Members of the Virtual Child Sponsorship Letter Writing Night group in OurCompassion have committed to write letters to their children on the second Friday of each month. The group provides letter-writing ideas and/or craft projects to use as a theme when writing.
Karla and June, El Salvador 2005
In 2005, I took my first sponsor tour to El Salvador. During that week, I met many wonderful children but two boys stood out. One was sponsored and one was not. Both boys appeared very sad.
It seemed odd to me that the sponsored boy was sad. I learned that he was happy he was sponsored but was also sad because he had not received any letters from his sponsor.
Through a translator, the boy told me that he just wanted to know about his new family, which made me realize how important our letters are to our children really are. I committed to write my child more frequently and not just respond to her letters.
I returned to El Salvador with Compassion in 2008. During the trip, I visited the home of two teenage sisters, Ruth and Flabia.
When I was in their home, the girls showed me their letters. Ruth, all smiles, proudly showed me her stack of letters and pictures. Flabia had a look of sadness on her face. She had only received one letter from her sponsor.
Flabia was thankful for her sponsor and the extra money the sponsor frequently sent, but she really wanted to hear from her sponsor, to know her and have a relationship with her. It was written all over her face how much she wanted this.
Those young ladies had such beautiful spirits about them. I wished I could tell Flabia’s sponsor how beautiful her child is and how she was missing out on a beautiful relationship with this young lady.
I don’t think that many of us (sponsors) grasp how much our letters really mean to our children. I know I didn’t, until I experienced firsthand the sadness that lack of letters creates.
When I returned home from my second trip, I made myself accountable for my correspondence to my child. I organized all my letters from Karla in a three-ring binder and now any time I write her, I make a copy of the letter and place it in the binder. I also scan each craft I make so I have a record of everything I have sent to Karla.
Through my experiences, the idea of setting a specific day each month to write my child started to take shape. Then I thought that maybe other sponsors would like to join me at my house to sit down together and write our children.
In May 2009, I hosted the first letter-writing night in my home. Months went by with only a small number attending, and I tried to think of other sponsors I could invite to join us.
I remembered a group I had joined on OurCompassion. It was for sponsors who lived in my area. When I posted an invitation to the letter-writing event at my house, I ended up sending it to all my friends on OurCompassion by mistake.
I received responses from those who lived in other states wishing they lived in my area so they could participate. That made me think. What about a virtual group?
So I asked. And in February of this year the Virtual Child Sponsorship Letter Writing group began.
For the past few months, I have been discussing with God my disappointment with the size of the attendance in my home. I wanted to reach more people but it seemed as though my attempts were unsuccessful.
Last month, out of the blue, I received an e-mail from Compassion saying they liked the virtual letter-writing group idea, and they offered me a chance to invite you to join us. This is only by the hand of God!
God has spoken to my heart through this — about how He will do abundantly more than what I ask or imagine, if I am obedient to the desires He puts on my heart.
I had been feeling unused, that I was being wasted. He said to me, “I do not waste anything I create. I will not waste you, June. Do you see!?”
My initial desire was to have a consistent group of five to eight people coming to my home each month. But God made it more — a much larger group of people, from all over the world, coming together every second Friday of the month to write letters to their children.
Will you join us this Friday, Sept. 10? Please leave a comment if you plan to. I’m curious to know where everyone is from.
And come stop by the group in OurCompassion if you’re interested in the theme we’ve chosen for this month’s letter. Thanks for reading … and for writing.
[...] is actually the day that is set aside for letter writing. So, guess what I’m doing [...]
This is a great idea! I just tried to sign up though and they could not find my information, even though my email address is on my profile
Bummer! I was hoping to use it!
I love this idea! I am in Taiwan, and plan to send my kids letters ~ I am not full sure ow the virtual group works, but I’ll read more on it and be informed
God’s using you all in a grand way and I’m excited about it!
I just shared some Spring ideas for letter writing topics! http://www.bloggingfromtheboonies.com/2011/05/finally-spring.html I hope these help to inspire you, if you’re struggling with what to write about!
I just sat down and wrote out 15 letters (no, not all to the same child!) and once I got the format for one, used a lot of the same for the others, adding personal touches to each. I made sure I had a Bible verse, the springtime/seasonal information, flowers coming up, etc. I told them that next time they all get an updated picture. No matter how many times I send one, they always want more so I give it to them. I also included a coloring page for each – even the oldest one – he is an artist so he might like it too. I get my inspiration from the letters I get and share among all but do not let the others know that is anyone besides them.
I just love these children!!
That’s amazing Cindy. You are my new hero!!
It’s in my planner to join the virtual writing party. Our daughter is the same age as our sponsor girl and she asks for pics and updates every time she writes. We keep a scrap book w received letters but we also copy the letters we write so we remember what we’ve already told her. Love this experience!
My husband just recently found out about these opportunities here and gave me the link. I am ashamed to say that we were for so long very loyal about keeping up with our CompassionKids (that’s what we have always called them). I sat last night and went through the thigns they have made us and read old letters, and ran across one that the sponsor put a note in. She said this: Miqueis loves you very much and loves your letters and the things you send him. His mother said that you were the most important thing that has happened in his life.
Tears rolled down my face as I thought of him not hearing from us like he used to…. What happened? Things happened in my life and I have gotten so into feeling sorry for myself, that I have not given the attention to my children in Compassion that I should have.
I am no longer working but told my husband that I would never give up the sponsorship as long as I have a dime in mypocket. But, in my feeling sorry for myself state, the letters and little trinkets I sent them trickled off.
I am making a commitment to once again being the Sponsor I once was (that WE once were..my husband and I), so I would like to come here and share iwth you, hear your stories and be reminded of that second Friday in the month to dedicate some time to my CompassionKids again.
We have two now. We have sponsored four so far. ONe girl aged out… and is going to school to get a career in hair dressing and later to become a teacher. She is really SPECIAL, but we will never get to hear from her again.
One we lost because Compassion pulled away from the church that was doing this and so we were notified that we lost Elbis. We never got to tell him goodbye and this has been a heartbreak for me then and still is today. I pray for him and wish I knew that he is ok.
I now have Rosa who is new, and Miqueias who is now 13 and we have had him since he was 5. WONDERFUL and gifted young man.
I want to get back to being as close to them as we once were and I thank God for the priviledge of doing so.
Thank you and I hope you will allow me to become a part of your group. I have always had a passion for Compassion and all they do.
Mary
I have decided to write letters to my kids after reading the post. God bless you !
i just started sponsering my first child with compassion and i want to send her a birthday present. Does anyone know if compassion only takes monetary gifts or do they let you send more personal presents?
Congrats on becoming a sponsor! I’ve found the relationship benefits me just as much if not more than my sponsored boy. I actually just mailed my soon to be 12 year old boy a birthday card with presents yesterday. I mailed him a birthday card with some paperboard tangrams to make shapes out of along with a Bible verse from a calendar I have. Compassion will accept any presents that meet their stipulations (designed to prevent items being held up in customs or taxed at a high rate), which quite simply is anything flat less than 1/4 that is made out of paper (or laminated paper). Michelle has a more detailed list on her blog, which is copied from CI’s website, of what you can send. I also encourage you to check out her ‘Letter Writing 101′ posts as well as the tabs at the top on the blog about letter writing.
http://www.bloggingfromtheboonies.com/2010/05/sending-goodies-to-compassion.html
You can send a monetary gift that would be used to buy your kid something also. In the past my kid has gotten (not all the same year, but over many years) clothes, food and toys with the money sent. To save transfer costs, CI transfers money once a month from their offices in the US to the foreign countries, so make sure to send the money 2-3 months in advance. If you don’t, your kid will still enjoy it when the money arrives to buy a present though. Letters also take 1-3 months to get to your kid depending on the remoteness of the project.
Excellent blog about gift giving:
http://blog.compassion.com/give-a-gift-to-your-sponsored-child-how-what-why/
I also encourage you to join OC (OurCompassion.org) if you haven’t, as it is a great group of sponsors and there are lots of people who would be happy to answer questions about sponsorship, pray with you, and share with you about their kids.
Hm, that response was a bit long, but I wanted to point you in other places to get information if you had more questions
Only monetary gifts, but usually, you’ll receive a picture of your child posing with the gift if you send $60 or more. (The developmental center takes the picture, gives it to CI, then CI sends it to you. Sometimes, they give the child the picture to send to you.) It would be nice if we were able to send more personalized gifts, but remember two thing; 1. The duty and taxes and penalties and mail theft is unbelievably HIGH in most places where poverty is high and …2. Our sponsored children would most likely be SADDENED by our gift choices! ie: Receiving a doll when you are starving can seem like a “waste”. A bag of dried beans is often MUCH more valuable to a child. Better yet, a gift of a chicken or two or three can provide eggs for a family for many years and/or provide “a job and income” from selling some of the eggs…far more valuable to my child in Rwanda. In fact, of the 3 gifts I’ve sent her, she decided to buy 2 or 3 chickens each time! Now, she sells any eggs that her family doesn’t eat. Remember that these kids are much more practical and at a much younger age than Americans/Westerners. Also, the money usually goes a lot further in their country than it does in ours. It helps to get over the fact that we aren’t able to send a particular toy or dress to our child when we’re aware of these things. I wish CI would make all this clear on their website!!!! I didn’t know this for many YEARS!!!! Not all of us care to Facebook, Twitter, or any of the social networking. Thanks goodness many wonderful sponsors have taken the time to write articles to educate us. I honestly believe there would be many more sponsors if CI wouldn’t be so “vague” about how things work! It’s that “vagueness/lack of clarity” that causes much skepticism and distrust. ie: SPELL IT OUT CLEARLY, CI! When you AVOID spelling it out clearly, you tend to cause much doubt as to what “really happens” when we send money and/or sponsor a child! Spell it out on your MAIN website…don’t make sponsors have to research to get answers you should state clearly and we should be able to access EASILY. It’s not only frustrating, but tends to rustle up fear, doubt and worry. Not the message that’s intended, I’m sure.
Kim, one of the main reasons why CI doesn’t probably spell all of these things out is that they work with thousands of church partners in 26 different countries. Each of these church partners has a certain amount of liberty and how they implement the programs and each country has liberties too as to how they implement the programs. The needs of each country and within that country, each region can be different. Also, the cultures are different. So, maybe in one region, there is a huge problem with just basic food but the area is fairly safe. In another area, the food problem might not be that big, but they have a huge problem with gangs. So, the approaches are going to be different. Thus poverty rears its ugly head in different manifestations. Thus the solution will be different.
Thanks so much for the reply, Kees. You’ve made some great points and (as usual!) clarified things for me. Though I did understand that the cultures might vary greatly, I did not know that different countries and regions were permitted to vary the basic program, until I discovered that children allowed in the program varied by country. For example, I learned that in some countries, ALL the children in a family could receive services, while in other countries, the limit may be only 1 or 2 children per family – regardless of how many children are in a particular family. (In my particular case, I’ve been told that only 1 child per family in most parts of Africa can be sponsored and attend the programs, regardless of whether the family has only 1 child or 6 children.) Maybe it’s just me, but now that I understand this, it makes a huge difference to me as to where my sponsored children live – even though it may mean I never have the opportunity to visit them because they live so far away. Thanks so much Kees, for your explanation. Maybe what you’ve stated is all CI would need to say…that “the program rules” are just “guidelines” and that they may vary tremendously from country to country and/or region to region and to contact CI for more information. I did just that (contacted CI) to ask if what I was hearing was true and the first person I spoke to said that it was NOT true…that ALL children in ALL families were welcome to attend a program. When I called a second time after reading differently, I was told by CI that it’s TRUE that ESPECIALLY IN AFRICA, children are limited to ONE child per family in most areas, but that other siblings and parents were invited to “family events” for “special occasions”. To be clear, my reason for wanting to be informed of such information is this: If one of my sponsored children has five siblings in Africa that are not permitted to join the program (and get a meal along with the other benefits of students), then I want to send substantial family gifts to that family – much more than I send to the family in another country that has four children and three of them are allowed to participate as students in the program. Now that I have a clear understanding, I send only birthday and Christmas gifts to the child with more fortunate siblings and all family gifts are now doubled for the African family with only one child receiving a meal through the program. I get why CI cannot spell out every detail…but it would have been nice to know (just like they let us know which children have been waiting the longest), to tell us to contact them to find out which countries have the strictest or “most difficult/limited to get into” programs. Does this make any sense? Maybe it’s just me. Maybe (like me) most sponsors have no clue that this may be the case. I love you, Kees! You’ve taught me so much about Compassion! One night (after I found one of your blogs) I read everything I could find that you’ve written and I was up for 18 hours! Bless you!!! I love CI, too! I just wish I’d known these things early on and will certainly keep them in mind as I sponsor more and more children. I didn’t intend to sound so critical, it was just my disappointment showing.
I did not know this. I know in Bolivia for the first 3 children, they can register one child. Then they can register another child for the next two children, I believe. Then they can register a third child, but that will be the total. Sometimes, some families are sneaky. They will register a child in one project and then go to another project with the other child and try to register the child there. They are not supposed to be doing that, but it happens at times. The centers are many times close as far as relationships is concerned. So, they do interact.
Kim, it definitely isn’t our intention to be vague or not communicate things clearly. Compassion’s ministry is incredibly complex- like Kees commented, we work in many countries and each one looks a little different. It can be difficult to communicate all of this information clearly and without it becoming overwhelming. We try to use different platforms (blog, Facebook, Twitter, OurCompassion, etc.) to provide information, but the information is the same across all of them. You can view the letter writing (http://www.compassion.com/letter-writing/letter-writing-topics-faq.htm) and gift giving faq (https://www.compassion.com/give-a-gift/faq.htm) on our website. Our goal is to be full of integrity and transparent. If you have any suggestions of how we can do this better, I’d be happy to pass them on to the correct people.
Thank you for your reply, Shaina! Yes, I’m slowly learning how it could be overwhelming to give all the details. And please accept my apology for sounding so critical. I went back and read what I wrote and see that I wasn’t clear in my communication. (Words are only 7% of communication.) Please know that I have never for a moment thought CI was deliberately vague or misleading – I LOVE CI and what CI does. Rather, I simply didn’t realize the vast differences between countries and centers. My only suggestion would be for CI to note that there ARE differences (some quite large) between countries. And like CI has a symbol to note the children who have waited the longest, perhaps CI could designate which countries have the biggest limitations on how many children are permitted to “receive benefits”. Had I known, for example, that most African families are limited to ONE child per family, I would have chosen children from larger families. Just as I chose children from families within the same country and area where the families average income in lowest, (which CI does indicate). Now that I know, I’ll chose my next child differently, but I wouldn’t consider dropping my sponsorship with the children I already sponsor, as I love them so much. Now I have more factors to consider in my next decision, though. Thank you for asking, Shaina!
Like Kees is teaching me, apparently the article you wrote about gift giving amounts and pictures must be unique to the center your child(ren) are at. When I read articles and blogs from CI folks, I’ve always assumed these things applied to all centers unless otherwise clearly stated. I don’t doubt for a moment that the intention is to be clear, but sometimes it isn’t.
Your excellent article on gift giving does provide a disclaimer, but it would lead one to expect a picture if they sent $200 – providing the center had a camera:
“If you send a gift of more than $60 you should receive a picture of your sponsored child posing with what was purchased. However, not all child development centers have the capability to send pictures.” You’ll find this just beneath the first picture in the article, but again, as you’ve mentioned, Kees, I think Shaina was referring to Bolivia, though it wasn’t stated, rather, implied in the article below:
Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/give-a-gift-to-your-sponsored-child-how-what-why/#ixzz1W5HL4ZhB
Excellent blog about gift giving:
http://blog.compassion.com/give-a-gift-to-your-sponsored-child-how-what-why/
para mi fue un gusto y colaborar en el proyecto 272ya que me graduo y me cancelaron y estoy muy triste pero yo seguiere colaborando en la iglesia…..!!!!
[...] To access the group, either log in or create a My Compassion account at Our Compassion the search for the group. Here is blog post explaining more at the Compassion International Blog. [...]
is there a way to correspond with my child online?
also, besides pictures, is there anything that we can ‘send’ to
the child we are sponsoring?
I just noticed your comment. Yes, you can write online. Simply go to Compassion.com and click the ‘My account’ in the upper right hand corner to either login or create an account. You will be able to write your child a letter from your account by scrolling down to the ‘my commitments’ with your child’s name after you login and clicking their name. At the bottom of the second page that appears there is space for you to write a letter online. There is a maximum character limit (it’s really long!) and the page will timeout after 60 minutes. I recommend writing the letter in MS Word or another program and then copying and pasting the letter into the box online.
I often write my sponsored child through e-mail. Do the children value receiving a typed letter (I assume someone prints it out for them?) as much as a handwritten letter?
Hi, Linda, yes, they receive the letters typed and if they are in Bolivia, I know that they receive them on very nice stationary. It is also a lot faster, than the regular handwritten letters. About 3 times faster.
Thats amazing. I didnt know it was letter writing day . I actually put a letter in the post today for my little boy in Haiti. I always enclose a little something, – photo, little cross etc . and always a prayer.
[...] letter writing “party” on the second Friday of each month with nearly 600 people with letter-writing up an average of [...]
I will be joining! I’m from CT- and the child I sponsor is from Haiti
It’s been almost a year but I just found this article. It is just what I needed to read. I, too, have been more likely to wait and reply to their letters rather than writing in between times. The replies are also helpful. Although I found the one about taking the picture w/ the birthday gift if it’s over $60 odd. I’ve been a sponsor for 7+ years and that is a new one to me. In addition, my statements indicate NOT to send more than $50.
I’ve never heard about taking a photo of the child with the gift when the gift is over $60 or any sort of amount. I worked in several centers myself and seen them take the pictures when a gift comes. Also, I worked in the country office in Bolivia and handled those particular photographs. Some gifts were small and they got photos, others were bigger. I don’t know where this is, but it’s not that way in Bolivia for sure and the other countries where I sponsor children in, I’ve sent gifts for $10 and I have received photos of the children with them….. So, I don’t know where that is, that they have that rule. It might be in a country, where $60 might also be a nice number with their currency. For instance I was just in Peru and $35 is about 100 soles….
I saw that, too, Kees and wondered about the $60 gift means you’ll get a picture. I’ve sent quite a bit more than $60 one a few occasions and have never received a picture, but as you have educated me, different countries or programs obviously don’t go by that. I’m guessing that some programs/centers don’t even have a camera, based on my experiences and I’ve wondered (and have looked for), a place where I could donate the money to buy a camera for the centers my sponsored children attend. Is this a possibility, Kees? I thank you for any insight you may share. Thank you for mentoring me! I appreciate you so very much!
Kim, I do know that if you call the call center in Colorado Springs. (I’m assuming you’re in the USA), you can send money to the center to buy a digital camera. Having said that, my experience in Bolivia has been that the vast majority of centers have digital cameras. The same with what I saw in Peru. I would think that even in Africa, they might have that, but I’m not sure. I do know that I get photos from a lot of centers. It seems to be the most economical way to take photos. And even a lot of the cellphones now have that you can take pictures with them. I’ve even seen some of my children have cellphones with cameras on them. But if the project has a camera already, they can maybe use it for something else. But my experience is really Bolivia based and not so much the other countries.
In regard to the photos, I seem to get them from Central and South America. Mostly, in Asia, I don’t get photos when I send a gift. That’s probably a cultural thing too!
God bless
Kees, thank you! I’ll call them! I’m so excited!
Kees, I just found where Shaina mentioned the “$60/picture/sort of”:
“If you send a gift of more than $60 you should receive a picture of your sponsored child posing with what was purchased. However, not all child development centers have the capability to send pictures.” You’ll find this just beneath the first picture in the article, but again, as you’ve mentioned, I think Shaina was referring to Bolivia, though it wasn’t stated, rather, implied in the article below:
Courtesy of Compassion International: http://blog.compassion.com/give-a-gift-to-your-sponsored-child-how-what-why/#ixzz1W5HL4ZhB
I was just looking through that picture and yes that picture was of an Aymaran woman and her family, so it was either Bolivia (most likely) or the east side of Peru.
But yes, it’s very true that with money, the center can buy so much more than you’ll ever be able to buy in the USA. The vast majority of things are so much cheaper in Bolivia than in the USA. The only thing that I found was more expensive were electronics.
The customs are a very important thing to consider. I ran into this this trip to Bolivia. I had a bunch of little dolls in a suitcase as a gift for the children. Well, when I got to Santa Cruz, and I opened my suitcase, there jumped out all the little dolls (they had been squized together). I ended up spending 7 very stressful hours walking all over the place, trying to pay the imports. I thought next time, I buy everything in Bolivia. It ended up cutting into one of my child visits and I almost didn’t have a child visit with that particular child.
As far as the $60 is concerned, maybe this is a guideline of Compassion that I’m not aware of. But I do know that many times , the center will sent photos for gifts way under $60. For instance, I had a friend of mine, who went to Bolivia. So, I put together a CD with photos and videos to give to each of the children. In case you want to see what I put on the CD, I also put it on line:
http://www.keesboer.com/history
Anyways, I got a bunch of photos from each of the children with that CD. You can see them here:
You can actually see most of the photos here:
http://www.keesboer.com/CD2011
Anyways, I hoped that helped. Maybe Shaina can give some more insight as to where she got the $60 number from.
He dropped the CD o
Hi to a fellow Rebecca
CI updated their gift giving recently-I think it was last year. Their new website lists a FAQ for gift giving here:
https://www.compassion.com/give-a-gift/faq.htm
In the ‘How much may I give’ section they have the following information: You can give up to $200 a year to your sponsored child — a $100 birthday gift and a $100 general gift — and an additional $1,000 to the family. You can also give a graduation gift of up to $2,000 in the child’s final year of sponsorship.
It is a sizeable increase over what it was when I signed up to be a sponsor, and I have stuck to gifts of around $25 for birthdays and special occasions (like improvement in school grades). I would reserve large gifts like that for children who are classified as highly vulnerable (orphans living with relatives among others) or one who experienced a disaster, like a famine, flood or earthquake.
I’ve given gifts over the amount that normally triggers a photo, but the project my children attend (same project) doesn’t have the resources to send a picture so I do not receive one. There are many other sponsors on Ourcompassion.org (sponsor website to share stories, prayer requests and get ideas) who have never received pictures with gifts either. You are not alone!
I just sponsered my first child.
I plan on writing her sometime this week and atleast once a month, and I’ll try to on Sept 10. Can’t wait!
Great idea! Will tell other sponsors in our church about your 2nd Friday idea. My family sponsors 2 children and we write them the first week of every month (same kind of idea you have) so if we join you on the second Friday it is because we got our letters done the week before!
I already have a reminder on my calendar to write our two kids once a month. It is not necessarily the second Friday each month as you are doing, but once a month nonetheless. So I applaud you for encouraging more people to do this. We have sponsored children for years, but its only in the past few I’ve felt compelled like you to make my correspondence more consistent. Blessings!
would luv to join…but ahhh new to this can u help me out lol…
i sponsor a girl 5yrs old from india divya…
i always email her or send her letters and stickers since i cant really send much to her…but i do send her gifts once in while when i know i have extra money to send…:) can someone help me out how to do this ? i luv keeping in touch with my sponsor girl…god has blessed me with her..
I’m writing today!
I think that it is a good (great) idea that you are doing the second friday of the month thing to write to your sponsored child. I have so far since I started writing once a month to my child. I have recieved 2 letters so far from my child. I think that maybe for next month I might particapte in the online writing. That is if my computer will allow me to do that.
I have also written today. I must say, I ‘haven’t written my child for 2 years. Mainly because someone was writing for him. Now he’s 6 years old and he has written his very own first letter. This really made me want to write him as often as possible.
Can writing a child often become too much for the child?
Hi, Larissa,
That is a really good question. At the age of 6, that’s an amazing young age to write the first letter. That’s awesome!!!
I have to say this. I’ve seen many children write their letters. When the child is very young, they can take a long time over the letters. I remember a little girl sitting across the table from me and she must have spent about 2 hours just on the drawing that was on the letter. Then the letter gets written in a book first and then copied over into the actual letter. That’s why the letters are so neat. So, it can be about a 4 hour process for them. Now, if the child is in a country where right now, they write 3 letters/year, called program letters, then it wouldn’t make too much of a difference. But if the child has to write back every letter, then I wouldn’t write more than once/month. Unless you can combine the letters so that they can receive the letters together. This is also something to consider that if the letters come there all together, but get delivered to the student center just once a month, then it might not make that much of a difference. I guess that depends on the country and the location of the project.
Your letters will be very important to that child and to the family. They listen to you. You’re a very important person in that family’s life and if you ever went to visit them, you’d be amazed.
Thank you for writing to your child. That’s a very big deal to the child.
I write to my child once a month and so far I have gotten 2 letters back from her. I am very thankful that I was able to sponsor the child that I have sposored. I plan to keep the letters that I have gotten from her so that I will be able to show my children when I have children.
what a wonderful idea to keep me on track and be more consistent with my letters. I know the turn around time is usually 2-3 months from the dates of her letters. I’m new to the compassion website and am just learning to navigate my way around it. Is writing on-line quicker then handwritten ones. I will be going to Europe and will check when I’m back on the 22nd. God bless you
Great Idea
i’ve used the ‘write on the second friday of every month’ idea myself. except instead of friday my scedule is kinda funky so its different. But Thank You for this IDEA!!! 
I wish I was a correspondence sponsor so I could join you guys, but they haven’t called me back or emailed yet… Hopefully soon though.
I am new…I just want to know if I can write my child a letter??
I’m new too. I recently wrote my sponsored child here online…On your Account Summary page, to the left you’ll see “My Account” & below that in blue, click “Write My Child”. Under “Letter Writing”, you can “Compose Letter”. Hope this helps; blessings to you!
This is a great idea! Sometimes I’m so busy but I need to remember my sponsor child wants to hear from me. I made a promise to myself to write my sponsor child on the 2nd Sunday of each month.
I also love the new stationery – my sponsor child loves soccer!
Karen
Oh I love this idea as well!! Your letter reached my heart and spoke to me and I quickly acted on it…I hate to admit it it,… but I am one who dosn’t write as often as I should. So this will help immensely!!! I pray to stay strong with my intentions!!
I would like to be part of your online writing, how do I sign up? You know the money is almost the easy part, its the relational part that becomes harder when your busy. Also, I love the idea of having a set time each month and I’m hoping you give ideas so its not the same thing every month. Thank you for doing this! I love serving a God that loves to show his children how much he cares for us!!
Indead you have been blessed by our God, and now so have we. My husband Richard and I are eager to join you this friday night, for letter writing. We are new sponsers to a little Guatamalan boy as well as being grandparents of an adopted guatamalan grandson for 10 yrs. now. Words can not describe the incredible amount of joy that came into our hearts, when our first packet arrived in the mail a few weeks ago.
Dearest Cristian, my husband John and I are delighted to make you a part of our lives. We have four gownn daughterrs and have always wanted a son! Please know that we look forward to hearing all about your days and are so very blessed that God gave us to each other. We will keep you in our prayers and want you to pray for us. My birrthday is March 4th, the same month as yours! We have two pupppies and a kitty. Write back soon Cristian as we are so excited to have you in our lives. God bless you and your family. we love you, John and Elizabeth White
Im so excited to find this opportunity! Ive never “joined” any kind of group in my life “on-line” like this but I KNOW that our letters are so important and I know that the idea of being accountable can only be a good thing! Thank you for being obedient, Good for you June!!
I just sponsored my first child last night!! I am so excited. I wrote today but will committ to another letter on Friday.
Hi, Karen, I’m so thankful for you!!! Thank you for writing your child. This brings tears to my eyes. You’re off to a great start. Your child will be so thankful that they get the letters from you. Your letters will mean so much to the child and when the child writes you back, this will be a big blessing for them too!!!
I am planning on doing the letter writing on the 10th!
What a wonderful idea! I am going to make writing my child a priority and I think setting a date each month is a great way to start.
My husband and I committed to sponsoring a child in June this year and knew from the outset that we’d have to be serious about writing to our sponsored child regularly because, when you’re busy, time does have a tendency to disappear quickly! So, we too made a folder and scan our letters before posting so we have a log of what’s been received and sent. We aim to write every month if possible and God is really impressing upon our hearts how important it is to just let our sponsored child know that we’re thinking of her. As we can only send items that are flat, we make a point of collecting postcards wherever we go and send these. We are so privileged to be able to sponsor a child!
I sponsored a child in my eight yr-old daughter’s name. We chose a girl in Ethiopia who had been without a sponsor for almost a year and had a birthday a week before my daughter’s. My daughter feels very much a part of this great act of giving-not simply money, but hope and communication. The ;apse in the standard mail was frustrating to both of us, so I hope that email proves speedier to avoid the crossover.
I will join you! I feel strongly about connecting with “our kids” beyond finances.
What a beautiful idea!
Katie
This is such a great idea, I never knew how important the letter writing was to the children, i will put a reminder in my phone to write at least once per month, I sponsor two children, and yes it is easy just to send money I see thats only a part of the need, soo looking forward to ideas and encouragement to stay committed. God Bless
I take time to write each time I go online to pay my bill. By not setting up auto pay, I have to actually stop and think about my young man in Guatemala. Now that we can upload stationary and photos, it’s even more fun.
I have always written letters to my child after I have received hers but now this idea gives me the chance to be more proactive. ThanksI
I thought I was only allowed to wtite twice a year
Wow, that’s an interesting piece of feedback. I’m glad you mentioned that. I’m curious. How did you come to that conclusion?
Hi Biba,
How sad that you thought you could only write your child 2 times a year. Oh my, you can write your child anytime you want to. I write my little girl at least once a month and sometimes more. Now that you know you can write more often, you will be able to encourage your child with more letters. Yay.
i write to my little boy every monday. i know how important letters and pictures are to him. he asked me to write every week, and spent half an hour writing that sentence, he’s only 6. i am very excited to write to him again tomorrow and every second friday of every month. thank you for the wonderful idea! God bless!
Awesome! I try to write a least once a month this will help keep me on that. My sponsor child asked if he could call me big brother a few letters back (he’s 11 and I’m 19) It’s such a joy to write my “little brother” God is working big time in his life. So great to be a part of his life.
It’s so great that god has blessed me with my sponsor child from India Divya she is 5 yrs and I feel very blessed that she has asked my husband and I if it’s ok for her to call us aunty and uncle
makes me so happy ! I enjoy writing her every week and now that they have a new thing of uploading pics makes it even more fun! I can’t wait to visit and meet my sponsor child in the future!
I LOVE the new stationary and the ability to upload pictures right into the letter. That is always the hardest part of my letters. I want to share pictures but sometimes my printer just won’t make pretty pictures. Thank you, June, for your wonderful story.
I try to write my sponsored boys twice a month. The 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month. I visited my sponsor boy in Ethiopia and the case worker showed me all the letters and pictures I’ve sent my little boy. He does receives all my letters/pictures. I love receiving letter as well and the feeling is indescribable. I can imagine what a delight it migh be for my boys to receive letters so I try to write as much as I can. I love receiving/writing letters since I was a little girl (email is great) but nothing can take the place of knowing someone actually took the time to write and mail a letter. I have committed myself to write at least one letter a month (but so far I’m doing better, two letters a month) to my little boys. I want to know more about them and vice versa. I encourage all sponsors to write to their beautiful kids at least once a month. They will be pleased, I am sure about that. Thank you all for being great sponsors!
Thanks so much for creating this group! i just joined – think it went thru!
i found this page bc it is on my list today to write to our sponsored child, Jane. i haven’t been very regular in doing so and i believe this group will help. Thanks for the ideas!
-Our family began sponsoring a child on Christmas Day 2011. I am the grandma and the official contact. Here I sit full of thoughts but none of them have made it onto paper or my computer screen yet. I’ll be joining you on Friday. We live in Florida, our sponsored child is in the Dominican Republic.
We are happy to have you! This post and the comments section may be helpful in getting you started in your letter writing. Our community of sponsors have a wealth of ideas!
I love writing letters! I started sponsoring a boy in October I think it was and I wrote him but I have yet to hear from him. But I know it takes awhile. What really concerns me is that I had a Correspondent Sponsorship with a little girl and Ive been writing to her for about a month or two now and when I got on here today I couldn’t write to her and now there is a different girl where her name used to be. I love the fact that I get to write to another child but I am upset that I never got to hear from the other child and that I can’t write to her. Did I do something wrong or do they change them a lot?
I Amanda, I’m sure you didn’t do anything wrong. There are many reasons why the child could have “disappeared” from your profile. If you did something wrong, I’m sure that they wouldn’t have replaced the child. Most likely the child departed from the program. That could be because they moved to another area of the country, or their economic situation improved drastically or some other reason. If you call the call center 1-800-336-7676, they can tell you why. There is also the possibility that the financial sponsor decided after all to start writing the child. But generally they will assign a new correspondence child to you when you can’t continue to write the child for some reason. So, that’s what the new child is there for. Hopefully, you can continue writing with the new child for many years. I have correspondence children that I’ve had for over 4 years. One of them calls me “daddy” and I’m closer to her than even to many of my sponsored children.
Hello all,
I have four kids in Africa, and have been convicted to write more frequently as well. Now, there are NO excuses with the online forms! Thanks so much Compassion for doing that! The picture feature is great! God bless everyone for your giving!
I think this is a great idea! I just received a note today that one of my children is expected to graduate the program next January and felt extremely convicted to write her more frequently. So much in my life has gone crazy this last year I have not written either of my children at all. I hope I can write them both more frequently from now on and give them the relationship they long for and the relationship I have not given up till now.
Hi! I just received my pkg tonight! So excited to start writing:) where can i find the craft and theme ideas mentioned in the article? Thankyou!!!
oops! I found it:) thx!!! So very excited!
Great idea. I’m horrible at letter writing and I’m not sure when she gets them, so I find myself repeating information.
GREAT IDEA! And thank you for the encouragement to continue writing. I have become lazy and I just ran downstairs to grab a binder, what a great idea! Thank you again.
Thanks, June! I live in Boulder, Colorado, and the recent stories about how much the letters mean to the children have inspired me. The once a month campaign is a great idea, and I’m going to write my child this very instant.
Thank you
I wrote last week online, but couldn’t download any pictures because they were all too big….they were just regular pictures, but I guess I’ll have to switch to snail mail when I want to send pictures. When I write tonight I’m including a little packet of valentines for my Linda to give to her special friends or family.
This is a wonderful idea! I hope to be able to attend the virtual letter writing event on Friday, 2/10! Lately, I’ve been encouraged to write more letters of purpose to my sponsored child in Tanzania. As his sponsor, I have a responsibility to introduce him to the love of Christ and how it will change his life. I have a responsibility to provide hope, teach him and share love. This weekend at our church, Compassion sponsored a concert with Robbie Seay Band & John Mark McMillan and they brought Ben, a Compassion child (now adult) from Kenya, to share his story. It was amazing to hear him talk about how his life was changed in 1993 when a sponsor from Austin, TX adopted him. His life was transformed, all from the relationship he shared with his sponsor. This definitely made me see my relationship with my child so much differently, it is a responsibility that God has given us. When our sponsored child is older, I imagine the way he will look back on his life and notice the life-changing moments…. And I hope one of those was getting into the Compassion program & connecting with us as his sponsor.
i am so excited about this. i live in portland, oregon i just started sponsoring a little girl in ecuador. i am so excited to get to know her through letters and to have her get to know my family.
Hello I just signed on to write a letter to our sponsored child and came upon this option of writing every month. Dont know how i missed this the last time i sent a letter through this site. I would like to be included and will put a notation on my calendar for this coming Friday Feb 10th Thank you so much for being the person God used to get this accomplished. God bless
Perfect Idea! Count us in. We are from Charlotte, NC
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