This morning before we left for a day of visiting Compassion projects I read this verse during my quiet time.
Revelation 3:17 “You say, “I am rich, and I have become wealthy and do not need anything. But you do not know that you are really miserable, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.”
Less than two hours later I met this young man at the Kestopur project here in India.
As I heard him sing I felt God’s convicting spirit rush through my body. “Pete, who do you think you are? You think you’re here to simply write about poverty and child sponsorship, and you are, but there is more. I want to remind you that you’re the one poverty stricken. Pete, you’re spiritually poor.”
In the midst of everything I’ve been blessed with I’ve started to live with a delusional sense of self-sufficiency. Somehow, I’ve missed what this 7 year-old boy could fully grasp. This is the day. This is the day I should rejoice in Him.
Not because I’m rich.
Not because my relationships are going well.
Not because I’m enjoying a season of success.
Not because I have a secure job.
Because, this is the day. This day. With all of it’s potential troubles and unexpected crisis and interruptions is the day for me to be spiritually rich.
You and I can do a lot to change the lives of these kids (and I believe we should), but we could never replace the richness they’re finding in Christ. Just one more reason I’m such a fan of what Compassion and so many other great organizations are doing to take a bright light into a dark world.
Anyone else need a reminder that “This is the Day”?
Wow! Thanks for sharing Pete! It truly is all about HIM!
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Thank you Alison!
“Anyone else need a reminder that, “This is the Day?” Hmm, let me think about that one for like a mila-second. AH – YES!
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THIS IS THE DAY! Amen to that. I was praying for the little orphans this morning and just broke down thinking about how they live every day to the fullest, whereas, we sometimes are too caught up w/ our tommorrows and everyday lives, surrounded by the next “it” thing, etc. We truely, don’t know how to make the most of everything. Humbling to see that the lil ones do this w/o any fear. Thanks so much for sharing your blogs!
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What a sweet sound…I have absolutley fallen in Love with all of these children ! Thank you so much for sharing this journey,and giving all of us something to pray for and focus on ,other than our own selfish hearts.
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These posts (from all the bloggers on your trip) & pics/videos are leaving me breathless. Thanks to this child for a poignant reminder of what this day is TRULY for!
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Oh wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. I had this song stuck in my head Sunday morning. I even twittered about it. So sweet hearing him sing it.
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Praying, praying, praying! Thanks for your updates, and for your continually humble spirit. You are a blessing and example to us all.
Thanks Pete…oddly that was my prayer this morning…before I read you post. Be safe and travel well
Thanks for making this so real for us. What a beautiful child of God this young man is (as are you, Pete). Be safe. Will continue to pray for you and your good work.
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I knew I’d cry. This IS the day. I’m choosing to serve and love because of who He is and not what I can do.
Thanks Pete. Praying steadily for all of you.
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wow- yes, THIS IS the day! Let us REJOICE! Let us rejoice just because GOD is GOD and He is enough- no matter what this day (or the next…) brings- our God IS and HE is all we need. Compassion bloggers- thank you for bringing this to us. We continue to pray for all God is working on there in India- praying that His Kingdom will continue to strengthen and that the world WILL know- bloggers- keep reflecting Him in those dark corners! We are cheering for you! love to you all!
Pete, I always need this reminder. I so often let my daily circumstance determine how I feel about this day. The day is the Lord’s, no matter the circumstance of that day. It is His and He knows the circumstance of MY DAY before I open my eyes. I believe He then waits to see if I will walk through it knowing it is His or treat it as mine. Shamefully, most days I do not. Thanks for the reminder that today is the Lord’s.
Love you and Anne. Rejoice in the day!
Oh that’s a tough lesson to learn. Mother Teresa had a lot to say about spiritual poverty. It must be a lesson to be learned in India. For the record, in my life this has been a lesson I have had to keep learning over and over and over.
Every single second of every day I need that reminder. Thank you, Pete!
i used to sing that song with my girls every morning as i drove them to school.
thanks so much for sharing. our compassion sponsor package arrived in the mail the same day y’all left for india. coincidence? i don’t think so.
thanks for enduring the heat, the conditions, and the separation from family to touch these beautiful children and remind us all – sitting here in our comfortable homes – how poor and pitiful we are.
I’ve been going thru “Hell” for over a year now but deep down…I thank God for each and every new day and each morning I wake up with thanksgiving for THIS IS THE DAY!
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@Beth Sanders, where’s your child located?
This is indeed the day the Lord has made. I woke up today, therefore I know the Lord has great things for me for this day! I pray that I will live TODAY with all love, compassion, humbleness, and be open to what He has in store for me TODAY!
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I think we all need that reminder each and everyday.
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Thank you for the reminder of how we become caught up in the ‘trappings’ of our world and not look to seek Him fully. So amazing that people who ‘seem’ to have less often have so much more. Blessings to you Pete!
Pete,
Wish I could be there with you guys just so I could get back to the basics of what it means to be a Christian for a day or two.
Its kinda like walking into a supermarket and buying a steak. The experience is so sanitized that we forget where the steak came from. It still tastes good and we appreciate it but we forget that there was a sacrifice of life behind the piece of meat we just bought and grilled. We focus on the $7.99 a pound that we paid for it, thinking that the price we paid made the steak more enjoyable to eat taking for granted that a higher price was paid by the cow.
Maybe what I am trying to say is that we have taken our consumer mentality into our approach to God.
I hope and pray that God has many more lessons and insights for you while you are India. My family is sponsoring a little boy there – maybe you will have a chance to give him a hug for us.
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Sitting here..spiritually poor this morning, at my fancy desk…new shoes…full breakfast. This little boy gave me a gift. I want what more of what he’s got. He’s been Billy Graham to me today. Thanks for sharing him with us needy folks.
Thank you Pete I needed that. Struggling to figure out how to serve him and be Christ-like when I’m not doing service or on a mission trip, to acknowledge this is the day when I’m in the office for 12 hours.
Chris Sullivan’s last blog post..Examen.me
Spiritual poverty…feeling that I may be in denial…
I love seeing these children through your eyes~It’s seeing them, in a way, through the eyes of The Father…
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Amen!
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oh my goodness, Pete! I know your heart is being pulled in so many directions while you are there, and I commend you for going. Thank-you for pushing CPCC to missions! That’s what we are to be about as believers, and so many churches miss that! Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you for making it a top priority for us! I LOVE missions, too, and wish I were there with you!
Blessings and love from The Sylers
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So often we think of outreach and missions as a means to bless others. For me, it never fails: It is an opportunity for God to work on my own wretched heart.
Thanks for sharing. Again.
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@lisa, you have no idea how many directions.
what an incredible post Pete
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I sang that song in first grade. Now I’m thinking of all kinds of things, all good though.
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Pete – thanks for sacrificing to go over there and share with all of us back home. It’s truly inspiring and heart breaking and amazing and unbelievable and so much more!
Thank you!
~Kate
Katy’s last blog post..Tis the season….
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It’s amazing to watch God rock someone’s perspective.
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What a revelation you had!!! This is becoming quite the trip for you
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I can’t wait to bring what you have learned back to Cross Point, Pete. So excited about what God is teaching you – and teaching us through you. Loved the video.
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@jessica, it’s been quite a trip and it’s only halfway over. Can’t wait to see what else God is going to teach me. I’m learning way too quick to even process right now.
THanks for a great post! And thanks for speaking up on behalf of these children.
I just wrote to my Compassion children yesterday and quoted Psalm 118:24 – I think I was quoting as much for them as I was for myself.
And now your post…reminding me again!
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this reminds me of your message on today being your best day ever…this is the day…so simple and so profound…
So true, Pete. I’ve often felt that while it seems we’re incredibly blessed to live where we do, we really miss out on what it’s truly like to need a Savior every minute of the day. All of this “stuff” really distracts us from what really matters.
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Must be amazing to be there. I love that song and sing it frequently.
This is such a fantastic reminder! I am so enjoying coming along on your journey to India!
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Pete, beautiful post!
Praising God for all that He is teaching and speaking through you! What an amazing journey that all started from the love of one child!
Hugs and prayers to all of you!
Jill
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Amazing post.
Love the little boy.
Nothing like a little perspective…wow.
Praying for all of you!!
WOW. I needed that reminder. I am enjoying sharing in this trip with you and your team. It has made a huge impact on me in so many ways. Thank you for sharing that, absolutely beautiful!
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Beauty.
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Pete
I can remember standing at the Dehli Airport (delayed–that is another story I don’t want to scare you with) and listening in my ears to “YOU SAID”. (Distant Shores….) I can remember thinking ‘Lord, you had to take me half way around the world to show me the nations…and here it is!” I never spent 3 more peaceful hours praying for the nations.
I’m reliving my trip to India through you. Thanks for reminding of the things the Lord taught me there. I can tell he’s doing a work in you. Praise God!
Jim
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How beautiful and sweet. Pete thanks for going and sharing with us back home and keeping us up close and personal with your journey. Sharing your lessons. We will rejoice in it! God Bless.
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Hey bro…put up another prayer blog for you guys over at our Remedy Prayer Blog for your trip. Know that I am praying hard for you guys. I know what you are going through and can only imagine what your mind and heart are doing right now. Please know we love you guys and are praying continually. here is the link…http://www.lovingpeople.org
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Amen, Pete. Thanks.
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we’ve watched this video about 10x today. jett said “i didn’t know i spoke indianese.” he was shocked to learn that the little boy spoke english.
thank you for starting our day with this reminder. we’re proud of you!!! love and miss you!
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@Trevor, you’re the man. Thanks so much bro. Realizing just how powerful and important prayer is on this trip.
This is an excellent post. Thank you for being in India and sharing your experience. I will pray for all of you.
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Your blogs and video’s are a reminder on how we must serve others and how we do take our lives and lifestyles for granted…thanks Pete!
Dude. Im touched just reading this. Awesome stuff. Today IS the day. It is not the day to wait, to wonder, to ponder…it is the day to DO, to MOVE, to CHANGE. Great stuff man. Jack & I r praying for you guys.
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The Lord is moving in so many hearts! I live in Houston and several of my friends are reading one (or all) of y’all’s blogs! I began sponsoring William from Kolkata last night and tonight found out another friend of mine is sponsoring a little one, too!
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Thanks Brewster. I’ve got so many stories to share with you!
Pete, you have to read some of the excerpts on my blog from the book that I am reading by C.E. Jefferson called “The Building of the Church.” Written in 1910, this book is the best that I have read by far pertaining to Matthew 28 and the great commision. It would be nice to here your comments about the excerpts. The whole book is great.
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I think most of us need this reminder everyday! Thanks for that!
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Pete I just emailed you and Angie – however, just in case you can’t get them while away.
Our Compassion Child in India is Amol Adgude – ID # IN-847-0034 could you see about meeting him while there. Give him a hug from our family, tell him we love him, pray for him and our new letter is on its way with more pictures and stickers.
What you are all doing is such a blessing and the ripple effect will be happening for years to come – for them and all of you!
Love,
Jill
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Yep, that is why my husband ad I say that every single time anyone asks us for anything, we give. Maybe it is opnly a sandwich or the change in our pockets or a single dollar, but we give it. Can’t out give God. His compasion is unending and He says to give and to care and so we do. Never said to anyone, we don’t have it or we have so many people asking from us or God didn’t place that cause on our hearts. We stared The Elison Project because we have seen the starving and the homeless and those without a mother or a father. Compassion is one of the many wonderful groups that is doing awe inspiring things for those who truly are in need of God’s people reaching out and doing what we are ALL called to DO, EVERYDAY!
Wow that really struck a note with me! The kids and I sometimes sing that song in the morning before we start our day. I even keep it framed above my sink where I notice it occasionally. It is sung by him for such different reasons than I think of as we sing, but still some of the same ones. Makes the “one body” seem more real to me today. Wow!
Yes! I need the reminder that “this is the day” every day it seems
We sing it often in Khmer (Cambodian) during staff devotions and each time I try to be intentional, not simply dismissing it as a familiar song I knew as a child, but to allow myself the impact of what it would actually speak to me. Thank you for the reminder!
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Wow, you said so articulately, and so powerfully, what I try to communicate with our community of sponsors every day. We are grateful for organizations like Compassion and World Vision for getting the word out about the need for sponsors for children in today’s world, and taking programs for fatherless children to Egypt, where these organizations can’t go. Because we’re an indigenous Egyptian community (Coptic Christians) in diaspora, we have a direct knowledge how to work in Egypt, and apply the standards of professional development, while fostering the personal relationships that are at the heart of everything we do. May God reward you abundantly for your care for all the forgotten children in the world.
how can we help the kids with visual disability,what they need the most,i really feel that i want to do something that help them and remain along with them,and may make their future better
Could be the most influential thing I have read all year?
Grover