COMPASSION

We believe students can change the world. One way to actively do that is to partner with quality organizations like Compassion International that have a proven record of impact, recognized integrity and superior fiscal stewardship. Many of our YM360 team sponsor children, and we have seen their work around the world.  We have seen thousands of students that have been difference-makers in the life of a child.

Compassion are advocates for children committed to Jesus Christ in all they do. Jesus is the center of their ministry. His life and teachings shape their programs, reflect the spiritual commitments of their staff, and guide their mission of loving people, respecting communities, and cooperating with nations. They are distinctively Christ-centered, church-based and child-focused. Compassion is the world’s leading voice for holistic child development through sponsorship.

Compassion releases children from poverty in Jesus' name. Through a holistic approach to child development, they carefully blend physical, social, economic, and spiritual care together – all in Jesus' name. Since 1952, Compassion has worked to help children realize their full potential and develop into all God intends them to be.

Compassion works through partnerships with thousands of local churches in 25 countries around the world. Compassion is local-church-based, and they seek to equip the Church to fulfill its role as salt and light. Local churches are best suited to address the needs of the children in their communities because these churches are already located and involved in the communities. Compassion’s local church partners tailor their holistic child development model to the contextualized needs of the children to best deliver the whole-life care they need.

Whole-life care is comprehensive care to help children fully develop and become responsible adults. Whole-life care means they begin, in some cases, with prenatal care and go all the way through young adulthood. While Compassion works primarily through child sponsorship, they also have specific initiatives to help babies and mothers in poverty, to develop future leaders, and to meet critical needs, such as medical assistance (e.g., surgeries, transplants, casts, wheelchairs and canes, cancer treatment, etc.), extra food and nutritional supplements, emergency home repairs and disaster relief, access to clean and safe water, education assistance, and other necessities.

Compassion cares for more than 1.9 million sponsored children through 7,000 international church partners in 25 countries. In Africa, they work in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. In Central America, they work in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua and Mexico. In South America, Compassion’s work is in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. In Asia, they work in Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand. They have over 65 years of serving children in Jesus' name around the world.

When a child is registered in Compassion’s program, the sole beneficiary of the support is the specific sponsored child. They work with the neediest and most vulnerable children that they can reach — the poorest of the poor. Their Child Sponsorship Program (CSP) offers:

• medical checkups and health care
• health and hygiene training
• ongoing Christian training through a local church
• educational assistance, including textbooks, school uniforms, post-secondary courses, tutoring, test and lab supplies, and literacy and financial training for caregivers
• key life skills training
• mentoring and vocational programs
• nutritious food and supplements to protect against malnutrition
• recreational activities and support to develop self-confidence and social skills, protection from crime, violence and danger.
• access to special services like surgeries and disaster relief.

The minimum standards for their Child Sponsorship Program dictate that each church-run Child Development Center provide 4-8 hours of programming each week, at least 48 weeks out of the year, and that individual child attendance be taken each time the center is open. While at these Child Development Centers, the children receive life-changing opportunities that would otherwise be out of their reach that extend their school lessons.

As a Christ-centered charitable organization, Compassion strives to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them. Their financial accountability, reporting processes, and results around the globe are consistently commended. They are a founding member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability* and meet the standards of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance. With God’s blessing, they will continue working to release as many children as possible from poverty in Jesus’ name. Compassion is committed to only using money for the purpose for which it was raised, regularly performing program audits to ensure their programs are well managed and funds are properly disbursed and applied, and balancing low administrative and fundraising costs with high-quality programs.

*The ECFA is an accreditation agency promoting fiscal integrity and sound financial practices among its organizations. To earn accreditation, an organization must meet the Seven Standards of Responsible Stewardship outlined by the organization. You can see more at www.ECFA.org

Compassion has found that the most effective way to release children from poverty is through a one-to-one relationship between a sponsor and a child. They commit to connect each child in their program to only one sponsor at a time, to help sponsors cultivate meaningful relationships with the children they sponsor and to help sponsors understand the effects poverty has on children. They believe the protection of children is central to God’s heart for them. They commit to protecting the children in their programs from all forms of abuse and exploitation, to intervene quickly and to seek restoration and healing for children affected by abuse. They believe it's important to uphold the dignity of these children and their families. Compassion commits to handle the issue of poverty in people's lives with respect and to portray them in ways that express their need while maintaining their dignity.

No. Children are welcome to participate in a Compassion-assisted child development center regardless of their faith. Compassion's program, however, is unapologetically Christian, and every Compassion center is connected to a Christian church or ministry. They want children to have the opportunity to see living faith in action, hear the gospel, and be discipled in the ways of Christ. Because Jesus is Compassion’s core, everything they do for children is meant to reflect God's heart. This way of living is modeled and shared with the beneficiaries of Compassion programs in age-appropriate, culturally relevant ways without coercion or manipulation. All the checkups for physical care, the safe environments for play and interaction, the regular mentoring and tutoring – all Compassion’s work is done in alignment with the teaching of Jesus to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40).

Sponsoring a child costs $38 a month. It's a significant commitment, but the incredible difference it makes in the life of a child is invaluable and proven. Our team at YM360 has found that when a young person wants to make a difference in the life of a child, they have numerous ways to make it happen. As a Christ-centered charitable organization, Compassion strives to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to them. With God’s blessing and ongoing support of sponsors, they will continue working to release as many children as possible from poverty in Jesus’ name. Often people believe that poverty is a lack of money, but in reality it is an absence of hope. The $38 monthly sponsorship not only provides physical needs, but it ultimately gives hope to a child in need.