Remembrances of a Lost Friend

 I graduated High School in 1983 at the age of 18.  In 1987 when many of my classmates were completing their undergraduate studies I moved to Macomb, Illinois, and began attending Western Illinois University.  I saw those years as a time to learn but also an opportunity to be involved in ministry.  I came onto campus and became part of the leadership team of the local ragtag chapter of Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship.  

Like most campuses, ours had a new student fair each year.  I helped man the I-V table. I met many people that day and many signed up for more information.  One of those people was an 18-year-old freshman by the name of Frank Charles Rusan the fifth.  I don't remember if I met him at the table or later when I visited him in his dorm room.  Frank didn't introduce himself as Frank Charles Rusan V, I just remember his middle name because it is also my middle name. 

Frank started attending a Bible Study I was leading.  He and I became good friends during his time at WIU.  Before I met Frank I knew very few people who lived in Chicago even though I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.  Frank was the first black person I really got to know.  Frank and I both had a vision of breaking the color barriers of our campus's Christian ministries.  In his freshman and sophomore year, I visited the campus black church with him on many occasions.  The services were much longer and had so many different types of worship than I was used to.  I remember singing songs like Jesus is on The Mainline (Tell Him What You Want.).

I remember one day I was in Frank's room after a bible study and I don't remember exactly what he said but the gist was "Dave,  you love people, you treat them with respect.  You could be black.  He meant it and I took it as a compliment.  It reminds me now of something that happened a few years after that during my first year as a missionary in Russia.  I was in the home of my friend Vladimir.  His dad who was also named Vladimir was sitting with us at a table drinking tea with family.  Vladimir's dad commented something along the line that with me sitting at the table with them enjoying fellowship with them it was like he had another son.  Both those comments reminded me that even though blacks and whites and Russians and Americans have a history of mistrusting each other, true Christian fellowship transcends race and nationality.  

Frank graduated from Western in 1991 and we lost track of each other soon after that.  From time to time over the years I would think about him and our times together and wonder what he was up to.  Every few years I would google him without any success.  

Yesterday, my wife, oldest daughter, and I  were volunteering for Compassion International by handing out sponsorship packets at an event in Rockford, Illinois.  The Event was the 2023 Soar Awards a gospel music awards show.  We were about the only white people in attendance.  

When you volunteer at an event like this, there is a lot of downtime between responsibilities.  During those times I listened to the music emanating from the stage, and started thinking about Frank.  I thought this might be the exact kind of place I could run into him.  Perhaps in an act of symmetry, he would be manning one of the many ministry tables set up inside the atrium of the theatre.  I decided to google Frank and see if I had success locating him this time.  

This beautiful tribute page is what alerted me that Frank had died almost 5 years ago.  Frank is the third (as for as I know) of friends who I met during my first year at WIU who have passed away. I wish I had reconnected with Frank before he died but I don't feel any deep regret.   Reading all the tributes I realized that Frank had continued to be the same type of person he had been in college, faithful, available, teachable, and a person who radiated Christ.  There are many testimonies of him caring for people, praying for them, and being genuinely concerned for others.  This is the Frank I knew and loved and it brings me solace to know he continued to walk in that way for another quarter of a century before passing on to eternity with God in Heaven.

Don't wait a few days

September is blogger's month at Compassion.  They are pulling out all the stops to have their compassion bloggers talk about a simple way we can help children in poverty.

Starting next week, I will be writing one post each week about Compassion.  I am going to do this, even though I am extremely busy (2 full time jobs and  taking1 class).  I will do this for 2 reasons 1: The ministry of Compassion International is  important to me.  Compassion saves lives by providing needed food , health, and educational opportunities.  They also transform lives by sharing the Gospel of Jesus through word and deed.

2: The Compassion blogger whose blog generates the most sponsorships  in the month of September will go on a 2013   blogging trip (Bloggers go to compassion countries and blog from the field) at Compassion's expense.  I want that to be me.   

Going on a trip like that, is not within our families  financial abilities and probably will not be for some time.   It would be the trip of a lifetime for a ministry that I heartily endorse.
With that said, If you are interested in saving a child's physical life and providing opportunity for spiritual transformation, sponsor a child from Compassion today!!!!!

Don't wait until September.  Don't think  about me and my little dreams.  Think about Sukatra from Bangladesh who has been waiting for 209 days for a sponsor. Think out Wendtoin who is turning 4 today, who lives in an AIDS area of  Burkina Faso.   She also has been waiting 209 days for a sponsor.  Think about the many children that Compassion cannot help until the ones they are helping have sponsors.
Click here to sponsor a child today. You can even sponsor the children I mentioned.   If I didn't convince you today, I will be back next month to try again.

If you are a blogger, interested in participating in blogging month check out this link so you can participate as well.

Randy Stonehill on Compassion

Our family went to Indiana over the weekend to visit our friends and see the baby they just adopted.  We coordinated the visit so we could see Randy Stonehill, my favorite Christian artist, in concert.  Here he is articulating whypeople should sponsor children with Compassion International.  I will post some of his songs later this week.

Celebrate our Fatao Christian Heritage

Last week I received an email to write a blog post about a boy named Fatao who needed emergency heart surgery.  The email was sent to me as a Compassion Blogging assignment.  Fatao is a 6 year old boy from southwest Burkina Faso who has a heart condition known as VSD – Ventricular Septal Defect.  Put simply, he has a hole in his heart.    Read more about Fatao by clicking here. (Spoiler ALERT)

In December 2010 Fatao was registered at a local church into the Compassion Child sponsorship program.  During his first  physical as part of his sponsorship,it was recommended he see a cardiologist.  The cardiologist was able to diagnose the VSD. 

The surgery was planned to take place in India.  Fatao’s parents who work so hard to provide their family had no means to travel with their son.  I could not imagine my 6 year old having any kind of medical work done with out Amy or myself being there for her. 

There was also the matter of paying for the surgery.  The costs involved would be great.  $23,000 dollars worth of great. A heart surgery is not really in the budget of the monthly amount paid by Compassion sponsors.   That is why bloggers like myself were contacted to get the word out to help raise this amount in as short time.  Those who donated would even get the opportunity to write fatao a letter of encouragement that would be read to him prior to the surgery.

Now, I didn’t really get the word out.  I am just getting to it now. However, the word did get out and more than 23,000 was collected and the surgery was a success!  Please pray for Fatao as he recovers from the surgery.

So, why do I even bother to write if the problem has been resolved?  Because there are more kids like Fatao.  Kids like Alexander who had the surgery a few years ago.  More than $10,000.00 was collected for his surgery.  Kids like Rossy from Guatemala and Victoria from Ghana.  In all 4 of these cases, the heart defect was discovered because of a physical that came with the Compassion sponsorship. Physicals that probably would have never been administered if these children were not part of Compassion. 

The $23,000.00 for Fatao has been met.  But by clicking here, you can donate money for the next Fatao, Alexander, Rossy, or Victoria that comes along.  You can also sponsor a Compassion child, insuring that another child will get a physical and perhaps have a rare disorder come to the attention of someone who can help. 

But physical ailments are not the only problem.  Each child in the world, each person in the world, has the same problem as Fatao – a hole in their heart.  The great philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal said (this is a paraphrase), That we all have a God shaped vacuum that can only be filled by him.  Yes ours is a metaphysical hole, but a hole just the same. 

Part of the Compassion sponsorship goes to diagnosing and fixing the sponsor child’s spiritual heart condition.  This spiritual component is why my money goes to Compassion.  There are many organizations that touch the physical need of the poorest of the poor.  Compassion gets to the heart of the matter, by reaching out to the soul at the same time. 
Acts Chapter 2 verse 45  says that in the early church the Christians were  selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.  This tradition continues today in many ways.  One is in cases like Fatao.  Please consider sponsoring a Compassion child and continuing this tradition.

Sponsor A Waiting Child

Today is my first official post as a Compassion Blogger. Today we're going to talk about children in poverty. And I'm going to get specific.

Before we do let's talk about waiting. Waiting has changed a lot in my lifetime. When I was a kid, if I wanted to watch an old movie, I had to wait until they aired it on television. Then the VCR came along and if I wanted to I could record the movie or buy or rent a copy and watch it at my leisure.

Waiting in the past few years has been mostly obliterated by smart phones and the phrase "there's an app for that." I bought myself an Ipod touch with Christmas money and since then many things I used to have to wait for are available in moments. I don't even have to type my posts anymore. I just speak into my Ipod and 2 taps later my thoughts are shared with the teeming masses.

But today let's talk about children in poverty who are waiting. They are waiting for a sponsor. A Compassion sponsor. Imagine it this way . . .

You are a child growing up in poverty.

A local church announces a new program coming to your village.

A program that will provide you with

*educational opportunities that you would not receive other wise.


*health care and health related instruction that you would not receive otherwise.


* food, clean water, and sustainable nutrition


* life skills and spiritual training.

A church volunteer takes your picture and gets information about you and your family. You are registered. You begin to receive the benefits of the program. But there is one thing you are missing a sponsor.

A sponsor is the person who donated money to Compassion so you can receive the benefits of the program. They do so much more than that. They write to you, they pray for you. They take that picture that was taken of you and put it in a prominent place in their house. On your birthday and Christmas they have the opportunity yo send you a special gift for you and your family.

You see when you went into the program, your whole family benefits from your sponsors contributions, letters and prayers.

But you don't have a sponsor yet and there is not an app for that.

So, you wait,

and wait,

and wait.

Some children in the program wait 180 days or more without a sponsor. Click here to see a list of children who have been waiting for a sponsor for more than 180 days.  That's 1/2 of a year.

You might be thinking "So what? They don't have a sponsor.  But they are in the program.  As long as their needs are being met.  Why do they need a sponsor?"

That's a great question.  Here are a few good reasons:

1) While these kids are having their financial needs met, their lack of sponsors is keeping Compassion from moving onto the next village and staring the program for other children in poverty.  Remember when I say children in poverty, I really mean families in poverty as the entire family benefits from the program.

2) The opportunity to communicate with your sponsor and to know your sponsor and be known by them is one of the best parts of Compassion.  Knowing that a real person is providing money, prayer and love makes a difference in a child's life. 

This video really captures the heart of how we can help a waiting child.

Sponsor a Waiting Child from Compassion International on Vimeo.


On A Personal Note

When we pick a child to sponsor we look for something that will tie him or her into our family.  Our first compassion child had Spider Droids exact birth date down to the day and year.  He also had Spider Droid's first name.  We never forgot his birthday!  When that boy's families situation improved (due in part to the program) so much that he didn't need to be sponsored anymore we found a girl Puppy's age who was born on Bunny's birthday

Please click here to see if you can find a waiting child to sponsor.  You can make a difference in a  child's life right now and you don't have to wait!

Friday Fragments

Fast Fragments.

Fragment 1: Amy and I will be out the door in a few minutes to work a Compassion table together at the Rock & Worship Roadshow Concert. I am looking forward to  time away from those snotty kids of mine spending some time ministering with my wife.

We have been Compassion sponsors for a few years now, I have not really blogged much about it before.  In the future, I will be blogging more about Compassion and their ministries around the world.  If you have any interest in finding out more about supporting a child through compassion, click here.

Fragment 2:  Our library has a serious backlog when it comes to use of the display case in the children's department.  It wasn't always this way.  Spider Droid and Bunny displayed their collections 1 or two months after signing up.  Puppy signed up last Spring, and was told that there wasn't a  month available to display her Pillow Pets and Webkinz until April 2013.

This Monday, we got a call from the director of the children's section of the library.  The  scheduled February presenter was no longer interested in displaying their collection.  (Keep in mind they probably signed up in 2009 or 2010).  Puppy was called in to be a last minute replacement.  I am not sure how she leap frogged the 13 people in front of her.  It may well be that since we are such fixtures at the library, they knew we could get the collection to them by the first.  Which we did.

Fragment 3: 

Last year Spider Droid and I had a blast at Monster Jam.  We are going to go again this year.  Tomorrow I will be posting a give-a-way here and on my FB   &  Twitter pages.  You can win 4 tickets to the Friday February 10th show in Rosemont, Illinois.  

Stay Tuned.

Those are my fragments and I am sticking to them.

For more Friday Fragments click here.