As I look into my life, one thing stands true. God is faithful, and He knows the plan He has for each and every one of us. Jeremiah 29:11 has come true in my life.

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)

Letters are the closest connection that a child can have with her or his sponsor. The donation you faithfully give each month provides the financial support for your child’s development, but your letters provide beyond the material — needs such as love, hope and possibilities.

If poverty had a face, in Brazil it would be the face of a child. According to UNICEF, in 2004 more than 50 million Brazilians were living in poverty — without access to basic needs such as potable water, health care, good nutrition, education — and facing high rates of unemployment and violence.

Nearly 30 million of that number were children and adolescents.

In that same year, 800,000 children from 7 to 14 years old living in these conditions were not attending school, most of them from illiterate families who have no way to help their children in their education. Without encouragement, it is easy for them to just abandon school and start working in order to help their families.

It is an endless cycle as these same children one day will grow up and have their own children.

But there is hope, and your sponsored child knows exactly where to find it. Your sponsored child goes to her or his room, gets an old box full of photos and letters from under the bed, and as this child starts reading a new breath of life fills the heart.

“The letters from the sponsors are very important on children’s social and cognitive development,” says Maura, director of Lar Batista de Crianças child development center.

“Through the letters they have access to another culture and language, learn how to communicate well by speaking or writing, and moreover, they learn about affection and respect. To love and be loved.”

For that reason the correspondence monitor at the child development center also talks with the children about geography and history from their sponsor’s countries.

Luiz is 12 years old and loves getting letters from his sponsors, a couple from Australia.

“I feel that I am a very important person when I say at school that I have friends from another country and we send letters to each other. I also like to know that I pray for them, they for me and God listens to us.”

.

One of Luiz’s classmates at Lar Batista de Crianças is also sponsored, but the 11-year-old boy has only received one letter in the two years he has been sponsored.

“I feel sad and sometimes frustrated. I’d really like to know about my sponsor’s life, such as: Where does she work? Is she married with kids? What are her hobbies? Does she have a pet? Things that my teachers cannot answer for me.”

According to Maura, children get excited when they receive their letters. “They gather together and tell to one another what their sponsors wrote to them. It is a joyful moment for each one of them.” And such a moment is special not only for the children, but for all the people who make this relationship happen.

Marta has been working as the correspondence monitor at Projeto Vilamar child development center since 2000. She says that her job is full of challenges, but she understands she is playing the role of a bridge between two people who love and care about each other.

“There was a specific letter that touched my heart. A sponsor whose wife had passed away wrote to his child telling about his pain. I started crying and also the child … at that moment I understood that even living so far from one another we can feel and share feelings with a friend we love.”

To most of our child development centers’ staff in Brazil, the improvement children show in their behavior is visible from the moment they get sponsored.

“They have to concentrate to write well, which makes them think about what they are writing. They are automatically compelled to learn how to write and read correctly. Also, the fact that they have somebody concerned about their lives also makes most of them avoid bad company, drugs and youth delinquency. They cannot accept disappointing their sponsors.”

In the spiritual area, children recognize that the same Lord they worship in Brazil is worshiped overseas.

Very shy, 12-year-old Maria loves to talk about Jesus with her sponsors, a couple from the United States.

“We used to write about our dreams and day to day. But what I like most is when they teach me new things about God’s word.”

Vitória thanks God for her sponsor’s life –- an 80-year-old lady who loves the 11-year-old girl as her own granddaughter.

“She asked me to call her grandma, and that is exactly how I feel about her. She is part of my life and family, even though we never spoke personally. I care about her letters so much that I have a special place for them, inside a drawer … for me, love has no borders.”

It’s been eight months since my last sponsor letter photos post, so I felt it was high time to raid our digital library again and round up another batch of photos showing sponsored children reading letters from their sponsors. Hope you like ‘em.

If you have trouble viewing the slideshow above, you can view the photos on Flickr.

1. How long have you been in your current position with Compassion El Salvador, and what is your job?

Two years. I am a supervisor within the Sponsor Donor Services department.

2. What are the main responsibilities of your position?

I make sure the sponsors have up-to-date information about the children. Not just the letters, but also new cases. I keep the biannual report updated. I make sure that pictures and information are high quality and are sent on time.

3. What is an average day like for you? (more…)

For five years, I had the privilege of leading the tours of our Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs. It was exhilarating showing adults and children the part they could play in bringing poverty to an end by sponsoring a child.

God blessed me over and over during my years as a tour guide and allowed me to see His spirit move in the hearts of tour guests on behalf of children in poverty. During that time, He also revealed to me the presence of a small but powerful lie being used against us every day – the lie of poverty.

First, poverty lies to the poor by telling them over and over that they do not matter, that no one cares for them, and that they are forgotten. Poverty speaks to the heart of a person (especially children) and tells them, “Give Up!”

But that’s only one part of the lie of poverty. The lie is actually a double-edged sword, and it cuts us as well.

With stealth and determination, the lie of poverty tries to redefine what sponsorship means. It causes us to doubt to the difference we are making in the lives of our children.

Have any of these thoughts ever gone through your mind?

• My sponsorship is insignificant, and letters to my sponsored child don’t matter.
• How can a simple thing like a letter make any difference in the life of a child?
• It takes so long for my letter to get to my child, there’s no way a relationship could ever be built.
• They don’t know me and I don’t really know them! Poverty is so big, a simple letter couldn’t possibly be the weapon to use to fight it.

Have you bought into the lie of poverty? Has it fooled you?

As a sponsor, I take great pride in fighting the lie spoken to the poor. I fight it diligently and with fervor. I have to because our enemy is diligent and determined, too.

The truth is that our letters may be the most critical element in releasing our sponsored children from poverty.

The time we spend on writing is sacrificial. The letters we write are mighty weapons that slay the enemy and cut him down at the knees.

I have seen the faces of sponsored children when they talk about receiving letters from their sponsors. They have told me with tears in their eyes how letters from you are the very strength that gives them the courage to keep going and to not give up.

I have met sponsored children who are now adults and still have every precious letter and sticker their sponsors ever gave them. Letters matter!

Letters are weapons against the enemy! Sponsorship makes ALL the difference in the world! Don’t be fooled by the lie!

Write your child now.

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.

I wear many colorful and different hats related to Compassion’s ministry –– sponsor, child advocate, Area Coordinator for the Advocates Network, Compassion blogger. But one of my favorite hats to wear is one you may not be aware of –– child correspondent.

What is a child correspondent?

A person who writes to a child in place of the sponsor.

Why is letter writing so important that correspondents are necessary? Isn’t financial support enough?

When you become a sponsor, you tell a child in need, “Yes. I want to know you. I want to have a relationship with you.” Your sponsorship models Christ’s love through your involvement in the child’s life, through the act of writing letters.

Poverty tells children, “You don’t matter!” But that is a lie. Your letters shine light into the darkness. They say: “You do matter Suzana.” “I care about you Renato.” “Jesus loves you Lerionga.”

The power of words, the power of a letter is tremendous, and for an impoverished child to know that you, someone from across the globe, cares . . . well, that’s the difference that can release the child from poverty.

Sponsorship is much more than just the financial support. Obviously, the financial support is critical, but it’s the letters a child receives that play a crucial role in his or her development and growth on many levels –– emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually.

Can I request a correspondent for the child I sponsor?

Yes, you can. However, Compassion prefers that you write to your sponsored child because of the relationship you can build through the letters. Letters can be the bridge that makes THE difference in a child’s future –– the bridge a child can walk across to leave poverty behind.

For instance, with one of the children I sponsor, I suggested she apply for the Leadership Development Program (LDP) because of what she shared with me in her letters. She applied … and was accepted!

I continue to sponsor her with some support from others, and her letters are now five to six pages, typed. She’s a tremendous source of encouragement for me.

However, in some cases, like when a business is a sponsor or when an individual sponsors numerous children, it may be beneficial or necessary to request a correspondent.

How do I sign up to be a child correspondent? (more…)