7 Reasons to love Compassion

Speaking about water, children and compassion… 

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man and owner of my mobile phone service provider, said this about a year ago:

The only way to fight poverty is with employment. Trillions of dollars have been given to charity in the last 50 years, and they don’t solve anything. … To give 50 percent, 40 percent, that does nothing. There is a saying that we should leave a better country to our children. But it’s more important to leave better children to our country.

Basically, he said that “charity doesn’t solve anything”, and I partially agree with him, if by charity he refers to organizations whose sole purpose is limited to giving things rather than training people. [Even then, I don't think that this is an excuse to stop giving altogether.] If this is the case, I would agree with his statement, and add this:

“Charity doesn’t solve anything, but Compassion just might.”

Just recently I decided to place a banner on my blog to show my support for the work Compassion does for children. I must say it is one of my favorite social justice ministries. Here are 7 reasons why I love Compassion, and why you could too:

Water for my Car: Modern version of “Water for my camels”

My car has been misbehaving lately, i.e. It’s been overheating. One night, I turn on my car while at my school’s parking lot, and suddenly, a big STOP sign lights up in my dashboard. I sighed deeply because I knew what had happened: My car had overheated once again, and the radiator needed water. This was my first time dealing with the car all by myself. So here I was, a girl who knew nothing about cars, who had never fixed the car on her own, trying to see what she could pull off.

I started to think about what needed to be done. First, I need a plastic jug to put the water in. Check; had one in the car. Second, I need water. Check; it had been raining a lot. Third, I need to open the hood and check the cooling system. Check; I used a little piece of cloth to open the cap. Fourth, I turned on the car and poured water in. But then, the water started to boil. I turned off the car. I ran out of ideas. I didn’t know what to do.

All the while, I was looking all around, secretly hoping someone would offer me a little help. My car was parked close to the entrance, so there were a lot of people coming and going. I didn’t really want to bother anyone by asking for help. Besides, I wanted to see if any guy would be a gentleman and approach me to offer help. Much to my surprise, they didn’t. I was having a hard time, not knowing what to do, and many guys who saw me struggling with a car and an open hood looked at me and walked by.

You know what I thought at that moment? First, I thought that there are very few gentlemen left; that out of the many men around me, NOT ONE offered to help. Second, I thought about the good Samaritan story, and how I’d experienced it the other way around.

Lastly, I thought about the story of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24:12-22. To give a little background on the story, Abraham was living in a pagan land, and it was about time his son Isaac married. But Abraham didn’t want Isaac to marry one of the pagan girls. So he sent his servant to his homeland to find a wife for Isaac. Once there, the servant arrived to a well and prayed to God to show him which girl he should choose: if he asks her for water to drink, and she offers to water his camels too, then she would be the one.  Effectively, a very pretty girl named Rebekah did exactly that, and she ultimately married Isaac.

Isn’t it curious that both stories here relate to water? The servant needed water for his camels (his mode of transportation) while I needed water for my car (my modern mode of transportation). Do you think it’s coincidence that the sign the servant asked of the Lord was related to service? He didn’t ask God for the girl to have blonde hair, or to have the prettiest tunic or to give him any kind of sign related to external things. He asked God to decide who would be Isaac’s wife based on an act of service. Why? Because it showed a lot of her character. It showed whether she was kind to strangers, whether she was happy to serve others, whether she was dedicated to her responsibilities, whether she was submissive. By that one act of kindness and service, the servant could tell a lot about who Rebekah was. And it would be a very strong deciding factor on whether she would be a good, godly woman and future wife.

When I was in that situation, when I needed help with my car, I was also able to tell which of these guys had a kind attitude and was willing to serve. Sadly, none of them did. But that served to show me that these are not the kind of men I want to marry.  Seeing a man (or woman) in his day-to-day life, how he treats people and how much he’s willing to help others who need help shows a lot of his character. In the end, we (girls) need to marry men who are spiritual leaders, who are protectors, providers and who can sacrifice their comfort when the time requires it. And men also need to marry women who are nurturing, happy servers and good helpmates.

These guys probably didn’t know I was observing them, and they were probably not even interested in impressing me, but I was able to determine much of their character right away based on what I saw of them in that little crucial moment, their disposition to help someone in need.

Now imagine the opposite situation: a guy who had gone out of his way to help me out with the car; get it up and running. Imagine the good impression that guy would’ve caused on me or any other girl in my situation. If he was ever [hypothetically] interested in me [and if he were Christian], he wouldn’t have to convince me much to go out with him because I already have a favorable opinion of him based on a kind deed he did to me—no matter how simple the deed.

So here’s a two-way encouragement for both guys and girls on choosing a spouse:

1. BE KIND AND READY TO SERVE: People appreciate a lot when strangers approach them to help them in a time of need; whether it is to jumpstart your car, whether they hold the door for you, whether you allow them to copy your class notes, or offer help with homework. People appreciate it and WILL have a positive opinion of you because of it. Who knows? You might even start a friendship with a stranger who once helped you or whom you once helped.

Don’t waste any opportunity to serve people, even if you don’t have to go out of your way to do it and even if you do. It might not mean much to you, but it will mean a lot to the person on the receiving end.

2. NOTICE KINDNESS AND ACTS OF SERVICE: When it’s time for you to start considering a person to marry, look at how willing he is to serve others. Even before there is any romantic attraction that may bias your opinion, notice the way he behaves and treats other people. It will show you his true character in a daily scenario where he is just being himself and not trying to impress anyone. A person who is willing to serve anyone in need shows a sacrificial attitude that resembles Christ’s.

So, be kind. The right kind of people will notice it and be attracted to you because of it. And notice kindness in others. It is just another signal we can use to make sure we marry a person who is selfless, aware of others’ needs and working on becoming more like Christ. Kindness can go a long way.

Be Intentional: Prepare to serve

I love music. I do. I’m the kind of girl that does just about everything while listening to music. There’s something about music that transports me to some other world. And yet, with all my love for music, I’ve never learnt to play any instrument (and I’m not counting the flute lessons I had in third grade). I don’t even know if I’m good at playing instruments because I’ve never tried to play any. Playing an instrument had never occurred to me.

Lately, though, it’s like I’ve gone from never feeling desire to play an instrument to wanting to learn to play an instrument: the guitar.

And I admit there are three reasons:

1. SONGWRITING

Yep, I admitted that, a secret most people don’t know about me. I like to write songs. I’ve written many, I just never show them to anyone. Nonetheless, there are a few songs from the batch that I feel truly have potential. The problem is that they are just lyrics. I’ve tried to make up melodies for the songs, but it’s a big fail. And I know it would be so much easier to do if I knew how to play an instrument.

2. WORSHIP

I love to sing when I have my personal time with the Lord, and many times I’ve found myself wanting to sing to the chords of a guitar. Every time I listen to a specific song, I really wish I knew how to play it: Chris Tomlin’s “Majesty of Heaven” (Acoustic version). You can listen to the song here.

3. SERVICE

This is the most important reason why I want to learn to play the guitar. A couple of weeks back, our small group leader said something that struck a chord. He was playing the piano to start our small group worship time, and we were surprised because we didn’t know that he knew how to play the piano. And he said this: “When I was young–I had recently become a Christian–I knew that God had called me to serve him in some way. But I didn’t know at the time where he wanted me to serve. So I decided to learn how to play the guitar and the piano, so that if God wanted me to serve in this ministry, I would be ready.”

I think I should clarify that my small group leader doesn’t serve in the worship ministry at our church, even though he once did when he was younger. I don’t think that he aspires to become a worship leader either. But whenever he’s on a missions trip, small group, evangelizing or any other activity where some music is needed, he’s completely qualified to serve by playing the guitar. And the best part is that the guitar is an instrument that can be easily carried anywhere and doesn’t need electricity.

Preparing, gaining knowledge or learning how to do something doesn’t guarantee center stage at a specific ministry, and that should not be the intention of our hearts either. But it does guarantee that we are ready to serve when the opportunity arises.

I don’t know where exactly the Lord will have me serve in the future, but I want to be ready to serve in as many possible ways as I can, whenever the opportunity arises. I encourage you to find something where you can be helpful in the service to the Lord, something you might enjoy doing, something you feel like you would want to know how to do, and be intentional! Start to learn how to do it! You could take photography lessons, go to Bible Institute, learn how to operate the audio consoles, learn a new language, or who knows? learn how to play an instrument. You don’t know what you’ll be doing years down the road, but you just might be able to serve God with your talents and knowledge in situations where those talents are required. Be ready!

“[...] so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”   -2 Timothy 3:17

Service through another lens

Sometimes we limit service to charity events, mission trips, Sunday school or any other stuff we can do at church. And yes, all these things are part of service. But lately, I’ve been discovering a new kind of service that goes beyond me in action.

Recently, my family and I got a new camera, the Nikon D5100.

It was a bit surreal for me because I didn’t think I would own a DSLR right now. In my life plan and in my mind, I would not get this camera any time soon. But the Lord somehow managed to surprise me and give me  just the camera that I wanted so much earlier than I would’ve ever expected. I was and still am thankful. Now, there are two ways in which I could’ve decided to use my camera:

I COULD’VE BEEN OVERPROTECTIVE OF MY CAMERA, and rightfully so; you know? It’s more expensive than a regular camera, and I want to keep it in its best condition for as long as possible. This doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t use it for church service, but it meant that I would be the only one operating it.

OR

I COULD’VE BEEN DETACHED and made it available for the service in the church. That meant that maybe I would not be the only one using the camera. That meant that I might be lending the camera to someone else to use at church events, etc.

I decided to make this God-given camera completely available to my church. If God gave me this camera in the first place, and  so much earlier than I thought, why would I be selfish about it? There must be a reason why He gave it to me. Besides, all material possessions fade away. No matter how much I take care of it, it will end up breaking down.

You know what the funny thing is? The moment I decided to let it go and give it completely to God, He opened up doors for many opportunities where the Nikon could be used for eternal purposes. The camera arrived to my hands the first weeks of June, and ever since, it’s been used more for church activities than for my own personal use. And I’m fine with that!

During this month and a half, we’ve had a three-day Conference with speaker Paul Tripp, our annual youth camp, and a week-long medical outreach with the GHO team and a team from Sovereign Grace who flew in to serve. Two of these events are the most important events my church has in the year and require a lot of planning. All these events have been covered with my camera (not necessarily by me), and I couldn’t have thought of a better use for it.

My church does have a camera, and I could use that as an excuse to keep it to myself. But I know that the photos will turn out better with my camera. Shouldn’t I then strive to do everything–especially church service–in the best way I can, remembering that I’m doing this for God?

Be detached, especially when it comes to serving God! There were moments when I wasn’t able to go to that church event I was supposed to cover, and someone would ask for my camera to take the pictures. I had to make a decision: selfishness or detachment. I decided to be detached, and it has proven to be very rewarding so far. In my case, I had to get detached from a camera. Your case can be different, you might need to get detached from something else. But don’t be afraid to give your things away for God’s service; that’s the best way any material possession can be invested. And the Lord rewards a willing heart.