Our holistic child development model is central to our mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And the curriculum standards we have put in place in all of our programs are key to achieving this goal.

In recent years, we developed a global curriculum to help develop children holistically — physically, spiritually, cognitively and socio-emotionally. It is designed to be nonacademic, similar to an after-school enrichment program. For example, instead of learning math, children learn how to apply mathematical skills.

Another example is that in many of the countries where we work, children are taught to stay quiet and to not share their opinions. Instead of just telling them what to do, we work through our curriculum to empower children to have their own voice when they leave our sponsorship program.

“We want them to own their own development,” says Mary Ann Springer, who led the curriculum design. “As an example, we train the children how to eat well so they can make good decisions on their own.”

The new curriculum is both age-appropriate and contextualized to fit the needs of the children. For example, in our Child Sponsorship Program the lesson plans are aimed at age groups of: 3-5, 6-8, 9-11, 12-14, 15-18 and 19 and above.

For the 3- to 5-year-olds, a physical lesson might be learning about basic hygiene, such as brushing your teeth. The spiritual lesson might be learning a Bible story. A socio-emotional lesson might include learning how to treat others. A cognitive lesson might teach about the five different senses.

Global curriculum standards ensure quality programming in our child development centers by giving the tutors easy-to-use and effective material to teach the children. Another important benefit is having measurable “outcomes” and “indicators.”

“Every lesson plan and activity points to a specific outcome and indicator,” says Springer. “The goal is for every student to graduate having achieved the four outcomes, each with three indicators, for the lesson plan.”

For example, one outcome of physical development is that a child “chooses good health practices and is physically healthy.” The three indicators associated with this outcome are that the child:

1. demonstrates an appropriate understanding of his or her physical body
2. experiences reduced incidence of illness, nutritional deficiencies and physical impediments
3. takes responsibility for wise life choices about health and sexuality

The new curriculum standards also provide for focused, detailed lesson plans. This allows the tutors to have a clear path to obtain the desired objectives. It greatly helps the teachers prepare the classroom programs. With less time devoted to preparing lesson plans and with better tools, they are able to give individualized attention to each child.

The curriculum uses various methods of teaching in order to reach every child’s learning style, whether that’s hands-on, auditory or visual. Most of the lessons are participatory, including small groups, discovery and games.

Because we work in so many diverse cultures, each of our country offices has the freedom to contextualize the curriculum to their specific needs. For example, in Indonesia, one of the lessons had been designed to teach the children how to tie their shoes. However, in some of the communities in Indonesia, they wear sandals, not shoes that tie. Contextualizing helps our offices weed out culturally irrelevant content.

The variations of the curriculum range widely from country to country. Some use the standards as they are and some have made major changes. For example, in Rwanda, due to the past internal conflicts, there is an emphasis on teaching forgiveness.

“As long as there is balance within the curriculum, the countries have freedom to adjust the curriculum to their needs,” says Springer.

Our new curriculum helps children develop into whom God made them to be, and the tutors no longer feel burdened with developing daily lesson plans. They now have the time to devote to the children to encourage them to grow holistically.

As the new curriculum standards are implemented in more child development centers, we draw one step closer to using fully realizing our mission: releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

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

Many sponsors have the misconception that Compassion runs schools. We do not. However, we do facilitate a holistic child development program that complements and supplements the school systems in the countries we works in.

My country’s (Kenya) education system has been heavily influenced by the British system. Students have eight years of primary school, four years of high school, and four years in an undergraduate program at a university.

It is a requirement for all Compassion-assisted children, regardless of country, to attend the normal school system while they participate in activities at their child development centers. In Kenya, the Compassion programs are most commonly conducted on Saturdays. Because public schoool runs Monday through Friday, the children are easily available for the center activities.

The purpose of our sponsorship program is to help children to become “responsible and fulfilled Christian adults.” Our Implementing Church Partners (ICPs) are encouraged to be creative in the ways they administer the program, but we also provide age-graded curriculum to help each church partner minister to their children consistently.

The age-graded curriculum is based on the outcomes we hope to see in children in the four facets of development: spiritual, physical, cognitive and socio-emotional.

The spiritual domain of the activities at child development centers includes praise and worship, testimonies from children, various presentations such as memory verses, short sermons, and prayers. The implementers ensure that children are actively involved and are exhibiting understanding of the Bible and the essence of prayer and service. During special occasions, the implementers invite outside facilitators.

Our public school system has designated days for pastoral programs. Certain teachers or the school chaplain take the students through devotion that lasts for about half an hour. Each student attends devotion, depending on his or her faith.

In our sponsorship program, the physical well-being of the children is addressed through various activities depending on the resources available at the development center. Soccer is a popular sport for boys, while volleyball and netball are popular with girls. Some church partners have swings, table tennis and board games that engage the kids during breaks.

In the physical realm, the most significant difference from the schooling system is that we provide medical intervention for the sponsored children. The health of the child is monitored on a regular basis through health screenings. Public schools tend to offer first-aid intervention, while the parent/guardian takes care of any other expenses incurred at the local health facility.

In addition, public schools rarely offer nutritional supplements to children with deficiencies. We, on the other hand, provide nutrition education as well as nutritious food during program days.

Social-emotional interaction is paramount for the well-being of every child, especially children growing up in  dangerous environments. Compassion-assisted children are given opportunities to interact in a more meaningful way than in a school. The activities provided are a fertile ground for enhancing one’s self-esteem and dignity.

Our children are encouraged to interact from a biblical perspective, and high standards of morality are advocated. The curriculum taught at the development centers lays a good foundation for self-awareness and reflection. It helps the children to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and how to best cultivate their God-given gifts.

The concept of stewardship is taught, helping them to be aware of their responsibility to the community. Vocational Bible studies, youth camps and seminars, drama clubs, and other creative arts, picnics, and inter-partner competitions offer opportunities to practice what they have learned.

Our goal of leading children along the path of economic independence compels implementers to help children complete the various stages of education. The unfortunate thing about public school systems is the difficulty of trying to update the curriculum to fit emerging trends. Much of the material is very dated and not relevant to children’s daily challenges.

Our curriculum is customized and targeted to the children in their various environments. In case the child does not continue to secondary education, vocational skills are available both at the development center and in a few institutions that can help the child become economically self- supporting. The young people learn income-generating activities, such as soap making, mat weaving, tailoring, cookery and beadwork.

Community service helps children experience the joy of giving back. The young ones in the sponsorship program are encouraged to engage in community cleanups on designated days. More often than not, they help clean the church premises for Sunday services. They also clean their own classrooms, and plant and water flowers and trees within the church compound. Older kids sometimes visit the sick and elderly in the hospital to pray for and encourage them.

Public school systems generally don’t provide for such opportunities, as the main focus is academics. The children also receive more attention at their development centers, as the teacher-student ratio in Kenya’s public schools can be as high as 1 to 80.

Compassion also offers holiday programs to the children. The usual school holidays in Kenya take place in April, August and December. The monthlong breaks separate the school terms, providing opportunities for children to rest and spend time with their families.

However, the competitiveness of the schooling system has forced many schools to conduct holiday sessions that offer specialized training. The schools then continue with the normal curriculum and children have to pay an extra admission fee, exam fee and catering fee.

During this same time, the majority of Compassion Kenya’s child development centers conduct remedial classes for their children for free. Holiday sessions at the development centers continue to supplement what takes place in school. An added advantage is the provision of textbooks and an environment in which to study.

Normally, remedial classes last about two weeks of the holiday. Part-time teachers collaborate   with the child development workers to help students, especially those in upper primary school and candidates waiting to take their exams. Over and above class work, these students are engaged in the normal Saturday program activities and are provided with nutritious meals during the day.

During normal school days, many children attend the development center in the evenings for group learning and review. With the help of part-time teachers, they review past papers to test their knowledge and become familiar with the most critical topics.

Most children we serve attend government schools; however, some of our church partners do run their own schools. These schools are not affiliated with Compassion, but are the property of the church partners. In these circumstances, we run our own program parallel to what takes place in the school. This way, the children benefit from both the school activities as well as the sponsorship program.

In these situations, most of the Compassion-assisted children usually attend the church school. It is important for the school and the sponsorship program to work together to maximize instruction.

While the school program incorporates both the Compassion-assisted and non-assisted children and focuses mainly on academics, the sponsorship program concentrates on holistic child development.

School activities are usually funded primarily through school fees paid by individual pupils through their guardians and other donors. On the contrary, our sponsorship program depends largely on donor funding and minimal contributions from parents.

In the event a child’s parent is unable to sustain a school fee payment, the child no longer benefits from the program offered by the school. But our program continues to offer services to the assisted children and their families without attaching monetary requirements to it.

While typical school systems in the developed world don’t serve children’s non-academic needs, we not only address the academic but also the socio-emotional and physical, and most important, we bring the children the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Our model focuses on the child’s here and now, as well as the future. This perspective is different from most schools. Schooling systems do a great job of engaging children and molding their way of thinking, preparing them for the “world out there,” but we prepare children to deal with their daily struggles, as well as focus on the envisioned future.

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

E-mails about how to submit a proposal for a complementary interventions (CIV), e-mails from marketing departments about the particulars of a CIV, e-mails about a disaster that has just occurred.

So her e-mail inbox pretty much dictates her day. After attacking the onslaught of messages each morning, she has a cup of tea at 10 o’clock. 

Then she spends a lot of time running around, especially during a week where there has been a crisis, like with the recent hurricanes, getting approvals for funds to be distributed.

But she slowed down enough to give us a peek into CIV and her world.

So what is CIV?

Complementary interventions completes our three core programs of child survival program, child sponsorship program, and the leadership development program.

CIVs include things like all our partner development training (training the church partner staff), implementing our curriculum, the AIDS initiative, vocational skills training, malaria intervention, disaster response, and health activities like vaccinations and health awareness campaigns. 

Tell us about the life and times of a CIV. Where does it start?

Generally, the need for a CIV is identified by the church partners, and our partnership facilitators collect those needs from them. The country office then combines them to find what the like needs are. 

That way, they can design a strategy within their country to decide what CIVs and needs they can address this year, and what needs are priorities within that country.

Then they write a proposal for the CIV, which goes through an approval process in their area office. When the approved CIV is submitted to us here, it goes into our database of proposals so the global partners can find donors to fund them. 

What happens if a CIV doesn’t get funded?

Each area has some funds of their own that they can decide how to be used for the things that are vitally important to get done. 

People like to build solid things, like a playground, because they’re something they can see, but it’s harder to see the value in a partner development activity, so these are harder to get funded. 

If you ask field staff, they say that is the most important activity they do. They need the activities like child advocacy training, because developing the church partners is vitally important. 

If you could share one thing with the sponsors and donors, what would it be?

We have highly qualified and very intelligent field staff who have created country strategies that really help address the country’s need. 

Through CIV, donors have a unique opportunity to come alongside that and provide for the needs that go beyond sponsorship. 

The field staff is awesome. They work so hard, and they give so much, both professionally and personally. 

They’re very invested in the work they do, and they do a lot of work. So have patience with them. They will bend over backwards to help people, but things take time in order to do them well.  

What’s the best part of your job?

I like that what I do impacts a lot of people. Like when I help an office get funding for a proposal, as in the Haiti hurricane crises. I don’t work directly with the children, but I can use the gifts I’ve been given to impact children administratively .

What’s the hardest part of your job?

Recently, the hardest part is seeing a need that can’t be addressed because of lack of funding. In the Haiti disaster, there’s a large need, but we have raised only a small part of it, and there are children out there that don’t have a home anymore. 

I remember when we got our proposals for the global food crisis, and I read through all of them. Honestly, I went home depressed — the need of our countries was overwhelming.

Not too long after that, we had our prayer and fasting day, and the fasting really meant so much more to me. I’d read the proposals the day before, and I realized how blessed I am.

What’s a story that’s impacted you the most about a CIV? 

There was a little girl in Kenya who from birth had a growth on her face. It got bigger as she grew, a large mass right beside her nose, and it eventually pushed her eye out of shape.

The kids in her area shunned her because they thought there must be something wrong with the girl, like she was possessed. So she didn’t go to school but worked all day instead.

The Kenya staff worked to get her medical treatment through a medical CIV. They arranged surgery to have it removed, and then she had reconstructive surgery.

It’s really encouraging to see that connection. This was a proposal I read, and now I just got the update that she’s back in school and is getting back into the community. Those kinds of things make you realize, wow, this is huge.

If you had a bunch of money you were going to donate, what CIV would you give to?

That’s tough! I appreciate how diverse they are. It’s too hard to decide: They’re all good! When you’re in the field and see the need, you want to fund everything. I just wish I had a million dollars so I could!

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

Here’s the answer – straight from the mouth of Tony Neeves, our vice president of international development.

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

We’ve been talking about our holistic child development model, and we did it with a series of posts called 10 Questions. But the questions are done now, other than this one. Got 10 minutes for a video?

It’s called Equipping the Church, and it explains our partnership with the local … anyone? … church. That’s right!

Who better to partner with when releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name than the local church? That’s a rhetorical question y’all. We said we’re done with the questions.

The local congregations are catalysts for community change. They command the resources and respect that are critical in developing the children in their communities. They make Compassion work.

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

6. So would you say that CIV benefits the churches?

Absolutely. I believe that Complementary Interventions are one way we are equipping the Church to be the Church. Any of our 4,500 church partners can submit a proposal for a CIV grant. They assess the needs of the community, develop a strategy, and propose that strategy to us. They are then able to implement their solution in a way that blesses the entire community.

7. Besides the church, does CIV utilize any other partnerships in the field?

Often, other nongovernment organizations are in the field, doing things well that we can’t do. For example, Opportunity International is a wonderful ministry that provides financial services to the poor. We knew very early on that our partner churches should not become financial institutions. But by partnering with Opportunity International, we are able to network, to get the word out to the parents of our registered children, and to help them.

Partnership done right is a kingdom principle. We need to work with other organizations that are great at what they do so we can help as many people as possible.

8. How did you get involved with Complementary Interventions?

With my medical background, I first became involved with CIV through the AIDS Initiative. More importantly though, I was drawn to CIV because I completely believe in the mission of holistic child development. So many forces are conspiring against children in poverty. I wish $32 a month was enough to battle all of those forces, but more often than not, it isn’t. I just think about my own family. If I could pay for my son’s school fees, but couldn’t provide the medical care he needed, then it isn’t good enough.

9. What are some of your goals for CIV?

I would ultimately like to see CIV allowing us to care for each child registered with Compassion as we would care for our own sons and daughters. I don’t want to see them suffer unnecessarily. I want them to realize their God-given potential. I would like Complementary Interventions to become seamlessly integrated with each of Compassion’s core strategies.

10. Tell me about a time you’ve seen CIV work well.

I’ve seen so many examples of CIV working that it’s hard to talk about just one. There is one that may surprise some people about how CIV works, though. I heard about a boy in Kenya, whose brother was in our Child Sponsorship Program. This boy had already lost one eye to glaucoma, and the disease was rapidly taking his other eye. But because this little boy wasn’t sponsored, he couldn’t receive the medical care he needed. But what his family didn’t know was that a small allotment of CIV can be used for the medical needs of registered children’s families. So the church stepped in, asked for CIV funding, and now that boy, who would have gone blind, can see.

Read all the posts in the 10 Questions series.

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

Compassion’s Complementary Interventions (CIV) activities, which include the AIDS Initiative, are headed by Scott Todd. Scott, a pediatric AIDS expert, is passionate about meeting each and every need of the children served by Compassion. Recently, he shared how he sees CIV accomplishing that goal.

1. What is CIV?

CIV is Compassion’s Complementary Interventions program. To be honest, we played around with a lot of titles for this program. Complementary seems like a weak word for such a strong program. But it really does describe what CIV does — it complements, completes our core mission of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name. In essence, CIV ensures that we are able to go the distance, to provide everything that’s necessary for children registered in our program. While $32 a month goes a very long way in developing countries, there are still unexpected needs. Homes are destroyed in floods. Children need expensive AIDS treatment. All things that exceed that $32 a month. That’s where Complementary Interventions come in.

2. What are some of the specific ways CIV complements Compassion’s core ministries?

Complementary Interventions are woven throughout Compassion’s Child Development Model. In the Child Survival Program, for example, Complementary Inventions provide medication for HIV-positive mothers that decrease their chances of passing the virus on to their unborn children. In the Child Sponsorship Program, I have seen CIV cover the medical costs of a child’s open-heart surgery, as well as covering his travel to a state-of-the-art hospital in another country. Because of the AIDS Initiative, an arm of CIV, church partners can put on training events in their communities, teaching families about awareness. Complementary Interventions exist to strengthen our other programs, and I’ve seen it work. Literally thousands of kids would not be alive were it not for CIV.

3. Does CIV target different donors than our other programs?

First of all, a lot of people who give to CIV are already sponsors. But, I also believe that CIV is reaching a different group as well. Let’s say you have someone who feels very passionate about the AIDS crisis or about eradicating malaria. That person may never feel led to be a sponsor — that doesn’t connect with them. But through Complementary Interventions, they can give to what they’re passionate about. Not only can they give, but once they do, we can show them how it’s working. It’s a new, exciting point of initiation for Compassion.

4. How do Complementary Interventions differ from a community development program?

In each of our programs, including CIV, Compassion focuses on child development — not community development. By focusing on early childhood, we are often able to change a child’s life before fatalism, before he or she experiences stunted growth from disease, before that child gets behind in school. We believe that a changed child will transform his or her community.

5. Does sponsorship ever cover things like building wells, etc.?

Sponsorship funds directly benefit a specific child. We believe a sponsor’s money should benefit that individual child in a way we can document. But as I said before, sometimes that sponsorship amount of $32 a month isn’t enough, especially for children suffering from AIDS or other medical problems. But Complementary Interventions are also used to indirectly help children. If children are dying from lack of clean water, a church can ask for CIV funds to dig a well. This clean water will absolutely help the children at that center — but since it is indirect, that funding will come from CIV, rather than sponsorship.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of Brandy’s interview with Scott.

Read all the posts in the 10 Questions series.

Brandy Campbell is a feature writer at Compassion International. When she’s not chatting with Compassion execs, Brandy writes newsletter and web stories about Compassion’s ministry to children in poverty.

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

6. What are the goals of the LDP for each student who graduates?

The LDP is an outcome-driven ministry. Everything we do focuses on our goal of seeing students graduate and serve their communities and the world at large. A young person who graduates from Compassion’s Leadership Development Program demonstrates:

• Personal commitment to the lordship of Christ
• Good health practices
• Personal and professional skills to be economically self-supporting
• Positive self-worth and healthy relationships
• Servant leadership

7. Can you tell me about an LDP student who you believe embodies the goals and spirit of the LDP?

Lillian grew up in the care of an aged peasant father and two brothers. They lived each day as it came, knowing that a day to day existence was the best way they could live. As a young child her home was trees, made up of old limbs, cardboard, and scrap metal. She was brought up in a small tribal community based on a patriarchal model, which does not place a premium on educating girls. Women in her village do not dream. They are viewed as insignificant, with little hope for the future than to live in poverty and to raise their children in the same conditions.

But with the help of the Child Sponsorship Program and her sponsor, Lillian saw the first seeds of hope flourish. She became the first in the family to graduate from high school. Now, through the LDP, she has become the first and only girl in her village who has achieved the distinction of being accepted into a university.

With the knowledge Lillian is gaining from the LDP program and her studies, we believe, and with her determination, she will become a school teacher and instill these same dreams and hopes into other young children. In spite of all the hurdles, Lillian breaths life and energy and hope. Lillian has a “can do!” heart. She truly believes God will provide all.

8. Tell me what the LDP graduates are doing now.

Since 1996, more than 600 students have graduated from the program. Based on our most recent contact with our graduates, we know that:

• More than 80 percent are employed.
• About 72 percent of graduates are employed within their field of study within six months after graduation.
• Approximately 99 percent are actively involved in a leadership role within their church.
• Around 65 percent are currently mentors themselves.
• About five percent are Child Sponsorship Program sponsors, and more are sponsoring siblings to attend school.
• More than ten are missionaries to other countries.

9. What is your vision for the LDP?

Our vision is that one day, the country offices that we work in become partner countries. That one day, Compassion Uganda will raise up sponsors, where they are a part of our ministry just like Compassion Italia, Compassion Canada or Compassion Netherlands. And we envision that our leadership development students, that one day a student could be the president of his or her country. An awesome parent, a man or woman of God… a loving spouse. A young person who could be a teacher or a lawyer, walking with the Lord — a leader in the church; an elder, maybe a pastor, impacting family, church, community, nation, and in so being, transforming our world for Jesus Christ. That is the Leadership Development Program.

10. What is your favorite LDP memory?

It was 2 a.m. at a LDP retreat, and I was packed into a small room with 20 LDP guys (no ladies), laughing at goofy jokes, making fun of one another, engrossed in stupid guy humor, singing Christmas carols loud and off-key, praying for miracles — to release the captives and rebuild nations — and not superficial wants. And I knew without a doubt these young men will transform their nation for God’s glory.

Read all of the posts in the 10 Questions series.

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

Compassion’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) uniquely equips hundreds of outstanding young leaders to transform their communities, their countries and their world. Mike Hinckfoot, Compassion’s Leadership Development Ministry director since 2004, recently shared with me his passion for young adults and his vision for the Leadership Development Program.

1. What is the Leadership Development Program?

The Leadership Development Program identifies and provides opportunities for outstanding Christian young men and women who are graduates of our Child Sponsorship Program. The tagline is “Educating, training, discipling servant leaders.” It’s about college students, who, when they came into Compassion’s program maybe 18 years ago, had no dreams, but now they do.

2. What does “Educating, training and discipling servant leaders” look like?

Well, the education part is pretty simple. Each LDP student enrolls in college in their home country, where they will receive a bachelor’s degree, thanks to the support of their LDP sponsor. As far as training, each LDP student takes part in a holistic curriculum based on Compassion’s leadership principles. It’s a three to four year training program. And for discipleship, we connect every LDP student with a local church, where they are actively involved in getting to know their pastor, maybe teaching Sunday school. Discipleship also comes through mentoring. Every LDP student has a mentor, someone of the same gender, hopefully in the same career path that they are to walk with them side by side. They also have an LDP specialist, kind of a guidance counselor, someone who is helping them develop in their plans for the future.

3. What is the LDP sponsor’s role in their sponsored student’s life, beyond covering the cost for their education?

The sponsor is essential to the success of the program. Our students are linked to a sponsor and our hope is that to take a sponsor from being an encourager to being a distant mentor, to being a coach for them — for now and for the future. I can say without question that I know of no other program like LDP in the world. Sponsors are touching the future by being a champion for these bright, talented students. They are, quite literally, changing the future through their sponsorship.

4. The Bible is full of verses about helping children, the orphaned and those who are alone. What do you think the Bible says about the young adults who apply for LDP?

One key passage for LDP is 1 Timothy 4:12, a verse that declares the value of young adults from God’s perspective. Paul, a mentor to Timothy, encourages him, saying, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” In other words, God is calling young adults to assume great roles of leadership. They should pursue this confidently. And the Leadership Development Program is one way the Church can see that it happens.

5. Many developing countries offer very little support for women seeking an education — and some are, in fact, hostile towards these women. What is LDP doing to help women enrolled in the program?

I’ve done a lot of research on women and education in developing countries, and the more I learn, the sicker this situation makes me. For example, we learned that young ladies enrolled in LDP in Nairobi were being harassed by young men in the computer lab. Even worse, young ladies were failing university because they would not have an affair with their professors. We do everything we can to support these young women. We are giving them a chance for an education, yes. But our support doesn’t end there. We fight for them, against injustice. We give them a voice. We give them power. We give them hope.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of Brandy’s interview with Mike.

Read all the posts in the 10 Questions series.

Brandy Campbell is a feature writer at Compassion International. When she’s not chatting with Compassion execs, Brandy writes newsletter and web stories about Compassion’s ministry to children in poverty.

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

6. There are a lot organizations who use child sponsorship to fight poverty. What makes Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program unique?

Compassion is Christ centered, child focused, church based, and committed to integrity. All of our core programs are holistic. We also value the dignity of all people and endeavor to uphold high standards of stewardship and excellence. The Child Sponsorship Program focuses on the long-term spiritual, physical, socio-emotional development of children from age 3 up to 22. It is during those years that children develop their self-image, acquire knowledge and skills that can help them become financially self-sufficient, and develop good health habits. It is also during the childhood and adolescent years that the majority of Christians come to know Christ as their personal Savior and Lord.

7. So, why Compassion? Why should someone choose Compassion instead of another ministry that helps children?

Compassion sponsors often tell me that they chose to partner with Compassion after researching several different organizations. They want to work with an organization that shares their Christian values and convictions.

8. Compassion focuses on development, not relief. Why? What is the difference?

Providing relief to victims of natural and man-made disasters is necessary, and several organizations do that well. However, Compassion’s area of expertise is long-term child development. We believe that children need sustained nurture and instruction to develop into the men and women God desires them to be. Additionally, our Complementary Inventions activities assist children with any special needs they may have along the way including disaster relief.

9. Most sponsorship organizations place less emphasis on the one-to-one connection and more on the physical resources provided through monthly gifts. Why does Compassion focus on that relationship, specifically through letter-writing?

After 55 years, we have begun placing a greater emphasis on the role sponsors can play in encouraging their sponsored child through letters, gifts and visits. Sponsors have a unique opportunity to speak into the lives of the children they sponsor. They have the special opportunity to bring children to Jesus through their words of encouragement and by sharing their testimony of God’s faithfulness in their own lives. They can speak words of life, love and hope into the lives of children.

I have seen firsthand how this relationship can be transformational for children and sponsors.

10. What’s your favorite Child Sponsorship Program success story?

Lillian is a wonderful example of a young person whose life was dramatically changed as a result of being in Compassion’s program. Lillian’s mother died when she was 3 months old, and her father died just two years later. Then, her guardians abused her. But one day Lillian was spotted by Patrick, the director of a Compassion-assisted center near her uncle’s house, and she was registered in the Child Sponsorship Program. This was a critical turning point in Lillian’s young life. She went on to attend college through the Leadership Development Program, and now she is a full-time staff member in the Compassion Uganda office.

As I think about all the twists and turns in Lillian’s life and her amazing story, it is impressed upon me that she is a product of her participation in Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program. Lillian tells me, “I am a living testimony. I would have never seen my value in life if it were not for Compassion.”

Read all the posts in the 10 Questions series.

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