We began our ministry in the Dominican Republic in 1970 as a relief program donating food, medicine and money for children selected by the local churches.

This relief program transitioned into a school program in the 1980s. In this program, children in the Dominican Republic gained access to education through the local church. In 1994, we started our Child Sponsorship Program. The Leadership Development Program started in 2004, followed by the Child Survival Program in 2006.

In the Dominican Republic we have a strategic partnership with the Evangelical National University to offer higher education to our staff, Implementing Church Partner staff and church members in holistic child development and child advocacy in order to train leaders to be child advocates.

Country Director

Kleber Isaias Lora Bautista joined us as Country Director in 2005.

Prior to coming to our ministry he held various positions including Child Sponsorship Program Manager at Food for the Hungry and a consultant for the Institutional Strength Project.

Kleber graduated with a degree in computer engineering from INTEC Technological Institute of Santo Domingo in 1990. He also earned a masters of business administration from the University of Quebec, Montreal in 2004.

As a young person, Kleber was the founder of the Christian Church in his community and later became the youth pastor and a staff member of their Bible seminary.

Implementing Church Partners

Implementing Church Partners are local churches in the Dominican Republic with whom we work to deliver child development programs and frontline ministry in the field.

• Spiritual Climate
  The Dominican Republic is very open to the gospel and the church has a strong voice in the community. Youth delinquency is a major challenge in many communities; because of that the church is widely accepted and welcomed in the hope that the church will encourage and embrace the youth.

  As a result, the church in the Dominican Republic is experiencing numerical growth.



• Unique Challenges
  It can be challenging for churches to find and train professional staff as the quality of education in the Dominican Republic is quite low. Once they are trained, the market often offers better salaries and benefits than Implementing Church Partners can offer. Also, most churches must rent their space because land is expensive and neighborhoods are very crowded.
• Contributions
  Implementing Church Partners provide construction and labor for the facilities as well as volunteers who offer their time and service in their specific field of expertise, such as medicine or social work.
• Partner Development Activities
  We develop partners in the Dominican Republic through training in accountability and sponsorship processes as well as leadership meetings with pastors and project directors.

Child Survival Program

• Caregiver Literacy
  Literacy is taught at the caregiver meetings once a week using an adult literacy method by ALFALIT. ALFALIT is an international Christian non-profit organization that specializes in eliminating literacy and offering education and development opportunities with the purpose of strengthening families in need.
• Income-generating Skills
  We offer a workshop once a week on various topics such as baking, jewelry making, hair dressing and beautician’s skills, and making pajamas and undergarments.

  These are skills that the caregivers can use in their homes while also taking care of their children.



• Health Care
  For vaccinations, medical consultations and follow-ups, mothers and babies go to public or private health centers that are located in their communities or nearby. We reimburse the Implementing Church Partners at various rates depending on whether the beneficiaries received care at a public hospital, semiprivate center or a private center.
• Nutritional Support
  Each month we assess which families are in need of nutritional support, then we deliver food and micronutrients for those families. Usually we do not deliver to the same families month after month, but occasionally that is needed for families living in very difficult conditions.

  We also provide an orientation on nutrition and subsequent follow-ups.

• Involvement of Fathers
  We encourage fathers to participate in group meetings and home visits. At the group meetings, we will often have a counseling professional come and talk to the couples about parenting and family dynamics.

  Implementing Church Partners also organize yearly retreats for Child Survival Program mothers and their husbands where they go away for three days and enjoy being together, meet new people and hear speakers teach on various topics.



• Transitioning Out of the Child Survival Program
  When children reach the age of 2, the Child Survival Program Implementers organize group activities where the children sit together around tables, draw and paint and have a nutritional meal together to help them get acquainted with the Child Sponsorship Program classroom and activities.
• Areas of Expansion for the Child Survival Program
  We would like to expand into the southern region of the Dominican Republic because that is the poorest area of the country.

Child Development Through Sponsorship

Your sponsorship of a child in the Dominican Republic provides a variety of benefits.

Based on our curriculum, this has been the most appropriate schedule for the children.

• Meeting Times:
• 3 to 5 year olds: 8 hours a week spread out over 2 to 3 days
• 6 to 8 year olds: 3 hours a day, 2 days a week
• 9 to 11 year olds: 3 hours a day, 2 days a week
• 12 to 14 year olds: 3 hours a day, 2 days a week
• 15 to 18 year olds: 2 hours a day, 2 days a week
• 19 +: 2 hours a day, 2 days a week



• Nutritional Support
  Each child receives a meal every day that they attend the child development center, which is about three times a week. A typical meal consists of rice and milk, wheat flour and milk, rice and chicken, oatmeal with bread, fruit juice and cookies, or cornflakes and milk.

  We give a meal or snack each time they attend the center because although the government schools do sometimes offer food, it is not consistent nor is it always safe and clean.



• Vaccinations
  Development center staff advises all parents to vaccinate their children. A health professional does an annual checkup and checks that these vaccines have been completed.

  In some cases, Implementing Church Partners have agreements with other non-governmental organizations or governmental agencies that provide vaccinations when needed.



• Extracurricular Activities or Community Service
  Children are able to participate regularly in sports, camps, arts, field days, museum visits, book fairs and field trips to historic sites, various companies and recreational places.
• Vocational Activities
  Vocational training in skills such as computers, handicrafts, driving, beauty, English, cooking, baking, welding, carpentry and sewing are offered depending on the local community. Many of the vocational training courses are certified, allowing the students to grow professionally in a given technical professional field.

  We also offer spiritual guidance and support, counseling, and opportunities for long-term development such as “My Plan for the Future” which is completed by each student.



• Parent Involvement
  We offer quarterly parenting classes on topics such as healthy parenting, family violence prevention, nutrition, literacy, vocational training and health.
• Areas of Expansion for the Child Sponsorship Program
  We would like to expand into the south and northeast regions of the Dominican Republic. The south is the most impoverished area in the country, and the northeast is a region where we do not currently have any church partners.

Leadership Development Program

• Universities Attended
  Leadership Development Program students attend governmental, private or Christian universities.
• Location of Universities
  Most of the universities are located in the capital city or in other large cities. There are several regional campuses spread throughout the country that offer a limited choice of degrees.
• Working Students
  There are a few Leadership Development Program students who do work, but generally these students are about to graduate.
• Service Opportunities
  Many students go back to their child development centers and churches to serve, while others serve at orphanages, nursing homes and schools or by doing community evangelism and missions.
• Leadership Development Program Meetings
  Leadership Development Program students hold an annual Advocacy Conference and an annual Youth Forum. The Advocacy Conference is a large meeting in which the students invite child development centers from various regions to bring their children and adolescents so the Leadership Development Program students can speak to them on specific topics related to child development.

  The Youth Forum is a forum where students invite leaders and professionals in various fields of social service to speak to them and other youth. They also meet quarterly in their Leadership Development Program care groups, which are smaller groups divided up by region; this is when they usually meet with the program specialist.



• Specialty Curriculum Topics or Resources
  When students enter the Leadership Development Program, they are required to complete the “Leadership Development Program Academy.” This is a one-month training program with specialized teachers in subjects such as math, writing, speed reading, and Christian worldview.
• Mentors
  Some of our staff members in the Dominican Republic are mentors for the students. They also assist other students in finding mentors through their connections with leaders from their churches.
• Career Placement Assistance
  We offer workshops to help the Leadership Development Program students choose their careers based on their interests and the labor market demands. We also give a vocational test administered by a psychologist to every student.

Complementary Interventions

Compassion’s core Child Sponsorship Program, while comprehensive, cannot address all obstacles to a child’s healthy development. Compassion’s Complementary Interventions program works in harmony with the holistic child development model to provide additional services as needed, such as the AIDS Initiative, Bibles for All Children, disaster relief and water projects.

Typical Complementary Interventions in the Dominican Republic include vocational training, reliable water using water purification systems, dental care, promotion of sports practices and major medical interventions

Highly Vulnerable Children

The primary needs in our Highly Vulnerable Children population are nutrition, hygiene and reliable water. It has been shown that focusing on prevention is the most efficient way to address the needs of Highly Vulnerable Children.

As a result, we concentrate our efforts within the Child Survival Program to improve and promote care and hygiene in newborns, infants and mothers. Child Survival and Child Sponsorship Program beneficiaries are eligible for medical support through Complementary Interventions.

In some cases of severe malnutrition, help and food is provided regularly. Funds are also used for adult literacy and nutrition/health education. In the event of a disaster, food, water and other resources are available for Highly Vulnerable Children.

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

 Our Child Survival Program (CSP) not only helps young children survive the vulnerable first four years of their lives; it also provides mothers an opportunity to be trained in vocational skills so they can help increase their family income.

In the Dominican Republic, participating churches encourage mothers to go back to school to learn to read and write and to take vocational training courses that range from hairdressing to computers.

In most cases, these mothers are single moms. In others, their spouses are unemployed or have informal part-time jobs with very low pay.

This is the case of 33-year-old CSP mother Marcia from the community of Manganagua in Dominican Republic. She has been in the program since she was two months pregnant with her daughter Neidi, who is now 4 years old.

Marcia witnessed how Neidi’s development was faster than that of her two older children. In fact, Neidi began walking when she was just 8 months old; her siblings had not walked until after they were a year old.

In the last four years, through the CSP program, Marcia has received medical help for her daughter when needed, along with other regular benefits of the program.

Nevertheless, the cost of raising three children has made it necessary for Marcia to leave her children in care of her sister next door so Marcia can work. Marcia cleans a house in another community, for which she is paid RD$3,000.00 (US$81.00) a month.

But with house rent of RD$3,500.00 (US$92.00) plus the cost of food and other needs, it’s challenging for Marcia and her husband to make ends meet. Marcia’s husband, Jose, is an agricultural worker at a farm with a salary of RD$6,000.00 (US$162.00).

Marcia longs for a chance to help her family improve their living conditions.

She first saw an opportunity for change when she began to participate in the sewing course at Iglesia Comunitaria Monte de Sion Church. There she learned how to repair clothes. At the end of the training, Marcia received a surprise gift.

“After I took the sewing course, the church chose some mothers to give sewing machines to. I was one of the chosen mothers. I have my own sewing machine now.”

Even though she doesn’t have a shop yet, Marcia has begun to repair some torn items of clothing that her neighbors have brought to her.

“I have repaired clothes for my neighbors and, in return, they have given me some money, which I have used to buy the chicken to feed to my children.”

Marcia is happy to be able to do things for herself and her family that she used to have to pay someone else to do.

“I have learned to repair my trousers and to make curtains and cushions. I have repaired skirts and blouses of my daughter. And I have repaired and made Bermuda shorts for my boys.”

Monte de Sion Community Center is now preparing to provide further training to Marcia and other mothers who have learned the basics of sewing.

“I am waiting for the vocational course on clothes design and cutting so I can learn to make clothes.”

Marcia is starting to see a new opportunity to generate income without having to be away from her children the whole day.

“If I have a sewing shop at home, I won’t have the need of going outside for work. As a dressmaker, I could work right at home.”

Monte de Sion Community Church is serving a total of 100 mothers in its Child Survival Program; nearly half of them have already participated in vocational training courses. Sewing, making decorative candles, cooking, upholstery, baking and computer basics are among the skills taught to the mothers at the center.

Every CSP center in the Dominican Republic provides vocational training opportunities to the mothers in the program so they can generate income to help their families.

In a community like Padre Las Casas in the province of Azua, in the south of the country, the mothers participating at the CSP center have begun training in hairdressing and sewing, among other skills.

If the mothers don’t have their own equipment when they complete their training course, the local church arranges a schedule for them to meet their customers at the vocational training center. The mothers are allowed to use the center’s equipment to do the work and begin generating an income.

The goal is for them to earn enough money to buy their own equipment and set up their own shops.

This sincere love and concern expressed by our church partners toward people in need help convey the gospel of Christ in a powerful manner.

Marcia received Jesus as her Savior and she has seen how the Lord has changed her own life and her home.

“I have changed a lot. I am living in a better home condition. My lifestyle and way of being have changed a lot. I have learned how to treat my children.”

Children in the CSP program receive the biggest benefit of all; young Neidi is ready to continue her development through Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program .

Irene, director of the CSP at the Luz de Esperanza Student Center in Manganagua, shares with us,

“It’s always very rewarding to me to see the children who finish the Child Survival Program. They are used to being in all the activities. They have learned to love the child development center. It’s completely different from those children who come directly from the community without coming through the Child Survival Program.”

Marcia is grateful for the change that has taken place in her life since joining the Child Survival Program:

“As I’ve been in church, things in my life have been being corrected slowly. I have changed a lot. I give thanks to God for everything. I have changed for better. I live more in peace. God has given me a lot and I am thankful to Him.”

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

 Compassion began to minister in the Dominican Republic around the year 1970. At present, we are working with a total of 168 implementing church partners and an equal number of child development centers.

Out of these development centers, Betel Student Center in the municipality of Consuelo in the eastern province of San Pedro de Macoris is one of the most recently opened centers with 69 sponsored children.

Recently, only 25 children at this center were sponsored. But the staff were amazed to see God’s provision of new sponsors for their children who live in the community of Barrio George.

Barrio George took its name from from Hurricane Georges, which hit the Island of Hispaniola in 1998 and left many dead and thousands of people homeless.

Many of the development center children and their families were among the homeless after this hurricane. A number of unfinished apartments, which were midway through construction, were provided to temporarily shelter these families. 

Poverty still affects the families, especially the children. This is why the Biblical Christian Church in Consuelo asked us to partner with them to start a child development center in this locality.

Now, whenever the people in Barrio George see the development center secretary, Raida, or the director, Patricia, in the streets they ask if their children have been sponsored yet.

At church, people ask for prayer that their children will be sponsored. Whenever a child receives a sponsor, they give thanks to the Lord for His provision.

Consuelo’s economy used to be based on the cultivation of sugar cane, but the industry deteriorated and closed in the 1990s, leaving many people unemployed. The community in which Raida and Patricia live has very few work sources; most men working locally are motorcycle-taxi drivers or vegetable-market vendors, while women wash and iron other people’s clothes for pay.

Other people work at the free-zone industries in San Pedro or move to the tourist city of Bavaro for jobs. These people must leave their children with a grandmother or an aunt. Formal jobs are rare for school teachers, city hall workers or government ministry workers.

In the community of Barrio George, children learn to read and write around the age of 8, which is why many sponsored children don’t normally write introductory letters themselves.

The Letter-writing Process

The letter-writing process starts in the country office, where a Sponsor and Donor Service associate receives the request for new-assignment letters through the Correspondence Tracking Application computer system. Through this system the field office learns that a new sponsor has been found for a child in the Dominican Republic.

Each Sponsor and Donor Service associate works with an average of 43 child development centers. The associate prints a list of requests for new-assignment letters for each child development center. Every Thursday, these and other documents are sent by courier to the centers. In the capital city, centers usually send a staff member to pick up their documents personally.

At the child development center, the secretary opens the documents and sorts the content. The request for new-assignment letters lets the secretary know which children have been newly sponsored. These children are called from their classrooms and given the good news – and encouraged to write an introductory letter to their new sponsor.

Typically, the secretary interviews the child to begin the letter-writing process. Some of the secretary’s common interview questions are about facts she already knows, such as the child’s family, with whom they live, if they are enjoying good health, their school grade, what they like to do, what they like to play, if they pray, if they want to ask a question of their sponsors, if they want their sponsors to pray for something specific, and so on.

From the child’s answers, the secretary drafts a letter in a notebook that is saved in the child’s office file.

When a child doesn’t yet know how to write, the secretary copies the letter from the child’s notebook onto the letter stationery, which is ultimately sent to the sponsor. Usually, the child signs the letter either with his or her name or a written mark, or by marking the letter with a fingerprint.

Often, the child will include a drawing, which is attached to the introductory letter.

If the child is able to write, he or she transcribes the letter content from the notebook onto the letter stationery.

In the case of an older child with more writing experience (usually about the age of 12), the child writes the original letter in his or her notebook and the secretary checks for corrections. Then the child writes the actual letter on the stationery that is to be sent to the sponsor.

After children have written to their sponsors, the letters are sent to the country office and received at the Documentation Reception and Distribution Center, where each piece of information is verified and registered. Then the children’s letters are forwarded to the corresponding Sponsor and Donor Service associates, who scan the bar code on each letter to verify that they have been received from the field.

The next step is translation. Sponsor and Donor Services pass the letter to the Translation associate, who calls the translators so they can pick up letters for translation.

Every translator is given seven days to complete a package of letters. Usually translators receive a new package of letters as they return the one they’ve just translated.

Letters then go back to their corresponding Sponsor and Donor Service associates, who prepare the letters for mailing to their destination countries. From the beginning to the end, the time needed to have child introductory letters written and shipped averages 15 days.

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

Remember when Val Bure and Katia Gordeeva won the Battle of the Blades? Val donated his award money to Compassion — and mothers and babies in Moca, Dominican Republic, are now receiving health care, nutritional support and a whole lot of love thanks to his mad ice skills.

Last month, Val and his wife, Candace Cameron-Bure, had a chance to visit the program in the Dominican Republic with their three kids — Natasha, 12, Lev, 11, and Maks, 9.

On our Compassion tours, parents often bring their teenagers but rarely their younger children. Which raises the question: When should we start teaching our children about poverty and exposing them to the needs in the world around them?

For Val and Candace, it wasn’t even a question.

Val grew up in Moscow. Because his father was an athlete, his family had more provisions than many of his neighbors, but Val still knew what it was to go hungry. At times, his mom worked three jobs just to try to feed her kids. More than once, Val, his brother and his mother shared a single apple for a meal. So when Val and Candace visited the Dominican Republic, he felt like he was home; he could relate to so many of the children’s experiences with poverty.

For Val, shielding his kids from poverty simply didn’t make sense — to him this was life, this was reality. And Candace, who had observed poverty firsthand on a previous mission trip, wanted God to use the tour experience to plant a seed in her children’s hearts.

“Because we’re very fortunate with our jobs, our kids haven’t really had much experience with poverty. They haven’t seen how a lot of people live. We wanted them to see what it’s like and take something away, to come back appreciating what they have.”

Some people are hesitant to expose their young children to extreme poverty — unsure if it will be too much for them. Candace says she and Val were very sensitive to their kids, listening to and encouraging them when some things seemed overwhelming.

Now that they’ve been back for a couple of weeks, they see the difference in their children. Natasha is more willing to help wash the dishes and has a better attitude toward those dreaded chores in general.

Maks, their 9-year-old who had gotten mad at his dad at one point during their visit, saw children who didn’t have a dad and realized how thankful he was that he has a dad who loves him.

Lev saw how happy the kids were with what little they had, and he realized that he needed to not complain but be thankful for what he has.

Candace trusts that God will use this experience to impact her kids.

“I don’t think any child is too young to go see and experience poverty. It broadens your point of view, and I don’t think there’s a difference between a 9-year-old and a 29-year-old.

“My 9-year-old won’t forget that experience. It has planted a seed in my kids’ hearts to help the needy, to help the poor, and to do whatever it is that God has called them to.”

Not all of us have a chance to go on a trip to the developing world with our children. But there are many ways to begin teaching our kids about poverty and about God’s heart for those in need. You can talk to your kids about the child you sponsor and pray together for him or her. You can have your kids write letters to your sponsored child and ask questions about their daily lives.

Or check out our other resources for kids at our Kids Corner.

What about you? What have you done to teach your kids about the needs around the world? What changes have you noticed in your children as a result?

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

When Maira came to the child development center at age 8, her family was going through difficult times; her mother was a housewife and her father was a barber. The family lived on her father’s income from the haircuts of a limited number of customers.

Sometimes customers didn’t show up, which worsened the shortage of food and decreased Maira’s parent’s ability to meet some of the children’s primary needs. Often the parents had to choose the best time to serve the only meal available for the day.             

“If we had breakfast, then there wouldn’t be a lunch or dinner.” – Maira

A door of hope opened when Maira’s oldest brother, Nestor, came to know Jesus at the church in their town of San Jose de Ocoa, in the south part of the Dominican Republic.

When the pastor learned about the family’s living condition, he presented our ministry’s program to the family and the three youngest children were enrolled.

In the case of Maira, two different voices spoke to her. On one side, Pastor Manuel urged her,

“Keep studying and working hard, taking technical courses.”

On the other side, her father said,

“I don’t know why you are in school. Girls don’t have to study because you have a little farm that should produce a lot of money!”

This was said in reference to her body, suggesting that she should earn a living as a prostitute.

As Maira grew up, she regularly communicated with her sponsors through letters.

“They gave me strength to keep forward. They asked me what my dreams were. Their children wrote to me about their dreams, and I sympathized especially with their daughter Angela who wanted to be a teacher. I decided to be a teacher like Angela.”

Today, Maira is a social science teacher with a bachelor’s degree in education. She lives with her husband, Jose Luis, and her two children, Jose Angel and Priscila.

Maira looks at her children today and she sees the amazing opportunities they have, with enough food, good education and a comfortable, ample house.

Sometimes, while sitting at home, Maira takes time to explain to her children where she came from and how the Lord has been good to her.

“I tell my children of the time when all I had was a pair of plastic sandals, and I began to learn what real shoes were after I entered the Compassion program. My children now can have five or six pairs of sneakers each.”

Bileysi

Among Maira’s fellow teachers at the Emmanuel Christian School is teacher Bileysi, who started attending a Compassion child development center at age 5. Bileysi remembers how her parents did all they could to provide for her and her two siblings; even so, the family still had many needs, which were met by the Compassion center.

During her years at the center, Bileysi was equipped through technical training courses with typing and accounting skills and to work as a bank cashier. The exchange of letters with her sponsor helped to keep her encouraged and focused.

“[My sponsors] was always concerned with how I was doing in school and if I was attending church. She asked me how my family was doing, if I was being well fed and if I had any need.”

When she was a teenager, Bileysi was given the opportunity to teach Sunday school lessons to the children at the Evangelical Temple.

“I believe that was my first experience as a teacher. That was where I really discovered that I had the gift of teaching. I was around 16.”

Bileysi is a Spanish teacher now with a bachelor’s degree in education. She lives with her husband, Julio, and her two children, Christopher and Madison. Together with her husband, she is taking good care of her children and giving them the type of life she always dreamed of giving a child.

Pastor Feliz Manuel states that the church can provide children in need with opportunities that they can’t find anywhere else.

“The child development center is an extraordinary tool that God has given to us. We take in a child … and through the reading of the Word of God and through prayer and through visiting the home, we see that child changing, through the love of his sponsor, through the love of the pastor. That child sees that he is being given something that he can’t find in the streets, that he can’t find in school.

“That child begins to feel that he is a friend, that he is a partner to others. The church begins to treat him as a new brother, even though he is a child, and the church begins to take him into consideration. He is asked to read a Bible verse in a meeting, and he is encouraged to sing a song. All that becomes a tremendous tool, and that child will change.”

Change is not only seen when things go the way everybody hopes, but even when circumstances aren’t ideal.

Esther

Graduate Esther remembers how she secretly got pregnant at the age of 17.

“I wrote to my sponsor and told him about the situation. He told me that mistakes are made by humans. My sponsor knew about my pregnancy even before my mother learned about it. I didn’t want him to surprisingly know that I was departing.”

In turn, Esther received a gift from her sponsor, which has been meaningful to her in the different stages of her life.

“He wrote me a letter and sent me a Bible passage in it that read: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ I memorized that verse right in that moment, because I was going through a lot of difficulties in my life.”

These timely words of encouragement were a lifeline to the pregnant teenager.

“I reflected and I clung to the Lord. That was the most important thing, to cling to God and pray to Him so that He would help me keep moving forward.”

The words her sponsor used to write to her still ring in Esther’s ears, giving her strength and courage as she is in the fourth quarter of studying marketing at the university.

“He wrote to me that one should work hard to succeed in life. They were not rich either. They were people who worked hard so they could sponsor children in situations harder than theirs.”

Esther lives with her husband, Jose, and their three children, Domingo, Esmirsi Esmeralda and Esmirna Esmeralda. She has faith that the Lord will help her complete her studies so that she can join her husband in providing for their children.

“I want to say thank you to my sponsors, because if it had not been for them, I wouldn’t have been able to be in the university today.”

Fremio

Twenty-five-year-old Fremio is a good example of how important school and technical training courses are to help change the course of a child’s life. Currently he is the manager of a car parts store in San Jose de Ocoa.

“As I was enrolled in the school that is run by the church, the benefits were many. My family didn’t have enough financial resources to pay for our education and for our uniforms and school materials or to pay for vocational courses.”

The list of skill-building opportunities made available to Fremio is impressive.

“I remember that I completed around eight vocational courses. I took a pharmacist course. I became a computer technician and completed the vocational course on computer repair. I became a technician in computer network. I remember that I also took the technical course on the repair of electrical devices and another on home electrical wiring. Through my life, I have worked in every one of the skills I was trained on.”

Fremio is a reliable and hardworking person who models Christian values, and that’s the reason why the owners of the car parts shop have told him they value him as an employee.

“I have my own house and I have a motorcycle for transportation into town.”

The impact of sponsors asking children about their dreams in their letters is great and invaluable. This is something that has made a difference in Fremio’s life:

“My dreams have been coming true and I know that they will continue to come true.”

A while ago Fremio looked at the Compassion website and he saw something that made him think of events two decades earlier.

“I saw the photo of a child who needs sponsorship, and I thought of when I was on that other end.”

And this gave Fremio a new dream to pursue:

“I dream of having the chance to sponsor a child the same way my sponsor did with me. I would like to give a child that chance that was given to me.”

Noemi and Franklin

Noemi started attending the child development center at age 4. She and her husband, Franklin, have degrees in languages. They run a language school where they teach English.

Noemi and Franklin use a public school building for language teaching, but the place is so crowded that the students need to cram their chairs in the corridors. Therefore, since the couple has their own house, they decided to build a six-room apartment on top of their home in order to make more room for teaching.

Currently, the language school costs a small payment of RD$250 (approx. $7.00) a month; however, Jacqueline and her husband provide a scholarship to more than 50 students who can’t pay.

“We say that if somebody comes to us and they can’t pay for the tuition, we don’t have any problem to receive the student. We don’t close the door to them.”

Noemi and Franklin live with their three children, Franklin Junior, Melanie Mary and Grace in the town of San Jose de Ocoa. Noemi is also a tutor at the Peniel Student Center, working with the adolescents.

These five Compassion program graduates share common stories. All of them remember the day and events when they gave their “yes” to Jesus as their Savior, in all cases during their adolescence.

Another interesting fact is that none of them has a child registered at one of our child development centers. Pastor Feliz Manuel believes that this is something remarkable.

“This indicates to me that they overcame the slavery of poverty and that they are able to provide for themselves and others. We are starting to have a different type of people in the society. That can happen through the impact of the church and the ministry of Compassion. In the case of Maira, Compassion was the bait that God used for her family to come to the church and open their hearts to Jesus Christ.”

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

Does child sponsorship through Compassion really work? How does it make a difference in the life of a child? We’ll let the words of Juan David speak for themselves:

“Jesus Christ to me is like a father. I do not have a father so I see Jesus as my father.” — Juan, 8 years old

“What I like most about being sponsored…I feel happy knowing that I have a friendly hand, somebody who supports me.”  — Juan, 13 years old

“I thank the organization of Compassion so much because with your support I will be able to become a doctor.” — Juan, present day 

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See this woman? She’s a hero of the faith. Through her, the walls of poverty are crumbling for her family.

Ana Morales is the mother of our very own Tony Beltran. Tony graduated from the Leadership Development Program in the Dominican Republic and will be graduating from Moody Bible Institute in May.

Tony is known for his leadership and for speaking with passion. That passion shines through as he looks at his mother and testifies about this amazing woman.

Ana Morales is a portrait of perseverance. Poise and confidence inhabit her words.

Ana grew up in church, where she first learned to trust our heavenly Father. That trust was vital in the midst of poverty. As a child, Ana and her siblings often went without meals.

As a young woman, Ana married. After two years of marriage and with a 6-month-old baby, her husband died. She clung to that same trust that sustained her through her childhood.

“When you are young, and when you experience hard times, you grow up with lessons in courage and perseverance. You realize that you will make it and that God will provide.”

Ana Morales is a prayer warrior.

Tony recollects his mother’s early encouragement. She once told him, “While I have knees, you will go to college.” This prayer warrior was constantly on her knees, lifting up prayers to Jesus for her young son. She saw early on that Tony was admired for his passion, always willing to work hard and excellent at scripture memory.

Ana Morales is a servant leader.

Tony speaks about his time at Moody Bible Institute. About the people he’s met and the lessons he’s learned on leadership. Yet one of the many things he realizes: “The best leader I ever met was right in my house. It was my mother.”

The mother and son look at each other, recalling difficult times. Ana admits that often there was not enough food to go around for all of her children. So to make sure they could eat what little was available, she pretended she was working in the kitchen and didn’t need any food.

Ana knows, though, that it takes a community of believers.

“Compassion is a ‘Fountain of Help,’” she says, tears streaming from her eyes. Ana was able to provide the intangible things Tony needed: love, prayer and family. But she was not always able to provide financially.

Around the same time that Ana was praying for her son, the lives of the Sibley family were about to change. They began sponsoring 14-year-old Tony. Their choice allowed Tony to continue with high school and eventually move on to the Leadership Development Program and Moody Bible Institute.

Gary and Cindy Sibley joined us for the wonderful celebration of Tony’s graduation.

Cindy and Ana grabbed one another’s hands and the tears began to flow again.

“We met yesterday for the first time. It was extremely emotional!”

They share the love of the same child. They have been used by God to help raise this child to become quite a man.

When Tony was younger, Ana’s biggest hope for him was that he would finish his schooling. Now that he has earned a master’s degree she prays he will maintain the path of the Lord and God’s plan for his life.

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Courtesy of CBC/Insight Productions

Over the last few weeks, we’ve seen Valeri Bure, Katia Gordeeva and seven other pairs of skaters compete to win $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

There have been some tense moments with Val and Katia finding themselves in the skate-off three times during the competition (twice in the first three weeks) and a misstep in week seven that could have cost them the competition.

On Sunday night, they and all the skaters performed magnificently, leaving viewers with a difficult choice. Although all deserved to walk away the champion, only one couple could be named the victor.

And it’s our great honor to announce that Valeri Bure and Katia Gordeeva won the Battle of the Blades!

What does this mean for Compassion?

With Val’s share of the $100,000 grand prize, we will be fully funding a Child Survival Program in the Dominican Republic, rescuing moms and babies from danger — and giving them the opportunity to take their first steps into a life of promise and purpose in Jesus Christ!

We are incredibly blessed to have been named Val’s charity of choice and are so grateful to all of you who watched and voted for Val and Katia.

From all of us at Compassion Canada, thanks so much for all your prayers and support!

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When we shook off the morning fatigue and made it to the field, I felt justified … the children were slowly showing up, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. I am not sure much else besides a clinic by Albert Pujols would have pulled them out of bed at that hour.

I have to say, it has been well worth it for everyone. Albert won the Gold Glove yesterday. The same day he coached a clinic to poor children living in the batey, he won one of baseball’s prized awards. However, he didn’t even mention it. In fact, the morning started out not with stretches and not with news crews.

The day began with the children huddled around Albert as he told them the importance of having Christ in their lives – about the things that matter most in life.

“I grew up poor, just like you … no matter how successful you may become in baseball or in life, you can never forget where you came from. Never be ashamed of being poor; never forget that Batey Aleman is your home. You will always have a responsibility to your God, your family and your home.”

His depth of care for the kids is obvious. He is passionate that they leave the mindset of poverty behind them. He spends a lot of time with them and is very kind but assertive when it comes to coaching them on fundamentals. Any observer can see his love for the kids as he corrects them, makes them do it again and refers to them as “muchachos.”

When we left the field, the children returned to the child development center where they waited for lunch. Of course, that’s the time I started to entertain! I had a great discussion with the kids, who range in age from 8-16. I asked them why we started this league. Of course, they’ve been told that many times, but I thought I’d see what their response was.

Many responded with something about God, the Bible, respect, good behavior and one even said, “to teach us to catch.” I summarized it by saying that we established it to teach them to be good Christian leaders in their homes, community and country.

I added one more thing to the discussion before we engaged in some fun group chatter about America. I said that I wanted them to make sure that they respect women – that they do not mistreat, hit or abuse women. My translator said they were shocked by that statement.

That’s all I needed to hear, so I continued talking on that subject. It’s so obvious to see that the culture within this community, as well as many poor areas, tend to have little respect for women.

I think my talk with them worked (at least I hope it did). One 15-year-old young man raised his hand to talk. “I speak for everyone here when I say we love when you come here. We love you being here.”

I gave him a huge hug and went to every table and took pictures with them. We were laughing, goofing off and really bonding. I even showed them pictures of Colorado snow!

Throughout the day, Adrian ran to me, hugged me and smiled at me. He posed for pictures and really became more outgoing. It was a drastic difference from the little boy I have visited twice before. So, when it came time to leave the batey after a long and very tiring day, I was sad but hopeful. He gave me a kiss, we exchanged hugs and I love yous and I left on the bumpy bus. I already miss the community. I miss the people. I want them to thrive.

My mom always told me to leave things better than I found them. Mom, I just did. And so did the kids. They left me way better than the way they found me.

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The anticipation of the official launch of “batey baseball” with Albert Pujols, the president of Rawlings, 60 Minutes, the Pujols Family Foundation and of course Compassion, is evident at Batey Aleman. People have really come together in this community to take ownership of it, to take pride in it, and to give thanks for it.

The batey looks good, quite wet with some pools of water thanks to Hurricane Tomas. For the most part, it’s in better shape than I anticipated after seeing the large ocean swells and heavy rain the past few days.

It was wonderful seeing the friends again and visiting the homes of families whom I had never had the pleasure of talking to. I watched the community continue working on the baseball field, mowing it and clearing the long grass in the far outfield near the fence.

A water filtration system was implemented at the field and the community has access to it. I watched the children bring in the bags of chalk to line the bases and saw flagpoles lying on the ground which are going to be placed outside of the right field foul line. The community even built a marker as you enter the field to commemorate the launch of the league.

They have great plans for Monday – elaborate plans of ceremony, celebration and community. It is exciting to see the labor of love the community has placed into this project and the transformation that has taken place in the hearts and minds of those who live there.

Though the Dominican Republic is known for baseball, the excitement is not really about baseball. The excitement is about feeling a sense of worth, belonging and respect that has long eluded the community.

It is a revitalization that could only come from the power of God working through all of us who are blessed to a part of this endeavor.

I had the chance to stop by the home of Adrian, my sponsored child, who was fast asleep under a mosquito net with his little brother. It was difficult to see that.

The mosquito net is a reminder of the conditions in which he lives and the constant threats that exist. It was almost like when I saw my own son in the intensive care unit. It doesn’t take much to realize how fragile life is and how vulnerable children are to all the things that prey on them.

Unfortunately, the mosquito nets did not protect Adrian from the ants. He was bitten from head to toe.

I returned to church when the heavy rains began and discussed the leaks in the roof with the mayor’s office, which provided an “engineer” to assist the church with the repairs. Obviously, the mayor’s office found a day laborer and paid him to show up.

The roof leaked from nails he put in and removed when he realized that he didn’t put the roof in correctly.

The children who attend the development center are forced to stay on one side of the classroom to avoid the water. Once the rains ceased, I ventured out to the community to visit the homes of three women with stories of how their children have been blessed by the work of Compassion and have more opportunity and hope than the woman had as children.

Two of the women participate in the income generation program that the Pujols Family Foundation helped implement. The women have been selling the purses they’ve sewn and earning an income.

One of the women, Ramona, was a gracious host and made sancocho, a traditional Dominican dish of cassava, plaintains, potatoes and other meat and vegetables cooked over a fire to provide a very smoky taste.

Ramona’s three children attend the child development center and one of them is on the baseball team. Ramona, who wants to have her own sewing business, leads the sewing team and it was obvious that she is proud of this.

The most interesting story came from Jenny, whose two children are enrolled in our program. Her son was born paralyzed and with, as she described it, a foot that was “inside out.”

Compassion helped her son get the surgery to repair his foot and paid the expenses. He was walking throughout the house, happy and displaying the typical energy of a young boy.

When the doctors told her that a bike would be therapeutic for him, Compassion provided her with the bike which he rode in the house while we were visiting, since the inclement weather didn’t allow for the intense cycling a little boy is known to do!

The thing I love about Batey Aleman is its vitality! The hugs are warm, the laughter is contagious and hope is alive and well here. But it wasn’t always like that.

It goes to show that a partnership of like minds and hearts, focused on doing the will of our Creator, can accomplish anything.

UPDATED at 9:50 pm MT: There is great anticipation for what will take place tomorrow. Starting at 9 a.m. ET, a series of ceremony and festivities will begin in Batey Aleman.

After a long parade from the entrance of the batey to the baseball field, children from the our program will perform rhythmic gymnastics while another group of children will sing, in English, for the attendees.

We’ll watch the Dominican flag and the Compassion flag be raised over the field, while the Dominican national anthem is sung by a Dominican artist. And that is only the beginning.

For many of us, we may find it silly for so much pomp and circumstance to be given to the launch of a baseball league. But this is no ordinary league. This is the conduit, the platform, to build leaders and retain children and their families in our sponsorship program so that they may be ultimately released from the ugly bonds of poverty.

This community has never been so cohesive, proud and truly revitalized. We feared the uniforms or equipment would get sold if families became too desperate. That didn’t happen. These families volunteered, participated and became supporters of their children’s future. In fact, the parents spoke hope into their lives.

One parent I spoke to yesterday said that her two kids will now have a better life than she had thanks to Compassion’s work in the batey.

Normally, for those who have not visited the poor in the developing world, one of our great battles is to have the parents see the intrinsic value in their children and to know and speak their worth. At Batey Aleman, that battle is being won and that is no small feat.

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