I have been following my friend Robin’s trip to India with Compassion International. As I read her stories, I can’t help but imagine the glimpse of life they are witnessing there. Which often times seem more like glimpses of death.
Then I think about my home church preparing for a Sunday focused entirely on human trafficking, the fastest growing international crime. Soon, it will become the number one illegal industry worldwide, even above drug trafficking. And it is happening here, in our country. In our high schools.
Babies in India without food? Children being sold as slaves? I can’t help but think: What can one person possibly do? It feels more than a little hopeless.
And then I see this. It is an unopened letter from our Compassion child. Her name is Pinky. She writes faithfully. We write, but not so faithfully. She lives in Bangledesh. We live here. She writes, and I hesitate to open her letter.
Because reading her words, seeing her little drawings, I am forced to face the fact that I am a walking contradiction. I feel both too much and not enough. To open that letter means to admit that Pinky exists, that her life is hard, that there are other children like her who don’t have a sponsor. There is a part of me that fears if I allow myself to consider the reality of the pain in the world, the sadness would be too crushing and I would never recover.
Feeling nothing is easier than facing the vast, empty, never-ending pain. And so I get busy. I forget. I turn the channel, watch a movie, eat some ice cream.
But it doesn’t realy help. That isn’t really living. Because there is one important thing about God that I forget. He hasn’t asked me to save the world or to erradicate human trafficking or to support every child in India. He simply asks me do the next thing and to trust Him in the doing. He gently asks me to open the letter. And so I do.
In the words of Mother Teresa, “We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
Thank you for sharing, Emily.
I’ve been in overload too and feeling much like you described. So I shall do the next thing … and sponsor a child.
Because of the stories being shared from India this week, on Tuesday, I sponsored a 3 year old boy. If everyone would do just one child… what a difference we could make.
I’ve been reading your blog for a while, but I never leave comments. I’m just not a commenter. But, today, I must comment. My husband & I have felt the tug to sponsor a child for a few years and we’re both very much wanting to, but like many others, something always gets in the way. Finances become tighter (although, let’s face it, most of us can still afford to sponsor…we have sever expendable luxuries), work gets busier, my master’s program kicks it up a notch….in short, life happens and Satan takes advantage. I’ve personally seen the tragedy that is life in a third world country and I truly believe that sponsoring one child makes a huge difference; it’s a lifetime of difference. Thanks for the gentle reminder….
We both at the http://www.zcouple.com loves the idea, it is our passion to be part of that. Thanks for reminding us, we have forgotten about this for a while. We will plan on doing it this summer.
i love this emily. such a good reminder.
I can’t watch those sponsor a child commercials on tv, because I end up bawling and wanting to give my whole salary to the orphans. Then Charlie comes home and finds me in a little puddle on the floor.
This week we were teaching about recycling and spring and gardens and earth day. I think it’s important to stress with kids that while they may not be called to do a big thing (like be president or a missionary) they can all do small things, like recycle their bottles and cans. If we all did the small things, the big things would be easier.
Thanks for sharing Pinky’s letters.
Ah, you describe what I’m feeling so WELL, Emily. Every day this week, I’ve put off reading the India posts until last thing, because I know that each word I read and picture I see will break my heart that much more. But you’re right – God doesn’t call us to the easy, non-heartbreaking stuff of life. He calls us to more.
Just what I needed to hear! I help run a youth ministry in a not so great area of a large city. I love doing it but then I too go to church and hear about the human trafficking and imagine my sweet little homework club kids living that life and it sends me crumbling. Good reminder that God isn’t asking me to be a savior…thats his job! Hope you have a great day!
Lovely post. One day at a time, honey.
I know exactly what you mean- I get so overwhelmed by the horrors going on in the world, I just shut them out. But thank you for the reminder that I don’t need to save the world (because I can’t)- I just need to help the few that I can and do the best I can with what I’ve got.
thank you for summing up quite a bit with your beautiful words. if only we could save the world… and yet just the thought of it is too much for one person to comprehend. i needed that reminder that God isn’t asking us to save this whole world by ourselves…
my daughter and her best friend (since they were 3!) have adopted Osman from Bangladesh… maybe he & Pinky are friends. these sweet girls have a heart for the lost and i am always in awe of them… stepping out to do their tiny part in saving this big bright world.
Your thoughts mirror my own when the Compassion envelope comes in the mail at my house. I feel guilt at my lack of corrispondance, at my comfy bed and safe home, at the injustice of life. I specifically asked to sponsor a child with a hearing loss, since that is a huge part of my familie’s life. (I’m an interpreter and my husband is deaf) However, I actually hate to think about all the struggles this poor boy will go through in a 3rd world country, compared to the frustrations that my husband has been through. I’m hoping that at some point when he is older, I’ll be an encouragement to him, that his “disability” doesn’t have to hold him back. For now though, all I can do is sponsor him and pray for the Compassion staff to love on him.
That is so true. The pain is too raw sometimes to allow yourself a chance to do something, anything to help. I face the same trial. Thanks for giving us all the boost we need to DO SOMETHING.
Blessings
Lisa
Oh yeah. I’m feeling that, too.
Blessings, Dear One.
kJ
Oh Emily, I’m so very glad you wrote more about this. It’s so important to keep things like this in the forefront. God asks us only to our parts, and, as you said, trust Him for the rest…
Beautiful. And a great reminder that the right thing and the easiest thing are seldom the same thing.
Emily, I’ve been reading your blog for a few weeks now but this is my first time to comment. Thank you for your words today. Compassion Int’l was spoken about at our church last Sunday and it crossed my mind that I might want to look into it. The fact that you’ve not only posted about it, but you actually sponsor a child gives me another nudge to check it out.
I love your site!
AMEN
HUGS FROM MAINE
hey. came here first time. love your post.
But tell you what? I am an Indian and India isn’t as poor as you think it is. if on one side we have slums, on the other side we have cities bigger and better than New York (with less crime rate), shopping malls have sprouted everywhere, drug trafficking isn’t such a bad scenario here and the economy isn’t exactly crumbling down like America.
What you are doing is great. No doubt. But please don’t paint a picture of my country in your mind which is just a part of the huge landscape that India is. It’s a great country, will always be. After all, America has slums too.
well said.
Hi Niharika – Thanks for the comment. I certainly didn’t mean to imply that India as a whole is in such bad shape. I mentioned your country simply because that is where the current Compassion trip is. Please accept my apology if you were offended in any way.
Hey Emily! Just recently found your blog… and love it! I am reading a bio on Amy Carmichael called “A Chance to Die” and feel the same way while hearing her stories – compassion overload! It is overwhelming, but such a good thing… trusting the Lord to stretch my heart, and as you shared, be faithful with what He has given me.
Thanks for you post. I started reading your blog because I stumbled upon your sister’s blog – and I love decorating. My husband and I are missionaries with Mission Aviation Fellowship in Ecuador. Compassion Int’l is one of our biggest “users” of our aviation services. It is an AWESOME program and they go above and beyond your monthly donation. It’s easy to see how your money can help a child here or in another country. There are so many kids here that don’t have the “things” that we have been blessed with in the US. It’s hard sometimes for us because there are so many people here with needs…or is it because they don’t have what I have that I think they are needy? Anyway, the bottom line is that God calls us to be faithful and obedient. He may want you to support a Compassion child….or maybe he wants you to spend time with the kids next door. Whatever it is, open your heart to Him and He’ll be faithful to show you! Thanks for sharing from your heart!
Girl, we have all been called. And in different places, and in different ways. I love your “Compassion”, and my husband and I sponsored 2 children thru Compassion- but the big question begs “WHY”? “Why was I born here, and not in a slum or a barrio? What makes me so special” God gave me my answer…
“Because I have called you to the US. I have called them there. I have called you here. Make a difference where I have placed you. In your city, in your town, in your neighborhood.”
Not preaching, just a passion of mine. Love your heart, I also cry for those children who are left to fend for themselves (and I hope to adopt one from each continent! LOL! It actually makes my heart ache. But I know I can only have influence globally, if I make the most of the influence I have where I have been placed HERE.
I love your blog.
Keep it up!!!
I work for a non-profit where we are confronted with issues like this every day. I, too, feel like just shutting down and pretending it doesn’t exist, but then I remember that I do what a I can. One day, one child at a time. You just never know how one little act can do so much – might not even see it in your lifetime. Still, you can’t give up.
i receive the same envelope more often than I send one back. and i postpone opening it, for the guilt that ensues….
thanks for putting that into words and bringing it to my attention.
I think Cristy is on to something with the Mother Teresa quote.
We, too, have been in this situation. It’s hard to write back, because…how can we relate? What can we say that makes things better, that helps out? But then again, what if we were that child? Would a letter brighten our day? Show that someone cared, that someone was trying to take my life and make it better, easier?
I don’t know that there’s really an answer.
E m i l y…thank you for this post! I’m finally slipping back into blogging after hitting a wall upon my return; FINALLY writing a “thank you” to you (and others) who were so gracious to share a reminder about our trip to India.
I hear your heart and share many of those same emotions. Having the privilege of SEEING just how far our Compassion dollars go? Worth any struggle on my end! IT REALLY IS MAKING A DIFFERENCE; and the children drove home the point how important it is to send pictures. They love them!
{btw, seeing your blog not in my reader? Ummm…I missed the redecorating around here…looks n i c e!!}
Wish I was going to get to see ya soon…at this point, She Speaks still isn’t on my radar :/.
xo