Effective staff communication helps create a more unified, cohesive environment in which our ministry workers can thrive.

The implementation of virtual conferences and online training modules in El Salvador has allowed our staff to move one step forward in how they communicate with one another.

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

What is Compassion International all about?

Well, first and foremost, we’re about Jesus. We are Christ centered. We “release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.” We work through the local church, and we work in response to the Great Commission.

We demonstrate what we’re about in how we behave – what we do and how we do it.

We’re child focused. We develop children. Each child we serve is ministered to personally, and each church partner we work with tailors its programs to meet the specific needs of the children in its community. We help children in poverty become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults. We give them an opportunity to succeed.

As we do this, we refute the lie of poverty and are that much closer to eliminating extreme poverty altogether.

But how we go about fighting extreme poverty contrasts with how other organizations work toward the same goal. We fight poverty personally, while many organizations fight it communally.

I don’t mean that other organizations aren’t personally invested or committed to eliminating extreme poverty. I mean that a child-focused, child development approach to fighting poverty is distinctly different from a broader, community development approach.

I believe that community development is important work, and I suspect that everyone at Compassion would agree it’s important. But as Tony Neeves, our Vice President of International Development, says, we don’t agree that community development is the best approach to eliminating extreme poverty because over the years we’ve learned that changed circumstances rarely change people’s lives and changed people inevitably change their circumstances.

So, which method do you think is more effective?

What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of each? Do the two methods complement one another or work against one another?

And if you had complete control over limited resources to use in the fight against poverty, how would you approach it? Would you focus on children, on communities or something else?

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

I graduated in 2005 from Daystar University with a degree in community development. Upon graduating, I became a volunteer at my local child development center, helping Compassion kids with letter writing, doing devotions and sharing my Compassion story as a way of encouraging them.

I also worked on a part-time basis with Compassion Kenya as a research assistant. Among the research I helped coordinate was a study on the impact of Compassion’s programs on its graduates.

Between July to October 2006, God opened an opportunity through Compassion for me to be a voice for the voiceless in various venues and forums throughout the United States, speaking on behalf of children living in poverty in today’s world, drawing upon my experiences as a formerly sponsored child.

My role as an ambassador was to speak on behalf of Compassion International in seeking to acquire new sponsorships and deepen the level of trust among current sponsors and donors.

I thank God, because more than 1,000 new sponsorships were acquired during the speaking engagements in the United States.

In February 2008, I had the opportunity to engage in a series of speaking engagements with Tear Fund NZ. I was hosted as a guest in one of the Christian media houses during Compassion Day and also spoke in different churches and institutions on the need and benefit of child sponsorship.

God has been preparing me to embrace a great vision; I thank God for ordering my steps in life. I am currently working as a community development manager with a nonprofit based in Kenya with its head offices in Atlanta: 410 Bridge Ministry.

• Read the July 2007 LDP Newsflash featuring Paul’s post-LDP work at 410 Bridge Ministry.

I have observed with varying degrees of frustration how lack of Godly leadership has plunged Africa into a myriad of problems, as children continue to suffer innocently and give up on their dreams.

I am ready to be used by God to transform Africa to become a continent after God’s heart.

I believe that each child should be given an opportunity to live his or her dream; we should not allow poverty to rob, crush and destroy the God-given potential of any child. Those who do not live their dreams often become cynical about their future as poverty robs them of childhood hopes and expectations.

I consider myself a voice for the voiceless, bearing testimony to the biblical truths that God has the best plan for children. It goes without saying that if you invest in the life of a child, you touch a family. If you touch a family, you transform the society. If you transform the society, you change the nation. And if you change a nation, you make the world a better place to live in.

• Become a voice for the voiceless (US)
• Become a voice for the voiceless (Australia)

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

By the time I had completed high school, I did not know what the next step would be for me, because in Kenya at the age of 18 years I was due for graduation from the Compassion program and that was it.

I heard of the Leadership Development Program (LDP) from the social workers at the child development center at a time that I was praying and trusting in God to take me to college.

I had done well in my exams, and Compassion was looking for young outstanding Christian men and women who had been through the Child Sponsorship Program to develop through educating, training and discipling them into servant leaders.

The aim was to equip the people to impact their community in their various spheres of influence.

I thought this would give me an opportunity to pursue my dream. I did not hesitate to apply after getting the recommendation letters from my pastor and social worker at the program center.

The challenge was that the Leadership Development Program in Kenya could only take 20 students, yet there were many child development centers in Kenya with equally outstanding Christian young men and women with great potential.

The interviews were vigorous; candidates were to exhibit Christ-like character, commitment to a local church, outstanding academic performance, and leadership ability, among other things.

Joining the program as one of the first 20 students in LDP-Kenya was nothing short of a miracle.

I remember joining Daystar University in Kenya to pursue a degree in community development. That was a great achievement not only for me, but also for my family, church and community. So many people started looking up to me to help them make decisions in almost all areas of life.

The church had me serve in Sunday School, Mission and Outreach Board, School Board and Clinic Board. My dad made a habit of consulting me always in the major decisions that concerned the family — that is not so common in Kenya.

Missions and outreach activities that were organized by LDP-Kenya in rural parts of the country are memories that I still hold dear, even after graduating from the program.

We would go to the villages as LDP students, do door-to-door evangelism and do community service like helping with digging, washing clothes and dishes, and fetching water and firewood.

The most exciting moments were seeing the villagers come to accept Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. They were often humbled by the way university students would come to their level and just be friends.

Being linked to a mentor to walk me through my spiritual and career life was also something memorable. Training workshops organized by Compassion and also opportunities to meet other LDP students from neighboring countries like Uganda and Ethiopia are memories that will not fade easily.

The opportunity to serve as the first LDP-Kenya student leader was a good training ground for me in taking up future leadership roles in the community, the country and Africa — transforming lives of many in a godly way.

Still as LDP students, we undertook to sponsor a girl from India through Compassion as a sign of giving back; we still sponsor the young girl — from sponsored children to sponsors of children!

Finally, winning a scholarship for an exchange program between Daystar University and Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts, for a semester in 2003 was a life-changing experience as well that I am grateful to God for.

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

But if your call to serve the poor extends beyond holistic child development, which it does for many people, we’d like to introduce you to our partner TEAR Fund New Zealand.

TEAR Fund stands for The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund, and its purpose is to glorify God by extending His kingdom in ministry to the poor, oppressed and disadvantaged, and to encourage God’s people to live out the values and principles of His kingdom by sharing with those in need.

TEAR Fund New Zealand represents the compassion of Jesus. This organization partners with local Christian organizations and churches in developing countries who use local staff to work directly with the poorest people, helping the poor find their own solutions, cutting out the middleman and reducing costs.

Microenterprise, community development projects and disaster relief are TEAR Fund New Zealand’s key activities, but that’s not all this ministry does. Right now, it’s working to eradicate the Guinea worm in Côte d’Ivoire, and also has programs to fight adult illiteracy and sexual slavery, among others.

TEAR Fund New Zealand offers child sponsorship too, but does that through us. Sponsoring a child with TEAR Fund New Zealand is sponsoring a child through Compassion.

Although our friend is from New Zealand, you can still partner with this Christian aid and development agency. Visit tearfund.co.nz to learn more.

We promise they don’t write with an accent…then again, maybe they do.

Oh yeah, you may like this. TEAR Fund New Zealand’s non-sponsorship programs are conducted in places of the world we don’t currently work.

• Afghanistan
• Cambodia
• China
• Malawi
• Mongolia
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Niger
• Palestine
• Sudan

So if your heart is in those parts of the world, TEAR Fund New Zealand would be pleased to meet you.

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

And although you might not think that theories of international development have much to do with you, they certainly do.

We are compassionate and generous people, and when we hear about a need, we want to help! We want to do something! But our first reactions of how to help may not necessarily be the best ways in which we can help. So understanding how development happens is vital as we seek to do good in this world.

Here are a few things I’ve learned …

At Compassion we want to foster development, not dependence. We want to see long-term change so we don’t focus on shorter-term solutions, like food distributions. Instead, we focus on on equipping children and partners with the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes they need to take control of their own lives.

Ways we can foster development, not dependence are:

Allowing children and our partners to be active in shaping their futures, not passive receivers.

Childhood experiences teach children how they view themselves, and we can teach them to reflect on their experiences to learn how they can change their circumstances.

Limiting what is given away.

Even the poorest of the poor have much to give, such as time and energy. When we focus on just giving to the poor, we undermine what they already have to give rather than empowering them to seek solutions.

Do not do for others what they can do for themselves.

When we try to help a child or a family by doing something for them that they were capable of doing, it pulls the rug out from under them, in a way, sending a subtle message that they aren’t capable. Sweat equity is a great example — give people the opportunity to give what they’ve got to better their lives.

Focusing on partnership.

Relationships are two-way, not one-way. We aren’t the noble benefactors bending down to the helpless poor.

Our partners in the developing world have so much to offer. It’s not a relationship of givers and takers. We must treat and view them truly as partners, not as a means to an end. They aren’t just our outlet for a mission trip or a good story for our do-gooding release. They are people and partners.

Enable local ownership.

If you start a child development center in a community without a local understanding or vision, most likely it will fail. Local ownership is key in successful development.

Think of your own backyard. If a Belgian group came in and told you, “We really think you need to put in these new fancy water pumps, and we’re going to do it,” what would you think? (“Who are these weird Belgians and why are they telling me what to do?” is what I would think …)

Therefore, we have to develop initiatives jointly. Give communities an opportunity to have ownership by allowing them to be deeply involved in developing any engagement. They know their communities; they know their needs; they know their challenges.

So if you travel to see Compassion’s work, please go with an open heart, spend time finding out what our partners’ visions and dreams are. Maybe you want to help build toilets or a church building, but maybe that’s not what they need the most. Come alongside and partner with them. Be a part of their passion and vision for their communities.

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