Contemporary Christian Musician Bebo Norman Travels to Brazil; Visits Compassion International Children

Compassion International
Monday, 16 October 2000

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Oct. 16, 2000 - Contemporary Christian musician Bebo Norman recently spent a week in Brazil visiting with his sponsored child, Wallef Martins Cordoso (age 5), and hundreds of other children in Compassion International's child development program.

According to Norman, "This vision trip gave me a passion for speaking for Compassion. It showed me the reality of how effectively Compassion affects people's lives. I'm given an opportunity purely as a musician or performer to play some role, however large or small, in people's lives at a concert each night. But what I've realized through Compassion and through my trip to Brazil is that I have been given an opportunity now to go beyond the confines of just the audience and to play a role in kids' lives all around the world."

"The trip to Fortaleza, Brazil, was very memorable. I got to meet my sponsored child, which was really incredible. I haven't been sponsoring Wallef very long. Meeting face to face was a beautiful way to start our sponsor/child relationship," says Norman.

Also on this vision trip, Norman was familiarized with Compassion's work. He visited five Compassion projects, interacting with the children and performing his music. "I think Americans would be most surprised," says Norman, "to learn how much hope and joy the kids receive from the specific relationship they have with their sponsor through letters, pictures, and correspondence."

Norman is an artist with Watershed Records, Nashville, Tenn. He is currently on tour in the United States in support of his latest album, "Ten Thousand Days."

Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian not-for-profit organization dedicated to the long-term holistic development of children living in poverty. Working with more than 200 denominations in over 2,100 church-based projects, Compassion is reaching out to more than 350,000 children in 22 countries, including the United States.

For more information, or to contact Compassion International, see their website at: www.compassion.com