Child sponsorship works by providing the consistent care children need to grow into healthy, self-sufficient adults equipped to escape poverty.
Local churches deliver consistent care, meeting immediate needs like nutrition and education while sharing the hope of the gospel.
The impact multiplies, as sponsored children become thriving followers of Jesus who help others leave poverty behind too.
Does child sponsorship work when it comes to fighting poverty? Yes — child sponsorship equips children to fight poverty with the consistent spiritual, physical, emotional and mental care they need to grow into healthy, self-sufficient adults.
This care includes meeting their immediate needs, such as nutrition, and preparing them for the future through education. With these needs met, children can become thriving followers of Jesus, empowered to overcome poverty and help others do the same.
Compassion International Child Sponsorship Quick Facts
Compassion International is a Christian ministry dedicated to releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Compassion currently serves over 2.4 million children in 29 countries (and counting) through our child sponsorship program.
Compassion partners with local churches in impoverished communities around the world to empower children with care.
The children in our sponsorship program hear the gospel, receive medical care, education, protection from abuse, nutrition support, disaster relief and are welcomed into a safe community where they’re encouraged to develop a voice of their own.
Child sponsors equip local churches to provide consistent care to vulnerable children and can encourage children through prayer and letters.
In the past 74 years, we’ve witnessed countless lives changed through child sponsorship. Many children have become changemakers in their communities, going on to help release even more children from poverty.
In a survey of 99 Compassion alumni in the Dominican Republic, 97% of those surveyed said they were released from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Child Sponsorship: The Gospel in Action, Within the Church, Transforming Lives
How does child sponsorship work? At face value, child sponsorship may seem like simply donating to a child monthly. And while this is partly true, child sponsorship is so much more than financial aid.
When sponsored, a child experiences the gospel in action as their local church steps into their life with consistent, Christ-like care, preparing them for a brighter future beyond poverty.
Want to dive deeper? Learn more about child sponsorship through Compassion.
The Gospel in Action
Jesus had compassion on the vulnerable. Not only did he fulfill their right-now needs, like the need for healing or a meal, but he also shared the good news of the gospel with them, offering eternal hope.
Jesus shared the gospel in word and action. Compassion’s child sponsorship program does too.
Through sponsorship, children don’t just receive nutritious meals, medical care or school supplies. They also meet Jesus — their Daily Bread, Healer and Provider — giving them hope today and changing how they live forever.
Consistent Care at the Local Church
At Compassion, the gospel is shared in word and action by local churches already established in impoverished communities. In fact, we partner exclusively with these churches.
Why? In remote communities around the world, the church is often the only support system for vulnerable children and their families. And they don’t offer care and then leave. Instead, they stay, providing consistent care and encouragement as children grow.
Right-Now Care & Preparation for the Future
Child sponsorship equips these local churches to care for a child’s immediate needs and prepare them for a brighter future beyond poverty. Here’s what child sponsorship provides to every child in our program:
The hope of the gospel: Children hear the gospel and experience Jesus’ love for them through hands-on care, encouragement, and prayer. Each child also receives a Bible of their very own.
Protection from abuse: Children are surrounded by loving adults who are trained in child protection. These adults keep them safe and teach them how to advocate for themselves.
Physical care: Children are monitored for malnutrition and receive intervention (such as therapeutic feeding) when necessary. They’re also given a yearly medical checkup and receive care whenever they’re sick or injured.
Disaster relief: When crises strike, children receive emergency disaster relief, including safe water, shelter, food and trauma counseling to help them heal.
Education: Each child receives a quality education that empowers them to reach for their dreams and become self-sufficient adults. Sponsorship offers a range of educational support from school supplies and tutoring to vocational training.
Family, Community & Nation Transformation
With their needs met, children grow into adults with the skills, resources and confidence needed to walk out of poverty. And in many cases, they take their families with them.
These same adults often become changemakers outside of their homes. At Compassion, we’ve watched children break the chains of poverty to become doctors, business owners and even members of Parliament, working to transform communities and even nations with the same love and hope they received from Christ.
Does Child Sponsorship Work?
By providing faithful, consistent care as a child grows, child sponsorship empowers them to step into a future beyond poverty.
In a survey of 99 Compassion alumni in the Dominican Republic, 97% of those surveyed said they were released from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Before enrolling in the Compassion program, only 6.3% of participants surveyed described their lives positively. But 93% of those surveyed said their lives were changed because of the program.
The lives changed by the program multiply across families and communities. Out of those surveyed, 92% said they are now able to give their children a better life. And 90% said they now serve in their communities, with 73% doing so at least weekly.
Child sponsorship not only breaks poverty off the lives of children, but it also breaks the cycle of poverty in the generations that follow.
Interested in even more proof? See Compassion’s impact.
Sponsorship Releases Children From Poverty in Jesus’ Name
Impact data doesn’t truly paint the whole picture of the life change child sponsorship brings. In fact, nothing shows the transformation quite like the true stories of those who have experienced it.
Meet Emanuel, Justine and Frizky, three Compassion program alumni who have stepped out of poverty and are now helping others follow.
Emanuel
Emanuel had a dream of becoming a teacher. But growing up in poverty in Tanzania, his family struggled to afford food, let alone an education. After being registered in the Compassion program, Emanuel was able to attend school and reach for his dreams.
After the local government canceled the learning program he needed to obtain a teaching certificate, Emanuel thought his dreams were over. But when he found his love for welding and received training and supplies at his Compassion center to perfect his craft, a new dream surfaced.
This dream helped him provide for his family while equipping him to become the teacher he always wanted to be.
Justine
Justine from Rwanda suffered as a child from her father’s violence and battles with alcohol. He abandoned the family, leaving her mother as the sole provider. Gnawing hunger was the norm for the family, even as Justine’s mother worked tirelessly to meet their needs.
Things changed when Justine was registered in the Compassion program. She was fed, encouraged and enrolled in school where she excelled. After graduating with a university degree, she began working as an advocate for children.
Now, she helps connect children to Christian education, equipping them to break the cycle of poverty in their lives too.
Frizky
Frizky from Indonesia was abandoned by his parents and raised by his grandparents, who struggled to meet his basic needs. When he entered the Compassion program at the age of 8, his trauma left him feeling inferior and worthless.
Through consistent love, care and spiritual guidance, he slowly learned to forgive his parents, rebuild his confidence and see himself through God’s eyes. And soon, his gifts took root.
After studying agriculture in college, his idea of growing a hydroponic garden at the Compassion center blossomed, becoming a source of food and income that is still impacting his community today.
Child sponsorship works to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name. And it’s all because the hands and feet of Christ are empowered to care for children as Jesus would.
