This week several blogger friends of mine have been on the Compassion Bloggers trip to India. Their trip to Calcutta has not only changed their lives but also impacted those of us who have followed their trip through their blogs. Even more important are the many children sponsored this week through Compassion International because of them.

The most important thing we can do is let their stories, pictures and videos wash over our souls and break away the hardened western callousness that lets us see but not be touched. This week they’re on the front lines touching the beautiful faces of these children and becoming dirty with the filth of poverty. They’re sending back stories and pictures that will break your heart if you let them.

Anne wrote these beautiful words yesterday:

They had eyes of hope,
but skin and bones for flesh.
They had dreams,
but no clean water.
They were covered in potential,
but they had no clean clothes.
You may never touch the rough hand
of a young, hungry child.
Or see a two week old dying in a crib
in an orphanage in Kolkata.
You may never smell what raw sewer and smoke
and smog smell like on a hellishly hot and humid day.
But it is my prayer for you that something will break.

Are we willing to be broken for the brokenness of hungry, poverty-stricken children around the world? Will we let that brokenness move us into action?

Lisa and I made the decision to sponsor our first Compassion child nearly a year ago and have been encouraged beyond words to receive letters of thanks for the very small sacrifice on our part. Maybe you’ve put off signing up for a monthly commitment with Compassion or are waiting for the right time. There is no better opportunity than now to have an eternal impact in the life a child.

Click here to release a child from poverty through Compassion.

The Compassion Bloggers will be in India through May 2nd and will continue to share stories, photos and videos of their trip. Here’s a selection of posts from some of the bloggers I’ve been following:

Pete Wilson:

• My Worst Road Trip Ever
• Sometimes I’m Miserable, Pitiful, Poor and Blind
• This is Why We Don’t Play Cricket in the U.S.
• One Life Can Make a Difference
• In My Head at 33,000 Feet

Anne Jackson:

• Letters of Love
• Anne
• Lakshmi
• Pramanik
• Henry

Shaun Groves:

• Pass The Biscuits
• Palak
• Rinky’s Treasures
• Indian For Kitchen
• May I Make A Suggestion To The Bumper Sticker Department?

Spence Smith

• I Stayed Back At The Hotel Today
• Dreamers Dream if They Know They Can Dream
• Compassion International Kolkata, India – Darkness Has An Enemy… And She Knows Karate!
• Compassion International Kolkata, India Mother Teresa Day 1
• Compassion International Blogging Trip To India – How You Can Help