For the past year, I’ve been working for Compassion Canada as a marketing writer. (Did you know that Compassion International truly is international? Our sponsors come from the U.S., Canada, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K., Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and South Korea, and God is growing our pool of worldwide sponsors every day!)

Compassion Canada Staff

At first, I wondered what cultural differences I might encounter writing for another country. To prepare for my new role, I watched Canadian Bacon and many reruns of SCTV. So far, the biggest differences are that Canadians walk kilometres to get to their neighbours colourful homes in 0 degree Celsius weather, while Americans walk miles to get to neighbors colorful homes in 0 degree Fahrenheit weather.

But when it comes to sponsorship, I found a couple of ways in which we are different, and several ways that we are the same.

How We’re Different

1. One of the most obvious ways Compassion Canada is different from Compassion USA is size. Although by area Canada is the second largest country in the world, by population Canada is about a tenth the size of the U.S. Accordingly, Compassion Canada employs about 85 people, making it a lean, mean, sponsoring machine.
2. Despite the fact that Canada’s small, we do have some cool services. For example, did you know that as a Canadian sponsor, you can send your sponsored child a paper play set as a gift? You do now! We don’t have the same paper templates the U.S. offers, but you can write your child online and choose to send one photo, 12 different cards (and, yes, one is hockey themed), 3 paper play sets and 6 posters.
3. Because Compassion International’s headquarters are in Colorado Springs, many staff members have an amazing view of the mountains. Because Compassion Canada is based in London, Ontario, they have a lovely view of an industrial park. The marketing team is inspired to creativity each day as they watch feet walk by in the parking lot from their garden view windows.
4. Even though Canada is far more post-Christian than the U.S., we really work to emphasize how the ministry in the field is Christ centred. (Notice I didn’t say centered.) Canada even has a website dedicated to educating sponsors and donors about how Jesus is the true difference in these children’s lives, called The Difference Is Jesus.
5. Although many workers ride their bikes to our headquarters in Colorado, in Canada, they ride moose to work.

Compassion USA Staff

How We’re the Same

1. We are all guided by the same values and principles, and we are supporting the same ministry in the field.
2. We all love (to mock) Justin Bieber. When I was visiting the Canada office, I met a young woman whose family used to babysit the Biebs. Pretty exciting stuff. (And although the Canadians like to claim that they don’t love him as much as they do, in a staff meeting I was in, one of the announcements was that it was Justin Bieber’s birthday. You be the judge.)

If you want to find out more about some of Compassion International’s partners around the world, check them out here.

You can read the UK and Ireland’s blog!

Spreekt u Nederlands? Read the Dutch blog here. Or if you live down under, check out the Australia blog.

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

Heather and I had been sponsoring in a relatively disconnected way since around 2000. I use the word “disconnected” because although we understood the work of Compassion and believed in its concepts, we had never actually connected with the children in any meaningful way. A trip to see the work of Compassion in 2007 changed all this.

Prior to this trip, I was in a highly pressurized work environment, which was engulfing every hour of my day and much of my nights. Early mornings were sometimes spent trying not to throw up while shaving.

Many of you guys will have been there: big income, big demands, no room to back off, always up to take on the next contract. If I got in an hour earlier each day, I thought I could cope.

We were fortunate to visit Kenya on an Advocate’s trip for ten days … ten days that changed our lives.

Read the rest of this post by Compassion UK Advocate Martyn Legg on the Compassion UK blog.

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

Compassion UK first posed the question in Twitter.

Grab the last letter you received from your sponsored child and share the closing sentence with us.

We liked the question so we asked our Twitter followers and Facebook friends to participate. Here’s a sample of what they shared.
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“I pray that we may live with God up to the end and may God protect us.”

“I say goodbye with many hugs — so long.”

“Please pray that my father will stop drinking liquor.”

“I want to tell you that I already can pray. I keep you in my heart with so much love.”

“Thank you very much for your sponsorship. Do you have happiness? Wish you have happiness.”

“When I grow up I want to be a doctor so I can help all of the kids because I really like the things that the doctor from the center does for us. Goodbye with love and affection.”

“Does the earthquake always happen to your country? Me, I do not know if it will happen, only God knows. Keep on helping me pray for the two months of vacation that I will have. I will pray for you. I love you.”

“With the $25 I bought cookies, candles, milk and Kellog’s, thank you for everything with love.”

‎”Do you have a swimming pool in your house?”

‎”I hope to read you soon. For the time, I kiss you. See you soon.”

‎”One day we will never separate and we will be in our homes, in the place God prepared for us.”

‎”I dismiss with strong hugs and lots of love.”

How did your sponsored child close his or her last letter to you?

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

“CompassionArt is a charity that joins the dots between art and poverty. It raises money to help breathe life into the poorest communities, restoring hope and igniting justice.” – compassionart.tv

Compassion U.K. is one of 12 charities receiving royalties from the album sales.

The widget below has lots of details on the CompassionArtproject, as well as a link to download a free song with song sheet and the first chapter of the book, which explores the inspiration, motivation and passion behind this exceptional collaboration.

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