Change the Story {Compassion Experience}

I am hoping to sneak away some time this week to respond to some of your questions and comments on my last post. Thank you. Thank you for being gentle with me and sharing your stories with me. I didn’t think about how it would be weird for most of you to watch that video – never hearing my voice before! I also laughed that some of you were surprised I didn’t have an accent. I probably should have thrown in a few ‘ya’lls’ for good measure.

Over the weekend, Compassion International held a Compassion Experience in town. We really had no idea what to expect, but I had heard good things from other parents. We’ve sponsored through Compassion and I was hoping it might help my kids understand a little better what child sponsorship means.

The experience begins with each person getting headphones and an iPhone that guides you through an interactive journey learning the story of a child sponsored through Compassion.

The stories are told audibly, but you walk through recreations of the homes & places significant to that child. Each story is true and you are able to see photos and letters of the children (now adults) and their sponsors.We chose to listen to the stories of 3 kids (you can choose 1, 2 or 3). When we walked through the last room, my 9 year old announced he wanted to sponsor all the kids. The stories were hard to hear. There were some parts that brought up things I’ve never talked to my kids about (realities of what desperate situations can look like for kids). Overall, I think we walked away with a much better understanding of our roles as sponsors. The experience opened all of our eyes to what we are actually doing when we write letters and send them to another country.

Our letters are going to look a lot differently now.

Our prayers will come from a new place.

When we look at pictures or receive letters from ‘our kids’ – it is going to be so much more personal now.

Poverty and what life is like for children in desperate situations is so hard to explain to kids. I’m thankful the Compassion Experience gave me more tools to help talk about difficult topics with my kids. As a family, I think we are still processing it all. I imagine the conversations and questions are going to continue coming for a while. I’m grateful.

There are dates for future tours on the Compassion Experience website. If you have the chance to go, I recommend it.