How many times have you heard about the misuse of funds hindering an organization’s effectiveness, or greed compromising decision-making and values? Regrettably, I think we all have heard it too many times.

Working in the contact center, sponsors and donors call me and want to know if we — if Compassion — is trustworthy or if it’s a scam. These conversations are difficult because I cannot convince that person — through one phone call — to trust us, to trust Compassion.

If someone has been “burned” before, they look for faults in everything — the letters from their sponsored child, the pictures we send them, the way we use the funds we receive.

I have heard questions like “Is my child even real,” and “How do I know that the funds are actually getting to the child?”

I really don’t blame anyone for asking these questions. Were I on the other end of the phone, I’d be asking the same things.

For those of you wondering, here are my thoughts:

We, as Christians, are called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us. Here at Compassion, we are very passionate about ensuring we are.

Internal and independent audits are regularly conducted for our offices in the field and here in Colorado Springs. Every financial process undergoes intensive and continual scrutiny to ensure that funds are properly received, tracked, and managed. We want our program to be effective, so we monitor the child development centers to make sure they are making a difference in the lives of the children we serve.

Our goal is that the children in our program follow Jesus Christ in faith and deed, support themselves and share with others in need, are responsible members of their families, churches, communities and nations; and maintain their own physical well-being by the time they complete our Child Sponsorship Program. We have put measures in place to make sure that these goals are being accomplished.

Is Compassion a trustworthy organization?

Yes, I think so — but don’t just take my word for it. If you are a sponsor with Compassion and have thought about this before, I encourage you to check out Charity Navigator’s review of Compassion.

Not only did we receive the highest rating of four stars last year, but we received it for the previous seven years as well. Chris mentioned that in a blog post last week, “How is My Money Used Each Month?”

The question of trustworthiness goes beyond financial accountability. Regrettably, there aren’t any independent rating agencies that I’m aware of that grade organizations on how trustworthy they are. But here are some other resources for you to review if you want more information:

• What does it mean for an organization to “live with integrity”?
• Compassion International’s profile at the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability
• Compassion International meets the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance’s Standards for Charity Accountability

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Sponsors often contact us by phone and e-mail to find out when their children will complete the child sponsorship program. The contact usually occurs around a child’s 18th birthday. After all, an 18-year-old in the United States is viewed as an adult and is legally released from a parent’s care on that magical birthday. So it’s understandable when sponsors assume the same standard applies to their sponsored children.

Although age is a determining factor in a child’s completion, we do not finalize a completion just for that reason. Our completion guidelines include consideration of our goals for each  child and the goals each has personally set.

Our goals for the children in our program include:

• Follow Jesus Christ in faith and deed as part of their spiritual training.
• Support themselves and share with others in need as part of their economic training.
• Be responsible members of their family, church, community and nation as part of their social training.
• Maintain their own physical well-being.

To ensure that the child reaches these goals, we use “indicators” or guidelines to determine the child’s spiritual, physical, socio-emotional and cognitive development. Some examples are: the child knows and understands the Bible, follows Jesus, experiences better health, completes a primary education (at a minimum), shows good relational skills, and learns and uses an income-generating skill.

These indicators help the child development center staff identify which goals children have completed and which they need to work on. It also gives all centers unified evaluation criteria so that every child receives the same opportunities (or so that all children are held equally accountable).

In some instances, age can prevent a child from completing a goal.

For example, a young Rwandan woman, age 21, decides she would like to learn how to be a seamstress. The center she attends has a vocational course that teaches this skill, but she must complete the course before her 23rd birthday or risk not finishing it. This is because the maximum program participation age for Rwanda is 22 years old.

When children in our program turn 12, they create a “My Plan for Tomorrow” folder with the help of the center staff. The child sets yearly goals in this folder. At the end of each year the children evaluate their achievements with the staff.

Each child’s goals are different, according to what that child wants to accomplish. But remember, these are just goals. There are no repercussions if the child does not reach them. The main purpose of the goal-setting is to help the children dream. And the folder helps give them a plan to achieve their dreams.

Brett, a representative in Compassion’s contact center, made a video of a child’s folder during his trip to Haiti last fall. Watch with caution — it is very shaky and not made for the easily queasy.

The center staff determines a child’s completion date by reviewing the goals set for the child, the goals the child has set for themselves, and the maximum age that the child can stay in the program. The maximum age depends on the country, and is typically between the ages of 18 and 22.

A child may continue to participate in our sponsorship program if he or she still needs time to reach a personal or programmatic goal as long as the maximum participation age for the program hasn’t been reached yet.

Although we would love for every child to complete our program, regrettably, some children aren’t able to. The most common cause of this is that their family relocates to an area where we do not have a child development center. (For more information on why children leave our program, please read Why Do Children Leave Our Program?

If you are interested in knowing when your sponsored child is expected to complete our program, and your child is older than 13, log in to your account at compassion.com, click “Child Information,” and then “All Information.” Your child’s completion date will be noted under “Schooling.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Thirty-eight dollars a month. That’s how much it costs to sponsor a child through Compassion, which is more than the price of sponsorship at other organizations. The difference sometimes leads to questions like these.

“When I first starting sponsoring it [the sponsorship rate] was $22 a month; that was 1989, or 1990 I forget, I’m getting old. During college I stopped sponsoring for a few years and then it was I think $26 or $28 a month . . . Other organizations have stayed about $22-24 a month . . . what extra services does Compassion offer for the extra money . . . what does Compassion provide that other organizations do not supply at $22-24 month?” — Dwight“

“I am getting a bit concerned with the cost to sponsor a child. Where is the money going that isn’t going to the children? I would hate to think it is for a glossier overedited over advertising or staff bloat to make sponsors feel better.” — Nancy White

Although these two questions may seem to be asking the same thing, they’re actually not. Dwight is asking, “What does my child get each month for $38?” (i.e., how are our programs run and what do we deliver?). Nancy is asking, “Where is the money going that isn’t going to the children?” (i.e., how do we spend your money?). They’re both important questions.

I’m not an expert on how other sponsorship programs are run, but what I do know is that some organizations don’t have Christ at the center of what they do. And some allow children to have multiple sponsors.

So two things that Compassion delivers is the Gospel and a one-to-one relationship with your child.

Some child sponsorship programs just focus on one or two areas of a child’s development, rather than being all-encompassing, and others organizations administer their programs on behalf of the community a child lives in, rather than focusing directly on a specific child.

Compassion delivers holistic child development that is child focused. These two posts help show what that means.

• What does holistic child development look like?
• What does my sponsored child learn at the child development center?

Additionally, some organizations receive government funding. We do not. We’re 100 percent sponsor and donor supported.

And finally, some programs are more localized and less global than our program is. We’re a global holistic child development ministry and we use a one-on-one sponsorship model that encourages you and your child to share your faith with each other. We’re Christ centered, child focused, church based and committed to integrity.

Some programs may have similarities to ours, but none are exactly the same. That’s what we deliver.

As for how we spend your money, no more than 20 percent pays for administration and fundraising. That’s our commitment to you. And for the past several years, we’ve been significantly below that 20 percent, usually two to four percentage points below.

In fiscal year 2009, approximately $31 of your $38 monthly payment paid for development center grants, program services and child advocacy (i.e., educating the Body of Christ about the biblical mandate to care for children and the poor), while a nickel shy of $7 was used for administration ($3.23) and fundraising ($3.72).

Because of how we manage your money we have received eight consecutive four-star ratings from Charity Navigator, an independent charity evaluator. Only 1 percent of charities rated by Charity Navigator have been recognized in this way.

So, what does the $31 buy your sponsored child?

The money categorized as development center grants is delivered directly to our church partners to cover the costs of implementing our sponsorship program. The basic elements of these activities include:

• regular Christian training
• learning opportunities (e.g., funding school attendance and/or regular participation in extracurricular educational activities)
• health treatment and training (e.g., regular physical exams, dental care, vaccinations, referral for advance medical care, instruction in physical and dental hygiene, exercise, nutrition and preventive health care)
• socio-emotional development (e.g., learning basic social skills, teamwork, art, drama, dance, etc.)
• materials and supplies including hygiene supplies (e.g., soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste), center supplies (e.g., paper, writing utensils, games, toys), fees or costs associated with field trips, camps, drama, art and dance activities, and snacks, food and supplemental nutrition each child may need
• individualized care and attention (e.g., school progress reports, center attendance records, health records, home visits by social workers and adult supervision while at the development center)

Program services include activities undertaken by our staff to select, train, equip and oversee the church partners implementing our program, as well as programmatic research and evaluation. They also cover the costs of staff who direct and maintain the daily activities at the child development center.

More personally, this is where the money comes from for letter translation, postage, taking photos of your child, and updating you on your child’s well-being.

You can consider program services as the funding source for maintaining our program’s integrity and all the things that connect you and your child.

That about sums it up. I hope this explanation is useful to you. If you want additional information about our financial accountability stewardship you can visit compassion.com and charitynavigator.com, as well as call us at (800) 336-7676.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

If you find yourself calling Compassion a child sponsorship organization, I have news for you. We are not a child sponsorship organization. We are a child development organization.

And child development isn’t just child sponsorship.

Child development requires involvement. Involvement begins with a commitment and extends beyond dedication to perseverance. Child development is an investment – an investment of time for a lifetime.

All that child sponsorship involves is identifying people to make a pledge on behalf of a child.

Child development is dynamic. It changes as a child’s needs change. It’s personal, individualized and relational. And it’s tailored to ages, gender, health, cultures and family situations.

Child sponsorship is just a tool, and the tool is different from what the tool builds. Child sponsorship allows us to develop children. Child sponsorship allows you to do God’s work – to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Child development equips children today with the skills to succeed tomorrow. It’s long term. It doesn’t occur overnight – because children don’t grow up overnight. However, children do die at night. And they die during the day too.

Children die when they’re in the womb and in their mothers’ arms. Children die when they’re young and when they’re older, which means that child development requires child survival. If a child dies, there is no child to develop.

This is why we have our Child Survival Program, which is different from our Child Sponsorship Program, which is different from our Leadership Development Program, which is different from our Complementary Interventions.

Taken together, those four things are “how we do” what we do. They are how we develop the children we serve, the children you sponsor.

What we do is develop children. Compassion International is not just a child sponsorship organization. We are a child development organization.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

In the contact center, we get many questions about how our sponsorship program operates. And one of the more common questions I am asked is about the enrollment process.

“Does a child have to be a Christian to be enrolled in Compassion’s program?”

The answer is, “No way!”

Children are welcomed into our programs regardless of their faith. However, we are unapologetically Christian and every child development center is connected to a Christian church or ministry.

That’s one of the things that makes us distinct. We’re church based.

While we provide the children and their families the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the gospel, and be discipled in the ways of Christ, neither they nor their families are under any compulsion to become Christians.

But can you imagine the power of a child coming home and telling Bible stories to family members who are not followers of Christ? Can you picture that mom or dad watching the child transform in front of their eyes because of the love the child has for Jesus?

So, even though the answer is no, children do not have be Christians to enroll or participate in our programs, several hundred children in our programs do dedicate their lives to Jesus every day – without any compulsion, other than the Holy Spirit’s.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The other day, I received a call from Sandy in New York. She was ecstatic because her sponsored child, Erica, had asked to be her friend on Facebook and wanted to know if she could correspond with her child through Facebook instead of writing letters. After all, it would be so much more convenient for her.

Sigh. These conversations are always difficult for me. I would have loved to have told her, “Yes, go for it!” but I couldn’t. You shouldn’t communicate directly with your sponsored child outside of the realm of Compassion. In fact, before children are registered in our programs, they and their parents agree to our communication guidelines: No contact outside of Compassion.

Why, you ask? Wouldn’t it save money? Wouldn’t it save time?

It probably would, but it could also come at the expense of you and your sponsored child’s safety, and this type of communication places the child, family and church partner staff in a difficult situation.

It’s not uncommon for someone who knows a child who is sponsored to create an account on a social networking site and pretend to be the child, to contact the sponsor and ask for money, and to threaten the child’s well-being if money isn’t provided.

We cannot protect you or your sponsored child if we are not involved in the correspondence between you and the child. We also have a responsibility to protect the children from sponsors who don’t have the children’s best interest in mind.

Without being the center of the correspondence process, we also cannot ensure that you don’t inadvertently write something inappropriate or offensive to the child – cross-cultural sensitivities seem to appear out of nowhere, even out of good intentions.

While it may seem easier and more cost-efficient for us to allow contact through social networking sites, we don’t allow it at this time because we want to be sure it’s done well, done right and done with the best interests of the children in mind.

So, I asked Sandy to delete the friend request and to not respond to it. I also sent an e-mail to my co-worker Jill. In situations like this, Jill contacts the country office, which works with the development center staff to remind the child of our guidelines regarding direct contact with sponsors. The center staff also makes sure it was indeed the child who initiated the contact.

If you are contacted by your sponsored child outside of Compassion’s portals (e.g., by phone, e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), please don’t respond, even to say, “I’m sorry but I can’t talk with you in this manner.” And please let us know about the contact.

If it happens in Facebook or Twitter, please use the site’s “block” feature to block the person from asking you to be their friend. I know this may sound harsh, but please try to imagine what could happen if these guidelines weren’t in place.

Thanks so much for your willingness to respect our communication policies. I know it’s hard and not what you’d prefer to do.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

On Sept. 6, 1996, Biswanath was involved in a terrible road accident. His right leg was badly injured and he was taken to the hospital immediately. But his relatives didn’t rely on the expert doctors, and took him to a local herbal healer instead.

The herbal healer provided the wrong treatment and used unscientific ways to join the injured man’s thigh bones. Biswanath lost his ability to walk or run. Many years have passed since that devastating accident, but Biswanath still struggles to walk or stand for long.

After his accident, Biswanath lost all his expectations for life. He couldn’t find a job due to his weak leg. He married a woman named Sumi, and their only child, Sumonto, was born in 1999.

Biswanath struggled to provide for his family. He began to sell marijuana. The dark side of life grabbed him.

“I had no other option [but selling marijuana] to survive other than selling my land. I am a disabled man. My right leg is almost paralyzed. I can’t walk or stand for long. No one hired me for a job. But I had to survive with my family at any cost.”

Biswanath doesn’t like to talk about how he used to sell marijuana or how much he made because it still wasn’t enough to send his son to school. Biswanath did not want his son to become a marijuana seller like himself.

Mission schools are popular in Bangladesh. No or low tuition, good teachers, a nice environment and a free supply of books have made the mission schools popular among people in remote communities.

When the Compassion-assisted child development center opened at the local church, Biswanath and his wife saw it as nothing more than a Christian mission school. But it offered an opportunity for Sumonto to get a free education, and his parents grabbed it.

Over the last four years, Sumonto and his father have gotten to know the church as well as Compassion. Sumonto receives better educational opportunities through the center than he would through any other school in the community. He receives tutoring and all the educational materials (books, copies, pencils, etc.) he needs, including his school uniform, from the center.

Sumonto’s school fee is no longer a problem for his father as Compassion pays it regularly. Sumonto’s parents are grateful that the center even provides lunch for their son and takes care of all his medical needs. Sumonto also is learning biblical morals and Christian values.

Biswanath was happy for his son, but the bigger changes began to take place as the generosity of Sumonto’s sponsor grew.

Our church partners never hand over cash gift money to the families. Instead, they make purchases according to the need of the child and family. In Bangladesh, most families ask that domestic animals are purchased with the family gift money. Domestic animals are very useful because selling milk and eggs creates an opportunity for the family to earn extra money.

Biswanath requested the church staff buy them cows with their designated gift money. They bought six cows.

Every day Biswanath sells three liters of fresh milk and earns around $1.30. This little income is a great help for Biswanath. He quit selling marijuana. The center director advised — and rebuked — Biswanath several times about this illegal business. Through continuous counseling with the director, Biswanath changed his ways.

“I never imagined that my son would ever go to school and have an education. The church made it possible. My son is now receiving a good education, food and other benefits like other capable families in our village. The church, along with Compassion, is taking care of my son. Not only that, but because of the gift from Sumonto’s sponsor, we now have a way to earn for our family. This helped me to get rid of the worst business.”

Subsequently, the family sold three of their cows and bought a little piece of land where they started a small shop. Biswanath’s older brother is running that shop and gives a share to Biswanath. With the love and generosity of Sumonto’s sponsor, two families have benefited.

The shop sells herbal products (leafs, mixtures, oils, fruit skins, tree skins, etc.) and spices. Biswanath’s brother, who was previously unemployed, now earns a little that he can contribute to his family.

Sumonto’s mother, Sumi, says,

“These Christian people at the local church are very gentle. They are as concerned as we are for our son. My son learns to behave gently from the church. We believe whatever he learns at the center is good and fruitful. My husband and I have full faith in Compassion. We know that they will teach our child the right things and guide him to avoid the wrong. They helped and guided my husband to quit his dark business. I am grateful to them.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

What three things do you wish someone had told you when you first began sponsoring a child? What three things do you wish you understood about our child sponsorship program?

We asked numerous employees throughout our organization the same questions, but with a twist. We asked them to share the three things they thought you should know, based on the questions they frequently receive.

Here’s what they said:

Carl Holmes, Sponsor and Donor Relations Representative

1. We work only within local evangelical churches. We get lots of calls from people who assume we work in a manner like World Vision does and set up feeding programs, schools, etc.
2. When you commit to sponsor a child, the child commits to write at least three letters a year to you. The same is expected of you.
3. We work only in countries with stable governments, where we can take a long-term approach to child development. I get lots of questions about why we aren’t in China, or in Iraq, or Sudan, etc.

Joe Cammaroto, Sponsor Correspondence Supervisor

1. When using your own stationery to write your sponsored child, or when sending a greeting card, please make sure the child number and sponsor number are included in the letter. This saves us hours of research in determining which child to send the letter to.
2. Please, send only gifts that are flat paper items, 8 1/2″ x 11,” no more than 1/4″ thick. Anything not meeting this standard will be donated to a local charity.
3. Write to your child often, and keep in mind it may take several months to receive a response due to shipping, customs, translation, etc. Short frequent letters are better than yearly updates.

William Valero, Program Communications Manager, Compassion Colombia

1. The most important part of the sponsorship commitment is to cultivate a relationship with the child, through letters and pictures.
2. You are an example of the goals that the child is now able to dream of.
3. Behind each letter you receive there is always a hopeful child waiting for a word of encouragement and wise advise that will guide them.

Catherine Hilger, Global Internal Communication Specialist

1. Sponsorship shouldn’t be about you; it should be about the child. It’s important to keep that in mind when you write to sponsored children and they don’t correspond back in the way you hoped they would.

I have sponsored children who write great letters, thank me for every gift I send, call me “mom,” and send photos every chance they get.

I also have sponsored children who write only the minimum requirement and when they do, it is from a staff worker, not my child. They don’t thank me for gifts and never send photos. This can be discouraging because my “sponsor fix” isn’t met, but I remind myself that God asked me to sponsor this child, and it is for that child — for that child to be released from poverty – not for me.

Always know that whatever the level of engagement you have, you ARE making a difference in a life.

2. Stay the course. The investment of sponsorship takes time; it is not an overnight matter. Releasing children from poverty is done one day at a time; it takes steady, consistent support and prayer. That’s what releases children from poverty – when sponsors stay the course and don’t give up. Your return on investment will come later, much later, and maybe in heaven.
3. Be transparent and bold. Your sponsored child loves you and wants to know you. Share your prayer requests. Guide that child. Coach his or her just as you would your own child.

   I once served as a volunteer correspondent to a Leadership Development Program (LDP) student in Kenya. After corresponding for a consistent period of time, I began to realize that this young adult saw my advice for living as more precious than anything else in his life. I was the only one on the sidelines telling him things I told my own sons: “Stay away from the girls! Stay focused on your studies! No, you don’t get to chase after some crazy dream right now, you must finish school. Go talk to the LDP Specialist right now about applying for the Moody Scholarship. What did I tell you? Stay away from girls, they are dangerous and will cause you problems!”

   He really appreciated that I would get in his face like I would my own son. It meant I cared about him and he took it to heart. We are still in touch with one another, he still calls me ”mom,” and he still comes to me for advice for living. He doesn’t make a move without discussing it with me. He is my son.

Jennifer Holcombe, Sponsor Donor Services Communication Specialist

1. Compassion partners with the local church.
2. Letter writing is a very important part of sponsorship. Even if the child’s letters are not that engaging, children absolutely cherish letters from their sponsors.
3. When people call into the contact center, we check to see if we have the sponsor’s e-mail address on file. Some sponsors decline to give their e-mail to us. However, having a sponsor’s e-mail address on file is important because it helps us to communicate important information to them about their child.

Ruth Cortese, Sponsor Donor Relations Representative

1. Writing consistently is important! It will take some time (even up to a year) to establish a good “flow of conversation” between you and your child.
2. There is no set time commitment for sponsoring a child, but our hope is that you can sponsor a child until he/she finishes the program.
3. Not all sponsored children will be engaged in the program the same way. Each child and culture is different with different backgrounds and ideals. For example: Try not to compare how often your friend’s sponsored child writes vs. how often your child writes you; or “his sponsored child is smiling in his picture but mine is not”; or “his sponsored child answers questions and acknowledges gifts in his letters but mine does not,” etc.

Katy Balsis, International Partner Development Web & Marketing Specialist

1. Letter writing is important to the kids. While it may seem like a burden to us, but to them, it means the world to hear from their sponsor. It’s a privilege to speak into their lives!
2. Be proud of your kids! Make them a part of your family. Share them with your family and friends and communicate to others what it means to you to be a sponsor. It might not only encourage other people to sponsor, but it will make your relationship with the child more personal.
3. Last and not least, JOIN OURCOMPASSION. It’s a great community to help you learn more about letter writing and connecting with your child.

Bob Cleary, Product Strategy Director

1. Understand the context for children in poverty. Relief, by design, is temporary. It focuses only on physical needs, which is why Compassion focuses on holistic child development.
2. Poverty does more than rob a child of his or her physical life; the child loses his or her God-given sense of dignity and self-worth. Children in poverty miss out on the understanding that God loves them. Releasing children from poverty through ongoing, long-term holistic child development rebuilds a child’s sense of God-given value, and meets their spiritual, physical, educational and relational needs.
3. Sponsors are part of a strategic partnership along with local churches and committed families. The sponsor’s role in the partnership is a commitment to prioritize the needs of the child foremost through regular correspondence, prayer, and gifts that build joy and faith in God’s people.

Becky Giovagnoni, Complementary Interventions Specialist

1. Your sponsorship will likely be a very different experience than what you initially think it will be. Be okay with letting it be exactly what God wants it to be.

For me, I had long dreamed of the day I’d get to meet my sponsored child in Haiti. I’d heard so many stories of tearful meetings, exuberant hugs and heart-wrenching goodbyes. When I met the 4-year-old boy I sponsored, he was extremely shy. He didn’t want to talk to me. Even after several hours, when we said goodbye, he barely looked at me.

It took me some time to accept the fact that meeting my child for the first time was not the instant connection I had always expected. I had to be okay with allowing him to be the child God had chosen for me, not the one I expected based on the experience of other sponsors.

2. Just because you cannot see a difference does not mean you are not making one. You may never know the full impact of your sponsorship on your child’s life.I often find myself having certain expectations of my child – what they should be writing about in their letters, when they should start writing their own letters, how they should be doing in school, how they should be growing, etc. Basically, I want tangible evidence that my sponsorship is making a difference. The fact is, your sponsorship is making difference, whether or not you ever get to see it yourself.
3. If you let it, sponsorship will change your life. It’s easy to believe that by sponsoring a child, you are doing something good. That you are doing God a favor. However, sponsorship is ultimately not about you or even about what God has called you to do. It’s about Him. And just like any other life experience, it will transform you only as much you allow God to use it in your life.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

If you can, please do. If you can’t, please use all the words you need.

And if you haven’t met your sponsored child, or think you may never be able to, live vicariously through this 29-minute subtitled video, which recently aired on Dutch television. It documents a young sponsor’s trip to meet her child for the first time.

Watch it and you’ll understand what the sponsor means when she says,

“It’s beautiful to meet him. Yes, it’s worth everything.”

You can also view this “What’s It Like” Compassion Netherlands television documentary on Vimeo.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

São Paulo is the capital of Brazil’s São Paulo state. It is richer than the other 25 Brazilian capitals and the most populous – more than 11 million inhabitants. The state is known as the “Brazilian economic motor” because it has the country’s largest industrial park, the most skilled labor, the best infrastructure and the greatest economic production, not to mention the biggest consumer market.

São Paulo also has the best evangelical seminaries and is the headquarters of many evangelical denomination conventions. Because of all these characteristics, it seems impossible for anyone who doesn’t know the Brazilian reality to imagine that in this same city people starve and some have never heard about God.

This is São Paulo. This is the contrast.

Unlike the grandiosity that São Paulo displays, Projeto Casa Criança Viva operates in a small, two-story house on a dirty street – dirty because of the pollution and graffiti on the walls. This child development center serves 150 children in the area.

Food is one of the needs that the center is working to supply to the children, but there is another crucial need that may come as a surprise: most children haven’t heard about God until they enroll at the center.

In a group of 12-to-14-year-olds, most of the children said they previously didn’t have any idea about the Bible or salvation in Christ. This is surprising because São Paulo’s population is about 15 percent evangelical, according to Ministry Information Support, and this number is growing each year. Yet most children who live in the neighborhood this center serves have never learned about Christian values.

Our Complementary Interventions Program for Christian Education is helping to change that.

Because of the efforts of donors, we were able purchase Christian material for 150 child development centers to use in their Christian education classes. The books were distributed among 35,000 children enrolled.

Projeto Casa Criança Viva uses these books not only in its Christian education classes, but also as a compass to direct the other activities of the center. Christian education is offered one hour a week, and all center activities are planned to serve this class.

The teacher prepares the children’s hearts to receive the message during the week, according to the theme that the book gives. If the Christian education theme of the week is “obedience,” the center incorporates that theme in the other subjects taught to the children.

For example, in the physical area, children are taught to obey the game rules; in the cognitive area, children are taught what “obeying” means in language and how to apply it in their vocabulary; and in the socio-emotional area, children are taught the importance of obeying authority, such as parents, teachers and governments.

Many children enrolled at the child development center got their first contact with the Word of God at the center. They had never heard about God, Christ or stories such as the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark or Joseph in Egypt.

Transformation is the best word to define what happens with the children during the class. Parents recognize the difference in the way their children behave.

“It’s very good for Karla to have this class,” says Marta, mother of 11-year-old Karla. “She used to be a rebel and use bad language!”

Before enrolling in the project, Karla didn’t help her mother at home and when she did, Karla became angry. Because of it, Marta had several problems with the rebellion of her daughter.

“Karla’s temper got better after learning about God’s values!” Marta says. Karla now helps her mother washing dishes and taking care of her little brother, Mateus.

Center staff have witnessed the transformation, not just of children, but also of entire families.

Izael is 7 years old and lives with his parents in a small house. Izael’s family life used to be very hard until the conversion of his parents. They weren’t married and Izael’s father drank too much. The parents used to dance forró, a kind of sensual dance very famous in the northeast of Brazil.

The center staff provided Izael with biblical counseling about it. One day, in the Christian education class, Izael received Jesus. A few days later, his parents and his little sister decided to follow Jesus, so the whole family stopped with the forró.

“Our family relationship improved. Antonio and I decided to get married officially and he stopped drinking,” says Izael’s mother with happiness.

Izael’s mother believes the Christian education lessons were decisive for Izael’s conversion. This transformation was so strong in Izael’s life that he has a plan for his future:

“I’d like to be a pastor and teach people about God!”

São Paulo’s most impoverished children live in a reality that only Jesus can save them from, giving them dreams and hope for a better future. The Christian education materials equip our church partners to share God’s Word, often for the first time, with children in need of hope.

“They come here without knowing God and the main difference God makes in their little lives is to put hope in their hearts. They believe God can open doors. They believe in victory.” – Luciana, the director of Projeto Casa Criança Viva

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