Yesterday we went to church in Tanzania.  No, let me rephase that….we went to CHUUUUUURCH!  This folks know how to celebrate God!

Here’s a brief video of what we experienced: Church in Tanzania

We also had to say goodbye to Theresia.  That broke my heart, however we’ve been so blessed by our time with her.

When I traveled to El Salvador several years ago, I saw the impact of the program on small children. It’s amazing what food and healthcare can do for a small child.

This visit has seemed to have more interaction with older children in the Compassion program and what I’m realizing is that once food and healthcare are established for a child, Compassion helps older children dream and then actually realize their dream!

We saw that in Theresia and we also saw that in two older children we spent time with tonight. Lucky is a 22 year old girl in the Compassion Leadership Development Program (LDP). Dennis is in his early twenties and has applied for the LDP.  They shared with us how child sponsorship changed their lives.

Dennis was the youngest of five. His older brothers and sisters were not in the Compassion program and had to stop school at age 14.  He said they were very smart and did well in primary school, but there just wasn’t money for them to go to secondary school.  (It costs more to attend secondary school in Tanzania and many families can’t afford it at all.)

Dennis, however, was in the Compassion program so when he finished primary school, his sponsorship paid for his secondary school!  He finished secondary school and is now headed for university hopefully through the Leadership Development Program (he has applied to the program, but not yet been accepted.)  Child sponsorship changed his life because it afforded him education.

Seeing the full scope of the life-change has been powerful on this trip. I can assure you that if you are sponsoring a child, you are changing a life.

I can also assure you that if you choose to sponsor a child, you will change the trajectory of their life.

And that’s the truth…I’ve seen it with my very own eyes.