What happens when a child called a "mistake" grows up to lead a movement?

Summary

Summary of "What happens when a child called a 'mistake' grows up to lead a movement?"

Podcast Information

• Title: The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast
• Host: Candace Cameron Bure (CandyRock)
• Episode Title: What happens when a child called a "mistake" grows up to lead a movement?
• Release Date: April 22, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of The Candace Cameron Bure Podcast, host Candace Cameron Bure welcomes Jonathan Almonte, a remarkable individual whose life journey epitomizes resilience, faith, and transformational leadership. Best known for his pivotal role in leading a significant movement, Jonathan shares his deeply personal story of overcoming adversity, the impact of sponsorship through Compassion International, and his current endeavors in ministry and business.

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Early Life and Struggles with Poverty

Jonathan begins by reflecting on his challenging childhood in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He provides a nuanced perspective on poverty, highlighting not only the lack of material resources but also the spiritual struggles intertwined within such environments.

Jonathan Almonte [00:26]: "People see poverty as the lack of things like clothes, material things... But there is an aspect of poverty related to the spiritual need all humans have."

Growing up, Jonathan witnessed his mother's battle against homelessness and abuse, a reality that deeply affected his family dynamics. His mother's resilience in the face of abuse and poverty laid the foundation for Jonathan's understanding of hope and perseverance.

Jonathan Almonte [02:15]: "There is this connection of spiritual warfare in poverty that we sometimes don't realize."

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The Impact of Compassion International

At the age of seven, Jonathan's life took a pivotal turn when his mother enrolled him in the Compassion International sponsorship program. This decision provided him with much-needed support, including school supplies, meals, and a sense of community.

Jonathan Almonte [22:22]: "When I got into the program in 1997, someone from the church came to our home and said that we got in. It was a blessing that changed my life."

Despite his initial rebellious behavior and struggles to adapt, the consistent support and love from Compassion and his sponsor, Jamie, played a crucial role in his transformation.

Jonathan Almonte [27:10]: "These letters can be very impactful. They made me feel special, known, loved, connected, protected, seen."

Jonathan emphasizes the importance of even minimal engagement, such as writing a few letters a year, to maintain meaningful connections with sponsored children.

Jonathan Almonte [32:10]: "Two letters a year is enough. If you can only write once a year, that's a good number."

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Turning Point: Embracing Faith

A significant turning point in Jonathan's life occurred at age twelve after a severe altercation that led to his friend falling into a coma. This event, coupled with the unwavering support from Compassion's director, Dulce, catalyzed his spiritual awakening and commitment to Christ.

Jonathan Almonte [37:05]: "That's the moment I gave my life to Christ. God was so gracious to me that day through Dulce."

His baptism and subsequent involvement in church activities, including preaching to other children, marked the beginning of his mission to help others avoid the pitfalls he once faced.

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Reconciliation and Leadership

At fourteen, Jonathan confronted his father, who had previously deemed him a "mistake." This emotional reconciliation not only healed their fractured relationship but also reinforced Jonathan's belief in God's plan for his life.

Jonathan Almonte [45:08]: "I am the best mistake you have ever made."

Today, Jonathan leverages his experiences to lead Compassion's ministry in the Dominican Republic, serving over 65,000 children through partnerships with 235 churches. His role involves connecting donors with local churches, overseeing reports, and ensuring the effective distribution of resources to those in need.

Jonathan Almonte [51:11]: "We are serving 65,000 children throughout the Dominican Republic and partnering with 235 churches."

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The Ripple Effect of Sponsorship

Jonathan underscores the profound ripple effect that sponsorship can have, not just on individual lives but also on entire communities. He shares how Compassion's support enabled his mother to overcome poverty and succeed academically, illustrating the transformative power of consistent care and mentorship.

Jonathan Almonte [60:22]: "There is this ripple effect that we don't realize is supporting a child, but supporting a local church. But even a mom, because my mom, while I was attending the church, went to university and she's a professor now."

Candace echoes this sentiment, highlighting the mutual benefits of sponsorship for both the sponsor and the sponsored, and the enduring impact of genuine, sustained support.

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Conclusion

Jonathan Almonte's story is a testament to the enduring power of faith, community support, and personal resilience. From being labeled a "mistake" to becoming a leader who positively influences tens of thousands of lives, his journey embodies the podcast’s core message: life is a rollercoaster best navigated together with kindness, class, and purpose.

Candace Cameron Bure [61:14]: "Remember that life is like a roller coaster. But it's better when we go through it together. Together, let's change the world for a whole lot of kids."

Listeners are encouraged to sponsor a child through Compassion, inspired by Jonathan's transformative experience and the tangible difference such support can make.

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Notable Quotes:

• Jonathan Almonte [00:26]: "People see poverty as the lack of things like clothes, material things... But there is an aspect of poverty related to the spiritual need all humans have."

• Jonathan Almonte [27:10]: "These letters can be very impactful. They made me feel special, known, loved, connected, protected, seen."

• Jonathan Almonte [37:05]: "That's the moment I gave my life to Christ. God was so gracious to me that day through Dulce."

• Jonathan Almonte [45:08]: "I am the best mistake you have ever made."

• Jonathan Almonte [51:11]: "We are serving 65,000 children throughout the Dominican Republic and partnering with 235 churches."

• Jonathan Almonte [60:22]: "There is this ripple effect that we don't realize is supporting a child, but supporting a local church. But even a mom, because my mom, while I was attending the church, went to university and she's a professor now."

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This episode not only sheds light on the pervasive issues of poverty and spiritual struggle but also celebrates the incredible impact that compassionate sponsorship and unwavering faith can achieve. Jonathan Almonte's narrative serves as an inspiration for listeners to engage, support, and transform lives through meaningful connections.

Transcript

[Jonathan Almonte]

So she said, here, keep on preaching. That is wonderful. That's words of encouragement from wanting to be part of again. Now I wanted to be a preacher.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's what the local church helped me. To see hope, to have hope.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Life is like a roller coaster, but it's so much better when we go through it together. Welcome to the Candace Cameron Bure podcast. You know, this podcast isn't about me. I have made. Made it for you. And today's guest has a story full of surprises. Jonathan Almonte's first language is Spanish and he lives in the Dominican Republic with his wife Carrie and their two boys. He's a business and ministry leader and a professional speaker. But his life could have been very, very different. Come join us. Jonathan. Hi. Welcome to the podcast.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Thank you. Cand. Really excited to be here.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Thank you. I'm so happy to have you. Where, where should we start? I know you're married, you have two young boys. What was your childhood like growing up?

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's a great, that's a great question. I, I will reflect while we talk in some of the aspects of poverty that we don't normally see.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Uhhuh.

[Jonathan Almonte]

People see poverty as the lack of things like lack of clothes, material things, which is most of what the issue of poverty is. But there is an aspect of poverty related to the spiritual need all humans have. And for me that starts with my grandparents. And in the context of our family, my, my mother was abused by an uncle, which sexual abuse sadly, was very common in my family. And everything again was related to that aspect of spiritual warfare.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so not many people see that. But that's how my story began because my mother ran away from family and end up homeless. So that's why I say there is this connection of.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Of spiritual warfare in poverty that we sometimes don't realize.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I don't, I don't think we as Americans really make that connection often. It's what you said, we see poverty as the lack of.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But yeah. Often don't think about that. So thank you for starting there and reminding of us of the spiritual battles that are going on.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly. And I don't think neither in our context, people is aware that that is part of the issue of poverty in the world because for my, for my mother, she ran away from family, end up homeless. But again, there was a culture of abuse and spiritual abuse as well in our family. So she end up homeless working in the, In a. It was kind of a gas station 24 hours open. And for her that was a place to Be without house because it was 24 hours she will rest in, in the back of the place.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Sure.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And, and that's how she, you know, tried to deal with the reality of not having a home, not having a family. And, and that's how my story began because that's when she met my father who used to attend this place and then eventually she got pregnant, sawing him as a way out of her reality. One of the things, Candice, that I also reflect on the issue of poverty is it's easy to blame people when they make poor choices.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, expand upon that. What do you mean by that? It's easy to blame people.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah. We have the tendency to say people are in poverty because they make poor choices. And we say that as is their full. They are there because they deserve it. Maybe not consciously we say that, but the issue of poverty is more complicated than just people making poor choices. There are people who are in poverty because of a hurricane comes and destroy your small wood made house and then you are on the streets. There are people who end up in poverty because they get sick and they don't have the money to pay. And that even happened in the U.S. yeah. I have a friend who says we're to a sickness, a chronic sickness, to extreme poverty. And for my mom, if we see the story of a mom, a woman getting pregnant, the issue I say this is because my father was married. He has four daughters and a wife and therefore she was. I was basically, I was born out of, out of my father's marriage.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so I'm not trying to defend my mom, but I'm just saying a women in a vulnerable reality, like where she was, she saw my father as a way out of her poverty. She said that she didn't know he was, he was married. And she realized that after that. And so basically born out of my father's marriage and now in this condition of my mom being in this very high situation of vulnerability, what happened next is that she. Well, my father wanted her to abort because he didn't want that boy out of his marriage. He didn't want that. And my mother, thanks God, decided to continue with the pregnancy. She wasn't a Christian.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But for some reason she said I'm not the only woman homeless and pregnant. I will deliver this baby. And so she decided to do it. And thanks God I was born. That's, that's my, that's the very beginning of my story.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But again, I don't know if you can see those aspects of spiritual warfare, single Mother.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yep.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Struggling financially. That's a reality that I believe even maybe some moms listening to us and follow you and follow the podcast are going through.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so I hope they can, they can see this because God has a plan. God had a plan for me when I continue talking about that, but God has a plan for them as well. But I don't know if you relate to that reality. A moment on herself.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, I mean I, I certainly relate. Not in the sense that that that's my story, but I certainly know of enough stories, whether I've read them, seen them on the news, or when I've gone to visit the, the children that I sponsor. So I've seen it firsthand. Going to Africa, going to the Dominican Republic. That was very much a story of two of the children that I sponsor. And their mom ran away from abuse. That's where it all started. Ran away from her family and didn't, didn't have anything but eventually did find a husband and they are together and they have three beautiful children and I sponsor two of them. But yeah, I, I've, I've sat and talked with her and in her, in their home and heard all, heard all about it and it just, it breaks my heart, but it's amazing to see what God can do and also the people that can come around and support and help.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So take me to where. Yeah, you're born.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I'm born then in Santo Domingo ghetto. Basically. Drugs, prostitution, gambling. A difficult, very difficult context. And so now let me just mention something about poverty that speaking of blaming. So when, when I was born, my mother didn't have any prenatal care. And I, I now as a father and with my wife, we reflect on. There are certain things that we take for granted in a context, in a healthy context, in a healthy family context where mother have prenatal care. Basic things as vitamins, specific vitamins. That doesn't come to mind in English, but there are specific vitamin children need to grow in the womb. For me, calcium was one that I needed and I didn't have. So when I was born, I had calcium failure in my teeth. So my teeth were very weak. And because my mother didn't have any, any calcium while pregnant, that opened for me a journey of my teeth being very weak. We, we didn't have any money to pay for a dentist. And I do remember my mom talked to a professor. She was very creative. Now that I reflect on that because we couldn't pay for the dentist, but she found a way to talk to a professor. In a university. So I could go to this public university. 20 students will practice with a real mouth. And I will get the dental care that I need. Very creative. And.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And your mom found this on her own? Yeah, I, she was a determined woman.

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's. That's what I am reflecting on now. I am like thankful for her. She's my hero, of course, but those ways that she found to support her baby. So she talked to this professor. 20 students. They will tie me to a bed four jacket and an open mouth metal machine. I laugh because I jokingly say, I know I'm describing a trauma. It was a traumatic setting because I didn't want to be there. Like 20 students. And they will tie me to that bed, keep my mouth open. If there is any dentist listening, which, which I believe there might be in this big audience. I don't hate you anymore. But I used to.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But I'm looking at your teeth right now and I'm like, your teeth are so gorgeous. I would never even think that there was any problem from the start. You have really amazing, beautiful teeth.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Thank you. Thank you. I'm thankful for this professor and these students. And I always say, these are real teeth.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I can tell they're real.

[Jonathan Almonte]

For seven years. For seven years they study my case, invested in my case. But there is this sense of dignity when you're in poverty. And for me, being in this reality, working in the streets, I, my, my early memories is walking in the streets looking for plastic and item to recycle, to buy a piece of bread and eat something. Because my mother, she was working in a factory, but she was, she was making maybe less than a dollar a day. So we were barely paying. A very small shack in this ghetto. And I was very sick, dealing with asthma because of the humidity of the small check where we were. And in this context, I remember, Let me think. Spend days without eating because we didn't have any money. We barely could pay the small chat where we were. My mother decided we need. I need a place. I cannot have this baby in the streets. And that journey of working in the streets, being aware of the dangerous reality in my neighborhood as an early age, maybe five, Since I was five, I was in the streets selling empanadas to. To help my mom. And I didn't understand what we were going through. In fact, I don't have any bad memory on those early stages in my life besides the dentist. Right Setting.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Life for me as a child was like any child will be normal life, just okay, playing around, see your mom.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Your mom made it as great as she could and you didn't know the difference of anything. So.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

You felt love from your mom.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly, exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Really as a child, I think is what's most more what's most important.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah, I, yeah, I mentioned that intentionally because I didn't realize we were in poverty.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I do remember moments that I felt sad, like my father was not with us at home. I always question why my father was not at home. I have those memories. I do remember there were moments that I felt ashamed. My shoes were broken so my shoes they flip flop. And in the doctor we say hungry shoes. Here people say talkie chews and I say mine were both hungry and talkie at the same time because they slap so hard. Those were moments that I do remember being sad because I had to work with my shoes broken or that they had holes down the soul and I needed to take cardboard and put it inside. I don't know if children need a uniform to go to school here in.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

The US Depends on the school you go to.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Okay.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

In the Dr. Public School you, you must go to with a uniform.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

You need a uniform.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And it is the same with private school. My guess is because of the situation that I was going through which most of the population was in poverty, it's you don't have enough clothes to go to school and it isn't maybe to identify children. So people.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Are you not allowed to go to school if you uniform?

[Jonathan Almonte]

I couldn't.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So you're denied an education because you couldn't afford a uniform to go to a public school.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly. And I do remember someone in, in my ghetto, a friend, well a neighbor, he lent me his uniform so I could go to school in the morning, four hours run at noon so he can have his uniform back so he could go to school in the afternoon.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Jonathan Almonte]

That was kind of the journey for me in order to get education. Wow.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And how old are you at this point?

[Jonathan Almonte]

Seven? Six? Seven.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah, around six, seven. And you, you education is a way out of material poverty.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

There is no, there is no negotiation on that. You need abilities, you need skills, you need knowledge to, in order to be self sufficient to get a job and education provide that. And so my mother knew that. So that's why she will teach me how to take cardboard and put it inside my shoes to go to school. She will tape my shoes. So I will go to school or in this case I will try to keep my frame uniform as clean as possible. So when I came back so he could go Back to school. How many hours schools, how many hours children attend school here in the US.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I think it's about seven hours. Is that about right? It's been so long. My kids are, they're all grown.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So back then it was just four hours.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so I just remember again going in the morning, four hours running back. And I'm deeply grateful to this young boy and his family who were able to lend me the uniform so I could go to school. But reflecting again, back to my chain kindness. I wanted to be a gang member. I don't want to portray with you and your audience the beautiful story of before and after. Immediately that was the role model that I saw in my ghetto. You know, that was the reality. I'm not excusing me, I'm just saying again, there are aspects of spiritual warfare. There are physical aspects. I mean physical need aspects, health, lacking resources. But there is an aspect of hope when you're in poverty. And not only for those who are in poverty back in the third world, even here in the US there is a need of hope even for those growing in a stable context. And so for me, I didn't see hope and hope for me, were the guys in my ghetto selling drugs in the streets.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Because you saw, when you saw them, they had money because they were selling drugs. Did they have, they had clothes, they had a home, they had food.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly. They had nice sneakers. They had, they had nice clothes. Again, I don't, my barely came. Someone lend me the uniform to go to school. My shoes are broken.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I have to take carbon and put it inside. It's a 90 humidity country. It's a tropical country. It is raining and then it's sunny. The sidewalk is hot. My foot were burned every day because the side the, the sidewalk was so hot.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But when it was raining, the cardboard get damaged or I will spend days without eating and I will take sugar because something happened in my body that I didn't understand why happened. Every other time I will be shaking, sweating and feeling cold in the 90 Fahrenheit weather 1995, which never makes sense to me why that happened. That combination of feelings and thermal sensation in, in this reality. One day at school they gave me a cookie and I immediately felt, yeah, so you diabetic? I, I, my blood sugar was coming down. Thanks guy. I didn't end up with diabetic, but I was on the path because I, my blood sugar came down many times.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so one of the things that I did, I will take sugar, brown sugar, put it in Water and drink it. And that will be a way to, to stabilize my blood sugar.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Got it.

[Jonathan Almonte]

In this reality, with these guys selling drugs in the, in the ghetto, in the corner, I mean, kindness, they. If you will, if you will have asked me what was my biggest need, I would have told you. I need Jordans.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right.

[Jonathan Almonte]

These guys in the 90s, where there was no way I could have Jordans, they had Jordan.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I will have told you. I need air Jordans.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right. I mean, I get it. That that's also what we're thinking of when we're. We're children, when we're teenagers and we don't fit in. You know, it might be people that you might not be in extreme poverty, but that's where we can go down a bad path or a wrong path. Because when you so desperately want to fit in with others and you don't have those things, they're like stars in the sky and you just want to grab onto them and it doesn't matter the cost. It doesn't matter if they're bad. You just want to feel seen and be like everyone else.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But the, and the aspect of hope, like you mentioned, for your children, giving them a path to follow, options, career. Yeah. Gang is not one of those.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So. No. No, gang isn't. So you didn't join a gang, did you join a gang? Like when.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

When did Compassion come into your life?

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah, thanks God. I didn't. I wanted. And I was involved in a lot of fighting in my ghetto because every two blocks I had to fight with a group of boys who were in. In a gang. And that's. That's a great question because actually my mother was worried about the reality and she. The boy who lent me the uniform, he was a sponsored child. We didn't know. So his mother talked to my mom and said, my son is attending this local church, like an after school program. After school, he goes there and they provide him. They provided him with the school uniform and shoes and food and all that. And that was exactly what I needed. And so my mother applied. Maybe two weeks pass, and we were. Someone from the church came to our home and said that we got in. I got into this Compassion program, which I didn't know what that was going to say.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Your mom, I'm assuming your mom was probably so happy, but did you understand what that even meant?

[Jonathan Almonte]

We didn't. We didn't. She was really happy. I think, I think she knew.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Because we saw the neighbor with the Jews, the school supplies and all that, which I needed. So she was really, really excited. But she didn't understand how a blessing or in life changing that was to. To me eventually.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

The only thing we knew, it was like a Sunday Bible school, but through the week. So we will come. I will attend the church three times a week and they will provide for me two meals a day. Got my very first school supply, school uniform, school supplies. And my mother now only had to worry for one meal through the day.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right. Which was big burden lifted.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Big burden off of her.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. And how old are you when you got now?

[Jonathan Almonte]

I'm seven.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Seven. Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Seven years old. I got into this local church, now that you mentioned a big birth. And I reflect. She was bleeding at night normally. And I didn't know why. One of the things growing up in poverty is that I was aware of death beyond one. What you will want a child to be aware of.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

See my M.O. bleeding through the night, through the nose, make me aware she's gonna die. Like that's not normal. You don't bleed through the nose at night. That's not normal. And it was a stress. She had no tumor, anything in the brain, just stress. And. And having those two meals, as you said, it was a big burden that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Was lifted on her shoulders.

[Jonathan Almonte]

She was released. And now I'm in this local church. And the reason I mentioned that I wanted to be part of the game is because my very first reaction in this local church with loving people, all these resources was fighting. I'm fighting every day. I am involved in fights. I'm running out of the church. In the times that I am supposed to be in the church. I am, you know, sadly involved in all these fightings with everybody. Other kids. I wasn't physically fighting with the tutors, but I was arguing a lot, misbehaving. And those are things that I. Now I feel so embarrassed and sad. The way my mother reflect on this reality moment of my life. It's. She asked a question, she told me once, do you remember you almost lost the best opportunity of your life. And now that I look back, she's right.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I don't know if I'm very sure. People listening to us might relate. Relate with the reality that we. We sometimes don't behave the way we should and sometimes we are not thankful the way we should be thankful.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But isn't it amazing that God still keeps the door open for us?

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So even if we don't walk through it that one time that, you know, he has, he still gives us more opportunities to keep walking through Amen. So when did you. Yeah. You didn't miss the opportunity. Tell me more about that.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I'm thankful that you mentioned that because the way the church loved me was the gospel to me. Just like you said, we didn't deserve grace, we didn't deserve Christ, and yet he died on the cross for us without us being his enemies. And yet we receive a grace that we didn't deserve. In a practical way, this local church provided grace to me. And that's what I want people to understand about compassion and sponsoring children and serving overseas. This is beyond just supporting sending money to a child in need. It's beyond just your credit card sending funds.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Sure.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Or just writing letters. I'm going to get into the letters in a moment, but it's about joining God in a local church in need, serving children in need, spreading the gospel to these children. And that's exactly what the church did to me for these seven years, five years. They never get tired of me. They continue giving me love.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Pouring into you.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And one of the ways was my sponsor, Jamie. I have here 14 years of letter writing back and forth with my sponsor. And I don't know, people still use letters here.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

We do. We do, however, less and less. And I am. Was very sad when my, what my son came up to me not too long ago and my kids are all adults, but they said, mom, I have to send something in the mail. Which side of the envelope do I address it on? Where does the stamp go? Which side do I put the return address? And it's a little hard because young people just don't send snail mail very much anymore.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Well, again, I didn't know at the moment compassion was involved on, on the service that this local chair was giving me. The only thing I knew was a local church in my. Serving me through the week, that's the only thing I need. And. But then I am receiving these letters from someone that I was supposed to call sponsor, which was really weird for me. There were moments that I was thinking, are these letter coming through some bear or something? Right.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

A little stork is dropping them off and bringing them in a basket because.

[Jonathan Almonte]

We don't have a good letter system.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

In the doctor got it right. So you're going to this church. The church is helping you. The church is providing the food, the clothes, essentially the things you need for school, even maybe things for home too, like soap and shampoo or. But you have now these letters coming in from a person that's your sponsor. And you don't quite know how this all Fits in, like, who is this weird person I'm getting letters from? Because it's the. The church itself that's in your local area that's helping you.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So tell me about like the first.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Letter you received or this is an example. Okay. And the reason I want to share this is just one paragraph, very small and hand. And typed. Typed.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Typed on the typewriter. Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So this letter came in the 90s. So I got into the program in 1997.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So maybe 1999. I had a sponsor at the beginning. It seems like she couldn't continue. And so I got another sponsor, Jamie. And she was the one that I spent the most time in the program until I graduated. So she sent this small note. Let me just quickly read the portion. Good afternoon, Jonathan. I wanted to send you a little note to let you know I was thinking about you. It is getting warm up here in Michigan. I hope your family's doing well. Love, Jamie. Very small, Packer.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Very small letter. And I. And I. And I want you to see this and those listening the podcast because some people say I don't want to sponsor because I don't. I don't have time to write like or I don't have. I don't want to feel guilty that I am not writing.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Number one thing is you can sponsor a child and if you cannot write, it's okay because there is a local church serving that child. There is this emotional need being covered by the discipleship of the local church. A tutor, pastor.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Thank you for that reminder. Because while I sponsor, I think right now I have four kids. I've sponsored more through the years, but some of them have graduated through the program. So I've taken on new children. And. And I, I do feel that way often because I do write, but I don't write as much as I would like to. And I always feel terrible about it. But it's a good reminder in that while I will always continue writing. But if I. It's not as often as I want to know that, you know, I do know that the church is there.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Being the hands and feet and providing that in person.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But I do know how much the relationship means to the children too. It really makes a huge difference.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And it makes a huge difference. But I will say also kindness. Two letters a year is enough. Like, sometimes we feel like we have to write a lot. But the reality is children write twice a year. The sponsor write or not. But if you. Every time you write, they have to write back. Imagine someone writing a letter Every month. That's too much for a child. They love the letters. They're not as happy of writing letters back because the idea what compassion aim is to keep these relationships strong and going back and forth.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And. And so immediately you write. They get a letter generated to write back. So I will say maximum four letters a year is more than enough.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

To a year. Very good. Very good.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Kind of right on the notes.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I got it even once a year. That's a good number. So don't feel. Please don't feel like that because again, there's this local church and the sponsor is joining God in this local church, this community, local followers of Jesus, serving that child. The sponsor is not the only one. He's an important role. But for example, in this letter, she. One paragraph, but she said she's thinking about me. My father has never called me to say that he's thinking about me.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

How did that make you feel when you read those words?

[Jonathan Almonte]

Special, known, love, connected, protected, seen. I can continue because whatever warming up Michigan was, I didn't want to be there because it's hot in the air. I was like, warming up Michigan. This woman is thinking about me. And that really make my day. So this is an example on how letters can be very impactful. Another one is this one. Hello, Jonathan. Happy 15th birthday. This is the actual letter and this is the translation. I didn't speak English back then. And the fact that you remember my birthday every year also was special to me. I got celebrated at the church, but my father neither called me for a birthday. And so having Jamie from far away writing, saying happy birthday really made my day. And the only thing is we take for granted words of encouragement. You said at the introduction, this podcast is for you. And we live in a moment that we take that for granted. Like some people might feel, oh, yeah, that's nice. They don't actually realize this is an effort put to serve them. Actually, that's an example to say sometimes when we grew up in a stable environment, we take that stability for granted. And for me, words of encouragement really feed my soul.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Me too. That is my love language. Words of encouragement.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Words of encouragement. Yeah.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And that's a book, the Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Yeah, it's a great book.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah. And so, for example, in this letter, when I was 12, let me mention this very decisive moment in my life. I got into the program when I'm. When I'm seven, when I'm 12, is the end of that moment of me being rebellious and fighting a friend of mine. I Was involved in a fight. He fall down. He wasn't in the fight, but I fell down. He was in my. In my back. He fall down with me, knock his neck in the sidewalk, and end up in a coma for two days. That's the worst fight that I was involved in. I didn't provoke the fight. But my. My friend is in a coma. And so I do remember I was taken to Dulce's office. Dulce was my Compassion center director. She was a leader from the church. And I do remember I was crying, sweating dirty, and. And I knew this was the end. That's why my mother asked me, do you remember? You almost lose the best opportunity of your life and the police is coming and. And that was a moment for me to reflect on the path that I was taking. And I think of that and it is hard not to cry, remembering. God was so gracious to me that day through Dulce, because I gave her all reason to keep me out of the center. I gave her all reasons to be ashamed of me. And yet that day I never forget. She kneeled down and she looked at my eyes and she said, jonathan, why you fight? We love you. You don't have to fight. That's the only thing that I remember in the conversation. The police came, they took the notes on what happened, but my friend woke up from the coma two days later and I was released. Everything got clarified, and that's the moment I gave my life to Christ. I couldn't continue on the path that I was taking. God was giving me grace and I was giving him bad behavior.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Being rebellious.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

So did you pray in when you gave your life to Christ?

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yes.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Was that by yourself? Were you with your mom or Dulce, or.

[Jonathan Almonte]

It's a funny story, because I, I. The night came, and I do remember there was a. We didn't have a tv, but there was a show I saw in the church, and it's called, It's. It's called the A700 Club.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Huh. I think we're all familiar with that here, most of us listening to the podcast.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And I say, I made my decision for Christ 700 times in this 700 club because they portray this story of a guy involved in fights and in a gang and in a ghetto in New York. And that was. I feel connected to that story. And I'm crying and I'm waiting for the guy at the end to repeat the prayer. Like, do you want. Do you want to come to Christ? If you want, pray with me. And so I, I said, I came to Christ 700 times in the 700 Club. Because in the church I repeated that show.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

In. In Dulce's office every time. Because I wanted to be safe, I wanted to be different. I wanted to take a different path. And the reason that story came to mind is because of this letter. I got baptized at 12, after that 5. And the first thing the church did is they gave me the chance to preach to the. To the children.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And I share that with nothing like.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Just putting you on the spot right there. Go for it.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so she said, here, keep on preaching. That is wonderful. That's words of encouragement that, that, that from wanting to be part of again now I wanted to be a preacher.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's what the local church helped me to see. Hope. To have hope, not only to be a positive view of the future, but to have actually hope. And hope is the ability to make things for. Make that future to happen. Being positive is just a feeling.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. Would you say, though, that that hope that you had, like explain that to me in terms of your hope was in Christ. You knew that at that moment it was hope for your future, that the possibilities were there. Did you feel that God could make those possibilities happen for you?

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah. It was both on one side, understanding the grace of God through the church and the love of God pouring to me when I didn't deserve it. So that's one aspect of hope. And the other aspect was the church gave me opportunities to grow and develop.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

The reason I wanted to learn English and that's the reason I speak English, is because the church saw how much I love my letters all. Or how I wanted to volunteer organizing the letters for other children at the. At Dulce's office. And that's how they enrolled me into English classes in my ghetto. And so that's how I actually got in love in with the dream of speaking English in the future. And it was both sides. It was a hope for eternity, but hope for the current reality that I was going through.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And this is funny because Jamie didn't know by saying keep on preaching, she was promoting heresy. Because I put Jonah in the cross and Jesus in the womb of the feet. I was just baptized and they gave me a mic. But that's the power of letters. And I reflect on the New Testament. It's 30% letters. And this is not the word of God. That's not what I'm trying to say. And yet the word of God in the form of letters were given to churches, to Christians in need going through trials. And these Words from all apostles in jail give them hope for the current reality that we're going through and the future reality, the future grace that we're expecting in Christ. And for me, letters were that after that event, when I was 12, I continued growing in maturity. I'm now serving the church. I'm. I'm involved in service opportunities. I'm all in about Christ. I'm sharing the gospel in my school, in my community. I'm still in poverty, but I am aware that God is working and he has a plan. And when I was 14, the most difficult moment came in my life. My father again hidden me from his family. I was born out of his marriage, and I do remember I used to meet with him once a month for five minutes in different places. It was an FBI relationship, and I didn't understand why. We will meet in different places every time, once a month for five minutes. One day, a Saturday, two of my father's brothers, two of my uncles show up at my house. I didn't know them. I only knew my father. And then my mother told me, jonathan, these are your uncles, your father's brothers, and they're going to take you to meet your father's family. And that was, for me, scary and exciting at the same time. Suddenly, I'm in a room later that day full of people that I have never seen in my life. I'm 14 years old, and my father's wife was there, my four sisters were there, my father's daughters, my grandparents, uncles and aunts, family to spare, that I didn't know. And everybody's looking at me like, oh, yeah, he's Almonte. He's from our family. He looks like my father. They were like, oh, yeah, he's from the family. A year passed and never talked to my father about that meeting. And the day came when we met in one of these spots that we used to meet. And in Latin America, we say, father, will you bless me? Or mother, will you bless me? And they say, God bless you. It's something that we do out of respect for our parents, and you do that for your grandparents, uncles, aunts, and father and mother. And he didn't bless me that day. And he said, why you did that? He was angry, and I was like, why I did what? And then suddenly he said, you met my family without my permission. And I understood what he was talking about. And I said, dad, I'm sorry. I didn't know that you didn't know it was Uncle Lucas and Pedro who wanted me to meet them. And you Have a beautiful family. And then he interrupted me and said, neither you or my brothers had the permission to get involved in my life. You have to understand, you're a mistake in my life. And I am 14 years old. Yeah. So if you ask me what is the worst poverty that I have gone through, that is the worst poverty. Again, I learned how to deal with my broken shoes, with lacking school uniform, lacking food. But how can I deal with the reality of my father thinking that I was a mistake? The reality can. That's the reason I said at the beginning, there's a lot of blaming in poverty. But nobody gave me a menu to be born. Where I was born, I was just born.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I was born in the reality that I was born.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And. And yet my father think that I am a mistake. And I do remember I ran away crying, crying, crying and spend days crying and angry. I was angry at my father. I was struggling in my faith. I didn't understand God, like how God is a good father. The Bible speak about God being a good father, but my father hates me.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Right. And so many people can relate to that who don't have their father in their life or have a really bad father as the example. And so to think of God as a good, good father can be really challenging for so many people.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah. And that's why many people, and I did blame God because of the sufferings they're going through. And I was in that spot. I was, I was thinking like why I didn't choose this. And anyways, I got this letter from Jamie and this is maybe the most important letter in my life from Jamie. She says here greeting Jonathan from Michigan. This is funny because she mentions Michigan in every letter. She's very proud about Michigan accent. She says, we receive our first dressing of snow today on Thanksgiving. Today is a great day to reflect on all the things that I am thankful for. And you are one of those that I am greatly thankful for. It is because of Jesus birth that we can have hope and assurance of eternal life after death. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 in Christ Love Jamie. Again, one paragraph. Yeah, this is a translation. And yet two profound ideas in this letter. Number one, no idea what Thanksgiving was?

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I guess not. How would you know?

[Jonathan Almonte]

But she is playing on Thanksgiving. Americans are thankful about things. And. And she says, and you are one of those that I am greatly thankful for. Not only thankful, but greatly thankful. And second, my hope and assurance never came from my earthly father, but had she said, here from the finished work of Jesus in the cross, my hope and assurance is in Christ and in the work in the cross that he accomplished through his sufferings and resurrection. And not only the reality states God didn't provide a father. And we have the tendency to see what God didn't provide. We don't see what God actually provided. He provided a community. He provided Christ to me. And the reality is the reason I'm here with few continents is because of this local church, my pastor Jose, who showed me what a godly man looks like, Dulce, who sacrificially serving serve me and many other children in need. She died out of cancer, out of breast cancer. So she couldn't see the Jonathan that, that is talking right now. Yeah, but she will in heaven. That's one of my dreams to see Jesus. I want to ask some theological questions to a Paul and I want to, and I want to ask Dulce. Yeah. I want to honke her and thank her for the. How she led God to use her. I made my suffering.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. And tell me when you went through Compassion. I have, I have so many questions. I, I kind of want to know how your story wrapped up. Obviously you're sitting here, so can you just like take us to the end and with your family? And then I have some questions about Compassion.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I can do that. So I called my father after that and, and crying. I told him that I'm sorry to be a mistake in your life, but God is, through my sponsor and the church, he has a plan. And, and you have to admit that I am the best mistake you have ever made. We were both crying. We weren't, we were not laughing. I, I say that, but we were crying. And God restored our relationship. Now and what happened after that is that God provided opportunities for me to go to university, got a bachelor degree, got involved.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Now, now let me just ask though, what were those opportunities? Were they through Compassion or was your father helping? Like, did you.

[Jonathan Almonte]

No, it was a church.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Compassion in the church.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Incredible. So when I, when I, when I reached, when I graduated from high school, Compassion supported me through university. That was my sponsor, actually. Okay. Through their, the funds and I got a bachelor's degree in linguistics, apply in English and many other things that I can mention. But my greatest joy is now being a husband. I have one wife. I make the joke because it's hard to make my wife happy. She's gonna listen this, she's gonna be angry.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

That's a joke because. How'd you say that about me?

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's a joke. We have two boys, Jonathan Edwards and Jonathan David JD Jonathan David, he has six years old and Jonathan Edwards, two.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so that's a great joy for me to be a father now to make sure they don't listen, that they are mistake.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And. And now what I do in my ministry in the doctor I basically serve in the leadership team in the Dominican Republic and we're serving 65,000 children throughout the Dr. And we work in partnership with 235 churches.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So what I do is basically connecting churches, donors, supporters to their work of compassion. But at the same time, it's my team who oversees all reports to supporters, letters, updates of the children, questions that sponsors have only the letters, 40,000amonth. So that's a lot of work. But we are thankful and, and I can. But thanks the Lord for the opportunity.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

And then you, then you travel to the U.S. do you travel all over the country and you talk about compassion and the work they did in your life? And yes. Encourage those to sponsor children also.

[Jonathan Almonte]

I believe my call now is to educate people on, on how God is working through his church in the context of need and how people can join God in that mission.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Of releasing children from the worst poverty any human can face, which is the need of Jesus. Because you can provide food and school supplies, but the need of Jesus, the eternal need children have, that's the worst need. And that's, that's our aim.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow. Amen to that. I. What I love about compassion and having worked with them over so many years is the very fact that you said they work with the local church. So it's not about an organization that's coming in and a bunch of people from other countries just coming in and swooping in and providing things and leaving. Compassion trains and equips the local church. So they're there every day, every week with the kids. Just like you mentioned, you had dual say to go to. You had those people to be, to provide not only the physical things, but love and compassion and to share Jesus with you that, that they love you, that you didn't have to fight. And so I really, really love that about compassion and I feel like that's a big difference maker with, with them. And so I want to ask you, because some people are still skeptical, we can talk. There's a lot of great organizations out there, but there, there may be some shady ones still out there. So if people are scared saying I don't really know if my money is gonna reach these kids, how can you assure Me, how can I feel good about my sponsorship? Can you just talk a little bit about that?

[Jonathan Almonte]

That's a great question and I love that kind of questions and I love to spend time with people speaking about that. So that's the reason we want the communication aspect to happen. We invite people to come, just like you did. And you saw it. You saw the actual child, you saw the family, you have seen them grow. That's actually my job with my team. We do when someone sponsor a child, they get updates of the child every two years. Updates on how the child is going, updates with pictures to see the child growing. So our aim is to make these children grow and develop and to develop their guts given potential.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So people can keep track of that.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yes, that's. I love when I get my packet and I see a new updated picture and see how much they've grown.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

It makes me so happy.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Another aspect is through the letters, so they can, they can see the children. They can write directly to the children and they can see the children writing back and forth. Sponsors can ask questions, hard questions that we get and we get to answer and send pictures and send videos. We do virtual connections with people who want to sponsor when they actually saw it, when they sponsor, after they sponsor, we do virtual connections. That is a video meeting through zoom or audit platform.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

I haven't done that one yet.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Yeah, that's brand new. That's actually post pandemic.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Okay.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But that's, that's there and, and that's why that's for people to see the children, to see the church, to spend time with them. And of course, Compassion, you can go and see the charity, Navigator Compassion, it's a recognized ngo. They see, they evaluate our finances and all of that. And so people can, can see people like you who have been down and have seen the work of compassion are a testimony of what we do. But the other aspect as well, I will say people can come. They are invited to come and see the work of compassion. And we as national offices, the work that we do is actually supporting these local churches to make sure that every money that goes to the church, goes to the chart, goes to the child and serves the child for the purposes that the funds are meant for. And so that's what we do as a ministry. And those are ways not limited to that. There are more other ways, but those are ways so people can see the work, that it is real, trustworthy and it is Jesus based.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Those are perfect words. It is real because I've been there myself. I sponsored many Children over the years and still sponsor children today. But I've taken a few trips with my family, and the letters are a joy to receive and write back and forth each year. It especially. I love certain kids I've sponsored, have engaged more than others, and it depends on their age, too. But when they write something personal to me, like, can you. Like, I've. I've sponsored Philemon for. I mean, he's 18 now, but through his whole life, he's had trouble with his eyes and. And blind and blindness. He's not completely blind, but very severe. And so when he's, you know, asks me, you know, to my sponsor, Candace, can you please pray for my eyes? And just knowing the specific needs of the children that I sponsor, it's special in that I get to pray for those needs and see God do his work, and some of that might be revealed on the other side of heaven, you know.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Amen.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

But it's beautiful. Compassion has been an incredible organization to work with, to partner with. I've been honored to. To be a sponsor for so many years, and it is incredible to hear stories like yours, someone who was in the program and now has, like, travels all over the world to share and works and facilit all of the. The sponsorships in so many children's lives today. So thank you for your work. Thank you for your faithfulness, for your mom's faithfulness. It's an incredible story. So I hope a lot of people will listen today and they'll sponsor a child through Compassion.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Amen.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah, there's lots of kids that are in need that could use your help and your love and. Yeah, we hope that you take that step and. And go sponsor a child.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Amen. Amen.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

One. One thing we did. I'm gonna. I'm just gonna say too, the. When we first sponsored our children with Compassion, I had my children, Natasha, Levin, Max, because Compassion came to our church. And so they had packets on the table and we saw faces and names, and I had each of them pick. Pick a child that was their same age so that we could all. They could also have that relationship that would be like, you're nine, I'm nine. Let's write a letter to each other and be pen pals and learn how that is. I ended up doing most of the letter writing because my kids were young, too. But it was, you know, just a good place to bring in my children as well, to understand the needs of that people all over the world.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And that's. And that's missional. I appreciate that you mentioned that because people don't often see that. Again, these children need Christ. But, but, but children here also need to be introduced to the reality of most of the Word.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. And.

[Jonathan Almonte]

And so they can be compassionate. They can grow to see that there is people in need, both from Jesus and have physical needs. And I appreciate what you mentioned of the eyes of your child. I forgot to mention the ripple effect because when I got into the center, I got the private dental care and because I began with my grandparents. It's good to say they die as followers of Jesus.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Amen.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Because my mother came to Christ through this local church and she introduced them to Jesus and they die not as worshipers of demons anymore.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Praise the Lord.

[Jonathan Almonte]

So there is this ripple effect that we don't realize is supporting a child, but supporting a local church. But even a mom, because my mom, while I was attending the church, went to university and she's a professor now. Took her 10 years.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Wow, that's incredible.

[Jonathan Almonte]

But she's not in poverty anymore. So there's all this ripple effect. This medical support cover. Like. Like your child. Like my health.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. I mean, that just blows my mind thinking of you and your mom and where you are today. And it all started with a very small donation every month from a sponsor.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Exactly. Exactly.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

Yeah. Changed lives. Jonathan, thank you so much for joining me today. Thank you for sharing your story with us and Compassion and you are such a difference maker.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Amen.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

God bless you and thank you.

[Jonathan Almonte]

Thank you.

[Candace Cameron Bure]

To sponsor a child in the Dominican Republic or anywhere else in the world, go to Candace.com and click on the Compassion logo to start that relationship today. You'll also be able to see more about my family's history with Compassion. You won't regret it. Remember that life is like a roller coaster. But it's better when we go through it together. Together, let's change the world for a whole lot of kids. Until next time. Be grateful all day, every day. Candy Rock Entertainment. All rights reserved.