Congratulations to Shannon Primicerio of Ladera Ranch, Calif.!

Among many wonderful entries, Shannon's story was chosen because it is a story of both sacrifice and perse-
verance – and the shared promise of a better future.

Shannon has been awarded the opportunity to take a trip with Compassion International in 2010! When you read her story, you’ll know why.

To read other ‘compassion stories,’ click here.


Shannon's Story
When you say the words “college student,” two images come to my mind. The first is my husband, Michael, a business professional who opted for a GED when he was 17 and later regretted it. For the past four years he’s been putting himself through college in the evenings to become the first of his parents’ children with a bachelor’s degree.

The second image is of Robert. His photo is proudly displayed on my refrigerator door. He lives in the slums of Kenya, and he is the Leadership Development student we sponsor through Compassion.

To me, the weaving together of Michael’s and Robert’s journeys is an unlikely one. At the cost of $300 a month, the choice to educate someone on the other side of the world whom you have never met, isn’t made on a whim – especially when you are already sacrificing to make your own tuition payments each month.

Michael and I made the decision for him to pursue his bachelor’s degree because we saw that it could provide our family with options we didn’t currently have.

As we thought of our own desire to change our circumstances and to provide ourselves with new and exciting opportunities, we couldn’t help but realize how fortunate we were to be in a position to pay for Michael’s education. The reality was Michael could change his situation.

That wasn’t the case for those on Compassion’s waiting list hoping and praying for a sponsor to do what they couldn’t: change their circumstances. So we signed up to sponsor Robert.

For the last several years as we’ve scrimped, saved and even struggled to make monthly payments toward both Michael’s and Robert’s educations, we’ve exchanged letters with a remarkable young man.
 
Earlier this year Robert wrote to us about inspiration he received in reading the book of Esther: “Reading this book has taught me that God can place you in a position so that you can become a savior of a certain situation,” he wrote. “Just as He raised Esther to be queen to save Mordecai and all the Jews from the hands of Haman.”

After reading Esther Robert felt led to start a Christian club at his university. He assembled a team, and the club launched in September.

Our eyes welled with tears as we read about the difference one young man was making – a difference he was able to make because we chose to sacrifice some of life’s luxuries so he could break the cycle of poverty in his family and change his world.
 
Next year, both Michael and Robert will don caps and gowns and walk across university stages and realize a dream that both of them once thought impossible. Although they will graduate on different continents, both of them will pause at their respective ceremonies and think of all of the letters of encouragement they’ve exchanged in this process, spurring one another on to their goal.

From both of their perspectives, this is something they’ve done together.

Your Comments

Jenny Bennett says on Wednesday Feb 03, 12:21pm

Among many wonderful entries, our winner's story was chosen because it is a story of both sacrifice and perseverance – and the shared promise of a better future.

Let us know what you think! Thank you all for sharing your stories!



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