Spence Smith

I know it sounds a little weird to say it like that but I’m big on seeing kids realize their dreams. I have met kids all over the world who have dreams…. Big dreams!!!! However… not so much here. Well… Not exactly.

For the past two days we’ve been meeting kids and their families. When you ask the kids what their dreams are they mostly give you a perplexed look. At this point our Compassion host tells us that kids here have to be taught what dreams are all about and that it’s ok to dream about what they want for their future. Seriously?? You would think dreaming could come naturally.

Like I said… I usually meet a lot of kids who are dreamers, but these kids are having to learn how to dream from scratch which tells me this… these kids really live in a world where there seems to be no hope and no future for them to count on. They know nothing else than what is happening right now in their lives and their future seems just nothing short of hopeless. Does this make sense to you?

So… Here’s what I did see that was very cool today. Compassion has a program for each child called My Plan For Tomorrow. This plan helps each child actually come up with goals and dreams for themselves. The child writes them down and works with a tutor or teacher at their Compassion project to realize their goals and dreams. This isn’t something the parents write for them… It’s all about the child and the child’s future. This is where the dreaming education starts and the confidence you see in kids when they know they can make it is awesome to see.

This afternoon Patricia, Robin, Anne, Melissa and I went to the homes of two girls who were both dreamers. Both wanted to be nurses and both had a look in their eye that said… I can do this.

Amazing… It really is amazing when you dig a little deeper and see how showing Christ through service affects the way a child processes life. Sure… they may be living in 110-degree heat in the poorest place ever but what do they care. It’s only temporary to them because they know they are going to make it and come back to help others make it too.

Now that’s paying it forward!

Once again, I am thankful to see that raising up dreamers seem to be a universal theme around the Compassion Projects I visit. These kids are creating culture and changing lives in the process, not only for themselves but for their families as well… and if you are sponsoring one of these kids they are going to make you want to dream big too.

When you sponsor a child, you are investing into the life of a dreamer that needs the chance and opportunity to dream really big… so go ahead… dream big and sponsor a kiddo.

By the way…. Just in case you need a good way to tell people to shut their cell phones in church, try this out below… The church we visited today seems to have it figured out:)

Today for The Sunday Post I want to feature the India Blog Trip with Compassion International. This friday I’m off to India with 9 other people. I’m leading this trip with Shaun Groves and we are in for quite a trip. The purpose of this trip is to take bloggers and show them our work just like I do for artists. Instead of coming back after the trip and writing about the experience-everyday we will come bck to the hotel and blog about what we saw THAT DAY! Our first blogging trip to Uganda was a huge success as well as the blogging trip to the Dominican Republic. Shaun heads up this effort for us over at CompassionBloggers.com.

Here’s the list of those who will be blogging on this trip.

Angie Smith

Anne Jackson

Melissa Fitzpatrick

Robin Dance

Patricia Jones

Keely Scott

Pete Wilson

Shaun Groves

and ME!

I’ve talked about building a community for several months now. It’s part of my grand scheme to rule the universe…not really. But it sounds kind of fun and if Dr. Evil can try it then so can I!

I wonder some times if generations before me have felt what I feel right now. I feel things are changing on so many levels and at a speed which is so hard to keep up with at times. The environment, politics, the economy, culture…and now the internet.

Remember when the internet was birthed by Al Gore? Remember when email came about? Text messaging? Websites? Blogs? Remember when alluser groups were cool and you could create an online forum or message board? Wow…those were cool, Beave.

It’s a small world after all. Why? The internet, cell phone technology, and innovations that make your head spin…I think that disney guy was on to something with that one song. My mother loves that ride by the way. We all road it with her last summer at disney world.

As the internet changes and people become more online, there comes with it ways to exist and evolve online. Mostly this is virtual, not real at times, but none the less…it’s a reality and it’s here. With all of this is the desire to build and exist within a community with those who are like minded about exploring culture using none other than…the internet. Enter the Web 2.0 world.

Yes…it’s a virtual world, but the real part of it exists within those people you interact with online that are real in your life. Otherwise…it’s pretty voyeuristic at times. It’s not bad or of the devil. Just different.

What’s the point? Community. I feel like we are in a generation of people who want to be in community with each other. Whether that community sits in a coffee shop or at a local hang or sits on twitter walking through the day 140 characters at a time. It’s about community.

The world we live in is moving to a consumer to consumer based world where trust and transparency are sought out because those opinions might help when I need an answer to a question about life. Or…what CD I should buy next.

I love it when people are moved to action because they follow someone online, like over at flowerdust.net or that I can follow another friends trip in China because he is loading pictures of the trip daily.

I love that I can reach out to an online community and learn from others like on Watercooler Wednesday. We my friends are in community…it’s time to continue to build it.