{TO HELP AT RISK MOTHERS AND BABIES THROUGH COMPASSION’S RESCUE BABIES NOW PROGRAM, CLICK HERE}

I’m frustrated and overwhelmed.

By the poverty, and by the city, yes, but unexpectedly I’m even more overwhelmed by the stories.

As a writer, I don’t know where to begin. There are simply too many stories to tell.

Each one is unique. Each is rich. Many are sad. But more than that, I’m overwhelmed that I could not possibly tell every story that I’ve learned.

I could tell the story of Esther, a single mother of three girls, one of whom, Taira {3} is enrolled in Compassion’s Rescue Babies Now program. I could tell about her home, a 15 x 15 foot room in which her and her daughters sleep, eat, cook and live. I could tell you about the way she’s learned to provide for her daughters by learning crafting trades from the CSP center or how she testifies to Jesus’ love even in the midst of intense need.

I could also tell you that her 15 x 15 foot hallway that is her home was more spotless than my home has ever been.

I might also tell you about Lizbeth, a former sponsor child who is now 23 and works as a Child Survival Program Promoter. Her primary job is to visit homes of at risk mothers and babies, take note of their development, provide nutritional and physical assessments and educate the mothers about their child’s growth.  She sees all of her mothers twice every month for 90 minutes at a time.

I could also tell you about when I sat cross-legged this afternoon in front of the Compassion partner church in the San Juan de Miraflores district of Lima.  I pulled out a bottle of nail polish, waved a shy seven-year-old girl to sit next to me and I began to paint her nails.

She has a story too, I thought. But we didn’t have long enough and I didn’t know the right words.

Her sister, who sat down next, has a story and so does their mother. Each child, every mother, every father has a story.

And there were so many more. There was Maria, Abigail, and the little boy with the plastic bow and arrows who wouldn’t speak. I could write for decades and still not share the story of every man and woman in this 9 million person city.

But God sees me, He sees these amazing people and knows the story and the tears of every child in Peru.

HE knows them, he has already told their stories and has written them on HIS heart.

To sponsor a child in Peru with Compassion International, click here.

To learn more about Compassion click here.

To learn about the Child Survival Program and how you can help, click here and click on Rescue Mothers and Babies at the top left.

To read about why I care, click here and here.