Sponsorship 101

I've talked a lot about child sponsorship lately, but in case you're unfamiliar with this method of caring for orphans, let me give you a brief overview of what it is.

Sponsorship usually costs around $25-40 a month, and can be applied towards a child's daily needs of food and clothing as well as other related needs such as their nannies' salaries or upkeep at their orphanage. Some children can have multiple sponsors covering the costs, as is the case with the little girl that I sponsor. $35 or so dollars a month can seem like a lot, but when you consider all the little indulgences we treat ourselves to regularly, it really isn't much of a sacrifice. Consider giving up regular Starbucks stops or those Friday nights at the movies and putting that money towards this much worthier cause. It may require a little adjustment on our parts, but I can speak from experience in saying that it is completely worth it.

And who are the children in need of sponsors? The list is endless. There are needy children on every continent of the globe, ranging from newborn babies to older teenagers. Some are orphans with special needs that prevent them from being adopted. Others come from poor families who can't afford to keep them in their homes apart from the sponsorship money they receive. So, if you feel your heart drawn to a particular country or a certain need, go for it. There is certainly a child there waiting for your help!

A sponsor typically receives monthly or quarterly updates which are the means of connecting you with your child. You will often get pictures of your child and be able to track their growth and progress through regular reports. And you will find that your heartstrings gradually entwine themselves to this little person on the other side of the planet. The two little girls I've sponsored have become my "babies," and their pictures often end up on my dresser or inside my scrapbook. In fact, I grew so attached to my first little girl Taylor that I called my new sponsor girl by that name for quite some time, just out of habit. Taylor, though, is happily settled with her family now, and little Margaret has quickly won over my heart with her tiny little pigtails and shy smile. Sponsorship ensures that you will no longer just view these children as statistics or nameless figures of need separated from your life by thousands of miles and diverse cultures. Sponsorship puts faces and names to these orphans, the fatherless ones for whom Jesus has told us to show compassion. We no longer view them as distant, but their needs become very personal and close to our hearts. Sponsorship has given me the ability to see the face of need, to feel the hurt of abandonment, and experience the longing of a heart aching for family in an unparalleled way. And the experience has motivated me to do something about what I see.Will you join me in walking the fields of the fatherless? Come and let your heart break with mine over the plight of the orphan, and let us strive together to bring the Hope of the Gospel and of our adoption as sons into the broken hearts of these precious treasures. You may be called to sponsor a child or you may choose to care for their needs in some other way. But whatever we do, may we never let this need be ignored.

If you would like more information on sponsoring a child, click on one of the following links. There are many more sponsorship programs out there, but this list should get you started:

~Philip Hayden Foundation (working in China): http://www.chinaorphans.org/

~Bethany Christian Services (working across the globe): http://www.bethany.org/

~Holt International (working in several countries): http://www.holtintl.org/

~Children of the Promise (working in Haiti): http://www.childrenofthepromise.org/ Note: This ministry does not list itself as a member of the Evangelical Council of Financial Accountability, so you may want to check that out beforehand)

You can also click on this link to see a list of other orphan care ministries who might need

sponsors.

Top photo of my sponsor child Margaret. Used with permission of the Philip Hayden Foundation: http://www.chinaorphans.org/.