Compassion Episode 3

By the way, if you have not been reading these all along as I post them, please start at the very first Compassion post (2 posts ago) and read them in order. Thanks! My mom didn't sponsor a child that day, and neither did I. In fact, the next mention of Compassion International in my family was when Joset and my mom and I went to a Bebo Norman, Aaron Shust, and Brandon Heath concert several weeks later; Bebo and Aaron were both talking about Compassion. I don't remember if I posted about that concert then or not, but I'd like to park right here for this post. The concert was not the best I've ever attended, because it wasn't as much of a worship service as other concerts I've been to, (it was when Aaron Shust was singing, but not really the rest of the time) but it was a major influence in my decision to sponsor a child through Compassion. First, Aaron Shust was talking about a trip he had recently taken with Compassion International to visit his sponsored child in Africa. He told about how they were sitting outside this little boy's house, acctually a mud hut made out of - I hope you aren't eating as you read this - manure. I'm not kidding. That is the impoverished position some of these kids are in. So they were just sitting there talking - Aaron and the other people who were with him on the trip, the Compassion workers/translators, the sponsored child, and all of this little boy's large family. They were just sitting there talking, when suddenly Aaron Shust asked them what was one thing they really needed. There was a long silence. They waited. And waited. The boy's father appeared to be thinking. They waited more. It was beginning to get uncomfortable. They waited. And waited. Finally, the old man looked up. "See that pear tree over there? That's where we get our food. See that goat over there? That's where we get our milk. See that stream over there? That's where we get our water," the old man continued, "and now that we know about Jesus through my son being in Compassion, we have all we need." (Okay, that was the basic idea of the story, I can't remember exactly, since that was like a year and a half ago. Anway, I g2g now... Set the table... go figure, LOL! More about that concert in the next post!)