Hold on Tightly Loosely
The question of whether child sponsorship is about us or the children we sponsor generates a lot of discussions. Should we hold on tightly to the things and people we cherish or should we hold on loosely?
Continue Reading ›Child Sponsorship Is About Relationship Building
“Sponsorship is not about the money you give but about the lives and relationships you build.” This is not just a clever thing to say. It’s a profound statement that I learned from the children themselves. I’ve seen that our children are more concerned about building their relationship with you than the help they get.
Continue Reading ›
How Long Does My Child Sponsorship Last?
Although age is a determining factor in a child’s completion, we do not finalize a completion just for that reason. Our completion guidelines include consideration of our goals for each individual child and the goals each child has personally set.
A Skeptic’s View on Child Sponsorship
A friend of ours in Facebook, Sara Campion, brought this Relevant Magazine article to our attention yesterday. It starts off with some questions we hear quite a bit.
“Do you ever wonder what happens to that $35 you donate every month to a child sponsorship organization? Are you a little skeptical that the money you give is actually going to sponsoring a child instead of a mismanaged nonprofit? If that’s you, I’m with you. A couple years ago, I had convinced myself the money I was giving each month wasn’t actually reaching the child whose picture I had picked out years earlier, so I canceled my sponsorship. It turns out I was wrong, and it hit me like a ton of bricks two years later.”
Read the entire article at Relevant Magazine.
Compassion Sunday Is Child Sponsorship Taken to the Next Level
As soon as I completed my Advocate training, my first thought was to host a Compassion Sunday at my church. I was on fire, passionate, and thought that was the obvious next step. I was wrong.
How Is Compassion Sunday Like Putting Mentos in Diet Coke?
When you put a Mentos mint into a bottle of soda it explodes like a volcano, just like an explosive phenomenon taking place all over the country on behalf of children in poverty. In both cases this explosive phenomenon is about multiplication.
I Command You to be Openhanded Towards the Poor
Last month, Wess visited Australia and we grabbed him for a chat about why he is sold on child sponsorship as a way to help children, and what the Bible tells us about poverty.
There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. — Deuteronomy 15:11 (NIV)
I No Longer Sponsor a Child
You know the scene in any coming-of-age movie when a teenage girl is about to go to her first dance and she appears at the top of the stairs and her parent (usually a widowed father) stands there with tears in his eyes and a huge lump in his throat, totally entranced by his daughter’s newly uncovered beauty? That’s how I feel.
Does Giving Gifts to Our Sponsored Children Make a Difference?
One of my earliest lessons in the importance of our gifts came from Tausi (Tanzania). I began sponsoring her soon after her stated birth date (which later proved to be wrong, but…) and immediately sent a gift of $25.
Bloom Where You Are Planted
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
— Theodore Roosevelt
When I was asked to write my first post for this blog, I sent an e-mail to my family and friends joking, “Apparently my ability to drone on and on, (and on), about Compassion International and child sponsorship has gotten back to the organization. I have been given a public forum at last!” I have no doubt there was some good-natured snickering around many computer terminals in Iowa that day.
Let me put it this way. If you know me, AT ALL, you know I sponsor children — you know how I feel about Compassion — and you know that I think child sponsorship is one of the best possible ways to help children in poverty. It is a regular topic of conversation for me and I am known for it.
Jesus told us to let our light shine before men. We are not to light our lamp only to put it under a bushel. If someone who had been a friend for a long time suddenly came to me and said, “I had no idea you believed in Christ!” I would feel that I had not done my job as a Christian. If my faith was so absent in my daily activities that there was no outward sign of it, what would that say about me as a follower of God?
I feel exactly the same way about my ministry with Compassion. And that is what I consider child sponsorship to be — my ministry. What kind of a ministry would it be if I told no one about it and gave no one the information that would enable them to participate? To minister is to tell others — to share the good word! Why would I keep it quiet?
So my challenge to everyone today is to BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED. Think about how you can share your Compassion ministry, wherever it is you may be.
Not all of us are great orators. Speaking in front of a crowd of more than 10 would probably give me a rash or hives of some kind. Not all of us are good at the “hard sell,” so I’m certainly not suggesting you go door to door. But I know there is some way that is immediately available to you to put Compassion out there, front and center.
Compassion advocates, can you offer some suggestions on how the average sponsor can share Compassion with others?
Sponsors, is there something unique you have done to get the word out to family and friends?
Has anyone taken advantage of the free brochures, posters, etc., that Compassion offers? If so, how have you used them?
Please share…
And thank you!
Life as a Sponsored Child
From yesterday’s post:
Compassion staff decided to extend grace and enroll ages 4 to 12 years.
That was the moment I knew I was now completely netted. I could see my mother smiling broadly after the pronouncement. She had her fingers crossed all this time.
I was among the first lucky ones to get a sponsor, and when I did I had a new family — the Pendleton Browns from Atlanta, Georgia. I became a big brother.
They had two sons: Eliakim, who was 5 at the time, and Ace, who was 4. Later my sister, Hossanah Joy Brown, was born.
I remember going to school with the family photo they had sent me, and when I showed it to my friends, they asked me, “Who are those?”
I answered them with so much joy — “My family in Atlanta!”
One of the kids gave me a mean look, then replied, “Hmm … they’re white and you’re black.”
Sure enough, it did not matter to me what color they were or what color I was not. All I knew is that I had found a family. I cherished every single letter they wrote me.
Every Saturday I attended the Compassion Saturday program. When I was first enrolled I knew for sure the weekly meetings would interfere with my soccer time, which was also on Saturdays. But when sports were introduced I became comfortable with the idea of attending.
I looked forward to receiving a letter or photo from my family, and if I did not get one, I went home unhappy thinking that maybe I did not do a good job in replying to their last letter.
Compassion took care of my educational needs by buying school uniforms, books, clothes and other necessities. This played a big role in restoring my self-image because I used to go to school in a torn pair of shorts that had patches all over and some of my classmates made fun of me.
Medical care was also provided by Compassion, which played a great role in ensuring that we had access to better medical facilities.
Health screenings at the child development center ensured monitoring of health conditions and those cases were referred to the medical facility before it was too late.
Spiritual development through the Saturday devotion program and Bible study at the child development center facilitated my decision to receive Christ as my personal Savior at the age of 15 when I was in high school.
I became an active Bible Study leader and during Compassion Sunday, I got a couple of opportunities to preach and share my testimony before the congregation in church.
During the vacation, the child development center organized camps, hikes and game park tours. My social life was now active through exposure from various activities offered by the center.
Life skills training also became an integral part of life at the child development center. I learned soon how to cook, weave and how to operate computer applications.
The Lie of Poverty Is a Double-Edged Sword
First, poverty lies to the poor by telling them over and over that they do not matter, that no one cares for them, and that they are forgotten. Poverty speaks to the heart of a person (especially children) and tells them, “Give Up!” But that’s only one part of the lie of poverty.
