A letter. Who knew something so simple, so easy could make such an impact. Impacting lives, transforming generations. That is what these letters do.
Do you know that for some children, their sweet little ears NEVER hear the words “I love you”?
Did you know there are children who have never heard an encouraging word?
“I believe in you”
“You can do it”
Can you believe that receiving a letter with these simple words could change someone’s life forever? Change a child’s life forever.
A word. It changes. Words are powerful. They are so powerful, God used them to create the world. He could have used any means, but he chose words. Words are so important that God Himself wrote us a love letter as the means to give Himself to us.
He wrote us a letter.
Your words on a page. Will change a child. Don’t take it from me, listen to what Jimmy said about his sponsor’s words to him…
“This letter defined the rest of my life, who I am today. He mapped my whole vision for life in these few words. From then my life was a different life.”
His sponsor stood in the gap for him. He became that bridge , that hope, that path to the future. Are you ready to stand in the gap?
In the very beginning I thought of my part of the sponsorship as just money. I do my part by making sure the money gets sent to my child and that is good enough. But this week what I have seen and heard from these children is quite different. For them it isn’t money from someone far away. For these children, it is a relationship, a hope and a future. It is someone who cares enough to stand in the gap of their need.
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and keep oneself from being polluted by the world. ~ James 1:27
That is it. That is what we are called to do. I believe something radical needs to take place for the least of these, for the children. But guess what? It needs to start with me, it needs to start with you. If we don’t do it, who will? If the church, doesn’t step forward and offer to stand in, then it is not the church.
You can change the world today and you can do it by sponsoring a child.
Please sponsor a Compassion child today.
I am loving being in fellowship with these amazing women this week. So glad to call them my friends. Make sure you check out Christy, Edie and Traci’s blogs and their wonderful stories from this week.
Shaun’s post about how Nicaragua was changed forever by a boy and his nanny will absolutely bring you to tears. A must-read.
And pictures, oh the beautiful and poignant pictures by Kelly Marie, they capture our trip better than any words could.
We are nearing the end of our week, we are emotionally and physically exhausted, but know that your words have brought so much encouragement to us all. Thank you for all you do by praying, commenting and encouraging us along the way.
Read more about my trip:
Day 1 – Marcos’ Story: The Impact of Compassion on a Child
Day 2 – A Hope for the Future
Day 3 – Too Much to Tell
As a Compassion Advocate, we continually hear how our letters make a huge impact on our sponsored children. And this post confirms it! I know how we love finding cream colored envelopes in our mail box, can you even imagine how much joy these kids feel when they receive a letter from one of us?
Yes, I can imagine, because I got to see their sweet faces! It was so impactful for me to see it, and to know that my letters will mean the difference in the path of their lives. I am the person who fills that gap, and the bridge needs to be strong.
S i g h…
I’ve sponsored children for years and had the highest honor of traveling to write on behalf of Compassion; and still, writing letters comes so hard for me (and I LOVE words!). Thank you for reminding me of what I already know to be true, what I believe at my core–that those words make a life-changing difference in the one who receives them.
I’ll write today. Promise :).
Kelly, thank you for reminding us of the importance of words. How they connect us with our sponsored children. How they can build up, encourage and inspire. Praying specifically for all sponsors, myself included, to remember to use words and stand in the gap for these children. Praying for you and the rest of the team.
As an advocate for Compassion, I used to think my “job” was to recruit new sponsors. After going to Peru on a Compassion trip in 2010, I had a paradigm shift. Now I focus more on sponsor encouragement and retention. I have a large supply of letter writing materials and goodies you can send to your sponsored child and freely give these out to friends and family who sponsor kids. On my blog, I regularly post “what to write” ideas with sample letters that people can use and tweak.
Sponsorship is about relationship – money cannot buy relationships.
Thank you so much for writing about this!
Thanks so much for sharing! The video made me cry! I just received a lovely letter from my Compassion Child, Palla and I am working on writing her back. =)
I know, Christy, Edie, Traci and I were sitting around watching it before dinner one night and we were a mess! We were all bawling. It was a beautiful video.
Such an incredible picture of the impact we can have on our sponsor children.
I am quite skeptical when it’s come to sponsoring for I sponsored a child in Bangladesh with plan for 4 years,
Never received anything but emails for more money, to read all the scams out there is truly disturbing
I’ve recently went through a transition in life where I’ve found my love for god, I am not a church goer because I don’t believe in priests but I do attend during hours of peace,
I believe I have developed a 6th sence when it comes to kids as crazy as it sounds to most, I feel compelled to tell someone who may understand, I was lost in life for a very long time devoting all my time into helping others especially children for with children I have an understanding of the way the think and I can nearly 90 percent of times feel when something is up it’s hard explain but I have many cases I have helped already and made lives better and I know for a fact I have a way with words as every time I write to someone important to me I never fail to make them laugh or cry!!
Can I start writing to some children, maybe build relationships and when I learn to trust in such circumstances I will be more than willing to sponsor ??