04.21.08 Farmland Friends
I showed up Sunday morning expecting a guy in a furry animal costume to greet me at the door. The name made it sound like a spin off program of Captain Kangaroo or a daycare. Perhaps the place would be decorated in primary colors. And we’d have snack time.
Farmland Friends turned out to be a church lead by a man who teaches compassion well.
He brought his not-at-all-shy five year-old up to be interviewed by his wife. She knelt down beside her little girl and asked her who the dark-skinned child projected onto the big screen was. This five year-old girl in a pink cowboy hat and matching boots took it from there, telling us about the girl her family sponsors in Africa. What struck me about the pint-sized testimony was how well she understood what sponsorship entails. She mentioned money and medicine and education and the usual stuff - but she also said, at least twice, that her family prays for the child they sponsor and writes her letters.
Her understanding of compassion looked less like a hand-out and more like a relationship than I expected from a child.
When she was done there was applause and then it was my turn. What else was there to say? Of course, you know me, I always have more to say. But none of my words were as memorable as hers. I’ve never heard a better explanation of Compassion.
Thanks to Farmland Friends for sponsoring 71 kids Sunday morning. And thanks to Tammy, who pestered her pastor (lovingly of course) until he agreed to host me and Compassion on Sunday.
Linda Sue said:
Farmland Friends are my heroes this week! 71 kids being released from poverty is truly fabulous. Sweet testimony - what is that line? and a child will lead them yessir - in a pink cowgirl hat and boots! Thanks for sharing that Shaun - today I’ve been overwhelmed with the evil in the world but you’ve opened up my heart to the good all around us.
said:
Kids just get it. Ask Mary why we sponsor three children and before you get the Compassion explanation, you’ll get the “look.” You know, the one that says “duh!. Why wouldn’t we sponsor children? Are you totally stupid? We sponsor them because God told us to, dummy. You know, the whole ‘mandate’ thing?” Then she’d proceed to tell you all the benefits of sponsorship. For us that is. We get cool letters, we get to write cool letters (they take FOREVER, by the way), and we have friends in cool places. We get to help the cutest kids in the world. It’s just cool. That would be Mary’s take on the whole thing. She’s 8 and she definitely gets it. She’s the reason we sponsor three instead of two. She’s the reason the mailman gets dirty looks when all he brings are bills instead of letters from our children. She’s the reason we buy lots of crayons and paper (lots of pictures go along with those letters we send) and she’s the reason we are doing what we can to make sure others get it too.
Beth
Kris Sorensen said:
Shaun,
It was great getting to meet you in person and see/hear your heart for Compassion. Thank you for taking time to minister to our congregation; we are still talking about all that God did last Sunday and the impact will be eternal!
Our family really enjoyed hanging out with you after the service. Keep up the great work!
Kris Sorensen
Pastor - Farmland Friends Church
(home of Captain Kangaroo & the Daycare Barnyard)
Derek Chalfant said:
Thanks for coming to FFC, we really enjoyed hearing you speak on Compassion and share what is on your heart. Great choice on lunch as well, I now have a new favorite place to eat. Now we forgot to talk about NASCAR yesterday so.........
Kyle said:
That was great to hear.
I’m from the area and I love to hear that the heart of our community is willing to reach out.
Thanks for coming and sharing your heart where you did this weekend(Anderson @ The Bridge as well).
Good stuff…
http://www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com
said:
I showed Shelby that her picture with you was on your blog today, and I read to her what you wrote and she was pretty excited! Thanks so much for coming and sharing about Compassion. God used you in a huge way to impact a lot of people in our church.
James Pinkerton said:
Thanks for sharing your heart Shaun! It meant a lot!
Kimberly H! said:
Shaun! How awesome it was to have you visit our church and let us know of a great need out there. My husband and I are now the proud sponsors of a little girl in Ecuador thanks to you and Tammy S! We hope you can come back soon! Maybe next time there will be 171 kids sponsored! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, for all you do. And the CD’s rock too!
said:
Our son and d-i-law have sponsored a little boy for several years and I have always felt proud of them but never felt the personal need to do so--until Sunday. Jack and I were both blown away by listening to you as you talked of the need and we saw the pictures.We now have Hassan from Tanzania and the truth is we feel blessed to have him instead of feeling a financial burden. god spoke to us so clearly and it is an honor to follow. We sure hope you return to FFC soon-it was great meeting you.
Ashley said:
Hey Shaun! Thanks so much for coming to Indiana… I wrote all my reflections on my blog if you want to check it out! Thanks again!
pam said:
Definitely worth waiting for. This is beautiful. Out of the mouths of His little ones comes forth truth.
Thanks for recounting and to those who sponsored children.
We heard from Juana last week. What a treasure she is, and we are privileged to make a huge difference in her life with so little from us. Thank you again from the bottom of our hearts for what you do, Shaun.
RevJeff said:
Yeah, I was going to write some really important stuff here until I realized you were posing at a DQ and now I just need to go buy a cone....
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