Stories to Connect You With Compassion & Grow Your Faith

The child you sponsor is a remarkable hero with a story changed by hope.

The difference between being a child sponsorship organization and a child development organization is subtle … but significant.

Five summer interns share the highlights of their experience at Compassion and the impact of working to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.

Daniela didn’t think she would ever be released by her kidnappers. But thanks to the actions of one church, an entire town rose up to fight human trafficking in their community.

I know you’ve thought it. I’ve thought it. If we’re being honest, we’ve ALL thought it…

Is this child real?

Where is my money really going?

When you walk into a Compassion program at any of our local church partners in any of the 25 countries where we are privileged to work, you will find the same holistic program being implemented.

But you don’t have to take my word for it….
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I am one life. I am not a well-known community figure. But through the Release3 challenge, I was the link between waiting children in poverty and their new sponsors.

“What’s for dinner?”

It was the first question that popped out of your mouth when you got home from school as a kid. You secretly hoped for something different than last night and if you were lucky….you got your favorite meal!

Although my family had a short season of eating red beans and rice (Louisiana girl here!), for most of our dinners, I still had other things for breakfast and lunch. Most of my life, I had access to all sorts of food and snacks.

The story is very different for children in our program. Our local church partners reach out and enroll those in the most need. And sometimes that means little ones who may not have enough food for even one meal, let alone three meals a day.

When you invest in the life of a child, you partner with us and the local church in their holistic development. The most basic part of a child’s development is their physical body.

Providing a well-balanced meal or snack when they attend the program is just the start of addressing their physical development, but this start is critical.

What child who is hungry can focus on schoolwork, learn basic hygiene, or hear that Jesus loves them?

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Why should you trust Compassion International with the child you sponsor? Summer Intern Julie Willian shares her journey of first-time sponsorship.

Here on the blog, we’ve talked a lot about the importance of letter writing and how much your words have power in the life of the child or teen you sponsor.

And we’ve talked about how, sometimes, it’s the absence of words that has power too… leaving questions like:

Am I thought of?

Who is the person who has invested in my life?

When you choose to invest in the life of a child through sponsorship, beyond giving money, you also get the opportunity to be involved in their lives. And it is equally important to let them be involved in yours!

There are many ways you can do so, from sending letters, stickers, pictures and birthday cards to sending gifts or even taking a trip to visit him or her.

This investment in relationship with your sponsored child is where the alumni and research consistently says the lasting difference was made in changing their story!

This week in our special video blog series, Conversations with Alumni, hear a candid conversation between alumni about their sponsors’ level of involvement in their lives.
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Writing the child you sponsor from the Compassion app just got easier and more fun with these awesome apps!

These alumni didn’t have to worry about what not to wear when they were in the Compassion program. Listen in on their favorite memories about the clothes from their childhood.

What would child development look like in North Korea? 1,100 church leaders from 163 churches met in South Korea at the recent Compassion North Korea Ministry Summit to begin to answer this question.