A week-long field trip with Compassion surprised me in unexpected ways, but they all confirmed that Compassion does great work for kids and that all the smiles are real!
Having sponsored a child in Thailand for many years and given other donations, I knew that Compassion’s mission was to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name.
Reading “When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor… and Yourself” by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert made it sound so difficult to release children from poverty. The challenge that stood out to me was avoiding the creation of long-term dependency. The solution required years, if not decades, of dedicated engagement to develop skills, initiative and self-sufficiency, while embracing the local cultural context.
Additionally, Compassion embraces tremendous responsibility when declaring that it works “in Jesus’ name.” This means that it must share the gospel in a culture-independent manner so that the rich diversity of the world’s peoples can be preserved while fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20).
Our visit to Compassion’s operations in Peru revealed an organization that effectively releases children from poverty, enabling them to thrive in their communities while loving Jesus.
First Surprise: Church Partners Are Central
The first thing we realized during our visit was that there was no Compassion without frontline church partners.
Inside Compassion’s child development centers, we witnessed how Compassion was amplifying the local church in being the Church. These frontline church partners are the cornerstone of Compassion’s outreach, and Compassion carefully chooses faithful churches to partner with — it does not happen by accident.
We experienced the result of this careful selection of partners in the love and warmth of the church staff and volunteers that we met. We could not believe how joyful the church’s adults were, especially when the community had so much less of the material wealth that Western cultures chase.
We had uncovered one of Compassion’s secrets to success. Compassion staff finds evangelical churches that are committed to ministering to children. We saw how the program amplifies the passion of local Christians and enables them to serve many more children with opportunities beyond their dreams.
For example, on the outskirts of Cajamarca in northern Peru, we visited a church with only 30 adult members that hosted a Compassion program serving 170 children. The church was not even on Google Maps, but the church members’ passion to care for their community was unmatched.
We saw that each frontline church partner created their own branding for their Compassion-supported child development center, reflecting their Christian embodiment of the local culture. For example, one program was called Herederos de Dios, meaning “Heirs of God” in English (from Romans 8:17).
We could tell that the thriving local church partners understood their community’s needs and would be ministering to generations of children. After visiting several church partners, we spotted common themes from the curriculum, each developed locally, such as images representing creation. Each church’s program focused on unique local needs, leveraging local health initiatives and education.
For example, a priority at high altitudes was treating anemia that impacts childhood development. In contrast, in the Amazon region, clean drinking water is critical as the rivers have been polluted by illegal mining.
See how you can provide safe water for children in need.
Second Surprise: Churches Walk Alongside Children for Years
As any parent knows, a child’s development starts in the womb and continues past their coming of age. Nurturing a baby is as important as providing direction to a teenager. We saw Compassion’s age-appropriate initiatives supporting all stages of a child’s development.
For example, we were told how the Compassion program focuses on the health and education of pregnant moms and their babies. This age group is the most impacted by infant mortality, and the baby’s physical development determines their long-term ability to develop into a healthy adult and be a productive member of their community.
As the child grows, the program at the Compassion child development center focuses holistically on the child’s needs. Specifically, the support addresses spiritual, physical, mental, social and emotional needs. As children grow into teens, classes switch to teaching life skills, oriented towards “building my future” or “learning for life.” We saw that this ranges from cooking, either for home or as a business, to making sellable items like jewelry or soap.
The Compassion curriculum encourages local cultural expression and prioritizes the community’s specific needs. Poverty looks different in the urban sprawl of the dry mountains above Lima compared to the rural lifestyle high in the Andes outside of Cajamarca, and the Compassion model is highly effective in all types of extreme poverty.
Third Surprise: Robust Exit Strategies Avoid Dependency
As my reading of “When Helping Hurts” had highlighted, external help can create dependency. But our visit allowed us to see how Compassion is developing independence at the individual child and church program level.
First, there is the child’s perspective. We had dinner with three alumni from the Compassion program. They had each spent many years as sponsored children with Compassion before going to college.
As I was an engineer, I could relate most to Emerson, who was just starting his civil engineering career. He showed me letters from his sponsoring family, who had shared that they were praying for him and offered encouragement throughout the previous decade. He expressed with heartfelt emotion that their support had enabled him to achieve more than he had dreamed.
Even though support had continued into college, there had been struggles, but he had worked very hard, had graduated and was preparing for his professional exams.
My wife Janet connected well with Lesley through their passion for young children. Lesley was about to start as an elementary school teacher, as Janet had been. Lesley and Emerson loved that they were able to give back by volunteering with a Compassion program at their church.
I struggled to comprehend how these alumni could achieve such milestones, having grown up in homes with dirt floors and no electricity. Their Compassion programs had enabled them to find their own path out of poverty.
One theme we observed throughout the centers was how they remove obstacles and provide opportunities. A heartfelt comment from an older teenager at one of the church partners encapsulated the impact beautifully.
In clear, accented English, she said, “Thank you for your support, as it means we can dream."
Each time I remember that moment, it brings back tears of joy.
Many of the Compassion staff and volunteers we met had been in Compassion programs themselves. The fulfilled dreams of previous Compassion children were impacting future generations through their giving back. As well as seeing the result of children graduating the program, we experienced what churches moving on from Compassion partnership look like.
Having witnessed such thriving Compassion programs, initially the thought of Compassion leaving a church and community was heartbreaking, but what we saw was heartwarming.
We saw this transition in the Lima region, which had risen out of the most extreme poverty, while other regions of Peru had greater need. So, to enable focus on the poorer regions, Compassion was winding down its involvement in Lima. They departed gradually over many years by no longer being involved in a year’s new intake of children, but they continued to support the classes that had started with Compassion until all classes graduated from the Compassion program.
However, instead of leaving the new intake class of children without a program, the local church backfilled with its own programs. Through decades of partnership with Compassion, the church had learned the best practices of developing children in Jesus’ name. It was ready to continue its mission independently of Compassion International, while retaining the vision.
One of the most heartwarming welcomes we received was from a church’s post-Compassion kindergarten class. Church staff were Compassion alumni. Children that Compassion has helped release from poverty will become pastors in their communities, and missionaries or Bible translators in their local, unreached indigenous population.
I imagine that the Great Commission’s task of taking the gospel to these people will, in part, be accomplished by Compassion alumni.
Fourth Surprise: Close-Up Poverty Looks Different
The internet suggests many definitions of poverty, and I have witnessed different forms of it in places ranging from inner-city Houston to post-war Angola. However, none of that provided the insight that visiting the homes of children in Compassion’s programs showed us.
We were welcomed into the simplest dwellings. Chickens ran around the dirt floors. Thin curtains provided a semblance of privacy. In Cajamarca, Maria’s home had a single electric light bulb revealing a mud puddle underneath a leaky roof over the main room.
Maria provided for her family by raising and selling guinea pigs, but she barely earned enough to pay for food, wood for cooking and electricity each month. A small grocery store was just down the street, but Maria could not afford what it sold.
In a community on the outskirts of Lima, we had to climb many flights of stairs to a simple structure. In her home, Eusevia was raising her two sons without running water or sewer access while caring for her 95-year-old mother.
Eusevia’s husband was away most days, working in another part of the city. Even though these families owned so little and struggled to put food on their tables, they were trying their hardest to provide for their children. These simple structures were their homes, and they were making the most of their situation.
Within these communities with challenging living conditions, local churches were a humble but effective contrast. They provided the basic infrastructure of a safe and secure shelter, serving as a meeting place and hosting Compassion’s child development centers.
You can empower local churches to serve families in desperate need. Donate to a cause.
Fifth Surprise: In Peru, Sponsors Were Seen as Godparents
I had wondered what the children thought of us, the visitors from North America. To my surprise, the children and adults kept thanking us so sincerely, feeding us very well and giving us heartfelt gifts.
Even though we did not have a sponsored child in Peru, the children saw us as Compassion supporters who were helping them.
In this region, the children had been encouraged to think of us as a padrino, which translates as “godparent.” I was familiar with the concept of a godparent from growing up in England and the Anglican tradition. I loved the way this title captured someone who took interest in a child’s upbringing, personal development and spiritual formation. It is like the favorite aunt or uncle one has when growing up, who might not actually be related.
I was honored that these children thought of me as a godparent.
What Next?
I think this says more about me than Compassion: One of my takeaways from our visit to Peru was that I can believe what I see on the Compassion website. All of those smiles are real! During the visits, my reserved English background had to adapt quickly to so many strangers wanting to hug me with such sincerity! That warmth reflected Jesus’ love.
Before the trip, I read “Too Small to Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most.” It is the moving biography of Wess Stafford, the past president and CEO of Compassion, in which he explains that caring for children is his passion. One of his closing paragraphs says:
“Every human being needs a cause in life, a passion. If you don’t have something in your life that can make your heart pound, that can move you either to tears of joy or tears of sorrow in about thirty seconds, then my friend, you are not alive ... If you don’t have such a cause or mission in life, then please take mine! I implore you to join me in this battle for the hearts, souls, minds, and bodies of children."
Years ago, with guidance from the Holy Spirit, my wife Janet and I concluded that our cause was our kids. Perhaps it was not by chance that our visit to Peru with Compassion was just days after our daughter’s wedding, with our son’s wedding less than a year from now. I think that Compassion is becoming our new passion!