Children’s Birthdays Are a Big Deal — and Not Just for Kids

A laughing girl child wearing a brown shirt with white lace and collar stands outside in the middle of a street holding a present wrapped in shiny red wrapping paper. Behind her is blue sky and trees.

Kids sure do love their birthdays. As I write this, my wife and I are in the midst of planning a birthday party for our two sons. They are turning 9 and 7. Their birthdays are within two weeks of each other, and since they are so close in age, they share many of the same friends. So, we’re able to do a bit of a two-for-one deal.

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11 Sweet Photos of Birthdays Around the World

A group of children through confetti in the air, standing in front of a table with a birthday cake on it.

A birthday is more than gifts. It’s an opportunity to show children that they are valued and loved — and children in poverty shouldn’t have to miss out. Each culture might have its own unique traditions surrounding birthdays, and our staff ensures children feel celebrated within that tradition. Enjoy these sweet photos of children celebrating their birthdays around the world!

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5 Ways to Build a Relationship With the Child You Sponsor and Why It Matters

5 Ways to Build a Relationship With the Child You Sponsor

The relational aspect of sponsorship is not just important in getting people to become sponsors. It is important throughout the sponsorship journey because love is best shown in a relational context.

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group of smiling and playing girls

Feliz Cumpleaños With No Piñata?

Piñatas are often associated with Hispanic birthday celebrations. However, some birthday celebrations in Guatemala do not include a piñata.

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young twin girls with birthday cake

A New Take on a Lifetime of Birthdays

It seems fairly common for those of us with December birthdays to grumble a bit about our birthdays being overshadowed by the holidays. We grumble about birthday presents being wrapped in Christmas paper or being designated for “birthday AND Christmas.”

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The Bible: A Great Birthday Present for Children?

Children in México’s most impoverished places do not normally get the joy of celebrating a birthday. In Centro de Desarrollo Integral Cordoba Child Development Center, as in many other student centers supported by Compassion, children are recognized and celebrated with singing and cake, making a difference in their self-esteem and value.

At the development centers, children receive the gift of being children, away from their lack of money and food, inside a small refuge where sadness and abuse are not present.

boy smiling for cameraPepe comes from a good family. His mother, Hilda, knows the Lord, but she came to the church when she and her husband were under much stress and struggles. Although the couple tried hard to stick together and to create a safe environment for their children, they used to fight over their lack of money.

Hilda says she and her husband fought because they did not have enough money to eat. She recalls one day when they were yelling at each other and did not realize Pepe was hiding under the bed. They saw Pepe crawl up into the corner of the bed and pray, “God please give me much money so my daddy and mommy will not fight.”

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