I recently became a mom. It’s been the greatest thing ever…and the hardest thing ever. My daughter has just started copying what I do — it’s the most precious thing in the world!

I’ll blow air out of my mouth and she will try to do the same. It makes me proud to see my daughter growing and learning and to watch her little personality blossom.

It’s no different with our sponsored children. It’s awesome to watch them grow and get to know them.

Just recently, I received a letter from our little boy in Tanzania. He wrote,

“I loved the picture of your daughter, but she looks funny.”

I’m guessing he meant that she looks different from other babies he has seen, but my husband and I got the biggest laugh out of it.

Recently, some of our sponsors shared some funny things that their children had written in letters:

“I sent some pictures of camels and got asked how our camel was and if it lived inside or outside our house.”

“The child wanted to know how flush toilets worked, if we had one, and did we like to play with it. This same child somehow managed to decapitate a statue of Mary and was worried about killing God’s mother.”

“The answer to the question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ was ‘I want to be a fish, but I’ve never seen one.’ The same child advised not to eat udon because it looked like tapeworms and these are really bad for you.”

“A child in Indonesia wanted to know if people in Canada had hair on their feet to protect them from the cold.”

Another child asked,

“Is math the same in every country?”

“When you come to visit me, I am having chocolate ice cream and you are having strawberry and banana because strawberry and banana is my second favorite and you can share yours with me.”

“What language do your dogs speak? Ours speak Spanish.”

“Is Japanese English with strange writing?”

A child in Kenya wrote a sponsor in Japan,

“I think you should come visit me. It would only take 10 minutes or maybe an hour and that is not very far.”

Sponsored child laughing

Children say the darndest things don’t they? Share your funny quotes in comments below.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

A question we sometimes hear from sponsors is,

“What happens to unsponsored children?”

Do they have to wait to receive benefits until a sponsor is found? What if someone stops sponsoring — does that child lose benefits until a new sponsor is found?

The answer to those questions is a resounding “No!”

We have some generous supporters who give to the Unsponsored Children’s Fund.

Through this fund, children begin to receive benefits as soon as they are registered in our sponsorship program. It can take months — and sometimes even over a year — for a child to be sponsored.

Until a sponsor is found, these children receive the same care that sponsored children receive, including medical care, educational opportunities, nutritious meals, and a chance to learn about God’s love for them.

When someone stops sponsoring, this fund also fills the gap so children can continue to receive support until a new sponsor is found.

For 9-year-old Happy*, this fund helped save her life.

She lived in one of the poorest villages in Togo. Happy’s father had four wives and too many kids to care for. The children were left to fend for themselves. Happy would eat clay for lack of any real food to fill her stomach. When her aunt Dunya came to visit, she found Happy with red hair and a bloated belly from malnutrition and parasites.

Dunya rescued Happy from this situation and took her home with her to the village of Hohotoé, with plans to return for Happy’s sister. But when Dunya returned, Happy’s sister had already died.

Happy’s aunt and uncle did their best to provide for her. But her uncle is an out-of-work driver and her aunt’s business making mats doesn’t earn much, so although Happy’s situation was far better than it was at home, there were still many things they couldn’t provide for Happy.

Several months after she arrived in Hohotoé, Happy was registered at one of our child development centers. When she arrived at the center, she was obviously ill, so the staff ensured that she received the medical treatment she needed for parasites.

She also receives supplementary food through the center to help her overcome malnutrition.

And this year, Happy will start school, something she couldn’t have dreamed of at home in the village.

We have provided her with a school bag, uniforms, notebooks, slates, books and pens.

Happy is still unsponsored, and all this has been provided through the Unsponsored Children’s Fund. She waits with great hope for the day she’ll have a sponsor and will receive personal, loving support through letters.

Tutors at the child development centers know how discouraging it can be for unsponsored children when other kids receive letters and they don’t. So they put extra care into letting these children know that they are special and loved.

The tutors also pray with the children as they wait for sponsors.

They see the huge difference that a loving sponsor makes in the life of a child, and they beseech God to bring sponsors to all of the children still waiting.

But until a sponsor is found, the Unsponsored Children’s Fund allows vulnerable children like Happy to begin flourishing in God’s love with the support they need.

*Happy’s story courtesy of Bernard Gbaga, Field Communications Specialist.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

What makes us different from other child sponsorship organizations is that we are Christ-centered, child-focused and church based.

In this chapel service, staff members, Kurt Birky, Emily Sarmiento and Bob Cleary, spend some time sharing the “Child Focused” perspective of our ministry.

Subscribe to the audio podcast of our chapel messages via iTunes.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Hannifah has suffered much. Born in Uganda with HIV/AIDS, she lost her mother when she was only a month old. She was a very sickly child, always being taken to hospital. Her father considered her a burden.

Hannifah’s father remarried, and when Hannifah and his new wife had one too many misunderstandings, Hannifah was thrown out of the house at only 17. With nowhere to go, she lived in abandoned, unfinished buildings.

Along the way, she met Mike and started living with him. Within a few months, she was pregnant.

During her early pregnancy, Hannifah’s sickness increased. Mike was terrified thinking that she was going to die, so he threw her out of his house.

Seeking help from the church where she used to attend prayer meeting, Hannifah talked to the pastor, who let her sleep at the church while providing her with food for several months.

Together with the church counselor, who was very close to Hannifah, they approached the local council of defense to seek help. The council talked to Mike, who agreed to take Hannifah back. Mike, however, did not have much to offer her. She had many needs because of her illness and he earned very little to support her.

The church counselor connected her with our Child Survival Program at the Full Gospel Church Masaka where she received treatment and transport to the hospital. Whenever she went to the hospital, she stayed at least two weeks.

Hannifah gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Deborah. Her family could only afford one or two meals a day, yet her condition required that she have proper nutrition so we provided her with food, care and support. Without our program, she could not have survived.

By the time Hannifah’s baby was 3 years old, Hannifah was pregnant again. When a child turns three in the Child Survival Program, he or she graduates from the program. However, Hannifah was still in dire need. She had no food and was sick.

Compounding Hannifah’s problems was the fact her husband would often beat her. The two had many conflicts and there was no peace at home. Because they had not paid rent, they were forced to leave their home. When Mike took everything and abandoned Hannifah, she ran to us for help.

Staff members decided to register Hannifah in our program a second time. It is not common to register a mother more than once, because there are many vulnerable children and mothers in the community. However, without the Child Survival Program’s help, Hannifah and her unborn child would not have survived.

We requested Highly Vulnerable Children funds to help support Hannifah, and our staff rented a house for her for one year, gave her food on a monthly basis, bought her bedding, and provided for other basic needs.

Seven months into her pregnancy, her condition worsened and she was rushed to the hospital. She could not move and was not expected to live. She delivered her baby prematurely, a girl named Joy who weighed only 1 kilogram (approximately 2 pounds). Hannifah spent a month in the hospital with the baby, under treatment and observation.

We took care of her medical bills, something she could not have managed. The Child Survival Program also provided milk for Joy, because the doctor advised Hannifah not to breastfeed due to her HIV status. She was also given food on a monthly basis, some baby bottles and clothing.

We visited her every week to ensure she was well.

When Hannifah regained energy, she started a small business washing clothes. For two basins of laundry, she earned an average of 2,500 Ugandan shillings (less than $1 US). However, she did not have energy to wash clothes every day.

Eventually the rent the Child Survival Program had paid for her expired, and she had to fend for herself. Using the money from her small business, Hannifah started paying her rent. Unfortunately, she fell sick once again and was admitted to the hospital for an entire month. By the time she came back, her landlords had thrown her out of the house.

Our staff asked Mike to intervene, and he let her stay in one of the rooms of his late grandfather’s house, which is where Hannifah still lives today. The children have since grown and Joy is very healthy.

Hannifah is a happier woman.

“I gave birth to Joy when I was going to die. I was very sick and she was born with a fever. She also used to breathe badly and the doctor said she had pneumonia.

Every week, the staff visited me and gave me food. They cared so much until Joy grew. I didn’t know she would survive. Without the Child Survival Program, I think we would have died.”

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Roberto was born with Down’s syndrome. He currently attends the El Triángulo Foundation Monday through Friday where he is learning different skills in order to prepare for a job placement. The Ecuadorian Law of Disabilities provides people with disabilities help to access a job.

In order to improve his social skills, Roberto participates in theater workshops. He also enjoys baking, an activity in which he has shown talent and which could someday become his future profession.

When he was 6 years old, Roberto became involved in our program where he was welcomed, taken care of and respected. Although her little one was safe at the child development center, Roberto’s mother, Victoria thought she should be closer to take care of him, so she volunteered with the local Compassion program.

The other children embraced him without hesitation, but it was evident that Roberto required skilled assistance. Alba, the child development center director at the time, recommended that Roberto’s family take him to the El Triángulo Foundation.

Victoria refused to do so because she thought it was risky for a child with disabilities to go to an unknown place without his mother’s support. Then a tragic event occurred that changed the life of Roberto and his family. Victoria died due to kidney failure and Roberto, his sister, Karen, and his father, Ramón, were devastated.

Karen recalls with tears in her eyes,

“I got too depressed and I ignored everything. After two or three weeks of this sad event, Roberto began to ask for his mother and burst into tears. He cried every night calling out for his mother, and my dad and I had to comfort him.”

The entire family had to reorganize themselves. Ramón asked permission to work at home and assist his two children. But in the course of time, he realized that the task of caring for a young man with disabilities was complicated, so he asked for our help.

“I was forced to seek a place that could help Roberto and the El Triángulo Foundation, suggested by Compassion, was the best place. I believe this was the right decision for my son.”

Ramón made all the required arrangements so that Roberto could attend El Triángulo. We supported him the first year with the total payment of the tuition. The following school year, Ramón was able to bear part of the expenses and we supported him with the rest.

Roberto continues attending the child development center on Fridays and gets medical checkups, food and the glasses he needs.

His adjustment to attending the Foundation has been hard though. Johana, one of his teachers tells us,

“At the beginning he was a very negative person and did not want to be part of the group. He ignored instructions; his attention was scattered. His adjustment was hard and communication was his biggest problem.”

El Triángulo has helped Roberto a lot, and currently he shows good potential to develop emotionally, socially and at work. Johana continues,

“He is now adjusted and stable; he cooperates and participates in activities. He has improved a lot. If I place him in a certain work area, he cooperates. Maybe he doesn’t do it perfectly, but he does it. His emotional skills have also improved. I hope he keeps moving forward, I have high expectations for him.”

With respect to his verbal communication, which is Roberto’s main problem, Johana is convinced that the young man can learn to interact by other means: cards, gestures or images. These tools will enable him to achieve more effective communication with people around him.

Ramón feels happy about the visible progress his son has made and is grateful for the special opportunity with the El Triángulo Foundation. He is confident because he knows that his son now has more possibilities to develop and move forward in life than he has ever had before.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

The value of family in the life of a child is priceless. And because of the lies of poverty, the value of family in a child’s life often suffers.

Some of our best blog posts have tackled this topic through the years. From reasons why sponsorship benefits a family living in the developing world, to an entire family embracing their sponsored child, the value of family is a theme you will often see woven into the stories we share.

We took the liberty of choosing some of our best family-related blog posts for you. As you read them, please think about this question and share your thoughts in the comments:

“What about family is most valuable to you?”

Lifting the Burden of the Family By One

Our child development activities in developing countries are facilitated by the local church. We don’t work through missionaries, and every child is guaranteed to be taught the Gospel. Whether children accept the Gospel is up to them. We work with the poorest of the poor to change the community inside out…starting with the kids and moving into the family.

Cherish Family

We cannot do global child development and neglect our own families. God would not be honored if we poured ourselves into the world’s children and neglected our own.

“If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?” – 1 Timothy 3:5, NIV

How Deep Does Compassion Run in Your Family?

We had grown up with Nuy, reading her letters around the dinner table and praying for her.

I didn’t know what to expect when we met her, knowing she had grown up in poverty. And when I saw her, right in front of me — beautiful, intelligent, nicely dressed — I wondered if she’d really needed us.

Then I realized, it worked. It really worked. She’s no longer in poverty.

Yes, she has chosen to stay with her mother in simple surroundings, caring for two small nephews, but she has a good job, is supporting her family, and is out of poverty. Wow! Compassion works.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Our ministry is Christ-centered, child-focused and church-based. But what does this really mean and how are we set apart, or different, from other child development organizations?

We use the “three C’s” to answer this question, but what one word do you think best describes us?

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

What is beautiful? How is beauty defined? God has made everything beautiful. And this is beauty as defined by God.

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. – 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NLT)

You are more beautiful than you know. And you are so much more than beautiful.

God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. – Genesis 1:27

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the beautiful moms around the world!

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

When Silveria left her hometown in the Peruvian Andes, she and four of her children climbed into a truck and took the long trip toward Lima. Her husband had abandoned them three years prior.

“I went to Lima with the purpose to change my life forever. I used to say to my children, new city, new life.”

Two of her oldest children were already in Lima working and attending school.

After her husband left, life turned into a routine for the family and each day Silveria’s mother, who lived nearby in the village, went to the fields with her four grandchildren.

The family would return around noon to have lunch and enjoy fellowship with Silveria, helping her do the household chores. But one day a man from the town, who knew that Silveria was alone doing her chores, snuck into the house and raped her.

When Silveria and her mother told Silveria’s brothers about this incident, they immediately went to the police station to file a claim. But, the rapist had fled the area.

Some weeks later Silveria discovered that she was pregnant. She felt humiliated and knew that she was going to be segregated by the townspeople. Her oldest brother invited his sister and her four children to come to his home in Lima as soon as possible where he would help her settle in a place near him.

When Silveria and her children arrived in Lima City, she registered at a temporary government program as a bricklayer. Despite being pregnant, she got the job because of her positive attitude. Then she looked for a place to live.

“I was told that the squatter community was being enhanced, so I requested a space to settle there.”

Several weeks later she was given a space to build a home. She worked hard for four months, until she reached the eighth month of her pregnancy and was asked to quit.

“With the money I earned, my brother and oldest son helped me buy some plywood to build a house.”

A neighbor then told her to go to Mount Sinai Church to register with our ministry’s Child Survival Program.

“I was told about the Child Survival Program and all the benefits for the baby and me. The first thing I was taught at the program was that I should have pre-natal check-ups.”

The new baby was born healthy and Silveria tells us, proudly looking at her chubby infant,

“Since I had been working hard as bricklayer, the delivery was faster than my previous deliveries. Shortly before the time I had to deliver, my mother joined us, which was a joy for the family.”

Her brothers decided to send for their mother by bus since she missed her daughter and cried each time she remembered her grandchildren, to whom she is very attached.

One morning, when the baby was around 3 months old, someone else knocked on the door. Silveria felt absolutely stunned, not knowing what to say or to do, because standing on the porch was her husband, who had come to rejoin the family.

“My siblings told my husband of all the things that happened to our family, and he came to us with a repentant heart.”

He apologized to Silveria’s brothers and then came to Lima to gather the family and to apologize to them also.

Now the family is living together and Silveria’s husband is working as a contract laborer at the Lima’s main fruit market, unloading fruit boxes from the trucks. Silveria’s husband enjoys playing with the baby each day after work.

“I notice that my husband has changed, and now he more positive. He even wants to register Manuel as his own son.”

Silveria is happy to have all her family living together again as before, although she would rather live in her hometown.

“I really don’t like Lima. I miss my hometown, its green valley, a spacious house and a nearby river.”

But on the other hand she recognizes that in life nothing is as perfect as we want; we have to lose something to gain another thing.

“Here my children study and work, while in the country there are no opportunities to do either.”

Today, Silveria and her family have gained not only work opportunities and study facilities for the children, but they are living a better quality life thanks to the many donors who have a sensitive heart for the poor through the Child Survival Program.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates