This is a story about a boy named Elvis, his very grateful mom, and the man she says rescued their lives.

Elvis was four when I visited his home at the edge of a slum in Nairobi, Kenya.

His mom hugged me and held my hand and smiled and cried and knelt down to bless my feet…and then she found out I wasn’t who she hoped I was.

She was still very kind after that! But she kept insisting I send Elvis’ sponsor to visit her home. She wanted so much to hug him and tell him how he “rescued” her son’s life.

“I am so thankful,” she said. “He has shoes and can go to school!”

Before this pandemic, 44% of Kenyans lived on less than $2 a day. Elvis was one of them.

He was often sick without a doctor, hungry without food, smart but without a teacher. His mom was hard-working but without work, and hopeless without ever knowing God saw her and loved her and her boys very much.

But then a pastor knocked on her door one day and told her he could help. He and his church could send her boys to school, put shoes on their feet, give them good food to eat. Her sons could drink clean water every day and see a doctor regularly.

And that’s just what they did. But that pastor and his Church also told Elvis and his family about Jesus – how he gave his life for them. The pastor gave them a bible written in their own language and, eventually, Elvis’s mother became a follower of Jesus!

Elvis’ sponsor gives $38 every month to underwrite the care Elvis is receiving through that church in his neighborhood.

Now, this pandemic has dragged even more people into extreme poverty around the world – over half of them are children.

Compassion’s sponsored children are receiving additional food support, economic assistance, hygiene kits, COVID testing and care, and on and on – all through local churches and funded by sponsors.

Unlike Elvis, many children plunged into extreme poverty by this disease don’t have a sponsor right now.

Others have recently learned that their sponsor is financially unable to continue their support.

So if you can, please sponsor a child today. If you already do, please sponsor another. And another by visiting compassion.com/shaungroveschristmas.

It’s never been more critical to support little ones and their families living in extreme poverty. They’ve never needed you and the Church more than they do right now.

Please, sponsor a child today by visiting compassion.com/shaungroveschristmas

If you sponsor using that link I’ll be able to thank you by inviting you to an exclusive on-line Advent celebration with songs, scripture, stories, and special guests.

So, visit compassion.com/shaungroveschristmas. That page is full of children who have been waiting MORE THAN A YEAR for a sponsor to choose them. Please end their wait today.

Thank you! Please share this need with your friends.

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and authenticity.”

– 1 John 3:16-18