About Compassion
Compassion International
is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing
children from poverty. They work through local churches to provide child
development programs to deliver children from economic, physical, social,
and spiritual poverty, enabling them to become responsible, fulfilled,
Christian adults.
Compassion works through
one-to-one child sponsorship. Through sponsorship, children are able
to participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits
that range from educational opportunities to health care.
Values
There are four distincitve
values that make Compassion stand out among other child development
and/or sponsorship organizations.
- Christ-Centered. Without
coercion, they teach the life-changing gospel to every child in a
culturally relevant way.
Children are welcome to participate in a Compassion project regardless
of their faith. Compassion's program, however, is unapologetically
Christian and every Compassion project is connected to a Christian
church or ministry. They want children to have the opportunity to
see living faith in action, hear the gospel and be discipled in the
ways of Christ. But neither they nor their families are under any
compulsion to become Christians.
- Child-Focused. Compassion's
ministry directly engages each child as a complete person.
During Compassion's 50-plus years of development work, they've seen
various approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty in children's lives.
They've discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people's
lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances.
Community development is
important work that addresses the external circumstances of poverty
and is an important complement to Compassion's work. However, their
primary focus is individual child development - an inside-out, bottom-up
approach that recognizes the God-given value and potential of each
individual child. Many of these children grow up to become positive
influences in their own communities.
- Church-Based. Compassion
chooses to partner with the church as a local group of believers who
can teach, train and mentor children. This is done in partnership with
parents and the community.
- Committed to Integrity.
Compassion commits to excellence and integrity to best benefit the children
they serve. They commit to help children, families and churches create
relevant child development activities. They commit to the highest professional
and biblical principles.
The children Compassion serves receive, among other things: the opportunity
to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus; regular Christian training;
educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training
and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment
to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention,
guidance and love.
Financial Information
Compassion takes stewardship
seriously. That's why more than 80 percent of all expenditures go to
program activities for the children. It's also why they insist on:
- Annual audits to show
exactly how their income is used
- Regular audits for their
country offices
- Program audits to evaluate
the effectiveness of their programs in the lives of children
For more information on the
breakdown of expenditures, auditing reports, and to see articles where
Compassion has been recognized for their superior financial integrity,
go to the Financial
Information page on Compassion's website.
Our Compassion Children
Prior Children
Current Children
Recent Letters!
We receive at least three letters yearly from each of our sponsor children.
Some are longer than others, and they often send along pictures they have
drawn/colored or copies of their school report cards.
I thought it would be neat to type up the letters we receive, starting
with the one we got from Jafari this week, even though it was not one
of his more verbose ones. :) Remember that these are translated from the
child's native language by volunteers and it can be a bit rough at times.
Jafari speaks Swahili and Desilienne speaks Creole.
8/27/2004
- from Jafari
9/27/2004 - from Jafari
10/20/2004 - from Jafari
1/7/2005 - from Desilienne
3/26/2005 - from Desilienne
4/12/2005 - from Desilienne
10/22/2005 - from Jafari
Sponsor a child today!
What is a Compassion Sponsor?
A Compassion sponsor is someone
who has made the decision to personally invest in the life of a child
in need. As a Compassion sponsor, you enable your sponsored child to
participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits
including help with:
- education,
- health care,
- social skills development,
- and Christian training.
And more than this, you can
help your sponsored child develop a sense of confidence and self-worth
with the love you express through letters and prayers.
As a Compassion sponsor,
you are assured that there is a real connection between you and the
specific child you support. The child you sponsor will know your name,
write to you and benefit directly from your monthly sponsorship.
Your relationship with your
sponsored child makes you a very important person who has a significant
role in his or her development. You stand alongside parents, pastors,
teachers, family and friends who are taking an active role in encouraging
and developing the child.
It costs $32 a month to sponsor
a child through Compassion. It's a pretty big commitment but not too
big when you think about the incredible difference you can make in a
child's life.
All information taken from Compassion International's
website has been used with permission.
Compassion International is a Christian child development organization dedicated to releasing children from poverty. They work through local churches to provide child development programs to deliver children from economic, physical, social, and spiritual poverty, enabling them to become responsible, fulfilled, Christian adults.
Compassion works through one-to-one child sponsorship. Through sponsorship, children are able to participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits that range from educational opportunities to health care.
There are four distincitve values that make Compassion stand out among other child development and/or sponsorship organizations.
- Christ-Centered. Without
coercion, they teach the life-changing gospel to every child in a
culturally relevant way.
Children are welcome to participate in a Compassion project regardless of their faith. Compassion's program, however, is unapologetically Christian and every Compassion project is connected to a Christian church or ministry. They want children to have the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the gospel and be discipled in the ways of Christ. But neither they nor their families are under any compulsion to become Christians.
- Child-Focused. Compassion's
ministry directly engages each child as a complete person.
During Compassion's 50-plus years of development work, they've seen various approaches to breaking the cycle of poverty in children's lives. They've discovered that changed circumstances rarely change people's lives, while changed people inevitably change their circumstances.Community development is important work that addresses the external circumstances of poverty and is an important complement to Compassion's work. However, their primary focus is individual child development - an inside-out, bottom-up approach that recognizes the God-given value and potential of each individual child. Many of these children grow up to become positive influences in their own communities.
- Church-Based. Compassion
chooses to partner with the church as a local group of believers who
can teach, train and mentor children. This is done in partnership with
parents and the community.
- Committed to Integrity.
Compassion commits to excellence and integrity to best benefit the children
they serve. They commit to help children, families and churches create
relevant child development activities. They commit to the highest professional
and biblical principles.
The children Compassion serves receive, among other things: the opportunity to hear the gospel and learn about Jesus; regular Christian training; educational opportunities and help; health care, hygiene training and supplementary food if necessary; a caring and safe Christian environment to grow in self-confidence and social skills; personal attention, guidance and love.
Compassion takes stewardship seriously. That's why more than 80 percent of all expenditures go to program activities for the children. It's also why they insist on:
- Annual audits to show exactly how their income is used
- Regular audits for their country offices
- Program audits to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs in the lives of children
Prior Children
Current Children
We receive at least three letters yearly from each of our sponsor children. Some are longer than others, and they often send along pictures they have drawn/colored or copies of their school report cards.
I thought it would be neat to type up the letters we receive, starting with the one we got from Jafari this week, even though it was not one of his more verbose ones. :) Remember that these are translated from the child's native language by volunteers and it can be a bit rough at times. Jafari speaks Swahili and Desilienne speaks Creole.
8/27/2004 - from Jafari9/27/2004 - from Jafari
10/20/2004 - from Jafari
1/7/2005 - from Desilienne
3/26/2005 - from Desilienne
4/12/2005 - from Desilienne
10/22/2005 - from Jafari
What is a Compassion Sponsor?
A Compassion sponsor is someone who has made the decision to personally invest in the life of a child in need. As a Compassion sponsor, you enable your sponsored child to participate in a church-based program that offers life-changing benefits including help with:
- education,
- health care,
- social skills development,
- and Christian training.
And more than this, you can help your sponsored child develop a sense of confidence and self-worth with the love you express through letters and prayers.
As a Compassion sponsor, you are assured that there is a real connection between you and the specific child you support. The child you sponsor will know your name, write to you and benefit directly from your monthly sponsorship.
Your relationship with your sponsored child makes you a very important person who has a significant role in his or her development. You stand alongside parents, pastors, teachers, family and friends who are taking an active role in encouraging and developing the child.
It costs $32 a month to sponsor a child through Compassion. It's a pretty big commitment but not too big when you think about the incredible difference you can make in a child's life.
All information taken from Compassion International's website has been used with permission.