Amy & Lucy

When Amy was just a little girl, she traveled on a family mission trip to Mexico with Memorial Baptist Church, later called Church at the Cross. Her parents prioritized mission opportunities for their family. They made it clear that nothing they owned was theirs, but it was God’s. It was then that God developed Amy’s heart toward missions and toward people.

When she was 17 years old, Amy heard about an organization in the space where God was leading her heart. Compassion was in the name. That summer, she attended summer camp with our youth group. At the camp, an organization called Compassion International set up a booth displaying pictures of children. That evening, a person who had graduated from Compassion’s program spoke to the campers about how she was “released from poverty in Jesus' name.” Amy’s heart was touched. For $30 a month, she could support the needs of a child in poverty across the world. Amy just started a job at the local theater, making little more than minimum wage. She decided this was how she would spend her money. After all, it wasn’t hers, it was God’s. And there was Lucy’s picture, calling her name.

I was immediately drawn to [Lucy] in her orange dress.

“I was immediately drawn to [Lucy] in her orange dress. I liked the fact that her birthday was January 1, 2000. There was a chance she was the very first baby born in the new millennium. Also, it was easy to remember her age.”

The church was planning a mission trip that year to Tanzania in Africa. Could it be possible to actually meet this child in person? Amy was determined to find out. Sure enough, as Amy approached the Compassion table - Lucy from Tanzania was on display. She called Compassion International headquarters loaded with questions to make this happen. Compassion organizes trips often for sponsors to meet their children. Surely they could make this work. To her delight, Compassion was more than willing to work out travel plans and organize a meeting for Lucy to travel by train across the country to meet Amy.

“It was Lucy’s first time on a train and her first time in the capitol. I took her to her first beach. We walked around downtown. She had a translator through Compassion, so I got to ask her all about her life. She asked me to make her something to eat so I made her a PBJ. She liked it a lot! I brought her a backpack full of things from Texas - toys, assorted candies, a t-shirt that said, ‘Somebody from Texas loves me!’ When I gave her that backpack I will never forget her face. She never had sent me pictures of her smiling before, so it was the first time I got to see those pearly white teeth. She smiled so big! That was everything. I loved it.”

You get to be a shadow of Christ’s love and goodness to these children

Sponsoring a child like Lucy through Compassion is a way to share the gospel, even if you can’t actually go. Your money to the ministry goes to make sure these children are being presented the gospel in their own language, in their own culture, by their own people. You get to be a shadow of Christ’s love and goodness to these children by providing for their monthly needs, sending them encouraging and truth-filled letters, and being a constant presence of love in their life.

“I get stressed out and overwhelmed with meaningless things here in America. Then I get a picture of Lucy in the mail with one shoe on. These lifestyles are so different than mine and they are so happy and grateful. It brings me back to my mission trips to Mexico. Compassion constantly reminds me of that kind of lifestyle.”

Amy was learning important lessons through her back and forth with Lucy. This relationship was teaching Amy that by serving the weak and the poor, she was being taught the transformative power of contentment. She began looking at life with a new perspective. One of gratefulness and humility. Amy began to look beyond her immediate circumstances and seek the welfare of others.

She knew everything about my life and she was praying earnestly for me every single day.

“Anytime I got a letter in the mail from Lucy that said she was praying for me, for my school, family, my work - she knew everything about my life and she was praying earnestly for me every single day. I would think how I have been so wrapped up with everything in my life, I didn’t pray for Lucy today. She would always ask me at the end of her letters if I was praying for her as well. It would encourage me to do that.”

God used Lucy to open Amy’s eyes to a world across the ocean. The world is so vast, yet God is just as present in Tanzania as he is here. He is just as intimate and detailed in Lucy’s life as he is in Amy’s life. And God desires us to be sharing Jesus with all people, all around the world. We have many different ways to do that.

“It’s not our money, it’s the Lord’s money that he has given us. The Bible is pretty clear about helping the poor and the needy, the orphans and the widows so it was never really a question in my mind. When I would get a paycheck I would think, this isn’t my money so what do you want me to do with it? I have never regretted sponsoring Lucy. I started when I was 17 years old. I held on to her through my very poor college years till today working a full-time job. Every letter, picture - it has all been worth it. I’ve seen the work Compassion has done with my own eyes and I trust them.”

Lucy has now graduated out of the Compassion program — just like the girl that spoke to Amy’s student camp years ago, encouraging her to sponsor a child. Compassion is helping children become successful adults through releasing them from poverty, providing them an education, and sending them into the world. These children are then able to give back to their communities in the name of Jesus. That’s a beautiful example of helping people and places encounter Jesus.