It's Not Too Late

One of the most important things I’ve done in this past year was committing to sponsor a child through Compassion International. As part of this sponsorship, I’ve had the pleasure of exchanging letters with my child, Consuelo, a ten-year-old girl in Guatemala.

This blog doesn’t have a lot of readers, and I imagine most of you already know about Compassion. If you don’t, however, I’d like to share with you a way that you can make a difference in a child’s life this Christmas.

No, I’m not asking you to sponsor a child (though I’d be thrilled if you did!). I’m just asking you to go to Compassion’s Gifts of Compassion catalog online and consider donating money for a gift for a child in poverty. Some of the gifts you can purchase are a mosquito net ($10), a chicken ($16), vaccinations ($25), education supplies ($30), and a water filter ($55). For many of us, these prices are a fraction of what we’ll spend on Christmas gifts for our friends and family. But these little gifts can make a big difference in a child’s life:

- A mosquito net can protect a child from malaria-carrying mosquitoes in Africa.
- A chicken can be a source of income for a family in El Salvador.
- Vaccinations can rescue an infant who might otherwise die of a disease before the age of five.
-  Educational supplies can help children in  Burkina Faso, India, Haiti, Tanzania and Uganda with school fees, uniforms, and books they need to get an education.
- A water filter can clean up to 500 gallons of water a day and helps prevent waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, E. coli and hepatitis A.

And so on.

I’d been planning to buy several such gifts this Christmas, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. Thankfully, Ann’s post today reminded me to take what will be, I’m certain, my most important online “shopping trip” of the season.

Won’t you take a trip to Compassion’s gift site, too?