Stories and Articles on Global Poverty and Child Development

When a child enters the Compassion Sponsorship Program, he or she is registered at a local Compassion center. But before any center can open, a partnership is needed between Compassion and a local church.

Here are 15 photos of churches that partner with Compassion around the world!

These inspiring people have a strong motivation to help others. Despite growing up in poverty and not always having everything they need, they share what they DO have!

When a child enters the Compassion program, they are not the only ones changed forever. One child being part of the Child Sponsorship Program or Survival Program can impact an entire family. Each family of a Compassion-assisted child has access to deep community, vital resources, and the Gospel message through local churches that partner with Compassion.

This holistic combination was truly life-changing for three families in Africa. Here are their stories.

It takes more than a global pandemic to stop these innovators from taking action. Since the start of lockdowns, children in Latin America have lost an average of 158 school days, according to UNICEF. The crisis is serious, but so are the innovators. These heroes from Central and South America are using creative solutions to serve their neighbors in the midst of COVID-19.

Going to school and doing homework are normal activities for many kids. Sadly, many children in poverty never get to experience the joys and trials of school and homework — or the rewards.

In the following pictures you can see how children and youths in Compassion’s program fight to get an education despite less-than-ideal circumstances.

This summer, millions of people across the world will crowd around television sets to watch the Olympic Games. They will watch swimming, track, cycling and gymnastics. They will cheer on their respective countries in baseball, boxing, surfing, volleyball and table tennis. But no doubt, some of the most viewed and highly anticipated competitions will be in the world’s most popular sport: soccer.

Soccer has an estimated global following of 4 billion people, a number that is nearly double the second most popular sport of cricket (with a 2.5 billion estimated following). So why is soccer so popular?

El Salvador’s traditions easily set it apart from any other country. Who else has a national holiday in honor of “pupusas”? And what other country celebrates Christmas with huge fireworks displays and specializes in green coffee beans?

Let’s explore the culture of El Salvador, the Central American country where 66,113 Compassion-assisted children live, by learning more about Salvadoran traditions.

Whether they are from the United States, Brazil, the Philippines or Ghana, every child in the world has at least this one thing in common — they grow up! And as they do, according to their culture’s customs and traditions, they celebrate and memorialize certain rights of passage or milestones. These celebrations honor the transition from one stage of development to the next.

When I reached out to our staff across the globe to share messages of gratitude for Compassion’s Prayer Calendar, I didn’t expect to be as touched by their stories as I was.

The letter below is from Susan, who works in our Compassion Kenya office. She shares the impact of shifting from a heart of frustration to a heart of gratitude – and what that does for her spirit.

Finally, it was the moment I had traveled thousands of miles for. There she was, a cute little girl with curly hair, standing outside a crowded church. Someone said, “This is Genesis, your sponsored child!”

Jonah and the whale. Daniel and the lion’s den. Esther saving her people. David facing Goliath. These are all beloved Bible stories for children and are guaranteed to come up when you ask a Sunday school class what their favorite stories are. One story you would not expect to be a 13-year-old’s favorite is the story of Job and his suffering. But for Abel, there was deep meaning in Job’s story.

These girls are like any girls, anywhere. They love to learn and play and have big dreams. However, like more than one-third of Kenyans, they live below the poverty line, and they face confronting challenges. With the support of Compassion’s local church partners, these girls have the care they need to rise above their circumstances with determination and hope.