A Changed Life

The room's dark.  Two old, wooden chairs are all the furniture in the tiny house.  At night, one chair is shoved against the door to keep the drunk, dangerous alley men out.  They take turns sleeping in the other one.

Their life is rough.  Her mom works hard, but she doesn't get much in return.  Young Julian hears her relatives' negative comments.  Maybe life will never be good for her, but she can help her family.

They say she's sitting on a gold mine.  She has us, her daughters.  Soon, I will tell my mom to sell me in marriage.  At least then my sisters can go to school.  They will have a good life.

Her mom takes her to a Compassion project.  A friend told her that they would help her.  Julian doesn't believe it though - someone would help her for nothing?  Her mom and her check it out to find out what the catch is.  Nothing can be found, so she is enrolled.  Soon, to her surprise, she gets a sponsor.  An even bigger surprise comes a little bit later.

My sponsors sent me a birthday card!  No one in Uganda sends cards.  They say that cards take too much time and money.  I carried that card everywhere with me for weeks.  I felt so special.

Julian is succeeding at school and goes to a boarding school for more education.  She is thankful that there is a Compassion project near her.  Even though she is far from her home and family, there is a project with people who love her.

Then it is the beginning of the 4th semester, and Julian is at the top of her class.  Yet, the school master yells at her.  He tells her that until she pays for all four semesters in full, she must leave.  She goes back home.  She forgot how scary it was to live in the alley.  She still goes to school, but now she feels no hope.  She can't pay for boarding school, so she decides to make a sacrifice for her family.

I'll be worth less, now that I am 14.  It'll still be enough for my mom and sisters to have a good life.  I will tell my mom to sell me in marriage soon.

Before she tells her mom, Compassion comes to her home.  They say that they will pay for her school in full!  She studies hard and graduates.  Through her hard work, she was accepted into the Leadership Development Program with Compassion.  Before she leaves for university, she makes enough money to buy her mom a new home where it is safe.

I attended Makerere University in Uganda and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies. I just graduated from Baylor University with a Masters’ in Social Work! My goal is to use my social work career to advocate for children and women living with HIV/AIDS and to help those in vulnerable situations realize their dreams and potential. *

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That is the story of Julian Alum, a former Compassion sponsor child.  I walked through her story at the Compassion Mobile Experience, and this is written from my memory of that.  I just missed meeting her, as she joined the tour the stop after mine.  You can read more about her here -  Meet Julian Alum — a Former Sponsored Child From Uganda | Change The Story

To see where the Compassion Mobile Experience is headed, visit Compassion: Change the Story - Events

*quote taken from Meet Julian Alum — a Former Sponsored Child From Uganda | Change The Story

Just 10 more days!!

In just 10 short days, the Compassion Mobile Experience will be coming near me again :)  Yay!  I can't wait to help work it and be a part of the experience.

I wanted to share this video with you all about it.  It shows you just a glimpse of what the experience is like-

I hope that you too get a chance to visit their world in your world!  Check out the dates and place of the Compassion Mobile Experience at compassion.com/change

Luke Smallbone from for KING & COUNTRY visited the experience and loved it-

Experience their world.

Change their world.

Let's go to Bolivia!

Last September, the Compassion Mobile Experience came to a town about an hour from me.  I was taken to Bolivia and India.  I walked through the streets and saw the hope that the Compassion project brought to Ruben and Brinda.  I touched Ruben's red table that he bought for his family.  He used the skills Compassion taught him to get a job and buy that table.  And I listened as Brinda told her family how the God of the Bible was the one true God.

In the semis holding the stories of three former Compassion children, the homes, projects, and communities of the children are duplicated with such accuracy that you feel like you are actually there.  As you walk through the rooms, you listen to the narration of the child's story.  And at the very end, you watch a video of the former sponsor child taking you to those places.  Then you know that everything is just right and so real.

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I see the e-mail.  It's coming again!  This time it is closer, just 30 minutes away.  And I go to Kingdom Bound and I help out a tiny bit with Compassion.  I realize that there is no way I cannot go again.  But this time, this time, I will work it.  

Then this shows up in the mail-

And I count the weeks.  I don't have much time until September 7, and I know it'll go quicker than I think it possibly can!  I don't have much time to tell everyone that they need to go.  

So I'll call up everyone I know and send out e-mail and hang posters.  

This time, all it costs to go to Bolivia or India or Uganda is the gas to drive to the nearest place it is coming to you.  Compassion: Change the Story - Events  

Currently, it is scheduled to go to NY, OH, GA, FL, MS, LA, and TX.  But check back often, cause the places it goes keeps growing and you don't want to miss this!

Compassion: Change the Story

Compassion Mobile- Change the Story

Hello!

On Thursday I was able to attend an awesome event!!  Compassion Mobile is so cool.  It tells the stories of three children living in poverty.  It shows their lives before Compassion and how their lives changed because of Compassion. 

Each story is only twenty minutes long.  You get to go through a realistic representation of the child's home, Compassion project, and other places the child goes to often.  The stories are of real children who have graduated from Compassion's sponsorship program.  The best part is- it is probably going to be near you!!

I really recommend you go to Compassion Mobile.  I loved hearing and seeing the lives of children in India and Bolivia (I couldn't see the Uganda one).  My family and I traveled one hour away to see it, and I think it was worth it.  I have heard many stories of lives being changed by Compassion, but actually seeing it is even more awesome!

Change a life!
Lizzie