How Important Are Sponsor Letters?

For Compassion-sponsored children in Bolivia, one of the most special days at the child development center is Letter Day. While not every development center in Bolivia designates a specific day for children to write letters, each center decides how letters are written and has two weeks to get them done and returned to the country office.

The Pucara Grande Student Center has a Letter Day when the children get together to write thank-you letters after they receive something from their sponsor.

children holding up letters

“The process of how we respond to letters depends of the type of letters the children are writing. If they are letters that every child needs to write, then we distribute them to all of the classes. Tutors help the children by checking the letters and passing them on to me. I check the letters again, organize them by sponsor countries, and send them to the main Compassion office.

“When the children have a new sponsor and they have to write their first letter, an email letter or a thank-you letter, they write them with me. I take the children who receive letters out of the class quietly because if I read the list out loud, other children get very sad because they have not received a letter,” explains Delicia, one of the staff at Pucara Grande.

However, it doesn’t matter how the letter-writing process takes place. Whatever the sponsor sends paints a giant smile on our children’s faces. Receiving a letter makes the children feel cared for and reminds them they have a person in another country who loves them. Our children like to share how much their sponsor letters mean to them.

“My sponsor is Nancy. She writes to me often, she sends me stickers and letters, and I feel very happy when she writes to me. She tells me that she loves me as a son and I tell her that she is like my second family.” — David

two girls writing letters

“My sponsor is from Washington. He writes to me often. When I write to him I tell him everything that happens to me and I feel happy. It is special for me that he writes to me because I also get to know about him and what he does. He encourages me to keep studying and he advises me.” — Laura

“My sponsor is Cristina and she writes to me often. I feel happy because my sponsor writes to me. Some children don’t even have a sponsor and I feel happy to have one. I thank God for that. When I write to Cristina I tell her about school, church, my family, the development center and about my friends.” — Reina

Children love to write back and tell the sponsors about themselves, their families, their schools and friends, their house duties, their activities, and everything they consider important about their lives.

group of children writing letters

“My sponsor is Elmer. He is from the U.S. and he writes to me often. He asks me how I am, how I am doing at school and when it’s my birthday he asks me about that. I like it when Elmer writes to me and I love to write to him. I tell him that I am doing well at school, what I did for my birthday and about when I lost a tooth. But I have many mates that never receive letters and they feel sad.” — Lorena

“My sponsors write to me often. I feel happy to receive letters and I like to write to them. I ask them how they are; I tell them that I am fine here.” — Josue

“My sponsors write to me only occasionally. Sometimes I feel bad because I see how my mates receive letters. However there are some children that never receive letters and they also feel bad. I like to write my sponsors and tell them how I am regarding my health, about my school and the things I did, how my family is, or about the activities I do at the development center.” — Leidy

If the child who receives a letter is young and can’t write back on his/her own, a relative will come to the development center to write the reply letter. If the parent can’t write, a sibling or a cousin can do it; however, if that’s not possible one of the tutors at the center will write it. If the tutor writes the letter, the family member and child have to be present and the child will draw a picture on the letter.

group of children writing letters

“Alejandra receives letters often; her sponsor is from the USA. I feel happy that my daughter receives letters. We are praying for her sponsor and she is also praying for my daughter. She sends us pictures and now we know her by her picture and what she looks like.” –Julia, mother of Alejandra

“I write letters for my sister and I like to write them. I am telling Nayelly’s sponsor that she likes to play, who her best friends are and that she likes to play with my cat.” — Janeth, sister of Nayelly

However, as mentioned earlier, it is very sad for the children when they don’t receive letters from their sponsors because they would love to be part of the special Letter Day.

“My sponsors don’t write to me and I feel sad. I would like to receive letters so I could answer.” — Jazmin

“My sponsor is Jack. When he writes to me I feel happy because he is my only sponsor. When my friends don’t receive letters they feel sad.” — Jose

“My sponsor doesn’t write to me very much. Sometimes I feel sad when I don’t receive a letter, but I feel very happy when he writes to me. I would like him to write to me more. I want to tell him about my family, how I am doing at the development center and how I am doing at school.” — Carla

There are some children at the Pucara Grande Student Center who don’t have a sponsor yet so they don’t get the opportunity to write letters. They are constantly asking if they have a sponsor because they would love to write to them.

One boy often asks if he has received a letter. We tell him that he should pray about getting a letter, but this child feels that God doesn’t listen to him because he doesn’t receive letters. This case is sad for us.

boy writing letter

There is another boy who doesn’t want to come to the development center because he has never received a letter and he feels that his sponsor doesn’t love him. This boy writes letters and asks his sponsor questions but he has never received an answer.

Sadly, he is not the only one; there are many.

For the children who don’t usually have the opportunity to tell someone how they are doing or about their personal lives, Letter Day gives them the chance to share and express what they are feeling.

Some of these children have never had anyone tell them that they are special, loved and being prayed for. So receiving a wonderful treasure, a letter from their sponsor, is what makes Letter Day so special.

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48 Comments |Add a comment

  1. Kees Boer August 11, 2011

    By the way, I did give Yasmin a bunch of letters from you all. Here is the link to the video that was taken when she got the letters. She was very happy!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWpmRC9_nr8&feature=channel_video_title

  2. Barbara Brown August 5, 2011

    I too cannot afford to sponsor another child, but would be happy to write another child. I couldn’t find anywhere on the site to sign up for this type of communication. Please let me know how a person can do this.

    1. Kees Boer August 5, 2011

      Hi, Barbara,

      That is wonderful. It is not something that is really advertised on the website. But if you want to be a correspondent, you can call Compassion in your home country and request to be one. In the USA, the number to call would be 1-800-336-7676. I was just with one of my correspondence children today and we had a great time.

  3. John Helmkamp July 22, 2011

    I found out first hand how important the sponsor letters were while in El Salvador on a missions trip. While visiting the sponsor home of one of the members of my church and group on the trip, the Mother of the sponsored child went into his bedroom and came out with all of the sponsors letters in her hand and the picture her little boy had of the sponsors. She then told us that every night (every night) the boy has his Mother read the most recent letter and he holds the picture as he falls asleep. She told us that her son would not go to bed if he hadn’t been read that letter and had the picture in his hand. We were all touched and discussed multiple times as a church group that the letters really appeared to be the most important thing (sometimes even more heartfelt than the money) to the children. It was an eye opening experience. I was so impacted by that, that I have no issues writing my little sponsor daughter every single Friday via email…at least 3-4 sentences so she gets a letter on every letter day.

  4. Katie Merkel July 15, 2011

    I am a new sponsor. I have never been good at regularly writing letters even to members of my family. I found this page to be very eye opening and am now inspired to make writing my little girl a regular habit. With the help of the Lord, I will succeed.

  5. Carla Hernandez July 11, 2011

    Hola, yo era una niña patrocinada y sé la emoción que se vive al recibir una carta de alguien que solo nos conoce por fotos y por las cosas que también les escribimos.
    Todos estos años me he sentido amada por una familia maravillosa que creyó en mi a miles de Kilómetros y ahora estoy viviendo la experiencia de ser patrocinadora de un niño de mi Pais (Ecuador) y de la misma manera siento ansias porque me llegue correspondencia de él. La relación de amistad que se forma por medio de las cartas es única.

  6. Penny Craft June 20, 2011

    I have a child in the Philippines and another in Tanzania. I write at least once a month and I’ve sent a few pictures. The most humbling thing ever is reading my kids’ letters and hearing how grateful they are to me and that they’re praying for me and my family. Latifa and John Dave~ if you read this~ I LOVE both of you and my husband and I are so blessed to be your sponsors. 🙂

  7. Jami June 13, 2011

    Here is a firsthand account from a grown CC about how impacting letters can be. 🙂 http://momsflightschool.wordpress.com/?p=440&preview=true

  8. franco obbu May 11, 2011

    as a kid at the child development center, receiving that big envelope from my sponsors was the highlight of the day its so touching!! knowing that some feels about you
    am now at university

  9. Garry May 10, 2011

    Marcy and Sarah, keep up the good work! Having visited several of my kids, I can tell you that they cherish anything you send to them, and should you be able to visit them in 2 or 3 years, they will be able to pull out their cache of things you have sent and show them all to you.

  10. Allison May 10, 2011

    I write occasionally but sometimes I just have no idea what to talk about. I wouldn’t have that much to say with a child that is close to me, let alone, one that is in a completely different place. Any suggestions?

    1. Linda Shinn May 14, 2011

      Allison:

      Check out Michelle Wright’s blog:

      http://www.bloggingfromtheboonies.com/

      She has a couple of different sections on letter writing, filled with great ideas!!

      And if you like to read, I recommend you get a copy of the book “Sheba’s Song” by J.A. Harbison. A very easy read, and I was fascinated by the sweet, simple, & heartfelt way an older farmer in Iowa wrote to a young girl in India. Just showed me to write whatever was on my heart. Even a short & sweet letter, just to let them know you’re thinking of them…

    2. Nancy May 11, 2011

      It is hard to get started sometimes, with that blank page in front of you. But there are all kinds of things you can write about. How about a series of letters with the theme of ‘favorite things’… you can tell what your favorite: color, animal, food, hobby, weather, season, flower, subject in school, and so on, is, and ask what is the child’s favorite? How about your favorite Bible verse about certain subjects, like peace, hope, love. I try to keep the letters simple and always try to include something with the letter, like a page of stickers or personal photos. I’ve started saving interesting canceled US postage stamps for the older children, as my own children liked collecting them when they were young. I have also sent photos from magazines when they were about a subject I mentioned or they asked about in their letters. The most important things is to WRITE and tell them, I love you and I care about you. Hope this helps!

    3. Kees Boer May 10, 2011

      Hi, Allison,

      The important thing here is to write. Even if you were just to write them that you love them that you’re praying for them and that you are glad that you are their sponsor and if you wrote that every time, it would be wonderful.

      There are whole blogs devoted to writing letters and ideas. Check out the “OurCompassion.Org” website. There are some great groups on there.

      One thing you can always do is to write Bible stories and Bible principles to them. What you are learning from your reading of the Scripture. How you are applying it. I write them what is happening in my life as long as it wouldn’t make them feel like they are missing out on something. I.e. don’t write about the amazing fillet mignon that you eat….. But I wrote my children yesterday about my dog dying…. They all loved my dog. But I share things with them. Share prayer requests with them. But just open up to the child. Paul opened his life up wide for the churches he started and they were open with him. Of course, as long as it is appropriate….. but that should go without saying. But again the important thing is to write….. 🙂

  11. Sarah April 21, 2011

    Thank you Marcy! I became a sponsor on 3rd April, and sent a packet out on 9th. I have already filled another envelope with TONS of photos, postcards, a skinny colouring book and some stickers, and written another letter. I was wondering when to send it, worrying in case it would be too soon, but heck no! I’m going to send it today!!! Then get working on packet number 3 !!!!!

  12. Marcy April 20, 2011

    I have only been a sponsor since March 8th. I have already
    sent two 9×12 envelopes filled with coloring book pages,
    postcards, band aids, stickers. I also sent an email letter.
    I have so much fun putting the package together. Thanks
    for reminding us all that writing is so important. I love the
    program and thank God that I have become a part of it.

  13. Debra Stevens April 20, 2011

    Joy fills every space in my heart when I hear that children are told they are loved and prayed for, but this makes me so sad 🙁 If it were possible, the number of children we sponsor would be limitless and those that just need a letter from us would be endless.

    Thankfully those of us that can, we are doing what’s in our power and hearts to do. We are a chosen few …

  14. Allie B. April 19, 2011

    I know it can be difficult for families to remember to write to their child. Maybe some of us don’t understand it, so maybe we can try to encourage others to write to their child. Maybe they don’t know the impact it has on the child and on THEIR lives.

  15. Arshad April 19, 2011

    Thank you all for advocating to write to children because this is one of the most important aspect in the life of CDC children. Letter becomes more important along with receiving gifts and I have seen many children waiting for their sponsor to write to them. In fact its a way boost their morale and self esteem and see them progress in their day to day activities; especially when they joyfully tell me how they communicate with their sponsors during my CDC visits. I encourage everyone to write to your sponsored children and they really look forward to it…Well how long does it take to express in a few lines?

  16. Sarah April 18, 2011

    I just became a sponsor, sent my first letter just over a week ago, and have already filled a packet with photos, postcards, stickers and a colouring book ready to go in about 3-4 weeks time! When I was in my teens, I was a huge writer, and had penpals everywhere. As I grew older, and studying and “growing up” took over, I guess the correspondence tapered off, as those I used to write to also grew up and stopped writing – people move on.

    Knowing that my sponsorship and letters and paper gifts, and words of encouragement will really make a difference to my little girls’ life and experiences at her centre have really rekindled my enthusiasm for letter writing! I’ve a little box crammed with colouring/sticker/activity books, stickers, cards, photos, you name it ….. ready to be sent out to her over the next year! I can’t wait to send my next letter to her!

    As a teacher, I was trained, or at least encouraged during my training, never to say “NO” to a child when they get an answer wrong in class. They’re striking out in faith in you and their peers, having the nerve to answer a question publicly, and saying “No” can really shoot a child down. “Nice answer, good try, could be, I like that but can you add to that a bit?” are all more encouraging and less or not at all detrimental to the child’s self-esteem and confidence. Just thinking about the kids who don’t get letters at all really upsets me.

    Also, for some sponsors, they may not be in the best of financial positions to sponsor, but choose to make that offering. It’s a shame that there are people out there can more than afford the money every month, but never engage with their sponsored child. Throwing money at a problem just because the money’s in the bank, and never bothering further is really sad.

  17. Mindi April 17, 2011

    i don’t understand how any sponsor could not write at least 3 times a year. I LOVE writing to my children. And if the sponsors don’t want to write or really can’t for some reason, they should let Compassion know so that those of us who love to write can become correspondence sponsors for them. Heartbreaking.

  18. Elwin van Eede April 9, 2011

    Thank you for this great article. This has inspired me to write more often!

  19. Debbie Beghetto April 7, 2011

    This post is very interesting. Every sponsor should have the responsibility to write letters to their child. It so sad to hear those that don’t recieve letters. My sponsor the youngest recieved the most letters than any of his brothers! ( I have visit them twice, I have given all the brothers baseball set, small gift for each of them) . I showed them how much I love them and at least they did have someone to visit them (me).

  20. Stephanie Green April 7, 2011

    Hi, Shaina – I totally agree about sponsor’s hearts being changed…I know mine has been! And I am very grateful to be part of the correspondence program. I also personally know some of the sponsors who don’t write. Members of my church sponsor over 150 Compassion children and my fellow advocate and I work to create awareness of the importance of letter writing (through letter writing meetings, news articles and a correspondence resource center). Even so, quite a few of these folks still don’t write. I see it as my job to educate, advocate and provide resources and ideas for correspondence and relationship building but only God can work in their hearts. In the meantime, I just wish more willing writers could be connected with those kids desperately hoping for letters. While the correspondence program is not the ideal, it is a huge blessing to all involved and hearts are changed through this program, as well.

    Thanks for all you do to educate through the blog. It is a GREAT resource to point sponsors to!!

  21. Alan Jackson April 6, 2011

    What a great article, thanks for sharing it. My wife and I had the privilege of visiting this center in Bolivia this past January and were blessed to visit our sponsored children there. We met many of the workers and staff who are a great encouragement to the children. After a visit to the center, we now can write more personal letters to our children there. It is a blessing to see the encouragement a few words can make in a child’s life. Such a simple task of writing a few paragraphs can change a child’s outlook on life and hopefully impact many people. Children are the future of world.

  22. Kees Boer April 6, 2011

    These children are very precious. That girl Yasmin. She is in the second photo on the right with the pink. I know her family. Yasmin came to me and had made a beautiful piece of art for me. She is very sweet. I”m sorry her sponsor doesn’t write her. This is a picture of her with what she made for me from scratch:

    http://www.keesboer.com/BO571/pages/105_9055.htm

    This is a photo of Delicia with her little daughter Nuria with the hat on, and the other girl is Raquel, she is Yasmin’s sister.

    This is David, who is sponsored by Nancy:

    http://www.keesboer.com/BO571/pages/105_5455.htm

    I had found him the sponsor, because Nancy is a friend of mine. So, I spent some time with David. Then he beat me in chess!!! I told him that I never find him another sponsor, because he did that. It was all in fun and he was laughing and he was so happy. He had to wait a long time to get a sponsor. The girl with him is Sara. That is his younger sister. David is also seen writing a letter in the third picture with the blue shirt under a white shirt. The second boy from the left.

    BTW, I am looking for a few sponsors to a few children from that student center right now. I should be there next month. If someone decides to sponsor one of the children that I’m looking, I can meet the child and take some extra photos and a video of the child. 🙂 so that you can know your child better.

  23. Debbie April 6, 2011

    I’m with you Stephanie. I would give anything to have more kids to write to, but have also been cut off from getting any more correspondence kids. I wish Compassion would set a standard of what sponsors have to do and then say ok, we are turning the writing over to a correspondence sponsor.
    It’s really not fair to the kids that have sponsors. One gets tons of letters, and the next gets nothing, and of course, they take it personally. I can understand if the child has no sponsor, but if they do, they should be getting letters.

  24. Shannon April 6, 2011

    I agree with Nancy. The correspondent sponsorship is basically hidden and then once you become one, you find no info on your website. I just found out a couple weeks ago that I could send a child gift even though I do not sponsor our child. I then called Compassion and was helped greatly. I found out my child has been sponsored for 10 years, has received 5 letters from her sponsor, 2 of which were automatically generated by Compassion and all the sponsor did was sign their name. And there had never been any family, birthday or child gifts sent in 10 years. I do not judge the sponsor. I just would have liked more info available to me through the website. Since sponsorship is explained well, I took it that I could write to our child and that was the end of it. But, I do believe the correspondent sponsor is wonderful and soooo needed for these children. Thank you for blessing me with the opportunity!

  25. Gail April 6, 2011

    Those of us who do write to our kids regularly and who understand how important it is should speak to sponsors we know and point them to this blog, Compassion websites, Our Compassion as great resources for letter ideas. We need to be the evanglists of letter writing on behalf of the kids and speak up on their behalf.

  26. Christina Marie April 6, 2011

    I have a child in Bolivia that I love with my whole heart. I’ve received letters from her and her mother and it just brings me so much joy to know that what I do and how I do it affects them so much positively. I cannot wait to write another letter. 🙂

  27. Mike Stephens April 6, 2011

    why send a letter when you can deliver it in person!?

    1. Kees Boer April 8, 2011

      That would be a dream come true for most children. If you ask the children what is their biggest dream, it is to meet their sponsor.

      Many people can’t do this, because of the cost involved.

      But if you know someone, who is going to the country, maybe you can ask them if they can take a CD where you burn a video of you talking to the children and some pictures and what have you. The child will treasure this and it will be a very inexpensive way of the child getting to know the sponsor. I just sent several CDs to my kids in Bolivia with a friend of mine and today, I got 14 letters from many of the children, thanking me for the CD and each one of them had a photo with it.

  28. Kees Boer April 6, 2011

    If anyone wants to see pictures of that center, just look at:

    http://www.keesboer.com/BO571

    Or you can watch videos on Youtube of that center. Just look for CDI BO571

    You’ll see Delicia in the videos and the photos…. Of course you need to know first what she looks like. 🙂 to recognize her.

  29. Kees Boer April 6, 2011

    This is a great article, Galia!!! I love it. I recognized a lot of the children in the project. I’m glad you featured David in there and the picture of Yasmin. She is very nice. Delicia does a great job there at the center. This article was a big encouragement today!!! Thank you so much!!!

  30. Stephanie Green April 6, 2011

    After reading this, I struggle to understand why those of us who desire to correspond with children (and have an excellent track record of doing so) are told there are limits to the number of children we can correspond with. Ideally, the sponsor would correspond and encourage the child but we all know that this doesn’t always happen. Perhaps a very small number of sponsors are willing to allow a corrrespondent so their child can receive mail but it is very sad to hear of any child being so disheartened by lack of communication from the sponsors they long to hear from. I wish more sponsors would recognize how critically important their letters are and permit a correspondent if they’re not willing or able to write. This post is a great way to help make them aware!

    1. Shaina April 6, 2011

      You’re right- we have a short list of children available for correspondence. Most of the time, sponsors waiting to correspond with a child far out numbers the available correspondent children. I personally think it’s fair that each person is only able to correspond with a specific number of children.
      It’s a difficult decision to make regarding publicizing the correspondent program vs. encouraging sponsors to write their sponsored child. My personal opinion leans towards educating sponsors about correspondence and encouraging them to write. The benefit of our program is for the child, but the sponsor’s heart is changed through the process as well. I think that’s an important part of the sponsorship process.

      1. Al April 8, 2011

        I’ve been a financial sponsor for about 6 years and a correspondent sponsor for a few years. I just wanted to say that I support Compassion’s idea to limit the number of correspondent children each sponsor has, especially to limit the number that can be requested within a certain time period. It’s easy to be really excited about writing letters at the beginning, but sometimes it’s harder to keep it up for the long haul. I added my children rather slowly (about one per year, and I won’t be adding new ones until one of the current ones leave the program), and that’s helped me to make sure I can handle the commitment of being a good letter writer and encourager to each of them. I don’t want to discourage anyone from sponsoring – it’s been a huge blessing to me – but I do think it’s been helpful not to add children too quickly.

      2. Kees Boer April 7, 2011

        Shaina, what are the pros and cons regarding publicizing the correspondent program? I remember talking with Delicia from the article about that. She said that it’s very rare for a child to have a correspondent. In this project of about 400, maybe one child is in that position. There is the small percentage of us that is involved in reading the blog, OC, etc…. But a huge percentage seem to not even know about all of this…. They signed up to sponsor a child and might be on automatic payments and it’s out of their mind…. They might not even read the mail that comes from Compassion. They also never had the intention to write letters, because they heard about the plight of the poor and consider that money solves that problem….. I wonder how that group can be educated? They might just see their money as part of a tithe. It would be great if there was something on the sign up form about that… They could have a choice of a correspondent right away….. It might cause quite a few sponsors to assign this right away to another sponsor. And it might solve a lot of the problem. Plus they would ask someone what the correspondence program would be, and thus more would get educated right from the start about it and know what they are getting into. I remember talking with one sponsor about the need for the letters and he said: “I didn’t know that that was part of it. That’s not what I signed up to do! I signed up for the church there locally to take care of the needs of the child.” He felt like it was almost like a catch and bait situation….
        To the sponsors, it seems like they view sponsorship as a financial commitment. But the children look at sponsorship as a relational commitment. The sponsor starts the sponsorship with filling in financial information. The child starts the sponsorship with writing their first letter. So, the expectations can be a bit different. It’d be like when a woman gets married, if their husband at the end of the ceremony, kissed the bride good bye and reassured her that he will always send the check and drive of into the sunset…. Some wives might really be sad about that…. Then to go back and try to educate him, might be difficult. He might get it, but he might not…..

        The children can get so disheartened about this…. I remember Eliana from that same project telling me that her former sponsor wouldn’t write. She said: “I wrote her and I wrote her so many letters and nothing ever happened, she never replied.”

        Recently, when people come to me at a concert or at an event or one on one, and they ask how to go about sponsoring the child that they chose, I tell them to fill out both documents in the child packet: the card in it and the financial form…. I did a Compassion Sunday last Sunday. It was a small church and the setup was a little different and only one child got sponsored. But it was a child from that particular center in Cochabamba. So, the sponsor filled out both things. I had my digital camera with me, so I took a picture of them. Printed it out at home. Put it on the card (I had told the sponsor about this beforehand) and sent it in alongside of the financial information. It’s kind of funny, but I’ll probably will be there right there in the center when the child gets this letter!!!

        I love this particular center. It’s a very special place. When I was in Cochabamba, it was my home church.

        Having said all of this. I do have to say too that if the children weren’t required to write at least their program letters, some sponsors would never hear from the children either… jajajjaaja

        1. Debbie April 7, 2011

          I wasn’t going to say anymore about this, but since you wrote something 🙂
          I know in an ideal world, all the sponsors would write their kids, but I have been around long enough to know it doesn’t work that way. I was ‘promoting’ the correspondence program by telling new people on ourcompassion.org about it. I have stopped doing that now for two reasons. I guess Shaina was confirmed what we were hearing, that Compassion isn’t interested any longer in using their current sponsors as correspondence sponsors. I had also received an email (after asking for another correspondence for one I had lost) saying well, yeah, it’s nice you are doing this, but no you can’t have any more correspondence kids. I think it was great for the kids, and great for the sponsors that wanted to do this, and had hit their limit of financial sponsorships. It seemed to be a win-win situation, and now really sad that begging sponsors to write their kids who have no interest in writing is the way they are going now.

          1. Kees Boer April 8, 2011

            One thing should be made clear about the correspondence program and that is that only the financial sponsors, who have specifically asked to be given a correspondent are given a correspondent. So, a sponsor, who doesn’t think about their child and who doesn’t call Compassion or read the blog or OC would not know about the program to even ask about it. It’s only when they ask to have a correspondent. Of course if they call Compassion and they always check to see if the sponsors writes then they might find out about it.

  31. Donna April 6, 2011

    Thanks for this reminder. I wish I had the names of these mentioned who don’t receive any letters- I would be delighted to write to them.

  32. Michelle ~ Blogging from the Boonies April 6, 2011

    Posts like this are both joyful and heart-breaking. I find so much joy in knowing how blessed the children are by our letters. But, I am heart-broken to think of ALL of the children who wait, month after month, for letters that never come. Writing a letter is such a simple task and is made even easier by Compassion email option.
    Hearing stories like this is what inspired me to start a blog that focuses on Compassion letter writing encouragement and ideas. I feel that, if some sponsors are struggling with what or how to write, I would love to help.
    Our words of love and encouragement are so important. thank you for sharing this!

    1. Donna April 6, 2011

      Thanks Michelle- I enjoy reading your blog and I know it has helped sponsors with ideas!

  33. Sarah Sch April 6, 2011

    This article simultaneously uplifted me and broke my heart. How sad that the children who receive letters have to be quietly pulled aside so that those who didn’t won’t feel bad. And that sweet boy who feels God doesn’t listen to him because he prayed for letters and hasn’t received them. Letters are so so important to these children.

    Sponsors, please write to your kids. I think people are so scared of “doing it right.” These kids just want to hear from you. It can be something as simple as telling them that you are proud of them and are praying for them.

    Please write your kids this Friday. Hundreds of us every month write to our kids on second Fridays. It is an easy way to remember to send a letter and allows it not to slip to the wayside.

  34. Nina April 6, 2011

    Thank you for continuing to tell sponsors that they need to write to their sponsored kids – at the very least occasionally, but preferably regularly. It is SO very important to these precious kids. We may be the only one telling them they are special and loved.

  35. Nancy April 6, 2011

    I really feel for the children who don’t get letters. As much as they need financial support, they need a relationship with a supportive person through letters, it seems to me and that comes thru strongly in this blog post. I only recently found out about being a “Correspondent Sponsor” although I have been a regular sponsor for about 6 years and sent many letters over those years. A few months ago, I signed up to be a “Correspondent Sponsor” and already write to one child this way. My daughter is also doing this now, since we found out about it. Perhaps Compassion should make this idea more known. People who have the financial ability to sponsor a child but aren’t “letter writers” can be paired with those God has given the talent of being good correspondents.

    1. Laura Pfohl July 14, 2011

      You mentioned signing up to be a Correspondent Sponsor and this idea sounded very interesting to me. I too sponsor a child and write regularly. I don’t have the money to support additional children but I would like to get involved more and this sounded like a great idea. I searched all over the site but couldn’t find this at all. Do you have more information on how I could become involved?

  36. nicola April 6, 2011

    I like this! My little girl lives in Bolivia, but as yet she is too young to write for herself, so I get letter from her tutors and sometimes her mama. She draws good pictures! Thanks, this has given me a good insight into what happens. So sorry for those kids who dont receive letters tho. They should pray and ask God to move in their sponsors heart to write them. I write often

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