After taking a trip to Guatemala with Compassion, as a sponsor but more importantly as a ministry advocate, I felt a responsibility to protect all other sponsors from what I experienced.

You amazing sponsors out there who put your heart and soul into writing letters. I didn’t want anyone to hear this story and have it stop them from writing their sponsored child again. Let me explain …

I had been to Haiti to do medical missionary work and I thought I had seen poverty. I was confident after that experience I would not be affected by anything I saw in Guatemala. God didn’t agree and set me straight.

The home we visited was no home but two pitch-dark wood sheds. It was pouring that day and the rain seemed to just add to the feeling of despair that surrounded us. What hit me more than the physical structures the people were living in was the emotional wreckage I saw and heard as we asked them about their lives.

The mother was unable to speak after being raped by guerrilla soldiers years ago, two of her children had gone to gangs never to return again (or they would themselves be killed for leaving), and three small children looked up at us with such hollow eyes and empty hearts.

I always make a point to ask Compassion children I meet anywhere if they receive letters from their sponsors. I think this question is important for many reasons. To hear their feedback helps me to know what I need to do to get the word out to others that they must write more. And, it is good to hear out of their precious mouths why it’s so special.

So, I asked my question to this family as well. The response hit me like a knife going through my heart … literally.

I guess that’s just one of the reasons I burst into tears and felt so completely foolish. What right did I have to cry when they were the ones living like this?

The oldest little guy still at home, was — I’m guessing — maybe 8 or 9 years old. He responded.

“Yes, I have sponsors.”

He showed me only one letter. I asked him,

“Only one letter?”

He replied,

“This one is newer. I did have more but not now.”

Now? Why not now I’m wondering?

“They did send me letters, but my dad was an alcoholic. He died. After that, my mom had no money, no food. So we had to burn my letters to stay warm.”

I felt this rush of pain traveling from my brain down every nerve ending to my heart. It was so profound. At first, I just couldn’t stop the emotions as I hugged him and he was crying. We cried together.

But then, my own selfish fears kicked into gear silently like a train hitting me at full speed. What did he just REALLY say? Wait … what about my letters to all my children. What if?…

I have thought and thought about what I saw and heard, not sure if I should share. Thinking it could be so irresponsible of me as an advocate to tell sponsors this, knowing how wrapped up into letters everyone gets, including me.

A boy in Guatemala shows off a letter from his sponsor.

After awhile, we begin to crave those beautiful cream envelopes. Think of them so often, almost wanting to tackle the mail people before they even fill our mailboxes! We are sincere in our love, truly giving to our children that which brings us closer together when distance separates us.

The question I kept asking myself was, how can I relay this in a way that others can see the much, much more important message in this, rather than focusing on how the letters were burned and what if that happened to mine or yours.

Just as in our own families we treasure photos and letters of our time together, ultimately it is the memories of those events that no one can ever take away from us. When we receive a letter from a loved one, sponsored child, friend, we don’t forget … ever.

We hold the memories inside us like a time capsule and nothing can change that, not even a fire to stay warm.

What the sponsor family of that sweet little boy don’t know won’t hurt them. You know why? Because not only have they been supporting their little boy each month, but they also provide something they never could have guessed. They sent survival for a family, literally.

God protects and God provides, always. We really have no idea how much we are doing each and every time we send small gifts in our envelopes, letters and photos.

I never, ever, ever want what I have shared to deter anyone from writing more. Instead, I pray that it will in fact do just the opposite. When you send a letter, realize that you are doing so much more than simply writing because you are sharing your life with your child.

We cannot control what God plans and shouldn’t even try to. What we can do though is understand and allow God to use what we give of ourselves to help our children in ways we could never imagine.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Julie Berger sponsors seven children and is a correspondent sponsor to three additional children. She lives with her family in Pennsylvania where she works as a medical missions coordinator.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

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

I love that I don’t always know why I write what I write to my sponsored children.

At first glance, words on pages may seem as though they are merely words, but an 11-year-old boy named Sam from Ghana provided a powerful reminder that words prayed over and led by the Spirit have a power and a purpose all their own.

I received such words from Sam many times, and the impact of those words has changed more lives than I will ever know.

The first time I realized Sam was truly receiving his words from the Holy Spirit was when he wrote to me on September 14th, 2010 and shared that his prayer for me was that God would give me a double portion of health.

He had no way of knowing how dangerously sick I had been. I didn’t tell him because I hadn’t wanted to frighten him.

Sam also had no way of knowing that as he was writing, his prayers were being answered halfway across the world. September 14th, 2010 was the day that God brought me from barely walking, to running for the first time. It was the day God helped me begin to miraculously outrun sickness – going from sick to healed literally overnight after months of illness.

It led me to wonder what else God would do through our letters.

I shared with Sam that I had traveled to Honduras with Compassion and that my best friend Tia had been on two mission trips to Africa.

In light of his prayer about my health, I took note when Sam responded that when he had heard I had been to Honduras and that Tia had been to Africa twice, he prayed God would bless us for our work, and he also prayed we would come to Ghana to meet face to face.

Sam shared that he had prayed and God would “let it come to pass, Amen!”

The words were simple, but it’s how the Holy Spirit translated them to my heart that caused a ripple effect that would soon reach further than either of us could ever have imagined.

Unable to shake the feeling that God had shared this through Sam for a purpose beyond meeting our beloved Compassion child face to face, Tia and I began to research the needs of children in Ghana. We were horrified to learn that child slavery is still practiced in parts of this country.

Children as young as 4 years old are sold into a life of bondage that perpetuates the cycle of poverty and destroys lives.

In fact, there are more slaves worldwide today than there have ever been, and at least 50 percent of them are vulnerable, precious children.

We launched a fundraising initiative to raise funds to provide expanded resources for children rescued from slavery in Ghana, which would in turn help facilitate the rescue of more children. Having raised $30,000 in mere months to provide for these children, we set out for Ghana in November of 2011.

That is when Sam’s prayer, which had been answered all along, was answered “face to face” when I, along with my 13-year-old son Joshua, my best friend Tia, and our friend Debra met him face to face.

Together, we celebrated the impact his letters had made not only in our lives and in the lives of our families and friends, but in the lives of children in his country who would be rescued from slavery — all because of words the Holy Spirit led him to share in what seemed like a simple letter from a child.

I used to think that when sponsors chose not to write to their children, it was simply the children and the sponsors who lost the opportunity to affect each other’s lives in beautiful ways. Now I can’t help but ask myself what we’re robbing the world of when we don’t take a moment to write to these precious children.

The words on the pages don’t have to be perfect. The Holy Spirit will make them so.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: JD Richardson gave up housework for lent years ago and never looked back. God filled all the free time she acquired by shaping her into a writer, photographer, Compassion Advocate and sponsor of 16 Compassion children from around the world.

If you’re interested in writing a guest blog post, we are happy to consider publishing it. Read our guest blog post guidelines.

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

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

I recently managed a team of editors working on letters written to sponsors by Project Facilitators. We read over 3,500 letters.

Many of them included compelling stories of how your letters affect children in our sponsorship program – stories, not from our perspective, but from the perspective of those who work with the children and our church partners.

From these 3,500 letters, we compiled a list of the 10 most motivating reasons to write your child.

• TEN
  Letters to children are very important; the connection is made. When the child’s name is read out as having received a letter, the excitement and joy is contagious! As they read the letter, they see you. If they do not have your photo, they paint the best picture of you in their minds, and that remains in their heart forever. They talk about you to their family every day as they pray for you; they tell their neighbors, friends, and their schoolmates, because you are so alive in their lives. (from Uganda)
  
  
• NINE
  Sponsor letters have been making a great impact in the lives of children, such as strengthening the relationship as the child gets to know sponsor family. The child feels as if the relationship is one of very close friends. Likewise, through sponsor letters, children get to know other parts of the world and what they look like. Children are also motivated to learn English when they receive sponsor letters. (from Tanzania)
• EIGHT
  Children take your letters as a sign of your concern and an expression of your love. Parents are amazed that somebody is taking time to think of them, as poor as they are. Sponsor letters are making church leaders and child development center staff renew their concern and love for the children and families they serve. (from Ethiopia)
• SEVEN
  Children become kinder, because they want to show their sponsors they care for others and are behaving well. (from Togo)
• SIX
  Sponsor letters act as a communication channel between children and their sponsors. They enable children to have an intimate relationship with their sponsors. When sponsors share their feelings and prayer requests, the children feel more wanted and cared for. Some children who are orphaned feel so loved that they refer to their sponsors as Mom or Dad. This helps boost the emotional status of these children. They have a shoulder to lean on. (from Kenya)



• FIVE
  The prayers, support, gifts, letters and visits that children share with sponsors do transform the children’s lives, and these experiences positively influence their character. They are uplifted spiritually, socially, morally and emotionally. When sponsor letters tell children that they are the best and God loves them, the children’s self-worth is lifted forever and they live with confidence.

  Children gladly share with their friends the information, the stickers, the verses, Christmas/Easter wishes and all the other gifts they receive from sponsors. Children are also deeply moved by the love expressed for them in these letters. One letter read,

  “We have hung your photo on the wall and we ask God to bless you every time we see you.”

  The children cannot hide their emotions when they receive such messages.

  They are moved to tears, and they bless God for giving them such wonderful friends to walk closely with through the journey of life. They forget the weary burdens that sometimes pull them down. The children are compelled to keep these letters; they read them time and again.

  Optimism and hope are reflected on the faces of children as they read and meditate on the encouraging messages. (from Kenya)

• FOUR
  Sponsor letters are very important to the lives of the children at the child development center. When they receive a letter written to them by their sponsors, the children feel very proud and loved. It is touching to see even the little ones who cannot write anything, passionately drawing diligently and expressing their love to their sponsors.

  Whenever children are assembled and it is mentioned that the teacher wants to give them letters from their sponsors, all the children keep quiet and stay attentive with a very high expectation to receive a letter from their sponsor. The joy, happiness and the glow evident in the children’s faces is a clear indication that sponsor letters play a significant part in their lives. (from Kenya)

• THREE
  One time I went for facilitation, and I saw an appreciation card written by a child to the sponsor and the child kept carrying her sponsor’s letters to school. She said when there is no one near her to encourage her through difficulties, she reads her sponsor’s letter and she feels assured to be a winner. (from Kenya)



• TWO
  There are children who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior due to sponsor letters’ impact and prayers. (from Ethiopia)
• ONE
  Once, a child’s parent told me that when my assistant brought a letter to her sick child, the child got up immediately from the sick bed. After the letter was read to him, he embraced the photo contained in the letter for a long time. And that marked the sudden end of that sickness. (from Togo)

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

My sister thinks I’m nuts. My friends think I’m developing an addiction. Truth be told, I just love writing letters to my sponsored kids!

I find writing letters easy and fun, yet I’ve spoken to many sponsors who find it difficult. Fancy templates and ease of attaching photos are great, as are dozens of ideas about what to send with your letters, but all of this doesn’t help if you struggle with finding words and putting them together.

For sponsors who know the importance of letters but aren’t good with words, encouragement to write can bring on the guilt. Feel guilty no more; here is a solution for you!

Below are a few sample letters I’ve written for you to COPY, (yes, you’re allowed to be a copycat), and simply change the details, like names, to customize to your life.

If you also find letter writing a breeze, write a sample letter in the comments below, and between us there should be plenty of samples for others to choose from.

Dear Gasore,

Thank you for all your letters and drawings. I hope you and your family are well. I am well.

I have your picture on my desk at work. You are very handsome.

I have 2 cats. Seth is a black and white boy cat and Phoebe is a striped girl cat. Do you have any pets?

Love from Gail
(photo of cats could be attached)

Dear handsome Ruan,

Thank you for your letters. I enjoy hearing from you.

I pray for you and your family often. I hope you are all well.

I work for Compassion Australia. I work in an office as a Project Manager. What would you like to do for work when you grow up?

Please pray for me that I will do my best at work.
Love and hugs from Gail

To my beautiful Maria,

Thank you for your letters. I really like your drawings, particularly the princess one.

I have been reading in my Bible about Esther. She was a very brave queen who stood up for God. Have you learned about Esther?

I pray that God will help you be brave when you need to.
With love and hugs, Gail
(you may want to send an Esther coloring in sheet or book)

To my very clever Carlos,

Thank you for your letters and your prayers. I feel very special knowing that you pray for me. I pray for you too.

I am so proud of how well you are doing at school. I am well. It is summer here and very hot.

We live near the beach and go there on hot days to play in the cool water. Do you live near the beach or a lake?

Love and prayers from Gail

In my experience I’ve found that the first couple of letters to a child are fairly easy as you cover the basic facts: name, age, family introductions, what you do for work, favorites, pets. But after you’ve told them all that, what do you write next? Here are some samples for that as well.

Hello my Manuel

G’day from Australia! I pray that you and your family are well. Thank you for your drawings and letters. You are very good at drawing!

I have been studying the life of Joseph in the Bible. He is one of my favorites because even though his life had some very horrible times, like being a slave and being in prison unfairly, he still trusted in God and believed that God would bring his dreams to pass. My favorite memory verse about Joseph is Genesis 50: 20 where Joseph says: “You meant to harm me, but God meant it for good.”

I hope you like the postcard of the wombat I am sending you. Wombats are the size of a jelly bean when they are born but grow to 1 metre long. They live in burrows in the ground and come out at night or on cloudy days to find grass and roots to eat. We rarely see wombats in the city, but country people see them sometimes. I have seen some at the zoo.

With lots of love to my precious Manuel! Gail
(postcard or picture of wombat attached)

Hello my very special Kirubel

I am very proud of you for doing so well in your school work. I pray that God will help you in your studies. Please pray for me to do well at my university studies too.

With this letter I am sending you a photo of my brother Paul and my mom and dad. This photo was taken when my brother Paul graduated from college. He got his diploma in outdoor recreation. Paul doesn’t like doing school work very much, so this was a big challenge for him. We were so proud of him for finishing his course.

Do you like school? What is your favorite subject? My favorite subject was history, and I didn’t really like math.

Please tell your family I love them and pray for them.

I love you heaps! Gail
(photo of graduation attached)

Please share this with all your sponsor friends and let’s see more children receiving letters!

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

Ideas for writing your sponsored child are a very popular topic on this blog, OurCompassion, on Facebook … pretty much everywhere. In the contact center, we hear lots of questions about what you should and should not write.

While this list is not comprehensive, I hope it’s a helpful guide for you.

Topics to write about:

• Your Family
  Share everything you are comfortable sharing that is age appropriate for your sponsored child.

  Talk about your children, parents, cousins, etc. Tell stories about family members and friends, and tell your sponsored child why you’re thankful for them.

• Your Pets
  I know that my dogs are like family to my husband and me. Share pictures of your pets, things they like to do (go to the park or play fetch) and your favorite memories of having them as part of your household.

  Tell your sponsored child funny stories (remember that time Fido ate the Thanksgiving turkey right off the table when the family wasn’t looking?!).

• Your Community, State, and Country
  Share educational and fun information about where you live. Be descriptive and send photos if you have some.
• Your Favorite Things
  Have a favorite memory of growing up or a favorite Bible verse? Share it with your sponsored child and let him or her know why it means so much to you.
• Encouragement
  It may seem like you aren’t doing much, but you are! Your words of encouragement provide hope and fill your sponsored child with love.

  Don’t you remember that person who spoke into your life when you most needed it? That’s YOU to your sponsored child! Don’t take the honor lightly.

• Holidays and Traditions
  Tell your sponsored child how you celebrate Christmas or why Easter is such a big deal to your family. Share Fourth of July memories and write about the history of the holiday.

  Just as you are interested to know about your child and family, they are delighted to hear details from you!



• School and Work
  As you want to know what your sponsored child is learning at school, your child wants to know what you are learning at school or what your job is like. You might even find out you share a common interest.
• Ask Questions
  No, your questions might not always be answered (do you answer EVERY question you get in an email?) but they will show your sponsored child that you truly want to know him or her.
• Share Your Pictures
  Your sponsored child LOVES pictures. Be wise in the ones you choose, but send them often. My sponsored children can’t seem to get enough!

Topics to Avoid:

First, let me state that this is not meant in any way to make you feel guilty. You are already doing an incredible thing by sponsoring a child. This information is just to help you be wise in how you communicate with your precious sponsored child.

If you’re feeling the pangs of guilt, stop and read this first: Not Guilty: Using Your Blessings for Good.

• Money
  Don’t talk to your sponsored child about money. You and your sponsored child come from very different places. This topic won’t bring children joy, but it could promote jealousy and, possibly, anger.
• Food
  Have you ever thought about what your sponsored child eats? He or she definitely will not eat the same things you do. You can find out by logging in to your account on our website.

  Want to try your child’s diet for a while? Check this out: 40 Days of Solidarity with the Poor.

• Your Home or Other Belongings
  Go ahead and talk all you want about memories that were made in your home; just avoid the actual thing.

  Don’t talk about the size of your home or that you have a car (or multiple). Be cautious not to be callous when talking about things you own.

• Inappropriate Pictures
  Avoid sharing pictures that may not be appropriate, and remember that your sponsored child lives in a completely different country and culture. While that family picture at the water park may be the “best one you’ve taken in years,” the bathing suits may be quite a shock to your sponsored child. Also, try not to send pictures of your home or belongings.

  I’ve been asked if a picture of a theme park would be okay to send; I think that’s fine. Bottom line, use your best judgment and if you’re not sure, it’s best to call and ask us or don’t send it at all.

Finally, I’ve compiled some resources for you. Feel free to share your own ideas and resources for letter writing topics in the comments!

Resources:

• Follow us on Pinterest for letter writing ideas.
• Check out the Blogging from the Boonies blog.
• OurCompassion is a great resource for meeting other sponsors and asking for ideas.
• Here’s a list of items you can and cannot send with your letters.
• Letter writing ideas from our blog.

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

Frustration mounts as I open my car door and step into a large puddle that covers my shoes. The wind blows my umbrella inside out and I grit my teeth to keep my tongue from sin.

I can’t believe how much rain has fallen! The freezing wind bites, the cold rain soaks my clothes, and I am so over it! Weathermen may rejoice in breaking precipitation records, but I do not!

I turn the key in the security door, hit one button for light and another for warmth, change into slippers, and sort through the mail. I’m excited to see I have a letter from one of my sponsored kids.

I open it and see the familiar white and green paper that indicates it’s from Ethiopia, and I can almost quote what is written without reading a word. There’s the standard greeting, he’s fine, am I well, he’s being going to church, please pray for his studies, and please pray for rain for the crops.

I toss the letter on the couch and move on with my day. I’ve read it all before, and as a city girl the request for rain means little to me. I figure that maybe it’s just a sentence the teacher wrote on the blackboard and once again it’s been copied. A generic, meaningless, space filler.

I pray for this boy but forget about the rain for the crops, because surely the requests I can think of are more important than rain.

Sunday comes and the rain still falls. At church a sponsor targets me to ask what the ministry is doing about the drought and famine in Ethiopia and Kenya. I shrug and say I’m not in Marketing, but I’m sure we are there helping already.

Try as I might the Holy Spirit doesn’t allow me to shrug this off. So I Google Ethiopia and famine and read news article after news article about the years of drought and current famine invading Africa with its friends starvation and death.

I go to work to hear from the CEO that we are there helping, and I’m proud that we are in the middle of this crisis — but I’m ashamed of myself.

I may be a city girl and I may never grow a vegetable in my life, but this does not excuse me of pride that ignores my sponsored son’s request for prayer support for something so important in his life, in his country, in his family’s survival. May God forgive me of my arrogance.

Learn from my lesson. Always pray for the requests your sponsored children and students send you. Especially when they don’t make sense. Especially when you think you know better. Especially because they ask.

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

A letter from a sponsor is one of the most desired things a sponsored child can receive. Your letters can do more than money, because they build a relationship between you and your sponsored child.

Your letters are not just pieces of paper; they are letters filled with love, affection, emotion and inspiration for children.

In Bangladesh our child development centers do not celebrate any particular day of the month as “Letter Day,” as some other countries do. But every month children reply to your letters after receiving them from our ministry office.

Children at the Sath Nong Khasiapungi Child Development Center are always looking forward to the day when their center staff members bring the big envelop full of sponsor letters.

This development center is located on the top of a small hill, a one hour drive from the nearest town. Our staff visits a small town to collect the letters from a courier office.

The head of Sath Nong Khasiapungi Child Development Center, shares,

“We are several miles away from a small town. Every month we receive sponsor’s letters at least twice. Children are very eager about these letters; they always ask us about the letters.

Here we don’t have a mail-man who can bring the letters to the development center. We are required to collect these letters from the courier office. We use three wheelers (small three wheel rickshaw that runs by motor) to get them.

It takes more than two hours to reach town and come back. Children are always very excited and happy to see the big brown envelop in our hands.”

Caregivers, social workers and other staff from the development center assist the children to read your letters and write back.

Bangladesh is a country where different tribal groups have their own languages. Bengali is the only language that is widely used.

English is not spoken or understood by most people. So a group of young students at our country office translate your letters before they are sent to the child development centers.

Then the Sponsor Donor Service staff distribute the translated letters to the various Implementing Church Partners.

Children at the center receive the original letter with a translation in their local language at the bottom.

Rita, staff member at the Sath Nong Khasiapungi Child Development Center explains,

“Most of the time we receive letters in the afternoon, so we distribute the letters to children the next day.

We call each child and help them to read the letter. We explain anything to them that they are unable to understand.

After reading the letters, we arrange a letter writing session. The children sit together inside the church and write to their sponsors.”

Seven-year-old Tithi has a sponsor from the USA. Receiving any letter from her sponsor is a most pleasant event for her.

“I like to receive gifts, but I love to get my sponsor’s letters more. I love it especially when there are photos of my sponsor. My sponsor loves me and sent me a nice photo of her. She wrote that she prays for me.

Children feel happy to show your letters and photos to their development center friends and family. Tithi always shows her letters and photos to her friends. Tithi can read her own letters, but her teacher helps her to understand the unusual words.

Lishtina’s sponsors are also from USA. Her sponsors are very responsive. They reply to her every letter. This year Lishtina wrote 6 letters and received 5 from her sponsors.

“I received a birthday gift from my sponsors but I love to receive letters and photos from my sponsors more than gifts.

These letters are full of greetings, encouraging words and Bible verses. They also send a beautiful family photo with Christmas greetings. These letters are precious to me.”

For boys, to receive a letter from their sponsors is equally important. Robin and Eliphas love to get notes from their sponsors. Robin shares with his parents every time he receives a letter from his sponsor.

Whenever Robin gets any card or picture he becomes very delighted. Eliphas reads his notes from his sponsor with his friends. Every child feels proud when they receive their sponsor’s letter, because it brings the message that someone from far country thinks about them.

Synod is the eldest registered child at the Sath Nong Khasiapungi Child Development Center. She is now 14 and studying in grade 8. She feels the significance of her sponsor’s messages.

“Every time I receive a letter from my sponsor I get so excited. She is like my family member. I can feel her emotion, love and care for me. It is something very special for me.

My sponsor encourages me to keep up my good results at school. Her inspiration helps me to improve myself. I always wait for her letter.”

Hema also waits eagerly for greetings from her sponsors. Whenever the child development center staff comes in with a large brown envelop, she expects a letter from her sponsors. It becomes a lucky day for her when she gets her desired letter.

It has been 5 years since we started to work through the local church in the community of Sath Nong Khasia Pungi. The staff at this center are experienced and understand the importance of children’s letters for their sponsors.

Letter writing is considered as essential as any other regular activity at the center. Generally the children reply to their sponsor’s letters the day after the development center receives them from the country office.

Rita explaines the whole letter writing activities of the development center:

“Children who don’t receive letters from their sponsors generally write letters to their sponsors every 4 months. But for the sponsored children who get letters from their sponsors regularly, they have to reply their sponsor’s letters.

They also write thank you letters whenever they receive any monetary gifts from sponsors.

The letter writing process is very organized and systematic at the Sath Nong Khasiapungi Child Development Center, just like other development centers in Bangladesh. Children read their letters from sponsors and then they sit together inside the church and write their replies.

Children also sit on long benches and place their writing papers on narrow tables. We provide them with a special letter form to write to their sponsors. These letter forms are colorful and children can write and draw on them.

There is also a small space for translation from Bengali to English. The children who are in higher grades write their letters on their own; the center staff help the younger children to write their letters.

Children use pencils, pens, and colors to write and draw to their friends abroad. The social workers and the caregivers always assist and guide the children in writing letters.

Children include their favorite Bible verses, list of favorite birds, colors, animals and song in their letters.

Tithi shares,

“My sponsor sends me her photo. I wrote her back about my family, my study and my country. I always thank her for sponsoring me.”

Usually the information and language of the children letters are different for different age groups. The older children like Synod can express their pleasure and excitement in a more organized way.

“I do enjoy writing to my sponsor. I thank her for being my sponsor. I answer all of her questions from the most recent letter. Also my life and learning at the development center are included in my letters. I ask my sponsor to pray for my family.”

Lishtina received a birthday gift from her sponsors. She conveyed her gratitude through a thank you letter.

“I thank my sponsors for sending me a birthday gift. I write them about the beautiful stuff that I bought with their gift. I also ask them about the weather of their country and the way of their Christmas celebration.”

Writing you letters is an event of joy for the children. They love to write about their emotions, favorites, families, study, events at the development center and prayer requests. They also know that the drawings they make are appreciated by their friends abroad.

These drawings are very special because it carries the emotion of the child for the sponsor. The alphabet may not be familiar, but drawing is a common language for all.

The children’s joy doubles when they receive an answer from you. The director of the Sath Nong Khasiapungi tells us,

“The children who receive letters from their sponsors are really fortunate and always happy. I feel sorry for the children who don’t get any letter. They feel a little left out when they see their friends receiving letters from abroad. Hopefully these children will get a response from their sponsors soon.”

A short message from you could play a vital role in the life of a child. A letter can develop a heavenly bond of love. This small piece of paper can bring huge inspiration, hope and change in the life of a child.

All of our ministry staff in Bangladesh really appreciate the effort you take to not only support the children of Bangladesh but to also strengthen the bond of love by writing to them.

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

Karen is a 13-year-old girl who has been forced to mature quickly. Her parents left her when she was 2 years old and her two sisters, Katherine and Micaela, were 3 years old and 8 months old, respectively.

The girls’ parents were young, lacked experience and had serious problems as a couple, so they decided to get a separation. Their mother, who wasn’t even 18, chose to go back to Colombia, the country where she was born.

She left her three little girls under the care of Miriam, her kind sister-in-law who, little by little, became a mother figure to Karen and her sisters.

There’s no doubt that Karen’s life is full of the love of her devoted Aunt Miriam, who Karen calls “mom.” But it’s also undeniable that she’s lacked real family love.

Karen’s parents weren’t there to enjoy their little girl’s growth and to watch their precious daughter play.

However, when Aunt Miriam thought she was surrounded by nothing but tragedy, she found a light of hope.

Through her neighbors, she heard about a local Compassion-assisted child development center – where the main objective has always been to serve boys and girls from Guasmo Sur, a poor neighborhood in Guayaquil City on the Ecuadorian coastal region.

Miriam registered Karen at the Damasco Student Center when Karen was 5. It was the beginning of an unforgettable and incredible experience.

Karen made new friends, interacted with others and lived new adventures of games, surprises, trips and a lot more.

“I always loved the development center. Here I play with my friends, have fun, learn new things and have a really cool time.”

And that’s not all! The Damasco Student Center has given Karen the opportunity to make a good friend thousands of miles away. Her Compassion sponsor, Kyoung, is a Korean lady.

“Kyoung has been a great blessing to my life. I love to read her letters at home.”

Every letter from Kyoung is a valuable treasure to Karen, and each letter has a message of hope, encouragement and love. With sweetness and gratitude, Karen remembers something she shared with her sponsor:

“My daddy was in jail a while ago, maybe about a year. I told my sponsor and said that I suffered a lot for that reason.”

Kyoung replied,

“Trust in the Lord because He’s going to make things work and everything will be all right.”

Even Miriam, Karen’s aunt, remembers,

“My brother passed away. He was Karen’s favorite uncle so she was in a lot of pain, but her sponsor comforted her and gave her the courage she needed. She told her life goes on and cheered her up through the distance.”

But maybe the most crucial intervention of Kyoung in Karen’s life has taken place in the spiritual area. Karen honestly admitted,

“For many years I only attended church because the tutors at the child development center asked us to; therefore, I felt obliged to [go]. I shared this with my sponsor.”

What did Karen’s sponsor do? She prayed for her! Kyoung prayed for her sponsored girl to start going to church because she wanted to go; to feel it within her heart.

Until she was 11, Karen attended Sunday school only because she had to. Then she received the letter from her sponsor that read,

“I’ve been praying for you to go to church and to not turn your back on God.”

Those words made little Karen shudder and opened a door for a miracle. What had been an obligation and a tedious commitment suddenly turned into a strong desire to go to church and enjoy the presence of the Lord and the company of her friends, brothers and sisters in Christ. Karen remembers,

“With tears in my eyes, I ran to my mom and showed her my sponsor’s letter. I promised to faithfully attend the youth group services every Saturday, and I still keep my promise.”

Karen’s sponsor’s faithful and persevering prayer commitment brought about a dramatic turn in Karen’s life. For about three years Karen has shown genuine commitment, loyalty and joy for everything related to the Lord. She loves to praise Him, finds His Word delightful and enjoys every single thing she learns at church.

“The other teenagers and I just love the worship times directed by Brother Roberto. He motivates us to feel God’s presence and praise Him. Every time we pray, we feel like He’s actually listening.”

When she was 12, Karen decided to accept Jesus as her Savior.

“It happened during a wonderful worship time at a special service for the youth group. I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Nobody forced me; I walked in front of the congregation because I wanted to.”

Miriam, Karen’s aunt, doesn’t go to church on a regular basis because she works very hard as a maid to provide for her three nieces.  But she’s aware of the importance of God’s preeminence in the life of every human being. With full conviction she affirms,

“My family has been richly blessed since Karen joined the child development center. She learns about the Word of God there. I’m so happy that Karen goes to church instead of being anywhere else wandering around.”

It’s the era of telecommunications and cybertechnology, but traditional correspondence still has relevance – even when it takes more time to reach its final destination.

It’s a fact that “old-fashioned” letters have the power to give encouragement, hope and love. Kyoung has exchanged simple conversations with Karen about their countries’ traditions and their daily activities, but beyond all that, they have had a positive influence over each other’s lives.

There’s no doubt that Karen has, in a way, experienced the love of a mother when she prays and God starts working. And Kyoung has had the chance to bless a little girl as though Karen were her own child – her “little angel,” as she calls her in her letters.

Kyoung represents a true source of hope, encouragement and love to Karen. Their friendship is a beautiful example of how God works through caring Christians to change the world … one child at a time!

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

We feel strongly about correspondence between you and your child, and we know you do too. It’s the only way to truly speak into your sponsored child’s life and for you to get to know them.

To help you feel more closely connected with your child, we’re implementing four changes to our correspondence process in the next year.

1. You will now receive a letter from the church pastor, center director, country director or other qualified staff member each year.
   
   You’ve probably received a letter from your child’s pastor before and may know that you can still view the letter on OurCompassion on the child development center’s page.We’ve received lots of positive response to these letters, and we think it’s valuable to provide these to you annually.

   You’ll receive a letter each year from someone who knows our program in your child’s country. They will give you a perspective you most likely won’t get from your sponsored child’s letters.

2. All countries will move to a reciprocal letter process.
   
   Reciprocal letter writing is just that – reciprocal. When you write a letter to your sponsored child, he or she will write back. We believe that this will encourage conversation more than the current system does. Although children will be able to write as many times as they want, we will require them to write only every 60 days (about six per year).

   If you write a letter once a week, your sponsored child will receive eight letters (approximately) during a 60-day period. They will respond to all letters received during this period with one of their own. If they choose, they may respond to each of your letters individually, but this decision will be left up to the child.



3. Reducing the required number of letters your sponsored child writes from three to two.
   
   I know there is probably a puzzled look on your face right now. If we want to better your relationship with your sponsored child through these changes, why in the world would we reduce the number of letters the children write? I know it sounds a bit odd, but this one is really for the benefit of the child.

   A large percentage of sponsors only write a few times over the course of their sponsorship, if ever at all. By reducing this number, we help reduce the number of times the child may potentially be disappointed for not receiving a letter in response. For those of you who truly enjoy writing and do it regularly (Thank you!), you will be rewarded with change number two above.Also, this allows the staff in the field to write to you each year (change number one).

4. Children ages 3 to 8 will use structured templates for writing.
   
   In the countries we work in, many children at this age aren’t able to write their own letters yet. Some do not start school until a later age or may even have to skip attending school altogether due to family circumstances. Despite these obstacles, we know that you still want to hear from them, and we’ve developed these templates to provide you with information you have told us you want.

   Each template will represent one of six topical themes: family, favorites, center information, dreams, house, and Christian learning.They will include a basic question and answer section, a list of prayer requests, a fill-in-the-blank section, a checkbox section, a writing section (up to four lines of text), and a space for a drawing.

   These changes are scheduled to be implemented by July 1, 2012, with some countries implementing them sooner.

As always, you are welcome to write as many times as you would like to your sponsored child.

We’re still working through what these changes will look like once implemented. However, we do realize that the correspondence process is not perfect and these changes will not make it perfect.

Our goal is to make the correspondence process better for you and the children in our program, and these steps are a move in the right direction. We hope that you will benefit greatly from them.

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