04 May You Can Release a Child From Poverty with $38/Month

Did you know that 400,000,000 children live in extreme poverty? That’s a lot of zeros. 400,000,000 also don’t have access to clean drinking water, resulting in 4,000 preventable child deaths a day.

Just let that sink in for a second.

It’s easy to look at statistics like this and think: There’s no way I can make a difference. The problem with thoughts like this is when we feel like we can’t solve everything, we do nothing.

But, the reality is, as more people do something, everything starts to change. That’s one of the reasons we love partnering with Compassion International because they make it so simple for anyone to make a difference.

Compassion International is a church based, child focused, and Christ centered organization, committed to fighting extreme childhood poverty. For over 65 years, Compassion International has provided physical, social, economic, and spiritual care to child victims of extreme poverty. Over 6,700 churches internationally have decided to partner with Compassion International in this effort. It started with one person, but now 1,800,000 children have received holistic care because many people have committed to join the fight and do something.

You can do something too. You can change a child’s story with just $38 a month.

Think about what you spend $38 a month on. Do you go out to eat once a week for $10 a meal? Or go to Starbuck 6 times a month? How about a trip to the movies with a few snacks? Or did you buy that new shirt you’ve been wanting?

While none of these things are bad, you can make a huge impact with that $38 dollars by sponsoring a child through Compassion. This $38 provides medical care, nourishing food, an opportunity for a child to attend school, a safe environment through a local evangelical church, and most importantly, opportunities to hear about Jesus.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better way to spend that $38 a month.

One of my favorite things about Compassion International is that you aren’t just writing a check each month. You can actually build a relationship with the child you sponsor. You receive pictures, updates, and letters, and are encouraged to send the same back. There are some folks who are a part of United that already sponsor Compassion children.

Check out what one of these families said:

“Our 1st child graduated the program last year. So bittersweet. MayAnn keeps in touch with us still through Facebook. It’s cool to see her become successful and a happy adult. She was our child before we had a child of our own. We picked her because she was an older child, about 10, when we picked her. I loved getting pictures of her family. It was rare, but so sweet to see our impact not just on her, but her family. I loved learning from her too. Her faith is strong. We helped her and she helped us. …. Our other child is Jordy. He lives in Ecuador. I was so thankful to support him when the big earthquake hit there. We stepped it up then and gave to support not just him, but his families needs at the time and some of the town needs. It felt so personal when that earthquake hit. These kids really do become like family.”

-The Heistands

God’s heart is to care for the children, the poor, and the oppressed (Isaiah 1:17; Proverbs 14:31; Matthew 19:13-14). He also calls us to action in caring for our brothers and sisters, and he doesn’t draw a line where that begins or ends (1 John 3:17). This is why we believe so strongly in the mission of Compassion International, and why we are so excited to continue to partner with them.

Last weekend we celebrated Compassion Sunday at United, and 44 people committed to being a Compassion sponsor. It was incredible! But here’s the thing, there are still more children in need of help today and you still have the opportunity to become a sponsor. Don’t miss your chance. You can sponsor a child this Sunday at our Compassion table, or you can find out more information by emailing our Community Impact Director, Leah, at Leah@UnitedChurchMd.org.