Upcoming Compassion Events

I love this time of year... not because of the snow (or lack there of this year), but because there are so many Christian concerts and events that Compassion partners with coming to the Twin Cities! I try to volunteer as much as I can. Here are the ones that I signed up to volunteer with. Praying for God to touch the hearts of potential sponsors at these events. Stay tuned to hear how everything turned out!

January 29, 2012: Rock and Worship Roadshow 2012

February 4, 2012: Acquire the Fire 2012

February 25, 2012: Dare 2 Share 2012

 
March 24, 2012: Youth Encounter 2011/2012

Become and Child Advocate for Compassion

I was a sponsor with Compassion International for about a year before God encouraged me to consider advocating for the children of Compassion. 

ad·vo·ca·cy ( noun \ˈad-və-kə-sē\): the act or process of advocating or supporting a cause or proposal (Merriam-Webster)

If you are not already an advocate and have been considering becoming one, please read on and see if God is reaching out to you to take a stand for His children. You may also go to this Compassion link to learn more information getting more involved in Compassion ministry. Or you can get started on your advocate profile if you are ready to apply!

What is an Advocate? 

Compassion's High-Impact Volunteer Philosophy

  As an organization we highly value our volunteers. Compassion believes the Advocates Network is a prestigious and vital group of people. Advocates are not merely volunteers -- they are capable partners in this ministry who share our heart and vision for God's children.

Compassion's commitment in this partnership is to provide opportunities to serve and training that allows you to be effective as a partner in this ministry and within the Church.

• Educate Christians concerning the biblical mandate to love the poor.

• Share Compassion as one solution to those needs that provides a way for people to respond to the biblical mandate.

• Increase awareness of the needs of impoverished children around the world.

Advocate Position Description 

Position Summary:
An advocate is "one who defends, who pleads another's case or one who calls for one's aid." This volunteer position is designed for Compassion sponsors who have a desire to create greater impact for needy children, utilizing their time, talents and influence.

Purpose:
To use your gifts and influence to raise awareness of the needs of impoverished children and encourage others to respond to the biblical mandate to love the poor.

Responsible to:
Ultimately, advocacy is a self-initiated and self-scheduled volunteer position where you will personally manage your own time commitment and activity. Based upon your geographic location and giftings, you will be connected with a Regional Advocate Manager and fellow leadership Advocates to help facilitate your own intentional ministry efforts.

Expectations:

1. Be a consistent witness for Christ. Christ comes first in this ministry. We, therefore, encourage you to conduct yourself in a Christ-like manner, be in community with other believers for worship, and participate in the study and practice of God's Word.
2. Initiate activities to change lives through Compassion. Advocates increase the awareness of the needs of impoverished children around the world and promote Compassion as one solution to meet those needs. You will represent Compassion ministries within your sphere of influence for the purpose of releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name. This is accomplished primarily through the acquisition of sponsorship commitments and fundraising. These activities may take on many forms, including presenting Compassion's ministry to local churches, individuals or groups, participating in marketing campaigns, and placing sponsorship displays and posters. The most effective activities may likely be those you create to utilize your own strengths, gifts and passion.
3. Staff sign-up tables at Compassion events. While being an Advocate will largely consist of YOU generating opportunities to present the ministry, you are encouraged to staff the sign-up tables at Compassion marketing events held in your area. Events include church activities, concerts, conferences, festivals and radio marathons. You may also be contacted about helping other Advocates or groups with their Compassion presentations.
4. Engage in training and enrichment opportunities. Remaining well-trained and keeping current with changes in Compassion's ministry is vital to effective advocacy. Therefore, all Advocates are encouraged to complete initial training, participate in web and phone-based ongoing training opportunities, and attend local, regional, national and global events designed to enhance your effectiveness.
5. Stay connected. While you have a great deal of autonomy and flexibility in your position, you will want to stay apprised of all resources and opportunities offered by the Advocate Network. In order to be a good steward of time and resources, please be attentive and responsive to all communications from the Advocate Network.

Length of commitment: An Advocate may step down at any point and could be asked to step down if a lack of commitment is demonstrated. Commitment will be evaluated annually.
 

(Resource: information obtained from compassion.com)

One Word

 

Senior vice president of ministry advancement with Fellowship of Christian Atheletes, Dan Britton, started the simple discipline of picking a one-word theme for the upcoming year. That is right—one word. Not a phrase, not a statement, just a single word. And to this point, it has been nothing short of life-changing.

Compassion has featured a blog each year around the "One Word" that God puts on our hearts for the new year.

Here are the blogs from the past few years...

2012

2011

2010

2009

Here is an excerpt from Dan's essay about developing the one-word theme.

Steps to developing a one-word theme:

1. Prepare your heart through prayer and fasting.

Spend much time in prayer and ask God to reveal the one word to you. Remember, it is not you who chooses the word, but God who reveals to you what He wants to teach you in the coming year. Spend extended time not only in prayer, but also fasting. Through fasting, God will increase and heighten your reliance upon Him for the word. He will speak specifically and clearly into your heart.

At a minimum, I recommend getting away for one full day and spending time before the Lord. That invested time will pay big dividends. God will speak when you consecrate yourself and intentionally put yourself into a posture to hear from Him.

2. Search the Scriptures. 

While reading your Bible, ask the Lord to highlight or bring to your attention a verse or story. This provides great insight and will help you ground your word in the Word. Commit that verse or passage to memory.

3. Evaluate all of your roles.

Each of us plays many different roles in our lives (i.e. parent, spouse, leader, athlete, friend, volunteer, steward, etc.) As you pray and think through those roles, pay attention to what God shows you. This step will help you understand the lives you impact and those that impact you. What is it that God wants to take hold of in your life and use for His glory? What area of your life do you need to surrender? What character trait does God want to develop within you? Which fruit of the Spirit does He want you to live out? These are several primer questions that can get you going in the right direction.

4. Do not seek counsel from others.  

While seeking advice from godly counsel regarding issues or problems is essential, I would highly recommend not asking for word ideas from friends, spouses or accountability partners. Everyone will give you an opinion, but you aren’t seeking their opinions. You’re not even seeking your own opinion. You’re seeking God’s opinion.

5. Ask God for the word. 

This is where the rubber meets the road. Boldly ask God for the word. Just as Samuel said, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening,” you need to humble yourself and ask God to drop the word into your heart, mind and soul. Be open and willing. The word can be a fruit of the Spirit (kindness, faithfulness), attribute of God (holiness, mercy), discipline (prayer, memorization), person (spouse, child), biblical principle (harvest, stewardship), spiritual focus (devotion, intimacy), character trait (commitment, perseverance), values (integrity, teamwork) or characteristic of Christ (serving, humility). This is not meant to be list from which to choose, but rather a starting point to get you thinking and to help you as you begin to listen for the Lord’s prompting.

6. Share your word with a trusted person. 

Once you have your word, it is important to share it with your husband or wife, best friend, accountability partner or pastor. Do not announce your word to everyone you know. One year, I didn’t share my word with anyone except for my wife and three accountability partners. Prayerfully consider with whom you need to share your word. Ask them to pray for you and to hold you accountable so that God can do His work in you.

7. Live out your word. 

As you begin to live out your word on a daily basis, be sensitive to the Lord’s leading. Be open to learning more as He reveals Scripture, quotes and books for you to use. Keep a journal and write down the insights and lessons throughout the year. Evaluate your commitment on a regular basis, and make sure that you pray about what God wants you to learn.

My word for 2011 was Surrender. It’s all about giving everything to Him and always pursuing him. He already paid the price and took the burden upon Himself. I need to leave things at the cross and keep them there.

This 2012, my word is Deeper. I am challenging myself to go deeper with God, deeper into the word, deeper in my ministries, and deeper in love with Jesus.