Compassion International is one of my favorite charities. They’re one of the big players in “child sponsorship,” and that’s how I’m involved with them at the moment. Poverty is a huge issue, and it’s pretty overwhelming, but Compassion gives me a concrete way to help at least a couple of kids get free.
Compassion is a Christian organization that takes a holistic approach to helping children. They operate in 25 countries and are currently helping over 1 million kids. They work with local churches (I’m a big fan of working with local folks who already have a burden to help) to provide the kids in the program with food, education, and an introduction to the Gospel. They also help parents with everything from parenting skills to vocational training.
Uwitonze Sarah
I first started sponsoring Sarah in the summer of 2005 in response to an invitation by Caedmon’s Call, one of my favorite bands. Their Share the Well album is very focused on social justice, so it wasn’t a surprise that they support Compassion’s mission of “[r]eleasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name”.
I picked Sarah because we share our given name and because she was one of the kids who had been waiting a long time for a sponsor. Compassion strongly encourages sponsors to write to their sponsored children, and it’s been very cool to see, even from such a great distance, how she is growing up. She used to just color the pictures that were pre-printed on the stationary, and now she’s writing her own letters in cursive.
A couple of years ago, a local Christian radio station did something unprecidented and asked their listeners to sponsor a whole Compassion project in Honduras (usually when a radio station does this kind of sponsorship drive, the kids come from all over the world, but KTSY wanted one project where they can go visit—they’ve been down there twice and have a third trip planned for next spring).
Lauren Yohana Monje Tróchez
At the time, I wasn’t in a position to sponsor another kid, and when they were all sponsored, I was a little sad that I wasn’t able to be involved. The following year, though, some of the younger kids who had previously been too young joined the program, and the radio station sought sponsors for them. That’s when I started sponsoring Yohana.
I haven’t had a chance to go visit my kids yet, but hearing the stories from my friends at the radio station is both awesome and heartbreaking. The incredible poverty that these kids suffer through only emphasizes the incredible love and hope that they have.
Now that I have a son of my own, I want to start contributing to the Child Survival Program to help babies his age. I can’t imagine the universal challenge of childrearing with the added stress of poverty, illiteracy, unsanitary birthing and living conditions, and a lack of knowledge about parenting. Becoming a parent has made me more empathetic in general, but I’m especially moved by the plight of other, less fortunate mothers.
When Benjamin is a little older, we will sponsor a boy his age. My hope is that, in addition to helping someone who desperately needs it, sponsorship will also help develop empathy, compassion, and an awareness of the world in Benjamin.
I’m planning on featuring a child who needs sponsorship as part of this site in the near future, but don’t wait for me! If you want to share the blessings, you can sponsor a child today.
