When you’re a kid sitting at the dinner table, staring at that terrible pile of green peas that you must eat before being excused, hearing that there are starving children all over the world so you should eat your food is hardly good motivation. They wouldn’t want to eat it either, you think.
But then, give that poverty-stricken child a face.
Compassion International does exactly that, bringing children from all over the world to your fingertips. You see big eyes and a child clad in a school uniform, standing stiffly before the camera. You can almost see their longing for someone to choose them from the pile of other photos of children. For only $38 a month, you can sponsor a child who faces all or some of the hardships that we would never want for own children.
Your money provides the child with medical checkups, nutritious food, health and hygiene training, educational assistance, mentoring, and more. But more than that, your money shows a child that someone does actually care for them, so much so, that you’re willing to invest money into their lives, bettering their living environment and health.
A friend of mine traveled to visit a village in Ecuador with Compassion International, and she was stunned by how the organization ran. As a kid of missionaries, my friend has seen many do-gooders not do a lot of good for a people. But in this case, she came back home raving about Compassion International’s system for partnering with children, families, and communities. The organization focuses in creating a partnership with the local church, sending all supplies and resources through the church rather than broadcasting their own name through the area. This type of support is less intrusive, and allows for the actual culture to be more instrumental in the relief than an organization superimposing its own cultural norms onto this other society.
I support a child through Compassion International. One of my favorite things about it is writing and receiving letters to and from my 12-year-old, Spanish-speaking child. I’ve never met him. I wish I could sponsor more children; yet, I cannot so I must believe in the power of impacting one life at a time.
I guess that pile of peas doesn’t seem so bad after all.
What About You?
Do you sponsor a child? If not, what’s keeping you from this enriching experience?
[…] I’ve realized that this organization has set itself apart from others (I wrote a bit about it here). My dear friend, Sabrina, whom I met while in university, has taken two trips with Compassion over […]