It has been a few years since I have traveled with Compassion International to see the work they do. I have to tell you it is such a great reset for me personally. It is a reminder that maybe the things I get super worked up about really aren’t that big of a deal after all. Life for the Masi in Keny

The reality TV show Selling Sunset pretty much embodies the worst of what living a life of privilege and excess looks like.  Recently, I walked through the streets of the Mathare slum in Kenya.  This place could not be a starker contrast to the life of the rich and famous. How would you advertise a

The Real Housewives TV show is filled with so much unnecessary, frivolous drama. So it was refreshing to meet The Real, Real Housewives of Kenya, whose joy amidst hardship is inspiring! Many of these women are single moms doing their best to raise their kids in a place where the odds are stacked aga

KENNEDY’S DREAM JOB! When Kennedy was a kid, he had no idea what his life would look like. Kennedy grew up in Kenya in extreme poverty. It's the kind of poverty most of us have only seen on TV and think, "Wow! That’s horrible. Someone should do something about that." But Kennedy’s life changed fore

This year's Super Bowl between the Eagles and Patriots will be the most watched sporting event in the United States. However, in Ecuador, they think it's crazy that we throw a "football." Even though people in Ecuador could care less about our big game, there are a few similarities I noticed while v

Here's our Featured Kid. If they are taken, please look through the other children and see if one connects with you. SEE OTHER CHILDREN  

Can you imagine not being able to take your child to the doctor when they get sick or not even having bandaids to help them when they get hurt? That is the reality for most of the mothers that I met while in Ecuador. Brittany is a sponsored child through Compassion International, but when she was ju

Imagine that your stomach is growling and you desperately want some food but there is only one way to get it. You have to go looking for glass bottles along the road or in trash cans and exchange them for a little bit of money to buy food. This sounds horrible and foreign compared to our lives of dr

LOVE, DOESN’T REQUIRE OUR LANGUAGE, JUST OUR ACTION. A SIMPLE LESSON I LEARNED WHEN I MET CRISMEIRY, MY SPONSOR CHILD IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC THROUGH COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL. Our bus pulled up to a little beach park. As I walked off the bus I saw the powdery sand, ocean as far as the eye coul

Here's my Featured Compassion Kid. If they are taken, please look through the other children and see if one connects with you.

Sometimes, a few scattered letters that are formed into words, strung together in a sentence, and spoken in anger can destroy someone's life. Our words have power. However, they also have the power to build someone up and help them accomplish even more than they thought was possible. This is the sto

Whether it's a sports team, a movie, or a Compassion project, I always root for the underdog. So it makes sense that I instantly gravitated toward Yowar. He was the outcast of Compassion Project DR0302. He sat quietly off to the side and was oblivious to the joyous anarchy that ensues whenever Ameri

If you stop for a second to look around, you will notice there are signs for everything: signs telling you where to go, signs warning you about danger, signs trying to persuade you to buy something you probably don't need, and even songs about signs. Ace of Base famously sang, "I saw the sign, and i

There’s a feeling you get when you hear your favorite song. Maybe it causes you to tap your toe or the steering wheel. Maybe it causes you to sing out loud or you start to cry. Maybe it leads you to worship or reminds you that God is with you. Music draws emotion. And the amazing thing is, you can f

LITTLE ARMS WRAPPED AROUND MY WAIST AS I HEARD THE WORDS, "THIS IS VALERIE." I looked down to see the cutest 5 year old girl with the fluffiest ponytail I've ever seen. Although she seemed nervous she had the biggest smile all over her face! This was a special moment I will will never forget. I was

The "Tiny House" movement is sweeping America. There are shows on HGTV where hipsters choose to downsize and live in miniature rolling houses. In the Dominican Republic, however, tiny house living is not a choice. Today, we visited the home of Lisbeth. She is a 27-year-old mother of 3, and her house

What's more fun than a family slide show? Take a seat and enjoy a collection of our favorite photos from our trip to Ghana, and hear some of the craziness that goes on when the four of us travel together. Take a look at some of the children still in need of a sponsor!    

Feeling forgotten can be devastating. Their eyes pierced through me as if to reach into my soul. As I walked past these poor children, I was shocked that some of them only wore underwear and had no clothes or shoes to speak of. They watched our group of white Americans walk straight up to their neig

Poverty has a way of making you question everything you thought was important; at least it did for me today. I was overwhelmed by how little the people in rural Ghana have compared to me. Yet while living in conditions far worse than I could even imagine, they are content and so grateful for what Go

Who decided what poverty looks like? Who drew the line in the sand between the "have's" and the "have not's?" I'm sure there is some scientific reasoning behind it all. Something about how Poverty is generally the scarcity or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or mon

French Fries. When is the last time that you were thankful for French Fries? I have probably never been thankful for them, but a letter from my Compassion child, Sury, made me look at French Fries in a new light. French fries are Sury's new favorite thing! Sury's latest letter shared that the leader

Here is our featured Compassion kid. Could you be the one to change their life forever? If our featured child is already selected, please click below to see the other children in Haiti who urgently need a sponsor. As you exchange letters, send photos and offer encouragement in Jesus' name, your love