Compassion Experience Truck Event, Bringing Help to Children in Extreme Poverty

Mike: It’s X101, Always Classic. I am Mike Eves. Want to welcome into our studios Dan Nichols. Of course, you may hear him with the Motivational Minute, and he is with Grace Christian Fellowship. Dan, want to welcome you to the studio. Of course, always good to see you and talk to you. And you guys have something very exciting, very eye-opening coming up at Grace Christian here in August with Compassion International. We were talking a little bit about it off-air, and we want to really reiterate, too, it’s open to the public and it’s really to help those in poverty—extreme poverty, you said—down in El Salvador. Tell us a little bit about what it is. We can get into what Compassion International is, El Salvador, and what you can do to help. But first, yeah, we want to welcome you into the studio.

Dan: Yeah, thanks for having me back, Mike. I really appreciate it. So, August 14th to 16th, we are having a very unique experience with what’s called the Compassion Experience truck. It is an immersive experience for you and your family, especially kids, to walk through two different stories and hear of how children have been released from poverty in Jesus’ name in multiple countries around the world. But we specifically are focusing on El Salvador, to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And we want to welcome anyone from the community who wants to help alleviate the very real problem of extreme poverty.

Mike: That’s right. And when we think of extreme poverty, we don’t have extreme poverty here, but you kind of want to explain that to us. They don’t have access to immediate care, sometimes not even fresh water, good plumbing, or even fresh food. They don’t really have access to pretty much—not even housing, right, Dan?

Dan: Yeah, Joy and I got to visit El Salvador ourselves. My wife Joy and I took this trip last fall, and it was a crazy experience to see the difference between extreme poverty versus poverty. Here in the United States, we do have poverty. Poverty simply means a lack of something. So yes, obviously in the United States we do have some lack, but in other countries, they have extreme poverty where they’re not able to access even the most basic resources that almost all of us in the United States can, regardless of our income level. Joy and I entered into a home, for instance, where it was raining. When I say a home, I mean it was home for them, but it was basically just this tin shack, one room. The entire family—the mother and the three kids—all lived in this one room. They did have some beds, but their kitchen was basically a makeshift sink. Even getting electricity, they had to actually borrow from their other neighbors in another tin shack just to have enough electricity to even have a little bit of light at night.

Mike: It really is eye-opening. Compassion International, they are a great program. Obviously, they’ve helped many in lots of different countries, but you guys chose El Salvador. Take us into a little bit—the truck is going to be here for August 14th for a couple of days in your parking lot. Keep reiterating that it’s open to the public, Dan, and you can hear about it. And you’re basically going to sponsor some children, right? How does that work, Dan?

Dan: Yeah, so we’re inviting people to consider becoming a sponsor for a child who is suffering from extreme poverty but is being released from that through Compassion’s child development centers. In El Salvador specifically, this is a nation that’s going through a lot of change, a lot of moving out of gang activity that was ravaging the country. Now that’s been cleaned up, but there’s a lot of fatherless kids, there’s a lot of infrastructure issues.

When you sponsor a child, you provide for them—it’s only $42 a month. Joy and I say all the time, just even going out to eat one time with our family is way more than $42, depending on where you go. But I’ll tell you, providing every month for a child to have food, to have education, to have healthcare, and to have spiritual guidance in these child development centers is so valuable. You get to correspond with your child, get to know them, and then you get to see them grow up. I got to sponsor a kid starting in 2008 who graduated from the program. So ever since 2008, I’ve personally been involved with this. Joy and I now sponsor two children: one in Ethiopia, and another one who we got to meet in person, Adriana, there in El Salvador. That was an amazing experience. Down the road, we’re actually partnering with many other churches around Central New York to adopt El Salvador together and take trips as well. So this is a long-term investment; this isn’t just a one-time event. But August 14th to 16th, we’d love for you and your family to come out to Grace Christian Fellowship’s parking lot.

Mike: Yeah, that’s right. It’s kind of eye-opening. I always think it’s so important for folks to understand what other people are going through in their lives—how they do things, their education, and things like that. You said pretty much the infrastructure is non-existent, right, Dan?

Dan: Yeah, nationally, El Salvador is very thankful that a lot of the gang activity has been cleaned up. Actually, the world’s largest prison is in El Salvador. But now, it’s the whole, “Okay, now what?” After the big crisis, how do we move forward in a way that’s meaningful? We can be a huge part of that. When we were there in person, we met this one child. His dad had been murdered brutally, gang-style. He hadn’t had a father in his life ever since he was a little kid. But he said, “My sponsor’s letters were like the father I never had.”

Mike: That’s amazing.

Dan: And to us, that doesn’t feel like a huge deal. But to these children, it’s everything. He stood in front of us just weeping. To see what God had done in his life, to see him drumming—he’s like this semi-pro drummer. I mean, really, he’s such a skilled, gifted drummer.

Mike: No kidding. It gives them hope.

Dan: There was also a kid whose parents were taken away illegally into prison because they thought they were in a gang, but they weren’t; they were falsely accused. For three years, this kid had no contact with his parents because of the turmoil they were in.

Mike: Yeah, they didn’t know if they were alive or what was going on. Very scary.

Dan: But then Compassion International was able to enter into the picture and train this child how to have a barber business. So when his parents were released three years later, they saw their child thriving as an entrepreneur, having the skills and abilities to take care of his siblings while they were going through that crazy chaos.

Mike: That’s amazing. Get them motivated. And the thing, too, we’re giving them hope. It’s not just getting them out of the dumps, because I can’t even imagine that, but we get the kids out of the dumps and give them hope. That’s where it begins, right, Dan? Everything starts with hope.

Dan: Yep. And we love being hope dealers. That’s what I say all the time.

Mike: Yeah, I love that. You always have some great phrases. Hope dealers. But again, tell us a little bit about August 14th in the parking lot at Grace Christian Fellowship, off there on Fisher Ave. Come down and see it. You don’t need to be religious; it’s just an eye-opening thing if you want to educate yourself on how others live and just to meet your guys’ team, too.

Dan: Yeah, you and your family will be able to walk through several different rooms inside this truck that tell the story through narration with headphones about these two kids who walked out of extreme poverty because of sponsorships like what we’re able to do. So yeah, August 14th to 16th, if you want more information, you just go to adoptelsalvador.org.

Mike: Okay, adoptelsalvador.org. We’ll share these links later. Dan, anything else? We’re almost out of time. Anything else you want to say as a final thought here?

Dan: Well, I know a lot of people are struggling right now, not just internationally, but even right here at home. I have found, in the times when I’m struggling the most personally, when I lift my eyes up and I start to see opportunities where I can help other people, believe it or not, that actually helps me cope with my own suffering. The hardships we’re going through—man, they’re real and they are difficult—but when we’re able to look to the left or the right, or to El Salvador, and say, “I want to be a part of helping someone else,” it’s incredible how that rebounds back to us. We’re able to experience a lot of joy from serving rather than just navel-gazing.

Mike: You make a great point. That’s Dan Nichols from Grace Christian Fellowship. Again, Compassion International is having a great event coming up August 14th. It’s not going to cost you anything. Come out and see it, and you’ll be able to get more information at adoptelsalvador.org—that’s the link again. We’ll share that with you. Dan, always a pleasure, and we’re really looking forward to this event. You guys are bringing some great, eye-opening things to our local community to make an international impact, which is always awesome to do.

Dan: Yeah.

Mike: So, thank you.

Dan: Thanks a million, Mike.