Pedalling Hope

August 6, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
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Hope

Every year since 2009 I’ve travelled between Albany and Perth, a distance of over 500 kilometres, by bicycle. I’ve taken on the challenge to raise funds for some very worthy causes but this year I’m looking forward to the ride even more as I support what I consider to be the best cause of all.

Back in the saddle

This October I’ll once again be taking part in the Ride for Hope. The ride will involve more than 30 cyclists, our biggest group ever, riding over 500 kilometres from Albany to Perth. As part of the event this year I’m raising money for Compassion.

If you’ve been following my blog for any time you’ll know that I work for Compassion, but I’m not supporting Compassion simply because it’s my job to do so.

I work for Compassion because I am convinced that there is no more effective organisation serving the world’s poor. I have seen no other method of working with those in poverty that even comes close to the way that Compassion is working.

I’ve seen Compassion’s work first hand in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Ethiopia and Rwanda. Every time I visit another church that is partnering with Compassion I am amazed at the change it is making in the lives of the most vulnerable members of our world, children.

My fund raising target is $2000. To reach that goal I need 20 people who are prepared to donate $100. Can you please consider being one of those people?

Of course I understand that not everyone can afford to be so generous so please consider giving whatever you can. The need is desperate and any donation of $2 or more is tax deductible in Australia. (Donations are still welcome from anywhere in the world.)

If you’d like to make a difference in the lives of children who desperately need your support, simply visit my fundraising page.

I can assure you that your money will be well spent in releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

For the 13th consecutive year, Compassion International has earned the highest rating for U.S. charities from Charity Navigator—the nation’s largest charity evaluator. The 4-out-of-4 stars rating places Compassion International in the top one-percent of non-profits reviewed by Charity Navigator. – PR Web

Let me thank you in anticipation of your support for children in poverty.



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An Inspiring Life

July 17, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
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There are many times in life that we can’t choose what happens to us but most of the time we can choose how we deal with life’s circumstances. Tonight I met an extraordinary woman. Christine Uwase has risen above some of the most devastating events imaginable to create a bright future.
>”I was on my mother’s back when they shot her in the head,” says Christine Uwase. “She died on the spot.” Christine was 4 years old.

“We were hunted,” she continues softly. For days the terrified family of five children had hidden in their Kigali neighborhood before the Interahamwe (a civilian death squad) murdered their mother.

Fueled by tribal hatred, these violent gangs used guns and machetes to kill an estimated 1 million people during Rwanda’s April 1994 genocide.

Christine’s father was traveling with his civil service job when the killing began. Christine says, “To this day we do not know his whereabouts.”

The family can only assume he was murdered during the genocide.

Meeting this inspiring young woman was a real honour and has been one of the great highlights of my trip to East Africa.

Let me encourage you to take a few minutes to watch the video of Christine’s story and be inspired too.



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Hope Breaks Through

July 10, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
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(Pictured: Some of the many children being released from poverty through Compassion.)

He worked as a soldier for the former government, clearing land mines. That was until a mine robbed him of his eyesight and one of his legs. These days his small pension and meagre earnings from what little work he is able to do just can’t stretch far enough to support his wife and five children.

We were welcomed into his tiny dwelling. His entire home is about the size of a small bedroom. It’s dark and there’s some rough covering on parts of the concrete floor. The high corrugated iron roof has made it possible to accommodate a very roughly made mezzanine across half of the room where he sleeps alongside his two sons. Mum and two daughters sleep below. Their eldest daughter has moved to live with close relatives because there’s just not enough room for her at home. The large poster of Avril Lavigne on the wall seems completely out of place in this small Ethiopian home.

As a couple of local Compassion representatives and us five Australians huddled together in the cramped conditions, we heard the story of this fammily and their struggles.

With rain bucketing down outisde and thunder that made it sound like the entire neighbourhod was about to fall down, we also heard about how one of their daughters is now being sponsored through Compassion. Now there is hope in their home. She dreams of becoming a civil engineer …. and she’s only seven.

In just a few days in Addis Ababa we have seen a lot of desperate poverty but we’ve also seen incredible hope. We’ve seen hope amidst some of the toughest circumstances imaginable and we’ve met young people who have overcome poverty through their Compassion sponsorship. Lives are being changed and children are being released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Before we left that small home today we prayed for the precious family we had just met. We prayed that Jesus would be their comfort in their difficulties and that he would also be the one to change their current circumstances. It was an honour to spend time with their family and to enter into their world, even for just a few moments.



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A Different Kind of Tour

July 3, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
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Rwandan children

It’s an annual ritual. Rugged up in front of the television late into cold July nights to see the world’s greatest annual sporting event unfold half a world away. The 2014 Tour de France begins on Saturday night but this year I won’t be seeing much of the race.

This weekend I’ll be flying out for a very different kind of tour. I won’t be watching muti-million dollar teams battle it out over three weeks for the prized yellow jersey. I’ll be thousands of kilometres closer to the action but still a world away. I’m about to spend a couple of weeks visiting Ethiopia and Rwanda.

I’ll be hosting some Australian Compassion supporters on a trip to see Compassion’s work in East Africa. We’ll be seeing the real life proof that Compassion is releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. We’ll meet people whose lives have been transformed and whole communities benefiting from partnerships between local churches in countries like Australia and the churches we’ll visit in Ethiopia and Rwanda.

I’m hoping that I’ll get internet access from time to time and be able to update you on what we’re seeing and experiencing.



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Will you act?

June 25, 2014
by Rodney Olsen
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Tony

How do you tell a child that they’re not the one to blame for their family’s poverty? How do you explain to a young boy that he’s not the reason that his family have no food to put on the table?

Tony Beltran grew up in Dominican Republic and from a young age he was full of guilt because he thought that he was the reason that his family struggled with extreme poverty. He thought that if he wasn’t around his family would be better off and wouldn’t have to live that way.

I met Tony yesterday in Melbourne. That’s us in the grainy iPhone photo above. He’s visiting Australia to let people know about the one act that turned his life around. It wasn’t an immediate change but just one act made all the difference. Child sponsorship through Compassion changed everything for Tony and it continues to change everything for hundreds of thousands of children in developing nations.

It was an honour to meet Tony and to hear him tell his story. In the video below he tells some of that story. Along with some other former sponsored children, Tony talks about dramatic change and how hope can shine brightly into some very dark places. Please watch the video and find out more about the one act that changed Tony’s life and is currently transforming the lives of around 1.6 million children across the world.

Will you act?



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