Today’s post is about giving you an inside look at how we, the third-largest producer of mail in Colorado Springs, handle the letters you write to your children.

To start with, allow me to introduce you to Joe Cammaroto. Joe is the correspondence supervisor in our Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs. His team is responsible for processing all the letters you write and all the letters your sponsored children write back to you.

“Since implementing the new online letter writing tool, we receive about 7,000 web letters each day compared to the 1,000 or so we received daily before the tool was implemented.”

To put those numbers into perspective, at least a little bit, here’s a glimpse of what Joe’s team sees everyday.

A portion of one day’s mail, ready to be sorted by country

Sorting bins for East Indonesia and Indonesia

Sorting bins for all 26 countries

Letters packaged and ready to be sent to our country offices via DHL. Letters are mailed once each week to our country offices, every Thursday. We send about 4,000 letters to each country office every week.

As Joe mentioned, we receive approximately 7,000 sponsors letters each day. It takes his team about 5 days to process a letter and get it ready to be shipped to a country office.

Contrast that with the 12,000 letters we receive each day from children to their sponsors. A year ago, it took us 14 days to process a letter after receiving it in-house. Now, after some major process improvements, it takes only about three days.

Before the letters arrive, a lot of work goes into getting them to Colorado Springs. Here's some insight from Abraham about what happens when your letters arrive in Bolivia.

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

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

Letters equal love.

It is a message I have heard many, many times during my journey as a sponsor and Advocate.

When I’ve met young adults who were once sponsored children, they always convey the importance of our letters. One young man from Kenya told me his sponsor was the first person to ever tell him he was loved.

This theme also plays out when I hear about sponsors’ experiences in visiting their sponsored children. My friend Jill Foley shares some insight from a recent trip.

“Last year in Peru – my one and only trip – we asked the kids we met if they could ask their sponsor anything, what would they ask. More than one child wanted to know why their sponsor didn’t love them.

“We probed a little deeper to see what they meant and it turns out their sponsors don’t write to them. They have translated this lack of communication into a lack of love. Just heartbreaking!”

I was thrilled to find out that Compassion is rolling out a new and improved way to send some love to our sponsored children!

This all-new online letter-writing tool, which is accessible through the Write My Child link within My Account, allows you to create bright and beautiful messages with 33 different background templates to choose from.

You can choose from a variety of colorful prints including whimsical animals, flowers, bold sports themes and even special templates for birthday and Christmas letters. There are choices available for boys and for girls, and for the youngest child to the teenager or young adult in the final years of sponsorship.

When writing to our 17-year-old Kazihizina in Rwanda, I chose a pale blue-green template featuring flowers and a dragonfly. I planned to share some information about a recent home-school project about raising Monarch caterpillars and thought the background would go nicely with the topic.

Once you choose a background template, you can type in the text of your letter, even saving a draft if you have to leave the computer while you are typing.

Unlike the older version of the online letter-writing system, the new system regularly saves your work, which will prevent you from “timing out” and accidentally losing your message.

You can choose up to three photos to upload and attach to your letter. This feature allows you to easily send pictures and will help your sponsored child feel even more connected with you and your family.

With how easy it is to attach a photo, it’s still important to avoid sending pictures in which people may be immodestly dressed or that accentuate our economic differences.

For my letter to Kazihizina, I chose photos taken during our caterpillar project. One by one, I clicked the “Upload” button and picked the pictures I wanted to share from my computer.

Each image uploaded quickly, and I was able to crop them to fit within the frame on the stationery.

Once you have added your photos you can preview your letter. If you’re pleased with how it turned out, just click “Send This Letter” and your message will be on its way!

The new online letter-writing tool makes it easy for you to create a one-of-a-kind personalized message. I hope it inspires you to take a few minutes each month to connect with your sponsored children.

Remember, your letters equal love. Send a little love to your Compassion child today.

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

There are a couple of things you should know about me.

Number one, I am a dreamer and an idealist. I literally dream about an ideal world.

I am super-sentimental and hypersensitive about everything. I cry in every sappy movie, every father-son moment, every Hallmark commercial, every touching sermon, etc.

If feelings are involved, good or bad, I will probably cry. It’s a little ridiculous, honestly.

When I was little, I listened to my dad’s old Bob Dylan, ELO and James Taylor LPs and cried. It’s actually quite embarrassing to admit all of this.

What I felt about the music was something that transcended the real world. I could close my eyes and be overwhelmed by the song. The mixture of the sounds and lyrics would pour over me and make me feel things I had never felt before. It’s a place deep in my heart that I can still go to when I listen to good music. I wish it was a real place.

The other thing you should know about me is that I’m a passionate person.

When something interests me, I become extremely passionate about it, even if it is for a short time.

Something will catch my eye and I will learn as much as I can about it, dream about it, immerse myself in it … and then, move on to something else.

This has been true my entire life.

However, there are a few things that I am passionate about that I will never move away from.

• My relationship with God and my family (including my two dogs, Peabody and Wonder)
• Music
• The plight of children in poverty

If you come to one of my concerts you will hear me talk a lot about my journey with Compassion.

I have been sponsoring little Junior in Uganda for several years now, and it has truly changed my life.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to go to Tanzania and see the work Compassion is doing firsthand. A group of us went to build classrooms for one of the child development centers in rural Tanzania, just outside of Arusha.

While we were there I went with my mom to meet her sponsored child, Baraka, and his family.

He was a shy little guy with a big bashful grin that he hid with his hands. He, his parents and his siblings all lived in a tiny house that is about the size of my living room.

Me and my mom, a translator and Baraka’s family all crammed into the house for a bit and I sat in the corner, all curled up, and we listened to the story of Baraka’s life.

I heard how Compassion was able to get him food when he was hungry, medical care when he was sick, and an education when there was no way his family could afford it.

His life is completely different than it was before Compassion came along. He has an opportunity in his life that, without Compassion, he would not have had.

After we heard about that, Baraka’s mother went and opened a drawer in a little dresser she had tucked in the back of the room. She pulled out a ziplock bag and carried it over to a table in the middle of the room.

As she carried the bag, I could tell that whatever was in it was very special to her. She opened the bag and, with a big smile on her beautiful face, she poured out the contents onto the table in the middle of the room for all to see. A whole bunch of papers.

At first, no one was sure what the papers were, but when she started to open them for us we realized that they were all the letters my mom had written to Baraka since she started her sponsorship.

As I choked back tears, I understood just how precious my mom’s sponsorship is to not only Baraka, but that his entire family has benefited from the sponsorship.

They were so happy, even with the little they had in a place of poverty, disease and great need, because they had God and they had a sponsor.

Compassion is such a different organization because they work through the local church, equipping them to do ministry among the people in their communities. It’s not just a handout.

When I dream of that place deep in my heart, where my passions overwhelm me, I think of the beautiful people in Africa whom I have met through Compassion. I see their big smiles and I hear their captivating songs.

My soul wells up and I envision a world where poverty doesn’t exist. Where children are able to grow to their full potential because hunger, disease and lack of education and clean water don’t exist.

I believe God has called each of us to do what we can to bring His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. One way to do that is by sponsoring a child through Compassion.

“You may not be able to change the world, but you can change the world for one child.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Aaron Hale is a worship leader and artist/songwriter from Kansas City, Missouri (though he’s originally from Texas, and is still a Texan at heart). Aaron has been sponsoring with Compassion for almost 10 years now and has been a Compassion artist for nearly two years.

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

Before the sun rose on a small Haitian mountain community, Ismene Alexis got up, took the water jar, and headed to the village pump for water.

A Haitian girl brings water home to her family.

Although it was still dark, Ismene had no trouble finding the pump. She’d walked these streets a thousand times. On returning, Ismene found her grandparents awake. Grandma was cooking breakfast.

“Good morning, Ismene,” Grandma said, smiling.

“Good morning, Grandma. Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, although I had an odd dream. You and I were working in the garden. I looked up and saw a man standing at the gate. I greeted him, and he told me he had special news. So I invited him into our house for tea. While we were sitting together, the man started to say something about you, Ismene, but then my dream ended,” said Grandma.

“That is an odd dream,” said Ismene. “What do you think he was going to say?”

Grandma shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Pondering her grandmother’s dream, Ismene swept the floor and straightened the blankets on the straw pallets that served as beds. When she came to her sister’s pallet, her sister was still sleeping.

“Get up, Nicole!” Ismene said, pulling her sister’s pillow out from under her.

Thwap! Ismene thwapped Nicole over the head before Nicole jumped up and grabbed the pillow from her. Giggling, the two girls wrestled for the pillow until Grandma told them to finish their chores.

Nicole went outside to feed the animals with Grandpa while Ismene finished making the beds. Grandma set breakfast on the table and the family gathered around to pray. After thanking God for the meal, Ismene and Nicole gathered their schoolbooks and left for school.

The sun was rising now, spreading golden light on the huts and houses. Nicole and Ismene chased each other between the houses until they arrived, breathless, at their school. After catching their breath, they went inside and sat down.

Ismene loved school. She loved learning how to work math problems. She loved learning how to combine letters together to make words. She had been so excited the day she read her first sentence.

Classroom in Haiti

But Ismene was worried. Her grandparents might not make enough money to buy food and keep her in school. Then either Nicole or Ismene would have to quit school.

I’ll enjoy school as long as I can, Ismene thought, then banished the thought of having to leave school. The girls sat down on the floor just as the teacher, Miss Lillian, entered. Then the rest of the students arrived and took their places. Miss Lillian prayed to God for a good school day, and class began.

When the sun was high in the sky and boiling hot, Ismene and Nicole trudged home from school. When they arrived home, they found Grandma working in the garden. Nicole took Ismene’s books inside while Ismene knelt and helped Grandma with weeding.

“How was school?” asked Grandma.

“I loved it,” said Ismene. “I got an A in math.”

“Very good,” said Grandma, tugging at an especially deeply rooted weed.

For a while they pulled weeds in silence. Ismene was about to say something when there was a polite “Ahem!” from the gate. Looking up, she saw a man standing at the garden gate.

“Grandma,” said Ismene.

Grandma had seen the man, yet she wasn’t getting up to greet him. What’s wrong with her? Ismene wondered. Then she realized this was just like Grandma’s dream!

“Grandma!” said Ismene, a little louder. Her grandmother got up and went to the gate.

“Yes?” she asked.

“Is this the home of the Ismene Alexis?” asked the man.

“Yes,” Grandma said. “I am her grandmother. Do you need to speak with her?”

“I have some special news for Ismene.”

“Come in then,” said Grandma, opening the gate. “I’ll make some tea.”

Grandma and the man entered the house, and Ismene followed. All Ismene could think was, Maybe now we’ll know what the man was going to say about me! Ismene went in and found Nicole. When the tea was ready, Grandma, Nicole, and Ismene all sat down at the table.

“Now what’s this news about Ismene?” asked Grandma.

The man, who introduced himself as John, answered, “You know that Ismene is a child of Compassion International, right?”

Grandma nodded.

“A family in the United States wanted to sponsor a Compassion child, and they picked Ismene,” said John.

Ismene jumped up and screamed. Then she started laughing. Grabbing Nicole, Ismene and her sister danced around the room.

“Now I don’t ever have to worry about being taken out of school!”

At last Nicole and Ismene sat down, and John asked Grandma to sign some papers. Then John told them what Compassion would do for Ismene.

Compassion International is a worldwide organization that enables people to sponsor children in poverty-stricken countries. When children are sponsored they can go to school, received healthy food at their child development center, and get medical care if needed.

When the shadows began to lengthen, John said goodbye and left Ismene and her family.

“Oh, I’m so happy for you,” said Grandma to Ismene after John left. Grandma spread her arms and hugged the two girls.

“You’re not jealous, are you?” Ismene whispered to Nicole that night as they lay on their straw pallets. Grandma and Grandpa were already asleep, but Nicole and Ismene were talking about everything that had happened.

“No, of course not,” said Nicole. “I’m not jealous. I’m happy for you, Ismene. Now that Compassion’s paying for you to go to school, Grandma and Grandpa will only have to pay for me. I’ll be able to stay in school too. It works out for both of us.’

“Oh, good,” said Ismene. “Good night.”

“Good night. I love you,” whispered Nicole.

Ismene turned over on her side, said a quick prayer of thanks to God, and fell asleep.

A week after first being sponsored, Ismene received her first letter from her sponsor family. The family’s name was the Dodges. They asked her about how she and her grandparents were, what her day was like, and if she had any siblings. Along with the letter, the Dodges sent a photo of their family. There was a mother, a father without much hair, and two dark-haired girls.

L to R: Jasmine (adopted after Ismene was sponsored), Liz, Danielle, Brent and Yani

I hope I get to meet them face-to-face one day, Ismene thought.

Ismene

When Ismene finished reading the letter and inspecting the photo, she got her own paper to write back. The Dodges wrote once a month.

It took a long time for the letters to reach Ismene because they first had to be translated and then delivered all the way to her mountain village. It took a while for her letters to reach her sponsor family too.

When the other families in the village heard that Ismene had been sponsored, they, too, signed their children up for Compassion International. Soon many more children got sponsored.

Two Years Later

Folding up the letter, Ismene took it to the special box where she kept all of her letters from the Dodges. Grandpa had built the box for her and by now it was getting very full. The lid could hardly close.

“How many letters do you have now?” asked Grandma as Ismene returned to the table.

Ismene smiled and shrugged. “I don’t know. Lots and lots,” she said.

“The Lord has been so good,” said Grandpa as he held out his hand to Ismene.

The whole family held hands and bowed their heads while Grandpa thanked God for another letter from Ismene’s sponsors. He prayed that her sponsor family was in good health and that God would watch over them and bless them.

Thanks, God, so much for all your blessings, Ismene prayed silently as Grandpa spoke.

“Amen,” Grandpa finished.

“Amen,” the rest of the family echoed. Grandma got up and went to the stove to start cooking dinner.

“Girls, please collect the chicken eggs,” Grandma said. “I need another egg to make dinner.”

The girls went to the chicken house and gathered the eggs from the nests. As they were starting back to the house, Ismene thought she felt the ground shake. It was a tiny tremble, so Ismene thought she’d imagined it.

“I’ll race you back to the house and we’ll see who’s really the fastest,” said Nicole.

Ismene burst into a run but she’d only taken a few steps when another tremor shook the ground hard enough to make both girls fall.

“What was that?” asked Nicole, picking herself up. “Oh, my eggs broke.”

Ismene stood up and looked around.

“I think it might be…an earthquake,” she said.

“We need to get home then,” said Nicole.

The two girls took off running. Ismene expected another tremor to shake the ground any moment and knock them down again.

“Are you all right?” asked Grandma when they rushed back to the house.

“We’re fine,” said Ismene. But in her hand her own eggs were broken. She’d been so frightened she hadn’t even noticed.

“I’m sorry, Grandma,” she said. “All the eggs cracked.”

“That’s all right. We can make do with one less egg,” said Grandma.

Just as Ismene had finished washing the egg off her hands, another tremor shook the house. Everyone gathered together on a straw pallet. Grandpa started to pray for their safety.

While he was praying, Ismene prayed silently: Please, God. We know that you’re the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Will you watch over us and protect us from this earthquake? Please keep our family — no, our village — safe from harm.

Tremors kept on shaking the ground, great big tremors that knocked things off the shelves. Pots and pans clattered to the ground. The water jar fell on its side and broke. Chairs tipped over. The table shook and Ismene and Nicole’s schoolbooks fell off.

Ismene shut her eyes and tried to calm her fear. She mentally quoted a Bible verse that she had memorized just that day. Psalm 23:4. “Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.”

Gradually the tremors began to decrease in strength and ferocity.

At last Grandpa said, “I think its over.”

The family quietly stood and began to clean up the house. Ismene grabbed her broom and swept up the remains of the water jar. Nicole sat the chairs up. She gathered up their school books and put them back on the table.

Then the family went outside and visited their neighbors to see if they needed help. Over the next few days news trickled in about the earthquake. It turned out that the center of the earthquake’s destruction had been in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.

Whenever Ismene and her family gathered to pray at each meal, they prayed for the people in Port-au-Prince.

As the months passed, the count of those killed by the earthquake rose higher and higher. The death toll was as high as 316,000. The injured and homeless were even more numerous.

Earthquake devastation in Haiti

Compassion International families who sponsored children in Haiti were all frantically writing letters and sending emails, trying to find out if their children were all right. When the Dodges received a letter from Ismene, they were so relieved to know she was safe.

Although relief workers flooded Port-au-Prince, the healing of Haiti will take a long time. Yet there is much to be thankful for even in the face of this darkness and death. Both families –Ismene’s family and the Dodges – are thankful to God that through Compassion International, Ismene has an opportunity to succeed in life.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Danielle Dodge is 13 years old and wrote this story when she was 12. Danielle’s semi-fictional story won second place in her local library’s annual writing contest and first place in VisionForum’s webinar, “Mrs. Morecraft’s Ps & Qs of Proper Writing.”

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 receiving letters from my sponsored children. My girl in the Dominican Republic colors some precious pictures in each letter she sends us.

Doesn’t it just make your day when you get artwork from your child?

Have you ever considered that your child would love to receive artwork from you?

Sure, we can send blank coloring book pages, but have you ever considered coloring some of them?

Have you ever had your children, nieces or nephews do art and coloring to send to your sponsored child with your letters?

“But Brett, I’m a horrible artist. My artwork stinks. You’ll have better luck finding a flying pig than getting me to keep my colors within the lines.”

Do you think the child will actually care if your drawing isn’t perfect?

Do you think he or she will care if you don’t stay within the lines of your creation?

Not a chance!

Your child will be so proud and happy you took the time to do something special!

“I sponsor a boy and he probably doesn’t want silly pictures or coloring book sheets.”

Perhaps, but I’m sure he likes soccer/football/futbol. Why not try to draw the crest or logo of his favorite team? Or try drawing the child’s country flag.

I told my 3-year-old daughter that we were going to do art for our girl in the Dominican Republic. She picked out a page from one of her Disney coloring books and colored it for Nara. Simple. Meaningful. Heartfelt.

Our online letter writing party is held on the second Friday of every month. Will you join us?

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

I don’t write to my sponsored children.

WHAT?! I know.

I was looking through my account the other day, and as an employee, I can see the last time I wrote a letter. I’m embarrassed to admit that it was eight months ago.

How did this happen? I’m passionate about children and fighting injustice. I work at Compassion. I explain the importance of letter writing daily. So why have eight months passed since the last time I wrote to my three little ones?

I think this happens to the best of us. Life gets a hold of us and we get distracted. We may even lose sight of the importance of our sponsorship. Compassion becomes just another organization to give to.

I’m certainly guilty of this, but how do I make a change?

A group of sponsors on OurCompassion have gotten together to write their sponsored children on the second Friday of each month … which was a few days ago. There are over 350 sponsors who participate.

I think I need to join. And I think I’ll be writing my children tonight.

What about you? How do you stay passionate about letter writing?

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

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1: 8-9, NIV).

I just realized that I have often skipped over the other part: John says that God is also just to purify us from unrighteousness.

Have you ever watched purification in progress? Think about a precious metal like gold. Gold is purified in only one way: with fire. And we’re not talking an outward brush with the flames.

Purification comes from being plunged into the heart of the fire — the place where fire is harshest and turns blue — and being kept there until that which is being purified loses any resemblance to what it once was.

Having been purified, the gold can be molded according to the will of the goldsmith. It only loses contact with the fire when its final shape has been formed.

When we, as believers, confess our sin, God not only promises to be faithful (which He always is) and to forgive us (which He always does); He promises to engage us in the painful process of purification in order to cleanse us from the sin that is tearing us apart.

In my role as a child advocate, I have sometimes encountered people who say they will get involved with Compassion or get involved in caring for the poor when they find “a program that actually works.”

What they usually mean is that they will get involved when they find a program that is perfect.

The problem is that there is no such program. People are messy. If you are going to minister with and to people, or let others minister to you, you are going to get dirty, dazed and confused.

Compassion is an awesome ministry. It is committed to integrity, and to be church-based, child-focused and Christ-centered. I have seen it uphold each of these standards and am proud to advocate for the work they do.

But sometimes things happen. I met a couple at an event who had been writing to their sponsored child regularly for three years. Their sponsored child, a young girl in Central America, wrote them three times a year but never responded to any of their questions. They were questioning whether the girl ever got their letters, and consequently, they were questioning the authenticity of Compassion.

I explained to them how some child development centers engage in reciprocal letter-writing, helping their kids respond to letters from their sponsors as soon as they are received. Some centers make a very conscious effort to ensure that kids answer all the questions in the letters they receive, and some children take the initiative to write and respond to letters all by themselves.

But sometimes, none of these things happen.

Some of the older centers are working toward reciprocal letter-writing but aren’t there yet; some kids have never written a letter in their life and simply don’t know how; other kids can’t sit still long enough to write a response, even though they might be overjoyed at receiving your communication. Occasionally, that relationship between sponsor and child takes a really long time to build.

Can I just encourage you to not lose heart when you encounter someone who is looking for a “perfect program”? And if you are that person who has experienced frustrations in your sponsorship, please don’t give up.

As someone who has been a child sponsor for more than a decade and has traveled to four Compassion countries to meet children whom I sponsor, I am here to tell you something really important: This ministry of releasing children from poverty is working, and it is also imperfect.

Frankly, it is always going to be imperfect. If you haven’t yet had a reason for a measure of frustration, you probably will at some point.

This work is imperfect because it involves people. Compassion is not program-focused (though program models are used) – it’s intensely, insanely, beautifully child-focused. And sometimes, all of the questions in your letters don’t get answered. Sometimes a child drops out of the program and you don’t get an explanation. Sometimes, you feel frustrated because you want something to work better.

But though imperfect, Compassion presses on, fully committed to its core values in order to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name and fully committed to changing and improving its work in the same way that God models for us in I John 1:9: through faithfulness, forgiveness and purification.

It is good and right of us to expect excellence, but there will still be times when we feel frustrated.

I, for one, am thankful that being committed to opening our hearts and lives to God’s purification process is so much better than a pursuit of perfection. I am thankful that we get to be a part of releasing children from poverty, even at those moments when it gets frustrating.

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

“I want to be like my sponsor’s daughter. I want to be a doctor someday.” This was Nathan’s first statement to his mother after he read the letter from his sponsor. In that one simple letter, Nathan’s sponsor mentioned her daughter was planning to become a doctor, and it motivated Nathan to begin taking his studies seriously.

Since that time he has shown his enthusiasm to study hard and use his time wisely.

Three times a week, Nathan walks 150 meters to attend the activities at the child developmen center. He is usually accompanied by his mother, but lately he has taken the initiative to walk by himself. Nathan has attended the Ekklesia Student Center in Motoling, South Minahasa, Indonesia, since it was established three years ago.

Since Nathan joined the center, the 8-year-old boy has experienced much growth and progress. He is not only showing his diligence by attending the meetings, he also pays better attention to every subject.

In addition, Nathan loves to study, and he reviews his lessons again with his friends at home. This has helped him make impressive progress in his grades.

These aren’t the only positive outcomes he has achieved. Nathan is never absent from center activities. He has also shown particular interest in subjects like math and reading. Because of his sponsor’s letter, he wants to become like his sponsor’s daughter in the future.

“Mom, if my sponsor’s daughter wants to be a doctor, can I be a doctor, too?”

Nathan is now a goal-oriented young man. He used to be lazy, according to his mom. In fact, his nickname was 66 — because he would be out playing from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. But now, he is diligent in his studies.

“I want to reach my dream. I want to become a doctor someday because I want to help people in this village.”

On Friday, after finishing school, Nathan goes to the center. He sings and plays with his friends in free time. Nathan and 244 other children enjoy their time praising the Almighty One who has given them an opportunity to develop their lives. After the worship leader closes the praise and worship, all children go to their classes.

Nathan is one of many children at Ekklesia Student Center who have been changed by their sponsor’s letters.

“Sponsor letters really impact the children’s lives here. We hope there will be more sponsors letters that will inspire children here and motivate them to live better,” explains Linda Weenas, center secretary.

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