Hillsboro First United Methodist Church celebrates ‘Compassion Sunday’
Lead Summary
By
Mearle Griffith-
Hillsboro First United Methodist Church celebrated Compassion Sunday on May 1, recognizing sponsorships of children by church members in 24 countries around the world.
The worship service began with a procession of children carrying banners representing the 24 countries and placing them in front of the congregation.
Anita Foley, Compassion Coordinator for the congregation, announced that the church families sponsor more than 77 children through Compassion, a child development ministry. She said that the number had nearly tripled since its start in 2008, and 15 families chose to sponsor a child during the celebration.
In addition, the church sponsors a Leadership Development Program student and two children in a Child Survival Program, bringing the total to 80 sponsorships.
The speaker for the services was Cecilia Anyango Nyamwandha, a Compassion-sponsored child from Kenya. She shared how she began her sponsorship at 9 years of age and how it transformed her life. She said the letters from her sponsors in Ames, Iowa were the only encouragement she had, and she wanted to do well in school to please them. In her discouragement, rereading those sponsor letters helped her continue and rekindled her hope.
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Nyamwandha arrived in the United States in 2008 to continue her education and is a frequent speaker on behalf of the Compassion program. Today, Nyamwandha is 33 and is a geophysicist research assistant at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis, where she recently completed her PhD in geophysics.
Nyamwandha indicated that Compassion has more than 1.8 million children currently sponsored in 26 countries. A monthly sponsorship of $38 provides medical care, nutritious food, health and hygiene training, mentoring, tutoring and Christian teaching. She also noticed that a child sponsored by Waldo Ferguson is from her home area in Africa.
Foley said that the commitment of First United Methodist families has resulted in more than $39,192 in extra mission sharing for needy children across the world. A bulletin board displayed the children sponsored by local families.
For more information on Compassion, contact Foley at (937) 288-2613 or pastor Derek Russell at (937) 393-2981.
The worship service began with a procession of children carrying banners representing the 24 countries and placing them in front of the congregation.
Anita Foley, Compassion Coordinator for the congregation, announced that the church families sponsor more than 77 children through Compassion, a child development ministry. She said that the number had nearly tripled since its start in 2008, and 15 families chose to sponsor a child during the celebration.
In addition, the church sponsors a Leadership Development Program student and two children in a Child Survival Program, bringing the total to 80 sponsorships.
The speaker for the services was Cecilia Anyango Nyamwandha, a Compassion-sponsored child from Kenya. She shared how she began her sponsorship at 9 years of age and how it transformed her life. She said the letters from her sponsors in Ames, Iowa were the only encouragement she had, and she wanted to do well in school to please them. In her discouragement, rereading those sponsor letters helped her continue and rekindled her hope.
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Nyamwandha arrived in the United States in 2008 to continue her education and is a frequent speaker on behalf of the Compassion program. Today, Nyamwandha is 33 and is a geophysicist research assistant at the Center for Earthquake Research and Information (CERI) at the University of Memphis, where she recently completed her PhD in geophysics.
Nyamwandha indicated that Compassion has more than 1.8 million children currently sponsored in 26 countries. A monthly sponsorship of $38 provides medical care, nutritious food, health and hygiene training, mentoring, tutoring and Christian teaching. She also noticed that a child sponsored by Waldo Ferguson is from her home area in Africa.
Foley said that the commitment of First United Methodist families has resulted in more than $39,192 in extra mission sharing for needy children across the world. A bulletin board displayed the children sponsored by local families.
For more information on Compassion, contact Foley at (937) 288-2613 or pastor Derek Russell at (937) 393-2981.