Felipe is four. He loves soccer, art, and playing with cars. Even at his young age, he helps his single mother every day by running errands. Felipe lives in Brazil, where at least one in ten people live on less than one US dollar a day. Thirty percent of children ages six to seventeen are not attending school, and even though this year 5.6 million Brazilian public school children are in first grade, only 1.8 million are in their last year of high school. Without a father, and with a mother who is only temporarily employed as a laborer, Felipe's hopes of attending school seemed far-fetched. Until now.

My daughters recently heard about children like Felipe at a Christian concert that supported Compassion International. They were awestruck at the poverty, melted by the photos, and convicted of how much they have in their life that other children don't. They put their heads (and hearts) together and agreed that with their paper route money they could support a child without my husband and myself helping. That day a beautiful photo of Felipe and a description of his life came home with us and found a permanent place on our refrigerator. With my daughter's support, Felipe will begin kindergarten this fall, opening the door to opportunities that only education can provide.

This month, my small group is also uniting to support a child through Compassion International. Together we will provide the $28 dollars a month in support and will bathe our child and his/her family in prayer each week. We will correspond with our child, send photos, and give small birthday and Christmas gifts.

How about your small group? This would be a great month to touch a life with a gift that keeps giving month after month … into eternity. For information to share with your group members, or to sponsor a child, visit the Compassion International website. Encourage a volunteer or two from your group to coordinate the monthly giving, letter writing, and optional gifts.

More ideas:

• Give every person in your small group a votive candle. Ask them to light the candle each time they pray for a person they would like to invite to your group. Keep a supply of candles on hand so they can get another candle when that one burns down. This is a good visual reminder to pray for others each day.
  
  
• Ask your small group members to look for people or situations that need God's touch in the coming week. The following week, spend some time during outreach playing 'I Spy!' Have each person explain what he or she saw during the week by giving clues so the others can guess. Have someone take notes, type them up, and hand them out as personal outreach ideas.
  
  
• Encourage each group member to write a promissory note to a teacher this month, promising to uphold the teacher and his/her class in prayer throughout the school year.
  
  

Originally published online at SmallGroups.com, September 9, 2003.

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