Compassion International: Making a Difference in the Lives of Children
By Amber Swinehamer
When I first heard about Compassion International, I was a bit skeptical: So I give you money, and you claim to send it to some child in a poverty-stricken country, and I probably get some form letter sent back to me, right? I was born at night, but not last night, baby. But, I decided to do some independent research and pray about it. Once I felt confident that the program was legit and that God kept nudging me to move forward with it, I knew it was something that I wanted to get my family involved in.
You can choose which child you wish to sponsor through the Compassion International website by filtering search results by length of time the child has been waiting for a sponsor, by country, by gender, and even by date of birth. Because I wanted the whole family to participate in the sponsorship, I chose to search by date of birth, using our then 6-year-old’s birthday. The results popped up, and my eyes immediately went to a photo of little Donald, from Haiti, in his red dress shirt and bowtie.
We donate monthly to Compassion International, which pairs up with local churches in the child’s community, and the funding provides educational resources, health care and supplements, and recreational activities, in addition to Christ-centered education. Beyond the monetary donation, our family writes letters to Donald. There is a language barrier (he speaks French), and he is still too young to compose complete letters. But he sends us worksheets back that he draws pictures on or answers questions on. The answers are then translated into English and sent to us. We love seeing what Donald is up to, and it makes me smile when I walk to my mailbox and see that our child has sent us another letter.
I pray for Donald, much like I pray for my own son. I pray for him to be kind, to be a good student, and to focus while he’s in class. I pray for him to pay attention in his church lessons and for him to know he’s loved by not only his family and his sponsor’s family but by Jesus as well. But because of his poverty circumstances, I also pray a lot differently for him. I pray that he has enough food to eat, that his family stays healthy and that he remains safe. There has been an influx of danger in Haiti recently. Because of the recent political uprising and natural disasters in Haiti, I pray now more than ever for Donald’s safety.
COVID financial restraints have affected a lot of Compassion International kids. Sponsors have lost jobs and income, therefore making them unable to retain their monthly commitments. If you feel led to sponsor one of these children or one of the thousands of others waiting for sponsorship, please visit Compassion International’s website here.
Amber Swinehamer is a stay-at-home mom and resides in Bluffton, South Carolina, with her husband David and two sons. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, live music, Atlanta Braves baseball, and all things Washington, D.C.