Along the hillside community of Asebu in Ghana, Africa, lives a boy named Emmanuel Arthur. Emmanuel is fourteen years old, and turning fifteen on November 23 of this week. Although Emmanuel's parents were never married, his father works hard to support him and is a farmer in the local community when he can find work.

When Emmanuel is not attending the Asebu Pentecost Child Development Center, he helps out his father and stepmother by carrying water and cleaning, but also finds time to play soccer with his friends. Everyday Emmanuel comes home to his house built of cement floors, brick walls, and a tin roof to greet his siblings.

Subsistence farming is one of the main occupations of people living in this area, however due to the quality of the roads in rural Ghana, it is extremely difficult for these farmers to transfer their produce to be sold...often times causing them to not make enough financially to support them and their families. Water supply is scarce and often collected from dirty ponds and uncovered hand-dug wells that are in the community. The rate of children attending school is small, and children are often left to fend for themselves, thus leading to young pregnancies, rape, catching diseases, and juvenile crime.

For the past 6 years Meg Detwiler, a good friend of mine, and I have been sponsoring Emmanuel Arthur through Compassion International. Many letters have been sent back and forth over the course of this time, and we have been truly blessed by this opportunity to walk alongside Emmanuel and his family while simultaneously learning so much about them and their community.

I am extremely proud of Emmanuel and all of his accomplishments, as within the past year he has learned how to read and write, and has also recently joined a spelling group. Emmanuel has an aim to continue his studies once he is done with his school in Asebu and become a doctor to help his community in the future.

Emmanuel has taught me so many lessons these past years, and I am looking forward to getting to know him and his family even better in the coming years. There is so many more things I could say about Emmanuel, but I will most definitely let his current and future accomplishments speak for me, mentioned and unmentioned.

We have been truly encouraged through this experience, and I hope that all who read this also consider the opportunity of walking alongside a child through Compassion International. A sponsorship not only allows a child to attend a local center where they are given opportunities to learn, study, and grown, but also health checkups and medical care, nutritious meals and snacks, support to attend school, income-generating opportunities for parents, support for local church partners, tutoring, life-skills training, and much, much more.

These are real kids getting real opportunities.

I could go on about the amazing things that are happening around the world and through this organization, and I hope you will consider partnering with us. If you are interested please visit http://www.compassion.com/ and prayerfully consider the difference that you could make.