On Letter Writing: Would You Rather … ?

I would really like more frequent letters also. The minimum three letters that I have been getting over the last two years have been very, very basic already, so more details would of course be good too. It’s hard to choose between the detail and frequency. I would prefer more of both:)

I truly will go for the FREQUENCY (as in uniform reciprocity)!!! I believe that if they write more often, it is reminding them more often that there is a person on the other side of the world that cares for them and is eager for a letter. Also, it will help them with their writing skills which will help them in school, which is extraordinarily important! Perhaps make it mandatory that each child write at least 3 times/year, but allow those whose sponsors are writing more often to go ahead and answer each letter immediately.
And not all of them will go down in detail when they increase frequency – and relationships will grow stronger. I have become extremely close to my children in Bangladesh and Bolivia and Ghana, all writing reciprocal letters and all doing wonderful jobs with detail. Their detail has definitely not suffered from an increase in frequency!
I feel very sad that I will probably never have such a relationship with my children in Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, and El Salvador, who send rare letters. I am sure they are equally deserving of such a relationship and that they have very precious personalities that I will never know in depth.

I would like more letters more frequently. When I write one, would love to have one in return to keep in contact with child sponsoring. Children’s lives change daily and sponsoring a child that is not with you o where you can know how they are can be stessful.

Of course more letters would be great, but if I had to choose I’d prefer more detailed ones. What’s frustrating for me is that my questions rarely get answered. In fact, I often wonder if my letters are avaible to the person who is helping my child to write hers. I can’t wait until she is old enough to write for herself.
I’m very lucky that my daughter, who was a language major in college (with Spanish as her main language) and spent a semester in Equador as well as some time in Spain) reads my letters. She will explain what a certian phrase/idiom means, just to make some things clearer for me.
Perhaps others could find someone to translate for them. A high school or college may be a good place to start. I do realize though that many languages are not studied here in the U.S and it would be very hard to find someone. I did just had an idea (probaly because I live in the DC area). Perhaps the child’s country”s embassy in DC could help out. Just a thought.
I can’t wait until I am able to meet her. She is from El Salvador and so is my son-in-law! He said that she is not too far form where he grew up and still has relatives.. Does anyone know off hand (and I can always check with Compassion) if we can visit our spnosored child on our own instead of with a sponsored trip via Compassion?

Hi, Vicki,

To start with the last part of your post…. yes, you can visit the children on your own. It’s called an individual visit. You’d have to line up your own flight to the country and you can talk the details with the “Experience Compassion team.” They are always very helpful with this. It generally saves a lot of money and you can probably visit the child’s home and student center. The key word there is: “probably.” Some parts of El Salvador are very dangerous because of gangs. But your child should be so happy. Most children if you ask them what their biggest dream in life is, it would be to meet their sponsor. Even the LDP students feel that way and many formerly sponsored children are still really wanting to meet their sponsor or have contact with them. If you know what you’re doing, that can be great, but I don’t know if I would suggest that with everyone… When you’re not working with an organization like Compassion in the midst, you could have difficulties all of a sudden.

As far as contacting the local embassy….. I would caution about that… I could see that creating problems in some countries…. There are people that might view sponsorship as imperialism. I know that’s not the case…. but some don’t want outside help and it might create a problem. However if you have a University close by, you might be able to get help from a club or something of International students. It is important to be aware that most international students are not allowed to make money in the USA. So, be careful about offering payment for financial services. But you can at the same time have a ministry among these students. Then when they graduate, they can go back and serve Christ in their country. I know of a group of churches that does this regularly and they try to coordinate it, so that when the students go back, they’ll plug in together and start a church in their country. Several very successful churches have been planted that way.

We have sponsored for about 2 years and I have learned one thing, sometimes different people write the letters for the kids so the one currently writing may not know that the child received a gift, some of my kids have a family member write so the questions get answered, yes I think a list of questions would be helpful, I got a 3 page letter from the translator for the girl we sponsor in Thailand answering all my questions, I think it helps that in this case the same translator writes for this girl. I guess we are really blessed with our kids because whenever we send them a gift they or the translator tell us what they bought and if it is clothes some of the kids send pictures of them wearing the new clothes or holding the items they bought and a lot of times their whole family is in the picture as is the case with our girl in Thailand, yes the letters take a while and sometimes you have to ask 2 or 3 times what they bought. As I said before sometimes the kids have different translators doing their letters each time and sometimes things get lost in translation.

I would love to receive more detailed letters less often so I could get more a sense of my child’s personality. I love receiving any letters no matter how short they are.

I just wanted to add that all kids are different. Many kids, no matter where they are from, are not good at letter writing. My own all-american 9 yr old has a really difficult time with letter writing, though I have made it a point to practice with him since before he could write. He resists it because it is tough for him to think of words and to emotionally connect. He is a relatively low-key, unemotional kid who LOVES to get letters, but doesn’t necessary show it and without great prodding, will not reciprocate. If he were someone’s sponsored kid, his letters would be few and disappointing. With that said, my son is an amazing boy with a heart for God – should I stop encouraging him in the faith because he writes poor letters? Please – please continue to write, pray and have faith that God is working through your letters and gifts though you are not “getting” in return.

should I stop encouraging him in the faith because he writes poor letters? Please – please continue to write, pray and have faith that God is working through your letters and gifts though you are not “getting” in return.

Oh, I wish I could “Love!!” this comment! Your question, Amber struck me with such force that I literally sat up straighter and jerked my head back!

I wish I could send that question to some of the sponsors I have talked to. There was a couple on my second sponsor tour. They were meeting their sponsored child for the first time, but they weren’t very excited about it, at all. They didn’t feel they were “getting anything” from the sponsorship.

The morning after child-visit day, I shared a breakfast table with them. I asked them how the visit had gone, and how they felt about their sponsorship. They answered that the visit had gone “okay,” and they guessed they would start writing more often to their sponsored child. (I think I could preach a sermon, here!)

Thank you for making a strong point with such clarity and perspective! And Merry Christmas!

I would love to receive more letters in a year from my sponsor children. I must admit that I also would love to, and purpose to, write them more often, as well.
I am very thankful for the opportunity to know and write to and to hear from the children.
Thank you, Compassion for all that you do for these children and for letting us in on the blessing!