Meet Lydia.  She is a very special gal – someone we met in Uganda, Africa this week.  She has a very compelling story about growing up in poverty… and she also has a story of HOPE.

One man we spoke with in Uganda defined poverty as “helplessness plus hopelessness.”  It’s not about material goods or wealth.  It’s about having no hope… no possible way for you to change your life… because there is absolutely no way to pull yourself out of your current situation.  This is how a majority of the world is living.  So when a small opportunity is held out to someone who is helpless & hopeless… their situation is now given new meaning as they are given an opportunity to change.  They are no longer in poverty because they DO have hope.  They DO have an opportunity to change, to do something about their situation.  They are no longer helpless.

This is the story of so many women and children that we met this week.  We had the amazing opportunity to photograph and interview on video stories of HOPE.  These are people who want the world to hear their stories.  Marissa & I were merely the means to help share their stories.  In the coming weeks, we hope to share some of their stories with you.

There are moments from this week that are etched on my heart; moments that we will never be able to forget…

…Holding the hand of a woman who is HIV positive, praying with her after she has just told us that she now has hope for her future and for the future of her children, because of a local church that has helped offer her the opportunity to start a small business in her home.  She is now able to make enough money to provide for her family, and to start saving for her children’s future.  Not only that, but because of the tangible support she has received through her church, she has also met God in a way that she never had before.  As I thanked her for sharing her story with the world, and as I thanked her for being so incredibly brave in sharing her HIV status, my throat choked on the words and I had to push past the tears to try to express to her how much that means to me.  I can’t wait to share her story with you all.  Not because of the gravity of her situation, but because of the HOPE that reflects in her eyes.  That hope is so inspiring to me.

…Holding the video camera as another woman told her story of how Compassion International has helped impact her life in real, tangible ways.  Again, through her local church, she was chosen to participate in a program that teaches pregnant women how to prepare for their upcoming birth, how to receive proper prenatal care, and how to care for their babies.  This woman had delivered five babies in her lifetime.  All five babies died before they reached a few months old.  As she was telling us her story, she was holding her precious baby boy… the 6th child she has delivered… and this baby boy was 18 months old, thriving, healthy, and happy.  The mother believes that her son is alive because of this program that she was a part of in her church.  This mother now has hope for her son’s life, and she has such an incredible JOY that is palpable as you sit and talk with her.

… Holding a baby boy in my arms during a church service a few days ago.  This Ugandan woman approached the pastor of the church and told him the story of how she had found this precious baby lying on a trash heap.  Abandoned and left alone, she picked him up and she is now raising him as her own.  This woman was sitting behind me, and I asked her if I could hold the sweet baby boy.  He was looking at my face and grabbing for my hand.  He also grabbed my heart.  His name is Samson.  His life now holds hope, because one woman decided that he did not deserve to be left on the garbage heap.

… And now let me get back to Lydia.  Lydia once had a story of helplessness and hopelessness.  Until she was given the opportunity to be sponsored through Compassion International.  She was then able to go to school, to attend a program that taught her about her self-worth, to learn that God has great plans for her life.  She was given the help she needs to receive proper nutrition.  Lydia excelled in school, and so she applied to join Compasssion’s “Leadership Development Program” – which is an amazing program offered to a select number of students who are entering University.  These students are given the opportunity to go to school, to join a group of peers who meet together to sharpen each other and learn leadership skills.  They meet 1-on-1 with a mentor, and they commit to serving their community through service projects as they are finishing their school.

Lydia has just started the Leadership Development Program, and when we met her, she was still awaiting a sponsor.  Lydia is studying journalism, and she hopes to use this degree to help share stories of what is going on in the world.  She wants to share these stories with people in her country, even those who are living in poverty, because as she told us, these people still ought to have the opportunity to hear what is going on in the world.  I have no doubt that this amazing young woman is going to have an incredible impact her country.  For about a year, I’ve had the desire for our business to sponsor a young person through their college years (through Compassion’s LDP program).  So as we were sitting with Lydia and other LDP students at dinner, and as someone was praying for our meal, I just simply asked God to put the same thing on Marissa’s heart.  I hadn’t mentioned it to her before; not sure why, but I just wanted to be sure that Marissa was on the same page with me, that this wasn’t just my own idea… maybe just because it is such a big commitment to sponsor someone through this program.  In any case, for whatever reason, I kept quiet, but with this strong desire for God to work it out.  Halfway through the meal, when Marissa leaned across the table and asked me if I’d be ok w/ committing our business to sponsor Lydia through the LDP program, I just smiled.

So, meet Lydia.  The amazing young woman who is going to share stories that need to be heard.  The young woman who is the first person in her family tree to attend college.  A young woman who used to be a child living in poverty, hopeless and helpless.  A young woman who now has a voice to share hope and to give opportunity to other young women and girls in her community.  A young woman who is going to impact her country in incredible ways.  We are so thankful that we had the chance to meet her, and we’re honored that we have the opportunity to help her attend University.  Can’t wait to see how she impacts her world.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.  I blame my “long-windedness” on this darn jet-lag.  :)  We hope to share photos and videos with you in the coming weeks, to give you some more insight into the lives of these wonderful people, and to let you see some small glimpses of the incredible hope that we saw this week.  -Kimee (for Marissa too)

For info on how to get involved in Compassion, visit their website: http://www.compassion.com/