One of the big reasons we wanted to do this theme was to talk about our favorite charities.#1
Obviously my sister, Charity Kayembe, tops the list. :-)
#2
Another of our favorites is Compassion (I think they dropped the "International"?). My sister and I sponsored a girl named Priskila from Indonesia through them for years, and then when Charla and I got married the two of us took over completely. Then at Kingdom Bound we picked up another sponsorship packet and added Rosa from Peru.
Compassion does a fantastic job of ministering to the whole person. They help provide for physical needs, education, clothing, etc. They go to great lengths to ensure that they are not just putting band-aids on the child's problems, but enriching their lives to truly give them a better tomorrow.
The best thing is that their motto is sponsoring children "In Jesus' Name". This is in stark contrast to the other big child sponsorship organizations, even those who are supposedly Christian. To our shock and dismay, when my Grandmother tried to sponsor a child through one of these other "Christian" organizations, she was specifically instructed not to talk to the child about Christ! We wouldn't want to offend the sensibilities of the people we're trying to minister to, now would we? Ugh.
But really, if we're not doing all this in Jesus' Name, then what's the point? The recipient will think "wow, Compassion is such a nice organization" or "wow, Americans are such nice people" or "wow, Josh and Charla Virkler are so wonderful". But the reason we're doing this is because of Jesus. He's our example who showed us how to love the unlovely and the downcast. He called us to do the same, and minister to the broken and dying in this world. It's all because of Him. You take Him out of the equation, and what have you got? Just some feel-good, pat-yourself-on-the-back, worthless nonsense (in my always-humble opinion anyway).
#3
(Ok, not really #3 in the sense that it's our third-favorite. More in the sense that I decided I needed to break this up with section headings, and numbering them 1-3 seemed to make sense at the time. Pardon my inconsistency of thought.)
Rounding out the top three is perhaps our all-time favorite charitable organization: EndPoverty.org. These guys are absolutely amazing. You may have heard of micro-enterprise and micro-loan programs which are helping the poor of the world to lift themselves out of poverty. Instead of giving a handout, or a one-time donation that gets consumed and forgotten, this organization provides loans which enable these enterprising third-world citizens to start a small business. Anyone who's not a communist knows that this is perhaps the best way to truly help people change their financial situation, and really their whole life, long-term.
Once the business gets up and running and producing revenue, the loan is paid back into the system, where it is available for the next person who needs a micro-loan. (We're talking about incredibly small amounts of money here, by Western standards. They aren't starting a McDonalds franchise or anything, but maybe just obtaining a rickshaw or a cart to sell snacks out of.) What this means is that every donation into the system goes on to help people in perpetuity! It is not consumed, but leveraged again and again, basically forever. It's kind of like the philanthropists version of passive income. :-)
Like Compassion, the best part of EndPoverty.org is that they do all of this amazing work in Jesus' Name. They partner with the local churches, and administer these programs through them. This allows the Church to gain standing in the community, and be seen as a helper and a provider for those in need, rather than simply a house of worship or teaching. It also takes that moral high ground away from the government and brings it back to the people of God, where it has always belonged.
Please go check out their websites out now:
www.Compassion.com
www.EndPoverty.org
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