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

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

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

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

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

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

I am so blessed to be a part of something bigger than the little piece of world I sit in.

Don’t get me wrong; I love my “little piece of world.” It is filled with many good and wonderful things: family, friends, pets, a home, church … all my needs are supplied and then some. And that “then some” is what gets me thinking.

Why has God blessed me with “then some?”

I believe God cares about my needs and that He desires to provide for them. I believe He feels the same about every human being on this earth. So why are some of us so much more “provided for” than others?

I believe it is because God wants to use those He has provided for as His hands and feet to those in greater need. He is asking me to reach beyond my own little piece of world in His name.

I believe the last thing God wants is for me to become comfortable in my “comfortableness.” When I get comfortable, I get stuck in my little piece of world.

God doesn’t want me stuck, and I don’t want to be stuck either! I want to be faithful in my little piece of world, but I also want to be a part of something bigger.

Something that stretches me.

Something that opens my eyes.

Something that makes my heart beat with God’s heart.

Something that restores my soul and makes it sing.

Something that brings that same restoration and song to another person’s soul, in Jesus’ name.

By God’s grace, I am blessed to be a part of something bigger than the little piece of world I sit in.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Teri Gerdes and her family sponsored their first Compassion child in 2004. After returning from a sponsor tour in Ecuador, her family now sponsors three children and are correspondent sponsors to four additional children. The “little piece of world” Teri’s family “sits in” is a cranberry marsh in central Wisconsin.

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 (Juli) recently dreamed I was climbing a lot of barriers (including locked gates) to get to my sponsored child Nuy, and she was doing the same to get to me.

Nuy is the precious girl in Thailand I sponsored from the time she was 8 years old until she graduated from the Leadership Development Program last year.

In the dream, when we finally got past all the barriers, representing race, language and distance, and met in the middle, we hugged eagerly.

When I awoke, I recalled the real hugs we’d shared when I traveled to Thailand for her graduation – when we truly celebrated all the obstacles she overcame and the barriers we broke through over the years.

We shared a meal together for the first time, and on Mother’s Day no less. Words can’t describe the joy and satisfaction of that moment!

Chris: When we heard Mom was going to Thailand to attend Nuy’s Leadership Development Program graduation, my sister, Sarah, and I offered to go along.

We had grown up with Nuy, reading her letters around the dinner table and praying for her.

I didn’t know what to expect when we met her, knowing she had grown up in poverty. And when I saw her, right in front of me — beautiful, intelligent, nicely dressed — I wondered if she’d really needed us.

Then I realized, it worked. It really worked. She’s no longer in poverty.

Yes, she has chosen to stay with her mother in simple surroundings, caring for two small nephews, but she has a good job, is supporting her family, and is out of poverty. Wow! Compassion works.

Sarah: After the graduation ceremony, Nuy took us to a huge market and chose foods to cook as her gift to us.

The market was a crazy place with lots of things I hoped she wouldn’t buy, like the heads of pigs, slimy squids and intestines of various animals.

Thankfully, she made perfect choices and later we sat on the floor of the Leadership Development Program apartment, on a mat, eating the most delicious meal!

One other sponsor couple was also there with their student, Pen.

Chris: Hanging out with Nuy was fun, and meeting her in person was a step beyond the letters we had shared through the years. We had an extra day together after graduation, and soon we were taking goofy photos, laughing together, and sitting on the backs of elephants.

Sarah: We also went floating down a river on rafts. Elephants and wild water buffalo were all around and my brother and I pretended we were Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer! It was a blast!

Nuy is seen here with her mentor, Gratae, but Mom stayed back with Nuy’s mom, Bo, and the translators.

Juli: I’m so glad to have had time to visit with Bo. What a beautiful woman! She kept thanking me tearfully for staying with Nuy and not quitting.

As it turned out, she’d had a sponsor before us who had quit after one year.

What Bo didn’t know was that I couldn’t have continued sponsoring Nuy when she was accepted into the Leadership Development Program, but God had provided several friends to be partners in praying for Nuy and to help make the sponsorship payments; I didn’t want to lose her for anything.

Bo told me that the people at the child development center asked her to cook for the children, and she did so for years.

Since she was working at the Compassion center she would often sit in on Nuy’s lessons with her, and that’s how she also came to know Christ as the answer to her deepest needs.

Sarah: It was sad to say goodbye to Nuy, but we knew she was in God’s hands. I took this last photo of Mom and Nuy hugging. Nuy had just written something in Mom’s journal when she asked for her autograph (written in Thai, but later translated):

“Thank you for the love of God that you and your family give to me. I’m very glad and feel warm in my heart. Thank you so much for such a great time in only a few days.

I promise that I will miss you and pray for you often. And thank you for your embrace, which I’ve been awaiting for so long. It feels just like I’m hugging my mom.”

Chris: In addition, we had the opportunity to visit a child development center and meet three children in need of sponsors.

I wanted to sponsor this little girl, Film, but didn’t feel I could take on a second child yet; I’m sponsoring a little boy in Peru whom I also hope to visit some day.

It didn’t take long for Mom to find sponsors for all of them when we got home, although she chose to sponsor Mod-Daeng for herself.

Film’s sponsoring family is with her this month in Thailand — we all wanted to hide out in their luggage and go back too!

Sarah: We also went on a home visit and met this amazing family. They graciously offered some water, and we shared gifts we had brought.

Mom also found a sponsor for a child named, Fram — the sponsor is the youth pastor of our church.

Fram’s parents were the nicest, most sincere people, and we loved meeting them!

And we had a great time with all the Compassion staff; they are amazing friends we will remember forever.

Juli: I had a correspondence girl named Emjay in the Philippines, and could not imagine failing to meet her, too, as she was also graduating from the Leadership Development Program. So we also were able to visit Emjay’s home.

What a hoot to ride around in this tiny green motorella, all scrunched together!

We had a great time, traveling by various vehicles to a beautiful island, and hanging out with sweet Emjay and her delightful center director, Eva.

Since they spoke fluent English, the bonding and silliness came very quickly and easily between all of us!

I’m thankful for the blessings our sponsored children have been to us as a family. My kids have a greater interest in missions, in foreign travel, and in needs around the world because of it.

They have true compassion in their hearts for others. They have worked to help others in places like New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, soup kitchens and foreign mission fields.

Although my oldest son and my husband were not able to go on this trip, they are eager to help at a table when I speak for unsponsored children in churches as a volunteer Child Advocate.

This past Mother’s Day I got an interesting gift from Sarah, and called to ask what it meant. The number 38 rang a bell for me, but I wasn’t sure what she meant by her note.

I called her, and she said,

“Mom, for your gift this year I’m sponsoring a child.”

Wow! I couldn’t hold back the tears.

Compassion runs deep in our family. God’s ways are amazing!

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

When I reached the lady at Compassion, she told me the startling news. Our sponsored child, Mutuyimana Valentine, had just died. They did not yet have any details to share as they had just received the report from the field.

I went into my old paramedic mode and stoically asked a bunch of questions. There were no answers as to WHY at this point. That response might come in a week or so. But it almost did not matter.

The precious girl whom I had hugged in Rwanda last October was dead. Her mother and father had lost her, and she was only 11.

After five minutes of conversation, I hung up, and I became “un-stoic,” if that is a word.

Sad, sad, SAD.

The little shy girl who we had exchanged letters with and had “adopted” was dead, and I felt extremely sad. I wondered about her parents and her siblings and her funeral. I wondered why she had to die so early.

Compassion had completed health screenings on her, and she had no major health issues.

I began to question … why had I not written her more? I was thankful we had met in person.

I was grateful our church provided the Bible on an MP3 player that I gave to her during our personal visit. I had asked the Compassion worker to make sure she got into the Word and to remind her how to use the machine we gave her.

How many kids in the world die because there are not enough antibiotics? Or no doctors available for them? Or because their families lack clean water or the knowledge to treat illnesses? In Roanoke, if our kids have an infection we just go to the doctor and get medicine. ”All better.”

In Rwanda, especially in rural areas, that is not always the case.

I am so grateful that in her young life, she met the Lord and was trusting in Him. I am so glad God let people halfway around the world know this special little girl.

Write to and pray for your sponsored child.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Quigg Lawrence is a Compassion sponsor from Roanoke, VA, where he currently lives with his wife, Annette. Quigg is the senior pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit and enjoys photography and any sport where you get to hit something.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I live in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, a suburb of Tulsa. Last month I received an automated call from the city saying that two water samples had tested positive for E. coli but that no other tests had duplicated these results. According to the city, our water is tested 90 times each month to ensure that it is safe to drink.

In my average-size home I can turn on the tap at one of seven sources (not including the dishwasher, clothes washer or toilets) and water flows — both hot and cold.

Water is a non-issue for me. It is abundant, clean, and available without my even giving it thought. But that’s not the case for our sponsored children.

In October 2009, I traveled to El Salvador to meet one of my sponsored children, Bernardo.

As part of the trip I spent two days in Santa Maria Ostuma, El Salvador, home of the Compassion-assisted Columna y Baluarte de la Verdad child development center.

A group of us visited the home of Isabel, a woman in the community who has two children registered at the center.

We joined Isabel and her youngest child, Jasmine, as they walked down to the river to collect water. Little did we know what we were getting into!

The walk from Isabel’s home to the river took about 30 minutes. The view of the river was stunning, and most of the walk was down a very steep slope.

Upon reaching the river, I found a wash house where people gather to bathe. This is also where a pavilion is set up to wash clothes.

We learned that this water, like most water in the developing world, is contaminated and a cause of illness to the families who rely on it.

We filled our five-gallon water jugs from the river and, with each jug now weighing about 40 pounds, began trudging back up the hill to Isabel’s home.

Isabel placed her jug on her head and slowly but steadily walked up the steep path. The men in our sponsor group slung their jugs to their shoulders, while the women worked in pairs to lug the heavy jugs up the hill (which, with each step, seemed more like a mountain).

Finally, one of the women in our group tried carrying her water jug on her head. As I struggled up the hill, it seemed insane to place such a heavy jug on my head – especially without a pad like the local women use. But after my friend found this method easier, I decided to follow her example. Indeed, the jug was hard and heavy, but this was definitely easier than anything else I had tried.

I was able to slowly, steadily, step-by-step, make it the rest of the way to the top of the hill. When we finally reached Isabel’s house I had a real feeling of accomplishment, having contributed to the effort of bringing water to this family’s home. We all had a new understanding of walking in the footsteps of the poor, and a new appreciation of their daily task of fetching water.

So much time and energy is spent each day by Isabel and her children just doing what they must to survive. Gathering water and obtaining food is the main task of each day. There is little time or energy, let alone financial resources, to spend on school work or economic tasks such as developing a business.

If, instead of spending hours each day gathering water, these families were able to get water in only a fraction of that time, and if that water were clean rather than a cause of illness, just think of the difference it would make in their lives!

How much different would our lives be if we had to spend two to four hours each day just getting water to cook and do dishes?

Now, when I turn on my tap and reach for a cup of clean and safe water, I think of how fortunate I am. And I long for every Compassion-supported family to have this same blessing.

In the past I have contributed money toward “water projects” to help make this happen, but now I have a new understanding of just how important safe water is. Perhaps, in your next letter to your sponsored child, you can ask about his or her family’s water supply.

Do they have water in their home? If they go and fetch water, how far must they go? And is the water clean and safe, or contaminated?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Win Noren and her husband have been Compassion sponsors for 17 years. They sponsor seven children. Win is also a member of our Advocates Network.

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

Every day as I get the mail from our mailbox, I’m hoping for a letter from one of my sponsored children.

Letters connect me to their worlds and engage me more deeply in the sponsorships.

It didn’t use to be that way. Sponsorship was about writing a check and maybe sometimes sending a letter.

Three years into my sponsorship a change occurred; I met my sponsored child and in that moment my focus was forever altered.

I learned that sponsorship, when fully embraced, changes both the child’s and the sponsor’s lives.

There are simple things you can do to make your sponsorship experience more rewarding.

Seven Ways to a More Rewarding Sponsorship Experience

1. Take a Sponsor Tour

   I realize everyone can’t afford to do this, or simply may not want to visit the developing world, but if you can visit your sponsored child you will blessed.

   I traveled to Honduras in 2007 on a sponsor tour. The day I met Linda my heart broke – in a good way.

   She was dressed in a white dress and took one look at my wife and I and burst into tears. I felt the love she had for us. I felt a love that was unconditional and without bounds.

   My heart broke not because of her poverty, but the fact that “we mattered.” I will always remember when she explained that since her father had died she considered me “like a father.” How humbling and life changing that was for me. She had just turned my world upside down.

2. Write Those Letters

   There is nothing more heartbreaking than to visit a child development center or to meet and have children ask you to tell their sponsors to write.

   Letters are the key to sponsorship. The children do not understand the financial aspect. It is about knowing that there is a person who cares for them, is encouraging them and is praying for them.

   

   On my second trip to Honduras in 2009, Linda showed me all the letters my wife and I had ever written her. Nothing was more valuable to her than our letters.

   Set a goal and write your sponsored child regularly. I made the promise on my first trip to write monthly and have kept close to it. Every other month or even quarterly may be your goal – just do it!

3. Faithfully Pray

   When I began to pray daily for Linda and her family, I began to think of them as part of my family. I now have four sponsored children in Honduras that I lift in prayer.

   One of the things I did on that first trip was buy a map of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras. It is hanging in my downstairs hallway. I have marked the areas that my children live in, and as I pass by I say a prayer for each of them.

   I have pictures of all of my sponsored children throughout the house as if they were my own children.

4. Find Out More About Your Child’s Country and Customs

   I have read about the history of Honduras, and I subscribe to a newsfeed from Tegucigalpa via Yahoo! News. I also have a weather app on my iPod so daily I know what is happening in their area.

   My wife and I make it a point at least once a week to have a cultural meal. In fact we happened to recently stumble upon an authentic Honduras restaurant in our town.

   Immersing yourself like this will keep things current and exciting for you. It will also give you topics to write and pray about!



5. Become an Advocate for Compassion

   Speaking out for the “least of these” is very rewarding and is a way to keep your children in the forefront of your mind.

   The Advocate Network encourages you to use your spiritual gifts to promote awareness of the poor and the needs of children. I enjoy working concerts and events and telling others about sponsorship.

   You may enjoy speaking to a church group, organizing a fundraiser, or blogging about Compassion, There are other ways to “speak up” as well, via Compassion’s street team and 58:.

   I encourage you to explore the options and deepen your ministry.

6. Connect With Other Sponsors

   Sharing ideas and communicating with other sponsors is another way to energize your sponsorship experience. Compassion has its own sponsor community, OurCompassion.org, which provides an opportunity to connect and share ideas.

   I have found it enriching and rewarding to get new ideas about writing letters and sending gifts from fellow sponsors.



7. Share Your Ideas

   These aren’t the only ways to a more rewarding sponsorship experience. There are as many ways as there are personalities. What appeals to one person may not appeal to another, but we can make this list a lot longer and we can make it a relevant resource for others, if we just share ideas with one another.

   So get started by leaving a comment about how you have found the rewards in your sponsorship.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chuck Guth lives in Abingdon, Maryland, and is a member of the Advocate Network. He sponsors five children and writes about Compassion and other stuff at sharingcompassion.blogspot.com.

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

Recently a very well-known Mommy Blogger traveled to Bangladesh with a non-profit organization dedicated to child and maternal health.

Immediately following her first post from the developing country, the UK news publication The Guardian ran an article labeling her trip another example of “poverty tourism” in which “westerners [are] flown to dirt-poor regions to solemnly observe the impoverished in their natural habitats.”

The article noted that what often happens with blogging trips is that the bloggers write lengthy, gut-wrenching, emotion-filled posts that motivate readers to act, but then offer little tangible way to take action other than simply signing a petition.

“Where blogger-engagement projects often fall down is in closing the deal: having aroused the empathy of an engaged audience, they fail to provide something potent for people to do next.

“If you’ve just read a post about children working 14 hours a day scavenging material from towering heaps of putrefied waste, you probably want to do something more effective than signing a petition or sending an email to your elected representative; but frequently, this is all that’s on offer.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself. I doubt there’s much that’s more frustrating than getting your emotions all stirred up, only to be left helpless with no way to do anything about what you’ve just learned.

You should know that at Compassion we don’t want you to feel helpless — we’d rather you feel empowered. We don’t want you to feel discouraged, but encouraged that you are able to make a difference. And not just a small one. That’s why we focus on offering you so many different ways to get involved.

As our President and CEO, Wess Stafford, often says, there are two main reasons why people do not take action:

1. They don’t know what to do.
2. They don’t know whom to trust.

We want to be the answer to both of those questions.

One way we do this is to offer trips to see our work around the world. Our sponsor tours, vision trips and blogging trips, however, are all carefully and strategically designed to empower participants, not incapacitate them.

For the record, we refuse to engage in anything even remotely resembling poverty tourism. While other organizations may ask you to simply sign a petition, we want more from you … much more. We want your passion. We want your heart. We want your deep, God-given desire to change the world. And we promise not to leave you helpless.

We’ve found that one of Satan’s favorite tactics is to make you feel impotent. To get you to believe that no matter what you do, it won’t make a difference.

It’s our goal to eradicate that feeling. How are we doing?

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

Matthew never stopped smiling as the children swarmed around him and wanted to shake his hand. Even though he was not their sponsor, the children were thrilled to meet the very first sponsor to visit their child development center.

“Matthew! Matthew! Look at my picture!”

The children called out enthusiastically in Indonesian as they ran to Matthew, carrying pieces of paper in their hands to show off their artwork.

Matthew responded in English, a language they had never heard before, and smiled warmly at them, causing them to laugh.

Although the children could not understand what Matthew said, they were delighted with his presence.

Matthew is a young man from the United States who, since January 2009, has given from his heart to support one of the registered children at Sangihe Evangelical Church in Kolongan Beha, Sangihe Island.

He sponsors Mariana, a child who lives in East Indonesia on Sangihe Island, where her child development center is located.

Although their communication before Matthew’s visit was only through letters, Matthew and Mariana enjoy sharing many things as they write to one another.

They understand that mail can seem slow because it first has to be processed and sorted through our Global Ministry Center before it is sent to Mariana’s home country. Our office in Indonesia then processes the letters by dividing them according to area, then sends them to each development center.

Although Mariana and Matthew have to go through a long process to send and receive letters, they never stop writing about their day-to-day lives.

This includes sharing information about their family members or their favorite things.

Mariana wrote in one letter that she learned about Jesus Christ.

“I like to share anything that I experience with Brother Matthew because he loves to hear what I am doing every day.”

As their friendship grew, Matthew wanted to meet Mariana face-to-face and interact with her directly. Matthew took a big step: He decided to go to Indonesia and visit his sponsored child.

So along with a friend, Matthew traveled to Indonesia. In addition to meeting Mariana in person, he touched more lives than he had ever imagined. Matthew had not realized that his decision to visit Mariana would impact other children, parents and community members who at times had doubted whether their “invisible” sponsors actually existed.

Pastor Leopold Tamalawe of Sangihe Evangelical Church shared,

“People in this area did not believe that children have sponsors. They thought sponsors were just in a dream and they thought we lied to them.”

Because a sponsor had never before come to visit the Ikhtus Student Center, this belief is not surprising.

Sangihe Island is one of the remote areas of East Indonesia that can be reached only by an eight-hour boat ride or by plane, and it is not well known to foreigners. Not many people, especially from abroad, visit this island.

“It is very rare to see people from abroad come here, especially sponsors of our children.”

When Matthew arrived at the center, the children surrounded him to shake his hand and hug him. Children everywhere long for their sponsors to come and meet them personally, and as the first sponsor to visit the Ikhtus Student Center, Matthew demonstrated to the children and their families the reality of sponsors and their love for the children.

Matthew’s first opportunity to see Mariana in real life came when he and a translator picked her up from school. After meeting the school principal and asking about Mariana’s academic progress, Matthew and the translator then visited Mariana’s house. Mariana smiles as she describes her first experience with Matthew,

“I took Brother Matthew to play and took cassava that we planted behind our house for our lunch. He even liked to eat it. We ate it together.”

Matthew spent several hours with Mariana and her family, trying local dishes like cassava. He also tried pineapple, fried banana, and panada — fried local cookies filled with vegetables or meat. Matthew even went to see the sweet potato tree.

Fransin, the development center coordinator, shares,

“Matthew loved to try anything. He not made difference between Western people who has to eat Western dish with Asian people like us.”

During their short time together, Mariana and Matthew really enjoyed interacting in person. Although they could talk only through the translator, they communicated through actions such as holding hands and sharing one coconut with two straws.

They encouraged each other and promised to continue upholding one another in their daily prayers.

“Brother Matthew promised to keep praying for me, so I can reach my dream one day. He also asked me to pray for his ministry so he can help others to know Jesus more.”

Matthew’s visit was not only a special moment for Mariana, but it was also special for the other children who felt their sponsors’ love through Matthew because he was very welcoming to all the children. Fransin told us,

“After Matthew’s visitation to our development center, we can see that children and their parents realized that the invisible sponsors that they thought were a lie all this time have great love for them.

“We also got acknowledgment from local government in Sangihe because the development center impacted tourism sector in this area. Many foreign people are getting know about Sangihe Island.

“Even though we live far away from North Sulawesi capital city, but we believe a step of a sponsor has changed everything.”

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

Sponsors travel far and wide to visit their sponsored children and see how we work in the field. For many, a visit to their sponsored child’s country is simply not an option. Most likely, it’s because of health or financial limitations.

I would LOVE to go and meet all three of my sponsored children, but I definitely don’t have the thousands of dollars it would cost my husband and I to do so. So why can’t my sponsored children come visit me in Colorado?

Even if the child’s parents allowed them to travel outside of the country (many children have never left their communities), there are many logistics that would make this trip difficult.

A sponsor with her sponsored child

Think about it – arranging the child’s visa and departure requirements, finding a Compassion representative to accompany the child, accommodations, translation issues, and most important – protecting the child from unsafe situations.

Child protection is something we take very seriously. We know that 99 percent of you would smother your sponsored child with love, prayer and encouragement. Regrettably, it’s the few bad apples we have to be careful about.

Allowing a sponsored child to travel to his or her sponsor’s home increases the risk of abuse or exploitation dramatically – a risk we cannot take.

Notice that I said this would be difficult – not impossible. Yes, I admit it. It’s possible. But that doesn’t mean we can allow it.

Our purpose is to holistically develop children through child sponsorship. Bottom line, it’s all about the children and what is best for them.

Yes, a trip to the U.S. or wherever you live may seem like a great cultural experience for your sponsored child, but can you imagine how scary that might be for a child who has never left his or her community? Talk about culture shock.

I don’t like the thought of my sponsored children visiting me. I remember how horrified I was at the depth of poverty I witnessed while visiting Zambia a few years ago. The guilt I felt upon returning to my warm home and fully stocked kitchen was debilitating for several days.

Although it would be fun to show my sponsored children the States, I really don’t want them to see my house, my car or my city. I’ve seen pictures of where they live. I know their circumstances. At the core of me, I don’t want them to see how I’m living. Why you ask? I’m ashamed of it.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m very average according to America’s standards. However, a much different picture is painted according to their standards.

But that’s just me. Everyone’s struggles are different, and this is one of my many.

So no, your sponsored child will not be able to visit you – and maybe you won’t be able to visit him or her. But that’s okay. The words of encouragement you speak in your letters mean everything.

Don’t believe me? Listen for yourself.

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