Compassion International will be bringing its “Changing the Story: The Compassion Experience” tour to the city of Vicksburg from June 19-22 at Crossway Church.

Visitors who come to the church will be offered an opportunity to take a self-guided experience where they will learn about the lives of two children of Uganda and Bolivia who suffer from hunger and poverty.

“The Compassion Experience” includes a 2,000 square-foot space of exhibit space, which includes replica homes of the two children the experience is based around and is free to all visitors. Visitors of the tour will have the opportunity to help the cause of the children living in poverty and learn more about the issue and help the cause.

“The goal of the Compassion Experience is to take people and as much as possible transport them almost into a third world situation,” co-pastor of Crossway Church T.J. Tennison said.

“They’ll be able to walk into the life story of someone else and walk in their shoes.”

Tennison said the experience will set up in front of the church in the parking lot. Two semi-trucks will be brought in to set up a 40-feet wide by 100-feet long tent so the experience can have enough space in the parking lot to be set up properly.

Tennison was invited to go on an exploratory trip with Compassion International and went to Guatemala with a fellow pastor. He recalls visiting one of the homes in a rural setting that changed the way he looked at life.

The 10-foot by 10-foot home was not fit for a mother and her three kids.

The small home with no running water had a profound impact on his life.

“There aren’t words to describe what I experienced,” he said.

“The family who lived there were unbelievably grateful. I remember walking away from the experience thinking that wasn’t acceptable. We need to change this.”

To take a step back and view what it’s like to live in these people’s shoes is the main takeaway from the Compassion Experience.

“It’s a really hopeful thing,” Tennison said. “ I plan to take my children through and help explain to them the rest of the world lives very differently than we do.”

It means a great deal for the Crossway Church and Tennison to have this experience make a four-day stop in the city and provides a great opportunity to expose the city to a great cause.

“What I hope happens it encourages people to think about what they can do to help,” Tennison said.

“I want it to help other people see this from a global perspective.”