Compassionate Giving

Last month we decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International.  Compassion is a Christian organization dedicated to providing the basic physical and emotional needs to children in impoverished countries.  The idea is that through the Compassion program the children would be released from their lifestyles of poverty.  Since it's a Christian organization, Compassion works through the local churches.  They have a presence in 26 countries- from Central and South America to Asia and Africa.

Ever since I was in college I've wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion but never did.  Perhaps it was the monthly financial commitment that scared me off or the long-term commitment (through the child's age of 18-22).  Each child in the program is matched with one sponsor and I didn't want to back out once I started a sponsorship, so I never started.....until last month. 

In January, we sat down and updated our monthly budget for 2011.  Once we were done updating our income and expenses, we found we had a small amount left over, so we decided to try out a sponsorship on an older child, which would mean a commitment for just a few years instead of his/her whole childhood.  There are numerous children waiting for sponsors, so how could we decide on just one?  I have a passion for Asia and Central and South America since I've traveled and/or lived in those places.  Africa, on the other hand, has not sparked my interest as much, so that's what we went with- an older child from Africa.  We received pictures of our sponsor child- a girl from Ethiopia- and just sent off our first letter.  We'll correspond back and forth a few times a year and provide monthly financial support in the hopes that we do make a difference in her life.

We are both excited to learn more about her and see how God works through us to touch her life.  Hopefully she'll gain confidence corresponding with us and learn life skills necessary to be successful when she graduates from the Compassion program.  What a cool thing it is to be able to make a difference in the life of one child.  We've added her to our list of nightly prayers- along with our Godson and Goddaughter- and look forward to seeing her end the cycle of poverty.