By Movieguide® Contributor
On a past trip to the Dominican Republic, Candace Cameron Bure witnessed firsthand the profound impact of Compassion International’s work with mothers and children in poverty.
“I knew some level of the expectation of poverty, but I had no idea what Compassion really does,” the FULL HOUSE star said in a video from the trip that she went on with her family. “It’s a necessity for all these moms because they really don’t have the knowledge of how to care for themselves or how to care for their baby.”
“They’re getting one-on-one attention from another woman who has the experience that just wants to love on them and give them the support that they need to say, ‘Everything’s going to be good. You can get you can get through this.’ To pray with them and what their needs are but really give them emotional comfort.”
“The thing that’s impacted me the most on this trip is the first home visit that we went to,” continued Bure, who’s won multiple Movieguide® Teddy Bear Awards® for her involvement in uplifting movies.
“We met a girl that has four kids, and I’m assuming they were all under four or five years old, and she lost two of them,” Bure’s husband, Val, said.
They started to read the Bible and pray with the mom, and Bure’s heart “melted.”
Bure said, “All I could think about at that moment is that I go out and I share the gospel with thousands of people when I speak and I share my testimony, and yet I stood in her home and I thought to myself, this is the gospel. This is the gospel right now,” she said tearfully.
Compassion International
“I’m standing in it. I’m living in it. This is what Compassion is all about,” she explained.
The organization offers practical help to those in need and shares the message that God loves them.
“I’m going home with a completely new enthusiasm and perspective, and I just felt so privileged that God has given me the opportunity to do that and experience,” Bure said. “That with my family and it’s just an amazing organization, but it’s, you know, a mighty God that we serve, and truly it’s God softening our hearts and exposing us to different ways of life and the needs of the world, and you know it just humbles me to the core.”
One of the things Compassion is known for is matching children in need with sponsors. Money that the sponsor donates goes to help them with their education and practical needs. In 2019, Bure went on another trip to meet two kids that she sponsors.
Related: How Candace Cameron Bure Pushes Herself to Share Her Faith
“I immediately fell in love with their precious hearts and love for Jesus, but my heart was broken by the realities they face — just because they’re girls,” she posted with a photo of them in 2020. “So, I’m dedicating this Lenten season to speaking up for girls in poverty. Will you join me? To receive daily text messages and weekly devotionals from me about the vulnerabilities that girls in poverty face and how Jesus’ love compels us to respond, head to www.compassion.com/Lent”
“Poverty isn’t fair, but it’s ESPECIALLY unfair to girls,” she shared that month in a Lent campaign with Compassion. “Abuse, trafficking, education discrimination, lack of access to proper feminine hygiene care products — these are all challenges that girls in poverty face just because they’re girls. This year for Lent, I’m speaking up on their behalf.”
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