How You Can Show Compassion
There are endless ways to show compassion for others. For example, having compassion may mean seeing someone grieving a loss and moving to share a hug or make them a meal.
It may mean seeing someone who’s hurt and stopping to lend a hand. Or it can mean seeing a hungry child and providing the critical food and care they need.
Want to teach your kids how to be compassionate? Check out this resource.
How We Act Compassionately for Children in Poverty
At Compassion International, we believe that every child should be known, loved and protected. But millions of children across the world live in poverty, suffering from hunger, contaminated water and more. They’re unable to go to school, and they’ve lost hope that things will ever change.
We feel deep compassion for them. And that’s why we champion child sponsorship.
Every day, millions of these children’s lives are being changed by compassionate people who choose to participate in our Child Sponsorship Program.
Sponsors empower thousands of local churches in low- and middle-income countries to specifically and uniquely care for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of impoverished children.
As a result, each child can fully mature in every facet of life — and break the cycle of poverty once and for all. The benefits of our Child Sponsorship Program include:
- The opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus: The gospel changes everything. By hearing it, children find eternal hope in Jesus despite their circumstances.
- Better health: Children stricken by poverty are highly vulnerable to disease and are without medical care. Sponsorship provides yearly checkups, access to emergency care and more to ensure children can be physically well.
- Better nutrition: Children in our sponsorship program are monitored for malnutrition and provided with the healthy food they need to grow.
- Safety and protection: Children living in poverty are vulnerable to abuse and violence. Through sponsorship, we’re able to intervene in cases of abuse, provide child protection training and deliver spiritual and emotional support to victims as they heal.
- Educational and vocational support: Children need quality educations to break the cycle of poverty. Sponsorship provides tuition, skills training, tutoring and supplies so children can attend school and grow into self-sufficient adults.
The Compassion Story
More than 70 years ago, our founder, Rev. Everett Swanson, flew from Chicago to South Korea to minister to American troops fighting in the Korean War.
While there, he saw war orphans freezing on the streets, abandoned by society. And he was deeply disturbed by their suffering.
Fueled by compassion and unable to turn his back on the suffering children he saw, Rev. Swanson took action by creating Compassion’s sponsorship program.
Today, you can also live out the meaning of compassion by sponsoring a child.
Live Out the True Meaning of Compassion: Sponsor a Child
When you sponsor a child, you’re personally connected with a boy or girl who will know your name and experience hope through your support.
Sponsoring a child allows you to compassionately care for them through your prayers, letters and financial support. Through sponsorship, you can show a child just how loved and cherished they are by God.
All it takes is one simple act of compassion to change the future for a child and your life too.
"There are so many kids around the world in need! Through Compassion sponsorship, you can meet not only the basic needs of a child, but you can give a child hope ... most importantly, you can introduce that child to eternal hope through Jesus." — Christian recording artist Jeremy Camp