Ben Stewart

Shaun and a bunch of bloggers are on a trip to Kolkata, India, right now seeing the work Compassion International is doing to fight poverty and provide hope to children and families. Becky, Shaun’s wife, is on this trip with him even though she isn’t a blogger herself. This is her first trip overseas to see the work of Compassion so I have been very curious to see her reaction and hear her thoughts.

Today Shaun posted the e-mails that Becky has been writing their kids here in America while they’ve been in India. You must go read this post. Here’s an excerpt from Day 5:

The house we visited today was one of a little Compassion girl who is 11.  Remember that it is only the size of your bathroom (without the bathtub, toilet, and sink) and her whole family of 5 people sleeps in there with no bed.  The floor is clay and there is one window.  It is painted a pretty blue color.  She asked us how we liked her house.  We told her that it was beautiful, and she started smiling.  She said “My life is very happy,” and began to sing a song to God.  You would think that she would be sad that she didn’t have more, but because she has God and knows her sponsor from Compassion loves her enough to send letters and money to take care of her, she is happy.

My wife and I are in the process of buying a house — our first house. It’s probably going to be a little bigger than a bathroom, but it might not be as big as the neighbor’s house. I only hope that we can remember to be happy because we have God who loves us and because we love each other, and not be sad because we don’t have more stuff.

Go read Letters from Mommy.