Compassion at Thousand Foot Krutch

Last night we had the opportunity to work our first Compassion event of this year.    The venue was at a local church and the evening filled with music from five bands:

Kiros
Nine Lashes
Manifest
Thousand Foot Krutch
Red

This was opening night of the tour, so the energy levels from the bands was high.   It was fun to see them all interacting with the attendees of the concert. 

When we first arrived to the Compassion table, everything was set up and we were greeted by the Compassion rep, Russ, a really great guy whom we enjoyed visiting with throughout the night.   The doors were already open for the VIP tickets that were sold to the concert.    As I watched the crowds, I noticed the age demographic of the majority of the attendees, and I wondered what the night would hold. 

Attended by mostly middle school and high school students, which made traffic really slow at the Compassion table.   We did have a couple of youth pastors stop by the table asking questions about their youth group signing up to sponsor a child, but for obvious reasons they wanted to talk to their youth groups before making the final decision.    We had a couple of parents stop by who were already sponsors which was fun to chat with them about their children.  

Unfortunately, there was only one child sponsored last night, but as I have mentioned before, it is the story behind the sponsorships that I love so much.

A young girl came up to our table just after the door opened for general admission.    She was with a friend, and they looked at the table for a long time.   About halfway into the night, on a break between bands, she came back to the table.   She looked longingly at the packets displayed on the table, and looked at her friend, "What do you think?" she asked.   Her friend just shrugged her shoulders and stepped over to the band's merchandise table that was next to us.  

The young girl continued to look at the pictures, and all of a sudden, tapped her friend on the should, "I need to borrow your phone."

"Why?"

"I need to call my mom and dad to make sure I can do this, that I won't get into trouble."



She steps aside, and calls her mom.    Upon handing the phone to her friend, her eyes are lit up as she tells her friend that she can sponsor a child. 

Hesitantly she steps back up to the table, and explains that she really wants to sponsor a child, but does not have the money on her at the moment.   Explaining that it is OK, she can mail a check, she again looks at the table.   Looking at us again, she asks, "Now what do I do?"

"You get to pick any child here that you want."  I explain as her friend steps to her elbow and asks her to hurry the next band is coming up.

She quickly grabs a packet,  "This one," she says, "because she is as old as I am."   Their birthdays are just months apart.

This young girl continues to be in my prayers today.   I pray that her life will be as blessed and impacted as the young girls life she has chosen to sponsor. 

While the number of sponsorships isn't a record number, the story, as important as all of the others, is one that leaves my heart soaring and happy.