By Matt Snyder “I’m not from Nashville. I’m from Columbia. There’s a correctional facility around there and, well, I got out about a month ago.” He fit the profile. He was in worn clothes, a bright red jacket, dirty white shoes, and hadn’t shaved for weeks. His mustache curled precariously over his upper lip and [...]
By Karen Swank Date: Christmas Season, 2009 To: Mr. Right, who may be just a dream, but perhaps is real and in training even now, gaining the skills and insight necessary to Be My Husband. From: Ms. Recently Unemployed and Elated at the Next Possibilities Re: Jewelry and Much Bigger Things Hello again. I hope [...]
By Karen Swank Here come the holidays. I’ve already got my Thanksgiving plans made, including where I am going and what I am cooking. I’m working out what to do at Christmas. Some people I know already have their trees up and decorated. Others are ticking off how many gift-buying days remain. A lady told [...]
By Morgan McKeown I got the news the other day that Maswane (pictured below) died. At age 19, her life here on earth is over, stolen by AIDS. She desired to tell her story and let the truth be known. That’s why I’m writing. Our first day in Swaziland Pastor Gift told us about Maswane [...]
By Isabel Maldonado There is something interesting about people living in poverty. Most of the time we don’t like to admit that we have nothing, that we are taking each day at a time praying that maybe God will send someone with something to meet our needs. Living out in Nsoko is heart-breaking. Living in [...]
By Jeff Goins, Editor Singer/songwriter and Compassion blogger Shaun Groves posted a tongue-in-cheek blog last week about his recent trip to Kolkata, India, criticizing churches in the developing world for “doing it all wrong.” He cites churches that he’s visited in India, Africa, and Latin America that have made worship centers not just places where the [...]
By Josh Harrod Casper I had read bits and pieces of her life through other works – who she was and who she is helping others become through her story. Dorothy Day was the founder of the Catholic Workers Movement, along with “co-founder/conspirator” Peter Maurin. Peter had led an interesting life himself, traveling from his [...]
By Sean Carasso This time around, it’s all together new. A year ago, I wanted to get lost. Today, I just want to understand. Originally, I went to Africa to put shoes on kids’ feet. My friend built a company grounded in giving and there I was, on the ground, giving. After the TOMS Shoes [...]
By Moira Allaby Deb Gangemi read Tom Davis’ Fields of the Fatherless three years ago. In it, Tom introduces readers to “people God wants us to put at the top of our priority list: the orphans, widows, and aliens (strangers).” He writes of his life-altering experience caring for a group of orphans in Russia, and [...]
By Onleilove Alston The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s [...]
