Our Contact Center recently received the following email from Sarah W., a brand-new sponsor. She sponsored her first child on March 25, 2011. We love receiving emails like this.
I just wanted to tell you what happened to me. I have never been so clearly led to do something.
All day I was thinking about coffee, how I wanted it but that it was a waste of money. I have done really well lately. I have cut down my intake of coffee to about once a week (used to be every day). But even buying a cup just once a week costs me about $20 a month.
I had been thinking all day that I need to stop drinking coffee completely, and that there HAS to be something better I can be doing with my money.
Then, late yesterday afternoon, a friend sent me a message that her baby might be sick, and that they were in the emergency room. She and I both had babies about six weeks ago, and my hormones are not quite right yet, so I got REALLY sad — like teary-eyed.
I was thinking how awful it must be for her and her family, and how stressful. Since I was holding my son, James, I got even sadder.
I realized that these two little boys are so lucky because they have people falling over themselves to make sure their needs are met and that they’re healthy.
Then I started thinking about how many kids don’t have responsible parents or maybe don’t have parents with enough money to ever take them to the doctor. I was sitting on the couch holding James (he was sound asleep) and praying for my friend’s son and for every other kid in the world, and sort of crying but just barely, and the name of this charity popped into my head: Compassion International.
I don’t know where I had ever heard of Compassion, but I knew I needed to Google it right then, so I put James down and Googled it.
When I saw that it was a child-sponsorship program, I thought,
Am I supposed to sponsor a kid? Surely not!
Then I looked at the price of $38/month* — a really good replacement for my coffee habit and using the money for someone else rather than just spending it on myself. But I was still thinking,
Nah, not gonna do it.
I decided to just look at a couple of kids. If I was going to do it, I would want them to be like a James in another country — like a brother.
The only search fields I filled in were age and sex. I entered 3-5 years old and male, and instantly a screen full of little boys’ pictures came up. I thought,
This is dumb. I shouldn’t even look because I’m not going to do it, and how would I even pickone?!? They’re all precious and cute, and they all need help. How can I choose?
But I couldn’t resist.
I decided to click on just one child before I got off the site. So I clicked on the very first kid who had popped up, a 3-year-old from Ecuador named Jordano.
He and my son, James, had the same birthday, and I just felt like I had to, or needed to, or was supposed to, sponsor him — so I did.
I don’t often feel like I am necessarily meant to do something or led to do something, but from the time my friend sent her text message from the emergency room to the time I signed up to be this little boy’s sponsor, only about 5 minutes had passed.
I am excited to receive my packet.
*This was published prior to our rate change to $43
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I love these stories of how sponsors became sponsors! One story I heard was a woman was at a conference and she had prayed after the presentation if God would want her to sponsor a child. She prayed Lord make it obvious if I should. So she went to the table at the break the first profile she picked up was a child with the name “Obvious”. She asked the rep, how do you say this child’s name and she replied It’s Obvious! God made it clearly obvious.
I “found” the girl I sponsor in Uganda in much the same way. In a corner of our church foyer there are always tables with info on different outreach ops and one Sunday, I walked over to see what our pastor’s wife was promoting. I was looking at a brochure about women giving birth in a hut with a dirt floor and she said, “That is for giving a one-time gift and this table over here is for sponsoring a child.” I had NO intention of sponsoring a child but the pictures kind of grabbed my attention. My first thought was “How could anyone ever choose?” The first packet I picked up – first row, left corner – had my son’s birthdate on it and a girl with the same smile I had at her age. So I guess God chose for me.
I know children are a blessing from God. I want to give God something so I sponsor two boys from Mexico since I don’t have any children of my own. These boys changed my life and they are my children. Praise the Lord.
It is a miracle when God connects children and sponsors in these ways. I know that God has picked each of these children for you. You will be very blessed for taking this step of faith and impact.
The best thing about sponsorship is the prayers and letters. Don’t forget to write to your child! If you need help, there are a gazillion ideas on this blog 🙂
That is amazing story! you are wonderful person by meaning to let youself been guided by God. He is truly present in every breath we take. Thank you God.
This is such an awesome story! We are so lucky to have the privilege of sponsoring children.
How God leads! I, too, gave up my daily latte to sponsor a Compassion child. I was browsing on the Compassion site one Saturday a year and a half later and, though I had perused hundreds of photos for a neighbor, for some reason, this day, Judith struck my heart- not touched – struck. I found myself completely overwhelmed at her photo, crying and praying desperately for God to give her a sponsor. “I can’t God, we already sponsor a child.” On Monday I got the letter from Compassion saying my current child had moved from Peru to Spain and would no longer be in the program! I needed a new child. Judith, of course. I opened her info to see her birth date was the conception date for an infant boy that my husband and I had lost at birth. Needless to say, Judith has been ‘mine’ ever since. I know God has great plans for her!
I got teary-eyed reading this story and I haven’t had a newborn in 15 1/2 years! Sarah, welcome to Compassion! I hope that it will be the amazing experience for your family that it has been for ours. My kids each sponsor a child. One one level, it has be wonderful for them to have a friend in another country. On another, it has so helped them to expand their world view and to see God at work in places they hadn’t known about before. It puts a face on the big issue of poverty. How wonderful for James that he will grow up with an older brother in Ecuador! This blessing will continue to surprise and amaze you in the coming years! Please consider joining ourcompassion. It’s a wonderful , wonderful site to connect with other sponsors! Again, welcome!