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Couple make compassion international

From their Kansas home, they have changed the lives of three children in Mexico and Uganda.

By HELEN T. GRAY McClatchy Newspapers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The refrigerator door is where parents often show off their children's artwork and other achievements.

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Sarah and Eric Fox-Linton show off photos, letters and gifts from the three children they are sponsoring through Compassion International at their home in Atchison, Kan.

Allison Long/Kansas City Star/MCT

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But it looks different in the apartment of Sarah and Eric Fox-Linton.

Theirs is filled with photos and letters from children in Uganda and Mexico, children the Atchison, Kan., couple sponsor through Compassion International.

Compassion is one of several organizations, such as World Vision, that sponsors children overseas.

Married in 2008, the Fox-Lintons have no children. Eric is a physics professor at Benedictine College in Atchison, and Sarah is working on her masters in higher education administration.

But the pride they have in a little boy from Uganda and two girls from Mexico is almost equal to that of parents with biological children. Under a living room end table is a folder for each child, filled with letters and photos that show each one's progress.

The couple's conversation reflects their pride.

"Abraham is such a special little guy to us," Sarah said.

The couple started sponsoring him soon after they were married, when he was 5 years old. He lives with his parents and six siblings.

"We wanted a child from Uganda because of the war and the kidnapping of kids there," Sarah said.

"It's been wonderful to see his progress," she said. "In the first picture he was barefoot, his clothes were too big for him, and he was not smiling.

"Then in his next picture, he looked like a completely different child. He was wearing shoes and clothes that fit him, and he had a happy smile. In the third photo, he was wearing a vest and shorts, shoes and socks. It was a world of difference from the first picture."

They send him money for Christmas, and he spends most of it to buy farm animals and food for his family and to make donations to his church, Eric said.

Compassion International requires sponsors to contribute $38 a month for each child and to write to them. The organization partners with churches in 26 countries. Along with Compassion personnel, who are natives of the countries, the churches provide Christian training, education and health care.

"We believe that as God changes the life of a child, he or she can change their community and country and the world," said Amy Tumpes, the Southwest regional ministry manager for Compassion. 

Sarah said it is great to see the children grow and learn. For instance, at first people from Compassion helped Abraham write letters. Now he writes them himself.

"He is always saying, 'Thank you,' and he prays for us a lot and wants to know about where we live," Sarah said, adding that one day the couple would like to visit him.

They did get to visit the two girls they sponsor in Mexico. They started sponsoring Daniela, 9, and Anayeli, 7, last March and in July they went to Mexico to see them. First was Daniela, who lives with an aunt in far southern Mexico. Her mother moved to another city to work and visits when she can.

"All the people from Compassion were excited to see us," Sarah said. "We were overwhelmed."

The church had a big dinner for them, and the couple distributed gifts to the children, including books for Daniela, who likes to read.

Sarah said they had sent Daniela a picture from their wedding, and her aunt had hung it on the porch. "That was a surprise, to come to their house and see our wedding photo," she said.

The next day they visited Anayeli, who lives with a grandmother in another part of Mexico. All the children at the church that runs the Compassion project ran out to greet them. The couple looked at the crowd, trying to pick out Anayeli. There was a ceremony first, and then Anayeli was brought out.

"She was just so precious and excited to meet us," Sarah said. "She was kind of shy, but as the day went on she warmed up to us.

"We gave her a book, a backpack with school supplies and paper dolls. She had never seen paper dolls, and then said, 'How pretty.'

"We also brought presents for both girls to give to their friends and cousins. And each of them surprised us with gifts they had made for us. We thought we would come back home with lighter suitcases."

They later went with Anayeli and her grandmother to a river where they wash their clothes.

Eric said that visiting the girls let them see the impact the program has on the children.

"Poverty is not just a lack of material goods, but also a lack of hope," he said. "You have to give them a sense that they are loved by others, and they are given hope through this program. Through the Bible teaching they learn that they are important in God's eyes, and this really increases their self-worth."

He said that when he reads about the lives of children in the program and about those waiting for a sponsor, it gives him perspective on his own worries."It makes my everyday problems seem small."

Eric said some people may want to help children in the United States, and that is good, "as long as you are doing something."

"But I feel the need is greater overseas for a lot of kids," he said. "For instance, even the poorest people here can get clean drinking water, whereas that is a challenge for a lot of kids overseas."