Does child sponsorship through Compassion really work? How does it make a difference in the life of a child? We’ll let the words of Juan David speak for themselves:
“Jesus Christ to me is like a father. I do not have a father so I see Jesus as my father.” — Juan, 8 years old
“What I like most about being sponsored…I feel happy knowing that I have a friendly hand, somebody who supports me.” — Juan, 13 years old
“I thank the organization of Compassion so much because with your support I will be able to become a doctor.” — Juan, present day
You can also view this video message Child Sponsorship Works — Juan David Dominguez Galvez on YouTube.
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it’s a very touching history. People who don’t know poverty are not aware of what children in developing countries have to face in order to overcome their own constraints to get a great future. As Save the Children says in its latest Report, children must be considered in every aspect of development.
Wow, it’s amazing to see a little boy grow up before your eyes! 🙂
Michael & Juan David, (and the 12 firemen in Seattle and the Hopper family), I’m so moved by your story. This is such a great example of how God works in the world today. Congratulations to all of you on the fruitfulness of your partnership.
In December 2007 I signed up with 11 of my coworkers to sponsor an LDP student in the Dominican Republic. I knew I would be traveling to that country in the next couple weeks and had decided to sponsor a child that I may be able to visit, and made the arrangements with the Compassion staff.
Just 2 weeks before our trip I was reading a book about Compassion called Blessings of the Poor. The book tells stories of 40 of the 1 million children in Compassion’s ministry. Within those 40 stories there is only one story about a child in the Dominican Republic (a country where approximately 40,000 children are supported by Compassion). That one child shared the name with the LDP student we had just signed up to sponsor, Juan David Dominguez Galvez.
I read the story about Juan David and wondered if his was just a common name in that country. The story mentioned how his neighborhood had devastated by Hurricane George when he was 8 years old. I quickly looked up Hurricane George on my phone and realized it had hit the Dominican Republic 9 years ago. It was then I realized, the Juan David in the book, and the Juan David I had just signed up to sponsor were the same child.
Meeting Juan David was one of the most memorable moments of my life. Compassion’s amazing staff arranged it so we could be in the room when he learned that he had a sponsor for the LDP program. Then they told him, “as a matter of fact, one of your sponsors is sitting beside you.” It was truly a moment I will never forget.
The blog post Annabelle refers to is at:
https://blog.compassion.com/leadership-development-program-who-can-you-sponsor-with/
PS: I had not noticed him writing with both hands when I first saw this video. I will have to ask him.
I’m so very proud of you Juan David! I know this young man personally and he is truly a jewell! May God bless you as you reach out to others, especially the children.
Great. I love these success stories. I pray this for all my compassion children.
That was such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing!
so cool!! I JUST read about him in a post from 18 months ago!!! I’m reading chronologically and I’m in january 2010
in the quotes above, the first one says he is 8 when he said that on the video??
also, is he ambidextrous??
I also wonder if he’s ambidextrous. I saw that, too, annabelle.
lol! I tend to notice lefties (since I am one!) but then I saw him using his right hand!! totally jealous!!