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and amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, "we have seen extraordinary things today."  Luke 5.26

me and 18 others from san francisco left with open and willing hearts and returned home forever changed.

our purpose was to love on the children sponsored by epic church through compassion international and be a blessing to united christian church in kampala, uganda.

our time with the children paled in comparison to the joy they graciously gave us.

and the beauty never ends. our sponsorship dollars are at work every day in the lives of our sponsored children.

we saw their school and met their friends.

we walked into their homes and humbly met their moms and family.

we handed their family a box of food staples.

we read over their meticulous medical reports and school records.

we no longer see a picture on the refrigerator. we see the child.

we've touched their skin and held their hands. we've caught their eyes gleaming at us.

we've prayed with them and told them how much we love them.

epic already sponsors 50 kids in one project in one city in one country in the world.

we seized the opportunity to go.

we seized the opportunity to see compassion at work.

it works. we tell you. 50 lives will be different because we care.

50 lives will come out of poverty because we're not going to stop caring.

Ephesians 5.16 says to "redeem the time."

"making the best use of the time."

"make the most of every opportunity."

"making the most of your time."

"taking advantage of every opportunity."

"buy up your opportunities."

whether you go or you give faithfully, your sponsored child is forever changed.

you can sponsor a child today by going to compassion international. you can request a child by gender, country, or birthday.

these kids are living proof.

the 19 of us are living proof.

that together we're changed.

together we're making a difference.

{some photos courtesy of brian kahrs and chris doggett}