World Malaria Day April 25

Malaria kills 1 million people each year. Most who die of this treatable, preventable disease are children. A gift to Compassion's Malaria Intervention Fund will help Compassion-assisted children and their families receive the resources they so desperately need to fight this deadly disease, including:

•mosquito nets to protect children from mosquito bites
•malaria prevention education
•access to malaria medical treatment for those struggling with the disease

A little goes a long way:
•$30 will provide three mosquito bed nets.
•$50 will provide five mosquito bed nets.
•$100 will provide 10 mosquito bed nets.

CLICK HERE TO GIVE.

One of the best Christmas gifts I ever got was a card that said a mosquito net had been purchased in my name...I was so moved. We have so much in North America. So much to be grateful for, so much to share. I'm a day late with this "blog assignment"...but I am glad to post this important information.

Hakiza

I watched the bloggers as they traveled with Compassion International. I read their words about the poverty and conditions of people. People that were not that different than me. Except for where they were born. I read their words of hope for what can be done when we help. And I couldn't ignore it any longer.

I went to the site with the names and faces of children. How to choose?? I looked through the list. Some choose a familiar name or birthday. I decided to ask for a child who had waited the longest for a sponsor.

It was Hakiza. He is from Uganda, born January 17, 1996. 1996. The year that John died. I feel connected to Hakiza already.

Sponsoring a child is the least I can do. But am I called to do only the least? I wonder.

Randy Elrod is someone who is doing more than sponsor. He was one of the bloggers who went to Uganda. He is offering a print of the watercolor shown above to those who sponsor. Check out his blog here. His pictures, posts and poems are unique and moving.

This is what I love about blogs.

Here he is...at the risk of over explaining, I decided to abstract the painting somewhat. I wanted his face to represent Uganda's children as a whole, so I hid his total personality and included blotches to represent children with health issues. The rest of the meaning I will leave to you.

A great quote: "Everyone discusses my art and pretends to understand, as if it were necessary to understand, when it is simply necessary to love."
-Claude Monet

If you will join me and sponsor a child from Uganda for only $32. per month, I will send you free a signed print of this picture, or if you have already sponsored a child and would like either of the prints I have offered, put a comment HERE and let me know which one you would like.

Giving Education

From Shaun Groves' blog:

...today I started sending Moses to medical school.

...I’ve never told this story here before, but when I was 19 all my friends went off to college and I stayed behind because I didn’t have the money to go to college or the grades to get a scholarship. Then an anonymous gift was made. I was given a college education by someone in my church. It changed my life. Now it’s my turn to pass on that gift.

Click here to read the full story.