Joy's trip to Asia with Compassion International
I stepped carefully down the narrow, stony walkway between one long concrete wall and homes made from collected pieces of wood. I was in the slums of Asia. I wrinkled my nose as I smelled a pungent odor coming from below the homes. All the houses were sitting on stilts over several feet of water that had gathered and become a place for their waste. It looked exactly as I would have imagined from seeing places like this on TV, but now it felt so much more real. As I begin to wonder if anyone could actually live in a place like this, we arrive at the Compassion child’s home.
As I took a seat on the thin, creeky, wooden floor praying that I wouldn’t fall through and destroy it, I looked up and saw the beautiful big eyes of a 7 year old girl named Dao and her mother. Both the girls were a bit too skinny, but their smiles showed us how honored they were to have us in their home.
We quickly learned that Dao has had a sponsor through the Compassion program for a little over a year now and she loves getting letters from her sponsor. The family now follows Jesus instead of Buddah because of learning about God through the Compassion program and it’s volunteers.
Dao’s mother expressed that they never feel safe in their home because her husband works very late every night and their neighbor is a drunk who often carries around a knife. When we asked how Dao likes going to school we saw our translators face begin to change. Our Compassion translator, Yuey, who has heard almost every tragic story in existence, began to cry. Through her tears we learned that little Doa ran away from school crying the day before because she said she has no friends there. Doa and her mother are from Laos and have no yet been able to become citizens of Thailand where much discrimination exists. Looking into Dao's sad eyes made me determine that it was my mission to make her feel like she had a friend in me, even for the short time that I was there. So I pulled out some bubbles from my bag and I saw her smile for the first time. Then I offered her a pink jump rope and saw her eyes light up. We went outside of her shack so I could teach her how to jump rope in the alley. After she jumped for the first time I heard her laugh for the first time.
A jump rope is nothing special but God helped me to use it to connect with a little girl whose life is lived in extreme poverty. Compassion International has not only brought help and education to the family, but it helped them learn about the gospel and God’s love. I will never forget Dao’s beautiful eyes, or the reality that children like her exist all over the globe and need a helping hand.
