A Big-picture Perspective

child holding hand on forehead

Becky is going through a difficult time right now. Her husband has survived cancer twice, but the doctors have found another spot on his lung. Scared that the cancer has returned, she described her feelings to me.

“I remember walking around the office and thinking ‘Does anyone know that my world has collapsed today? Does anyone even care?’”

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What Does Isaiah 58 Have to Do With Poverty?

shadows of children on wall

How does Isaiah 58 relate to extreme poverty? How does it relate to oppression and corruption? Does Isaiah 58 have anything to do with these topics?

How about its relevance to how we serve the Lord today? What are your thoughts?

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Purple

Purple is associated with royalty. It symbolizes wisdom, nobility and ambition. It communicates wealth and extravagance. But it’s also the color of dignity – something you’re helping give to children in poverty.

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woman teaching young children in classroom

How Do We Teach the Children in Our Programs?

Our holistic child development model is central to our mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And the curriculum standards we have put in place in all of our programs are key to achieving this goal. We have created a global curriculum to help develop children holistically—physically, spiritually, cognitively and socio-emotionally. It is designed to be nonacademic, similar to an after-school enrichment program. For example, instead of learning math, children learn how to apply mathematical skills.

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How Young Is Too Young to Sponsor a Child?

Compassion has sponsorship booths at hundreds of events across the country, throughout the year. Some of those booths are at events specifically for teens. Working in the contact center, I sometimes speak with parents whose teen sponsored a child at one of these events.

The parents are often concerned that their teen will not be able to see the commitment to fruition. Sometimes the parents are upset that we would even allow their teen to sign up to be a sponsor.

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Discovering Child Advocacy

Several years ago when I started sponsoring a child through Compassion, I thought I was doing a good thing. I made a small but noticeable donation to a nonprofit doing great work. Some little kid had a better life, I felt good for caring for the poor, the kid probably felt better because he had more food to eat, I was being oh-so-Jesus-like, and all was well with the world.
 
Then, I went. I went to where “the kid” lived. And I discovered something.

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Orange

Orange is a bold invigorating color suggesting strength, endurance and success. It represents enthusiasm, encouragement and determination. It is the banner of success carried by children released from poverty in Jesus’ name.

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family standing outside their home in Indonesia

An Indonesian Idol

Knowing Nyopon’s dream to become a singer, Mustika, one of the staff members at the child development center, offered him the opportunity to join the “Idola Cilik” contest. Idola Cilik is a national children’s singing contest inspired by “American Idol.”

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boy writing in a notebook

What Do Children Do After They Graduate From Our Sponsorship Program?

One of the goals for our Child Sponsorship Program is for every child to successfully graduate with faith in Christ and the necessary life skills to become self-sufficient. Onidis’ story reflects the importance of the Child Sponsorship Program, even for the youth who don’t move on to our Leadership Development Program.

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children in Ghana praying

Your Sponsored Child Prays For You

As sponsors you are held in high esteem by the staff in our Ghana office, by the staff of our church partners, and among all the children in the child development centers. Compassion would not be Compassion without you. The children would not have the lives they have without your response to Jesus. We in Ghana appreciate you and pray that your relationship with us will be a lifelong one. Amen!

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Direct Payment Plan

How to Make Your Financial Contributions Go Further

When you set up a regularly occurring and automatic direct payment plan (e.g., Automated Clearing House (ACH), bill pay or credit/debit card), you save us at least $1 on each transaction. It’s a significant amount when you consider that many of the children’s families we serve survive on less than $1 a day.

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White

White symbolizes goodness, innocence and purity.

It’s the color of perfection and safety. It’s the color of light — the Light of the World we share through our ministry.

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