“You don’t sponsor any children? You do understand that for only $40 you can change a person’s life. Why wouldn’t you do that?” – Child Sponsor

In an effort to learn more about child sponsorship, I recently spent a week in Peru with Compassion International.  On a vision trip like this, the staff is on best behavior, the red carpet gets pulled out, the church reps are ultra caring and everyone wants to leave a good impression for the new guests. While this is nice and makes sense, it doesn’t necessarily help the guest (me) get an accurate impression of what is really going on. However, there are ways around this. I’ve often found the best, most unbiased information is found from those who are being served by the organization itself.

While having lunch one afternoon, several pastors including myself were sitting across the table from individuals who had been sponsored from very young ages and who had now graduated from college and were giving back to Compassion through volunteering where needed.

During lunch, one of the girls asked the group of pastors how many children we each sponsored. What I loved about her question was that it was filled with excitement and almost a sense of “I’m throwing you a perfect slow pitch so you can knock this out of the stadium” feel. When the first pastor to respond said he currently wasn’t sponsoring anyone, the girl’s expression was that of utter unbelief. With all genuineness and kindness she responded by saying, “You don’t sponsor any children? You do understand that for only $40 a month you can change a person’s life. Why wouldn’t you do that?”

In any other circumstance, this seems pretty aggressive and not polite, but in this moment it was merely genuine confusion. I still laugh thinking about the look on the pastor’s face and how he had no words. :) Her response was first hand evidence of how critically important it is for us to sponsor children.

We talk a lot in America about how to invest our money well. While I may not be certified to help you get a +7% return this year on your money, I can personally testify that your return on investment with sponsorship is guaranteed and will have massive returns for both you and the children you choose to bless. 

Matthew 6:21 – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”