Light in the Darkness

I am long overdue on updating my blog, but my passion for advocating for the children of BR417 is still strong.  I am happy to report that there are 9 little children listed on the Compassion International sight that currently need sponsors.  Two of the little girls are ones that I posted on this blog two months ago.  Dafyne is four years old and is so delightful in her pink glasses and pink flip-flops.  Bruna is actually featured on the mobile app. and is also four years old and above average in kindergarten.  These little girls live in the squalor and despair of the slums of Forteleza, Brazil called Serviluz.  Children as young as 5 are pushed into prostitution by their own family members so they can fend for themselves or provide drug money for their parents' addictions.  Compassion is a light in this dark place, giving these children refuge from the soul-destroying life on the streets.  Your sponsorship of one of these children will help Compassion provide nutritious food, shelter, refuge, educational help, Bible teaching and love to one more little life.  Together we can lift the dark curtain of hopelessness and show these children that they are blessings and not burdens; God's handiwork and not a curse.
Here is the link to the Compassion page that features the nine children available for sponsorship for only $38 a month, the cost of a Starbucks coffee for 20 days a month or a daily fountain drink.  Most of these children have one meal a day, and that often comes from the Compassion child center.  Giving up one fountain drink a day is a small price to pay to help release a child from poverty.
http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/child-search-results.htm?txtProjectName=BR417

City of Hope

When you watch this you will ask, "Dear Lord, what can I do?!" 

http://caprioleproductionsinc.blogspot.com/

Most of us cannot go to Brazil and minister directly to these children.  But we can pray.  We can sponsor a child from these slums so they do not end up being street children.  We can sponsor children from these streets who have been taken in by the child centers ministering in these areas. Compassion International is protecting and rescuing children every day in the slums of Sao Paulo, Forteleza, Teresina, and Rio De Janero.  Will you be a significant part of  the solution?  Your monthly contribution of $38.00, your prayers and your loving, encouraging letters to your sponsored child in Brazil can mean the difference between despair and hope in his or her life.

From the children listed in my previous posts, Sabrina, Abmael, Matheus, Elison, Carlos and Renata are still available to be sponsored.  Sabrina, Abmael and Matheus are available through me until tomorrow, Nov. 3, then they will be returned to Compassion's system.

They have everything to lose.  What do you have to lose? 

"Much will be required of everyone who has been given much.  Even more will be asked of the person who is supposed to take care of much." Luke 12:48 NIV

You Can Make a Difference in the World

Once again I have more children to advocate for from the Serviluz, Brazil slum project of BR417 and, for the first time, BR258.  Both projects are in a very poor and needy area where child prostitution is rampant, and children are growing up amid drugs and violence as the  norm.  If you don't feel led to sponsor one of these children, please pray for them. 
The following link will take you to April's blog highlighting these areas of Brazil where these children live, and the terrible fate that awaits many of them who are not helped by Compassion.
http://akiroq.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-09-29T18:59:00-07:00&max-results=7

As of 10/28/2012 The children still needing sponsors are:  Carlos, Elison, Renata, Sabrina, Abmael and Matheus.



Carlos is 7 years old and lives with his father and mother who are only sometimes employed
He loves playing soccer, and playing with marbles and cars.
He is average in school.

Elison is 8 yrs. old and lives with his mother who is not employed.  He is above average
in primary school and loves playing with cars and bicycling.

Flavia is sponsored!

 

Marta has been sponsored!



Renata Melo da Silva (BR2580359) is seventeen years old. In her home, Renata helps by washing clothes, cleaning, kitchen help, running errands, making beds, and child care. She lives with her grandmother and foster parents. Her foster father is employed as a painter. There are two children in the family.

Singing and jumping rope are Renata’s favorite activities. In primary school her performance is average and she regularly attends Bible class and Vacation Bible School.

3 More Children from the Brazil Slums Need Sponsors

In the previous post I wrote about the children in the slums of Serviluz, Brazil.  There are many children there who are without sponsors.  I am posting three below who I am advocating for.  Please consider sponsoring one of them. You can email me at jjowhimsy@yahoo.com and I will give you the information you need to welcome one of these little ones into your life.
P.S. Don't forget about Bruna and Dafyne in the previous post.  They are still waiting for their special sponsors, too.




Sabrina Silva Do Nascimento (BR4170900) Age 6

Sabrina lives with her father and her mother. Her duties at home include running errands. Her father is sometimes employed as a laborer and her mother is sometimes employed as a laborer. Playing house, playing with dolls and walking are Sabrina's favorite activities. In kindergarten her performance is above average and she also regularly attends Bible class. Because of your sponsorship, Sabrina will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. Your sponsored child lives in the coastal community of Serviluz, home to approximately 18,000 residents (near Fortaleza, Brazil).



Matheus Alves Moreira (BR4170877) Age 7

Matheus lives with his mother. He is responsible for running errands. His mother maintains the home. There are 5 children in the family. For fun, Matheus enjoys playing with cars, swimming and playing with marbles. He attends Bible class regularly and is in kindergarten where his performance is above average.

Your love and support will help Matheus to receive the assistance he needs to develop his potential. Please pray for him. Your sponsored child lives in the coastal community of Serviluz, home to approximately 18,000 residents (near Fortaleza, Brazil).







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Abmael Teixeira Das Chagas Fiho (BR4170899) Age 7

Abmael makes his home with his grandmother. Running errands is his household duty. His grandmother is employed as a laborer. Running and playing group games are Abmael’s favorite activities. In primary school his performance is above average and he also regularly attends Bible class. Please remember Abmael in your prayers. Your love and support will help him to receive the assistance he needs to grow and develop. Your sponsored child lives in the coastal community of Serviluz, home to approximately 18,000 residents (near Fortaleza, Brazil).

A Call to Rescue

I hope you don't think I am just a depressing person!  I know my blog posts can be upsetting, but my belief is that if as Christians we turn a blind eye to the suffering in the world, we are neglecting the words and heart of God, "Have I not wept for those in trouble?  Has not my soul grieved for the poor?" and "Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.  Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

There is one way you can make a difference amidst the suffering: sponsor a child through Compassion International.  There is great need in many places, but none more urgent than the need for sponsors in the slums of Forteleza, Brazil.  The families are so poor and desperate that their hearts have grown cold.  They push their young children out into the streets to fend for themselves; children as young as 5 years old.  They sell their children into prostitution, pushing them to provide for their families and to finance many of their parents' drug habits. Mothers who themselves sell their bodies make their little girls of 5,6,7,8,9,10 go into the streets and become new victims of the sex trade.

Who would buy the rights to rape these little girls (and boys)?  An unbelievable number of men, sex tourists who come to the beach towns of Brazil to indulge their perverted sexual appetites for children this young.  My Compassion sponsor friend, April, wrote a revealing blog post about this tragedy in order to highlight the horrible life of these little children, not to depress her readers, but to open their eyes to the deperate need in Serviluz, Brazil (slum areas near Forteleza), and to inspire you and me to get involved and make an impact on one child at a time.  We can no longer be complacent to the suffering while we enjoy the innumerable blessings of a comfortable life in America.  We must step out in love and faith to reach the unreachable.  Our Lord expects no less.

Dafyne is 4 years old and lives with her mother. Dafyne enjoys playing house, playing with dolls and walking. She attends Bible class regularly and is in kindergarten where her performance is above average. You can sponsor Dafyne today and bring joy into her life.

Bruna is 4 years old living with her mother and father. For fun, Bruna enjoys playing house and playing with dolls. She attends Bible class regularly and is in kindergarten where her performance is above average.
Bruna needs a sponsor now.  Could you be the one to love her?

For much more information with compelling videos of the need and WHAT COMPASSION IS DOING IN BRAZIL TO GIVE THESE CHILDREN HOPE AND REFUGE go to http://akiroq.blogspot.com/.

If you feel your heart being tugged to sponsor one of these little girls from the slums of Serviluz, just contact me at jjowhimsy@yahoo.com, and we can get it done! 

Jesus Loves the Little Children

In many countries that are afflicted with extreme poverty, women and girls are viewed as so beneath men that they are often raped, beaten savagely, burned to death and scarred by acid thrown in their faces. Rape is less an act of lust, than an act of brutality and punishment. Women and girls have no say in their own lives and are sold, traded and married off at incredibly young ages.  They are property; objects to be used for man's pleasure and purposes. Sex trafficking of young girls is commonplace.  In India alone, there are tens of thousands of underage girls trapped in the commercial sex trade in the cities of Kolkata and Mumbai alone.  They are not there willingly as we in America so often think.  They are kidnapped, tricked by promises of better jobs away from home, and even sold to sex traffickers by their own families. When these trafficked victims realize what is in store for them, they are unable to escape, risking terrible beatings and even death if they do not comply with their captor's demands. Night after night of being forced to engage in humiliating sex acts according to the whims of the men who pay the pimps for the girl's services takes its emotional and physical toll. The girls are beaten if they do not comply with customer's expectations and are subject to torment if they do not act happy about their fate.  These young preteens and teens face a nightmarish existence of hours of rape each night, physical and verbal abuse, shame,  imprisonment and isolation.
International Justice Mission and Compassion International are lights in the desperate darkness of Indian brothels. These two Christian organizations partner together to reach the children caught in the brothels and those living in the spiritual filth of the red light districts. IJM workers execute daring rescues of these children, getting them into safe and healing aftercare facilities and working tirelessly to apprehend and gain convictions for the pimps, johns, brothel owners and traffickers. The following links share two articles about IJM's amazing work in India.  The first is the story of one girl found and saved against all odds, and reveals the incredible efforts these courageous men and women will go to in order to save even one of "the least of these". 
http://www.ijm.org/content/rescue-with-a-determination-that-wont-quit?utm_source=blogs&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=blogher_rayofhope

The second article is about another daring rescue of trafficked girls in one of the most hardcore red light districts in Mumbai, India.
http://www.ijm.org/news/ijm-mumbai-police-rescue-girls-trafficked-sex-against-all-odds

Compassion International is also making inroads into the heart of the red light districts of Mumbai, India. This summer, the child advocacy ministry opened a child development center in the middle of the Miraj Redlight District, where hundreds of children live as victims of the evil influences that surround them. Many of these children are the offspring of mothers who are currently commercial sex workers.  The fathers who are present often are involved in the sex trafficking business in some way. Guardians are often listed as other relatives. The likelihood that these children, boys and girls alike, will enter the commercial sex trade is obvious.  But Compassion is offering these children a refuge, a safe place to get spiritual, emotional and physical food in the hours that they are not in school. By partnering with a local church that is already a part of this community of darkness, Compassion can immediately intervene and reach the most needy and vulnerable children in the project area. Through Compassion International in Mumbai, India, you and I now have the opportunity to make a difference in the fate of these children by becoming a child's sponsor. The following link will take you to Our Compassion, a social networking sight where some of these children are posted. If you see a child that you feel called to help through a monthly sponsorship fee, loving letters, and faithful prayer then please contact me through this blog or my email address, jjowhimsy@yahoo.com. I will be thrilled to get you in touch with the advocates of these children who can guide you through the process of sponsoring the child of your choice.  Also, if you are interested in seeing more children in this project who are not featured on the Our Compassion website or the accompanying blog, Our Compassion Adventure, let me know and I can request additional child packets.
  http://ourcompassion.org/general_discussions/life_sponsor/f/14/t/1367.aspx

http://ourcompassion.org/general_discussions/life_sponsor/f/14/t/1752.aspx

http://compassionadventure.blogspot.com/2012/07/a-detour-to-india.html

God's Amazing Provision

It is so hard not to sponsor more and more children because they all have great needs and are so precious. That is one reason that I have become an Advocate for Compassion.  Through advocacy, I have the resources to present Compassion to groups, churches or individuals so that more children can be sponsored.  I plan on working at Compassion sponsored events and I also use social media to post photos and information about children needing sponsors. 

Dina from Indonesia

My Compassion family has expanded over the past two months.  One of my correspondence children left the program, so I acquired a new girl to write to, Dina.  She is 12 years old, from Indonesia, and her hobbies are bicycling, reading and singing. I look forward to an enjoyable correspondence relationship.  I have not received a letter from her yet, but expect one any day. 
A few weeks ago, I shared with my visiting son that I was praying for the finances to sponsor another girl.  I was thrilled when he said, "I have been feeling led to give you the money from my tithe to sponsor a child, and you can write the letters to her."  Wow!  I was blown away by the ways that God works far beyond our imaginings.  My son's only desire was that the child be from Africa, so we chose an 11 year old girl from Rwanda.  She had some of the same interests as my son, and we both felt drawn to her.  She enjoys jump rope and running and her parents are farmers, earning only $5.00 a month. I have written several letters to her and we look forward to hearing from her in the next couple of months.

Imanizabayo from Rwanda

Soon after sponsoring Imanizabayo from Rwanda, I again felt God calling me to sponsor one more girl.  I prayed that if it was His will, He would provide the finances.  And as usual, God came through in a way I could not have imagined.  I was looking for a summer job that would be very part-time and would be flexible enough to allow me to take two vacations with my family.  While sharing this with another one of my sons, he suggested that I babysit because it paid well and was super flexible.  I texted his girlfriend about her experiences with babysitting and she told me that she had a friend who was looking for a summer babysitter for her three elementary school aged children one day a week!  I contacted the lady, the job sounded perfect, and we worked out the details. And after some calculations, the amount I was paid would be exactly enough to sponsor another child!!  Soon after, sweet little Suyin was added to my account.  She is 8 years old and has a medical problem that is being treated regularly.  She lives with her mother and grandmother and loves to play house, draw pictures and sing.  I have already written her letters and sent her stickers and coloring pages. 

Suyin from Honduras

This summer God has really reminded me of His faithfulness, His provision, and His promise to hear our prayers.  I am learning (over and over again) about being patient for God's timing through my work with Compassion.  He cares more for these children than I do.