We’ve noticed variations of these questions popping up in several of our posts about letter-writing. So we approached Bill Dunigan, a man for the people and a team leader in our contact center, to help us address them.

Thanks Bill.

Can I stay in contact with my child if he or she graduates or leaves the sponsorship program?

If you tell us you want to continue writing to your child, we’ll send you information to read, sign and return to us.

The form we send will describe what your new relationship will look like and will give us permission to share your contact information with our country staff, who will then share it with your child. If your child wants to keep in touch with you also, he or she will send you a letter or an e-mail to begin the conversation.

The main thing to keep in mind is that translation services no longer will be provided —something to consider if you do not speak the child’s language.

Also, since the child will be out of our program, we cannot make any guarantees about the regularity or quality of the correspondence from the child. Plus, we won’t be able to help with questions that may arise.

And finally, it’s important to know that sharing your information means you could potentially be contacted by others, such as your child’s relatives, friends or acquaintances who might want to contact you for personal gain.

Why do children leave the sponsorship program before graduation?

The reasons children leave can vary.

• Sometimes kids leave because their family’s financial situation has improved and the family thinks Compassion is no longer needed.
• Often we see a child leave because the child needs to be at home to take care of a younger sibling while the parents or guardians work.
• But the most common reason is the family has moved to a place where we do not have a child development center, and the move typically occurs because the family is seeking a better life with greater economic opportunity.

What happens to a child who graduates from the sponsorship program?

It’s a good question.

With more than 1 million sponsored kids in 25 developing countries, the answer could be as varied as a response to: What do young people in the U.S. do when they complete high school or college?

While the specifics are different in an environment of severe poverty, young people in developing countries have the same general aspirations as we do: They want to create a better life for their families, the people of their communities and themselves.

In releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name, our sponsorship program focuses on each child’s spiritual, economic, social and physical needs. When a child completes the program, he or she has had opportunities to know and understand the Bible, and receive Jesus as Savior.

Also, the child has been reminded of the importance of making thoughtful decisions about health, nutrition and sexuality, and will have learned at least one income-generating skill.

Finally, social skills gained while in the program will help the child be comfortable in personal interactions as well as in the larger context of community.

All of this combines to highlight our holistic distinctive, with the Good News of Jesus at the core.

But what does a child do when graduation arrives?

Our country staff tell us of young men in Africa who become car mechanics, or earn a living as a bus driver in their country’s tourist industry.

Some kids go on to higher education in the country, possibly through our Leadership Development Program.

A girl in Haiti may use her sewing skills to make and sell clothing in the market. A boy in Uganda may use his agricultural skills to raise a crop to sell.

Many Compassion children are taught the art of serigraphy — making T-shirts or decorative cloth using the silkscreen process, to sell in a local market or as a street vendor.

Often, children learn about hydroponics, cultivating plants in a nutrient-rich solution rather than soil.

Last year, Compassion U.K. published a feature in its magazine about this very question. It’s called “The Class of ’85: Where Are They Now?” Take a look.

You’ve met Rafonzel once before. In the photo at the end of Eric’s post about the Leadership Development Program. But photos are so last year.

Watch this short video (just under 10 minutes) and you’ll hear Rafonzel talk about the meaning of Compassion’s programs in her life – like Michelle did – and you’ll see Rafonzel meet her sponsor for the very first time – like Esther described for us yesterday.

Hi. I’m your Compassion internet communications specialist. I specialize in being especially excited about web stuff.

Do I have fun on occasion? You bet. Is most of it work? Always, and did I mention that saving kids from poverty is my commitment? No? Well, there you go.

Recently I was sent by Compassion to the Forrester’s Consumer Forum which is a think-tank of an organization in the marketing industry.

Forrester speaks precisely about ways companies can target trends and future ideas for getting a product or organization into the eyes of the public through social media.

Some serious marketing research takes place. Seriously.

I was there to learn from the experts about social networking techniques for the internet.

Now I see those wheels turning. Compassion’s trying to be trendy? Compassion looks at the future of the marketing industry? Compassion sees a child as a product?

Well, sort of.

What I discovered in the forum is that huge corporations are dishing out millions if not billions to give their products a pleasing experience that you can relate to.

A pleasing experience with toothpaste? A pleasing experience with credit cards?

How about the experience of sponsoring a child?

I am proud to say that Compassion is doing exactly what it should, from a social media perspective, to help children in poverty.

We are giving the world a true experience of a child sponsorship.

Through churches, through word of mouth, through the internet, through this blog and through our social networks such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter,

Compassion is changing lives.

Yes, the world is changing and we at Compassion are changing with it, and that’s a good move, right? That’s a healthy choice you can agree with, right?

Why do we do the things we do? You and I.

Why bother getting that advanced degree? Just for the credentials?

Why eat the whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s ONE Cheesecake Brownie when 500 calories of poverty fighting creaminess would be good enough?

Why buy the pint to begin with? An outright donation to some cause that rhymes with Compassion would probably make a more direct impact in the fight against poverty. It would sure help my poor jeans — not the donation part, the not buying and eating part.

Here are some of the more exceptional reasons I do things.

• I enjoy it.
• I can’t help myself.
• I wanted to.
• I had to.
• It’s good for my career.
• The ladies like it.
• My boss made me.

Pretty good. Right?

Why do you think Compassion does what it does? Just for the heck of it?

Nope!

We do this poverty fighting stuff because we want to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. (Honk if you appreciated the subtle way I inserted our tagline.)

But what does releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name mean? I did it again How do we know we’ve been successful?

This is for you Andrzej. It’s “the” post Becky alluded to in her reply to your comment on Maila’s Dream.

Although I’m not talking about the actual “how” we measure our success or the “method” we use to measure our success — that’s all top secret cloak and dagger type of stuff — I am hitting you up with the measuring stick we use.

Compassion’s success in releasing children from poverty is Outcome Driven.

We’re successful when the children in our Child Survival Programs (CSP) are physically healthy, curious, and self confident, when they have healthy age-specific relationships and when they interact and communicate with the world around them.

We’re successful when the mothers and/or caregivers in our CSP programs are sufficiently healthy to provide for the well-being of their children, when they’re motivated and able to be economically self-supporting and when they’re committed to Christ.

We’re successful when the children in our Child Sponsorship Program commit their lives to Christ, choose good health practices, are physically healthy, are motivated to learn new skills, demonstrate the skills to support themselves in the future and interact with others in healthy and compassionate ways.

We’re successful when the students in our Leadership Development Program do all the above and demonstrate servant leadership.

We’re successful when our church partners in the developing world demonstrate effective vision and leadership and take ownership of their vision by establishing efficient structures, practices and management to achieve their goals.

And finally, we’re successful, when you, our sponsors and donors, are actively committed and engaged in advocating for the needs of children in poverty, when you have a positive Compassion experience and … and … okay, I’ll say it … when you comment on our blog posts.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” —Proverbs 31:8-9, NIV

I’m willing to bet that every person, at some point during your involvement with Compassion, ponders some variation of the following question:

“Does Compassion’s ministry really work? Compassion knows how to share stories, but how do I know it’s actually making the difference they claim?”

Guess what? We’ve wondered the same thing. So 11 years ago we set out to get proof. We started a program called “It Works.” The idea behind this program was to provide undeniable evidence that Compassion is changing lives.

It Works documents the progress of children in Compassion’s programs. We choose our “case studies.” Then we interview, photograph and film the children and their families. Five to seven years later we return to see what God has done. Being 11 years into the program, we are now on our second round of return trips.

During last week’s chapel time we got to see this video and it was too exciting to keep to ourselves.

Meet Maila.

Story and photos By Paul Henri Kabore, Compassion Burkina Faso Field Communications Specialist

It was noon when I reached the family’s house. There was too much sun. Rasmata and Aguirata were sitting with their mother, Fati, in the small living room because there was no shade outside. Only a small tree that was planted by Aguirata could be seen in the courtyard.

Because of the lack of services, life is very hard. People are obliged to walk kilometers to queue for hours to buy water. During the dry season, a barrel of water costs between $1 and $2. It often happens that people even fight to get some water.

The mother used to wash clothes to earn money but could not earn enough to feed the family. Then her husband passed away. It was such a shock to Fati that she almost went crazy. Because of her psychological problems, she could not work.

Fati was desperate to care for her children. It was a big relief when the Compassion child development center registered her daughter Rasmata, but it wasn’t enough — the need was still there. Rasmata’s little sister also needed help. A member of the center’s management committee who was aware of this family’s condition pleaded to the leadership team and was able to get Aguirata registered too.

Yet, all the effort was about to fail. The late husband’s brothers came from the village to take Rasmata and Aguirata. The reason: the mother was unstable psychologically and could not take good care of her daughters. But taking them to the village would mean putting an end to the opportunity they had to go to school and have free access to health care.

But God was in control. The child development center team leader met the men and told them about all the benefits the girls would have if they continued attending the center. After several days of negotiations, the men came to understand the wonderful opportunity the children had and decided to let them stay.

For Fati, there has been a great change since her two daughters joined Compassion.

“I am grateful and do not even know how to thank the Compassion project for the huge relief. In the past, it was hard to have even a meal a day. Today, thanks to the project, we are able to eat two to three times a day. Besides, my daughters’ school fees are paid for by the project. I could not believe that someone could help me raise my children freely, without asking anything.”

The center activities have brought so many changes in the lives of Rasmata and Aguirata. According to their mother, they used to be very intractable, but since their registration, they have been kind and obedient, and she believes that all this has been possible thanks to the biblical input.

In fact, when the girls started going to the center, they were Muslim, along with their mom. Whenever they came back from the program activities, they would start singing Christian songs, and would pray before eating or going to bed. Their mother was wondering what was happing to her daughters, but was very happy with the great change in their behavior.

“At that time I could not believe that I myself would be Christian,” Fati said, smiling.

What convinced her to give her life to Jesus was Compassion taking care of her daughters with no ulterior motives. “The woman came to the project office one day with tears and told me that she wanted to give her life to Jesus in whose name the project was bringing up her daughters,” the project team leader said.

Without Compassion this family would have fallen apart, but now Fati and her two little daughters have come to Christ.

Aguirata told us that she would like to become pastor to preach the gospel. As for Rasmata, she would like to become a nurse to treat the sick.

A few weeks ago my little girl Brooklyn asked me for some cookies and milk for herself and her 2-year-old brother. They sat down in front of the TV in their pajamas (we call them jammies at our house) and watched their favorite DVD while I served them cookies and milk.

That’s when it hit me. We are so blessed!

There my kids are eating chocolate chip cookies and cold milk with nothing on their mind but “I hope Dad forgets that we’re supposed to do nap time today.” While somewhere in a land far, far away from their minds (and mine most of the time) is a little girl Brooklyn’s same age working long hours of forced labor who has never had a day of cookies and milk in her whole life. Somewhere there is a child my daughter’s age (4) that will work harder today than I will and will go to sleep hungry tonight.

On our refrigerator at home there is a picture of our sponsored child. Her name is Heidi, and she lives in Bolivia. (Brooklyn thinks the little girl’s name is Bolivia.) We pray for Heidi often. We pray for her to have plenty to eat. Sponsoring Heidi is a great way for my wife and I to teach our children about others’ needs and how we can help by sharing.

Last Wednesday at Compassion’s chapel service I had the chance to hear a young man that truly grasps the power of sharing. Zach Hunter is a 16-year-old abolitionist who is giving his life to the cause of releasing slaves and giving them their God-given right to freedom. He has been speaking out against slavery since he was 11 years old.

I wonder how many students (or adults for that matter) have even thought about slavery today. Thanks to Zach Hunter at least 600 people thought about slavery that day in chapel and 500,000 more will think about it this year as he speaks to them.

As I studied Zach’s message I realized it is storming all around us, and for whatever reason God has given most of us in this country an umbrella. He didn’t give us an umbrella so that we would deny that it is storming. He gave us the umbrella to acknowledge the storm and share our umbrella with those who don’t have one.

Zach asked the question, “How do people in severe poverty know that God is good?” The only way they could know that is if God’s people share His goodness with those who have not experienced it.

It’s raining hard, Church. Share your umbrella.

(ed. – Bobby travels around the country preaching and using rap music as a ministry. Inspired by Zach’s Loose Change to Loosen Chains campaign, Bobby wrote It’s Not Over. He performed the song at our April 30 chapel. Bobby works in our Facilities department. He keeps the building from crashing down upon our heads.)