they had to reach out in such a predominately Muslim area. I could hear, see, and feel the lengths to which they had laid down their own lives to love their neighbors, even while they were met with so little fruit. I held hope. It was exactly there that I saw God’s fingerprints at work.
The Compassion director himself had been a former Compassion sponsored child. Through Compassion’s influence, he had even gone to college. He was now back to help, but it was a hard job. There were a lot of kids, a lot of dynamics in play, and a lot not working out. He was trying the best he could.
I felt blessed to be a part of this work. Blessed to witness the effort so many were undertaking to help the least of these. Their hardship certainly dwarfed the fact that I myself was dealing with an awful stomach bug that did not let me eat or drink much through my African travels.
I felt proud to be the first visitor to their little corner of Ethiopia.
Visiting Adhisti and Ida in Indonesia
When I finally had business in Jakarta, I knew what I had to do–visit my Compassion kids!
At the time, Adhisti was just starting secondary school and Ida was a year shy of finishing her undergraduate degree in business. Thankfully they both lived on Java (the main island), but unfortunately they were on the opposite side of the island from Jakarta, and in different cities.
I tried to see how I could visit both of them, but given that I only had one weekend before needing to be in Manila, I knew it would be tight. Since I could get in and out of Malang, where Ida lived, fairly easily, I decided we should all meet there. Sounded simple enough– IF everything worked out. (…and before I realized it would require Adhisti to take a 12hr bus ride!)
The Mishap
The first problem was that my flight was delayed—till later the next day! Instead of getting there first thing in the morning, I was not able to get there until fairly late in the afternoon. There was no way to get there earlier.
“If things start happening, don’t worry, don’t stew, just go right along and you’ll start happening too.”
Dr. Seuss, OH, THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
Meanwhile the girls met each other in Malang and planned to take me to the mountains since they knew how much I like them. How sweet. Yet with my delayed flight, there was no way we would have time to get all the way to Mt. Bromo (I had no idea they planned that. I had so wanted to go there!).
By the time I arrived, we rearranged plans and headed for a closer mountain. We chattered away in the car, each asking questions. While Ida was quite conversant in English, Adhisti was shy about using it, but could understand most of what we were saying. Adhisti reminded me that I had sponsored her all the way through school. Wow! I thought about it…how long had I been sponsoring her? I couldn’t even quite remember. These girls, and the two Compassion representatives with them (Also former Compassion sponsored children) were gold, the real deal.
Healing Rain
It was really rainy. We got to the top of the mountain seeing nothing but fog. There was supposed to be a great view on a good day. After a little frolic in the rain, we resorted to finding some tea and coffee at the adjacent mountain hut. Drinking coffee and talking — isn’t that what girls are supposed to do anyway?
Goodbyes
As we said our goodbyes, I couldn’t help but think how amazing these two girls were! So mature and ready to conquer the world. As a parting gift, I gave them some fun zentangle pattern coloring books and they asked if I could pray for them.
What they asked for unnerved me a little. They wanted me to pray for their success. I knew success is something every parent wants and prays for their children, but somehow I wanted more for these girls. I wanted them to know and listen to their Father in heaven, to be able to live out their gifts, and be beacons of light pointing the way to a heavenly kingdom. And yes, I also prayed for their success.
Take Action! Sponsor a Child
Ready to sponsor a child? Read more about how to sponsor a child here. Alternatively, you can go straight to compassion.com to sponsor a child right away.
“You’re off to Great Places!
Dr. Seuss, Oh, The Places You’ll Go!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So… get on your way!”
