Bridgeway Community Church

So we've been slacking when it comes to finding a church home! Today we got back to it and we went to Bridgeway Community Church. Please visit the Partnership (membership) page! I was so amazed by how they view membership! It is truly a diverse environment. I'm used to going to predominantly black churches. In fact, today was the first time I've heard a white pastor preach (aside from Joel Osteen on tv) And I loved every minute of today. I can hardly wait till next Sunday. Today was Compassion Sunday. The church works closely with Compassion International - for those not familiar with the organization, they are a "Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty". They match children with sponsors who donate money that goes to ensuring the child has the tools they need to not only survive, but thrive in their environment. And today at the church, one of those children came and spoke. She's an adult now (27) and she was initially matched at the age of 7. She had 3 different sponsors up until she graduated from the program at 17. The first was strictly a financial sponsor. Which just means the person didn't write her letters. (the children in the program are required to write to their sponsors and they really appreciate it when the sponsors write them back) The second wrote a few until they were unable to continue sponsoring her. Her 3rd and final sponsor was her sponsor for many years. She even visited her in Peru! She has a great relationship with that sponsor today. She was encouraged to continue her education and she now works for Compassion Intl. as an interpreter! She even helped teach the younger children english while she was being sponsored and she translated their letters to and for them! She's living in Md now with her husband! Who she met as an adult working with Compassion! How great is that? I see these commercials on TV all the time. I see them and I weep for those children all over the world who have so little. Living in countries that are so poor, that a mere $40 a month can make a significant difference in their lives.  From their FAQ page:
What specific benefits does a child receive through sponsorship?

The children Compassion serves receive, among other things: the opportunity to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus; regular Christian training; educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention, guidance and love.

Can you imagine $40 going that far for a child here in the U.S? And that is from just one sponsor. Not multiple sponsors per child. And for children that don't have a sponsor but want to be part of the program, they have an option for people who wish to give but don't wish to sponsor a child to give to the program or that wish to give a one time donation and that helps the children waiting for a sponsor. If you click HERE You can see the thousands of children waiting for a sponsor. There are options for one time donations, and they have other programs as well, including one to rescue mothers and babies! If I could I'd sponsor them all - I have what one would call a bleeding heart! I see these children and want to gather them in my arms and take care of them! According to my mother, I've been that way forever! I used to beg her to send money to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital I wanted to save them all! :-) So glad she let me send my allowance.  And I'm so glad that as an adult, I still have that in my heart. And now, I'm in a position where I can put either time or money towards helping organizations like these. 

There are hundreds of thousands of wonderful organizations dedicated to making the world a better place. If you are so moved to donate time, energy, money, or items to them that it wonderful. Please pray about it, and research the companies before you send them money. Do the best you can to make sure that your donation is going to make more of a difference to the people who need it than it is to the people who are taking it. Sounds harsh but there are so many scams out there. Yes people who work hard for these organizations deserved to be fairly compensated, so long as it isn't at the expense of the people they are helping - IMO.

Even though it's still early, I'm exhausted. After waking bright and early to get breakfast on the table, and then a wonderful church service, we went to a few open houses. And checked out some of our desired neighborhoods! I'm beyond ready for bed. Hopefully when I wake up, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos will have won tonights game!! 

Looking forward to a wonderful Monday and week ahead of me!