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A Moment That Changed a Church
By Brandy Campbell
Pastor George Wright from Cedarcrest Church in Acworth, Ga., experienced a profound moment that moved his entire congregation to help children in need.
Sometimes, in a moment, everything just clicks.
For pastor George Wright, that moment came in a crowded Ugandan slum.
George had traveled with a dozen other pastors on a Compassion tour to Uganda in May 2009. Before the trip, he admits he was skeptical about Compassion.
Although passionate about missions, Wright had seen far too many missions and relief organizations that were sloppy and unorganized, and never quite got the money where they said they would go.
"Whenever I would hear about Compassion, I would just wonder, how much of that money is really going to help kids?" says George. "And is my money really going to make a difference?"
When a friend and fellow pastor invited George to Uganda, he knew that a firsthand look at Compassion's ministry would be the only way to alleviate his doubts.
That's how he found himself picking his way down a garbage-strewn street, trying to keep up with the group.
Earlier in the day, they had visited a Compassion-assisted child development center, where George had seen meticulous records on each child.
He couldn't help but compare the smiling, healthy children he had played with just hours before with the neglected, malnourished children who crowded this street.
The tour guide's words broke through the humid air as he described the conditions children lived in here. No clean water. AIDS. Malaria. Child labor.
"Half of the children in this community will die before they reach the age of 5," the guide said softly, shaking his head.
That was when it clicked for George. Because back home in Acworth, Ga., he had three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. And with a realization that toppled his skepticism, he finally understood that if he were a father here in Uganda, he likely would have already buried a child.
"I don't know why I was born in the United States and they weren't," says George. "I don't understand it, but I do know that God used that experience to show me how blessed I am — and how I need to bless others."
When George returned home, he immediately began working on a sermon series to present to the people of Cedarcrest Church, titled "One." The purpose of the series, he explains, was to show that one life can inspire change.
"I wanted to show them that they can make a difference," he says. "In Uganda, I saw Compassion's partnership with the local church.
I believe that the church is the hope of the world … and in Uganda, I saw Compassion join hands with the church to provide for both spiritual and physical needs. I wanted Cedarcrest to know they could be that same agent of change, even a world away. That one person, one church, can impact the world."
The final Sunday of the series was Cedarcrest's first official Compassion Sunday — and the church went all out.
The night before the sermon, dozens of volunteers helped set things up. A grandfather built a replica of a lean-to in the lobby. His daughter helped place child sponsorship packets on a table.
Other volunteers taped posters to walls and stacked clipboards next to a pile of pens.
The next morning, George greeted the congregation with a simple yet profound announcement: "I fully believe that as a result of this morning the world can change."
And that change began happening all over the building. In the children's area, dozens of kids glued pictures of Compassion children to bookmarks. In the youth area, five teens crowded into a 5-by-5-foot-square area taped off on the floor — the size of an average Ugandan home. They pantomimed cooking and cleaning, bumping into one another. When they broke into their small groups, each group chose a child to sponsor.
In the worship service, George spoke passionately about his trip to Uganda. He had even invited Peter Habyarimana, the Compassion employee who led the pastors' trip, to speak about Compassion and his own experiences growing up on the streets of Uganda.
At the end of the service, hundreds of people crowded into the lobby.
Children scrambled into the lean-to while their parents pored over the child sponsorship packets. Some held two, even three packets, unable to decide — so they sponsored them all.
By the end of the day, members of Cedarcrest Church sponsored 124 children. One out of every three adults went home with a new family member.
"And this is just the beginning," says George. "We will have a table set up every week. I hope that soon we can go on mission trips and that people can meet their sponsored children. I believe that Compassion will become part of the DNA of Cedarcrest."
And all it took was a moment.
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