We have put measures in place to make sure that these goals are being accomplished. I have received two, maybe three pastor letters, over the years, from different pastors and, I think, different countries. Were thrilled about this and I pray that you begin to find your questions being answered in future letters your child writes to you. Im so sorry to hear your story. One way we have increased the speed of letters is by having the letters scanned and sent electronically between the United States and the countries we work in instead of air mailed. While I do think the organization has things they certainly need to improve, it does not justify SPOILED attacks on every little thing they are not doing just exactly to your thoughts, or are doing. Michael, we truly appreciate your heart for our ministry and the care and concern you have for your sweet Danna. I have relatives who are missionaries in Peru. First, I wonder what the person who sponsored this poor child did through 10 years of sponsoring? We're living in the Information Age, and we all know that information can be used for bad or good purposes. Im so sorry to hear that your letters from him have been pretty similar and have not answered your questions :(. Please explain. On account of Compassion UKs handling Ive found myself making extremely tough choices at their expense. Also please provide me with the childs full name, or child number, and the dates of these letters. If compassion International really cared that much for the kids there are enough volunteers available to replace many of their employees. First, Charity Navigator removed revenue growth as a measure they evaluate. Regardless, we do want to thank you for your many years of support! You are probably the only person Kayivi and Inoussa have ever written to. Also the executive director of the Islamic Center at NYU, Latif said his ongoing communication with Turkish and Syrian students, alumni . So Im not sure how much benefit there is to having my reply on here, now. Compassion International Marketing Copywriter II Remote 2d $54K-$67K Per Year (Employer est.) He will receive any gift that you send him. The above post about the CEO receiving a 6 digit salary plus staff taking expensive trips with family concern me. We take integrity very seriously here at Compassion and we are happy to answer any questions you have. Your CEO makes over $330,000 a year. Consequently, I wonder if she received them, so I would probably not sponsor another child, but would give my money locally, so that I could personally see the benefits to a child. Kristin, I am deeply sorry to hear of your doubts and disappointment regarding your childs letters :(. In that regard, Compassion does well. Compassion International received a 4 star rating from Charity Navigator, 10 years in a row. I have a question that you may be able to answer. Jay, I am so sorry for the confusion and frustration that we have caused in regards to your letter writing relationship with this precious little girl. Kelly, I cant afford to give more but i always try to give money for each of my kids. As with any organization of blind giving there is a lot of trust and faith you have to put into the ministry. If you change your preferences to only receive the email notification and view them online, you will no longer receive the paper copy in the mail. I recived these 2 separate letters in the same week. Some are also behind in their schooling because their parents could not afford to send them to school, so they cannot write on their own yet. Nope, those public school fees are paid by the parents (not like the property taxes we have in the us) and compassion only reimburses the family once the fees are paid. But here are some other resources for you to review if you want more information: Note from the Editor: Financial accountability is so important to us, we want to show you our books. They get 100% of the donations we give through their sponsoring organization. Just maybe I need actual proof. I didnt start sponsering my child until July! I have been a sponsor for almost 7 years now. Of course, one of those children will be the youngest sister of my currently sponsored child. I have recently started writing online to eliminate the paper. Hell be thrilled to hear from you and get to know you. I appreciate the blessings I have received and pray earnestly for the continued integrity of Compassion. Wer are both from Grand Rapids Michigan. Hi Dennis! Typically, letters to and from the children take about 2-3 months to be delivered each way. I began a sponsorship in March 2016. I find it unconscionable that you could communicate for ten years and not know of a disability if that is an important issue to you. If you share that you see value in that and encourage them to be able to do so, you may be able to help them feel confident to write on their own. No Megan what she is saying she wants to help the kids, not pay administration. And I can assure you we used to actually write the letters. or give you a full refund? I guess I dont mind it stuff comes in a mass email that goes to everyone on the list but this stuff by mail has got to end. I would further suggest that you check them out on Charity Navigator and look for some of the old articles that have appeared in Christianity today. (Though please do this in addition to your other sponsorship not instead of!!) In Kenya, I visited a host family from P.C.E A Nakuru West church family. I am disappointed to know that you cant do paperless statements. I may be guilty of first-world thinking, as I sit at my computer. I always noticed that the handwriting was somewhat different, but thought he was getting older and perhaps his penmanship was improving. Do the greetings sometimes seemed coached? I sponsor a child in Honduras, Columbia, Haiti and two in Ecuador. My handwriting was terrible at first but then as the years progressed, my penmanship improved. Also, bookmarks will not be translated but sometimes you can find bookmarks in your childs language! I have only been a sponsor for a couple of years. Im becoming concerned, and it would be nice to know if shes okay or if its just the letter writing change thats the problem. By The Numbers. I have been the sponsor of a Iddi Seleman since 2006. If you werent getting responses, did you ask the child why? Please know that you are in my prayers. We sincerely look forward to earning your trust and proving our hearts for serving our sponsors and children with excellence. Trying to invade these families with video chats etc would be very STRANGE on so many levels!!! Each of your letters will bring incredible encouragement to Farel. Now the doubt creeps in. We do take new pictures the children every 2 years and update their information so that you can see how they are growing. Our wonderful field staff there will confirm what her actual grade level is and why she may have said a different grade in her letter to you. Where is that bit of information in the literature? We assign correspondents for sponsors who do not have the time or desire to write, or sometimes a company may sponsor many children and simply cannot write to so many children. I just got my child today, Jacob. We want our program to be effective, so we monitor the child development centers to make sure they are making a difference in the lives of the children we serve. Im glad I came across this discussion as I decided to sponsor a beautiful girl from India after church on Sunday. Sadly, Ill be giving up sponsorship to Compassion UK in February 2014. Latif, an NYU alum, traveled to Turkey on Feb. 13 to deliver aid and speak to victims with Islamic Relief USA, a non-profit humanitarian agency. We have personally visited 6 of our sponsored children and intend on visiting all of them at least once. Can someone please explain this kind of error to me?! My experience with them has been less than candid. Every financial process undergoes intensive and continual scrutiny to ensure that funds are properly received, tracked, and managed. You do have responsibilities in that relationship it isnt just you pay some money, and sit back and get letters to entertain yourself once a month, or whatever. Please pray for her.. Charity Streaming: A New Way To Help Children in Poverty. We care deeply about each child and want every child to feel seen, loved, and cared for at least once a year if not all year round. They also frequently answer specific questions and reference details that I wrote to them. I think there was some confusion regarding the christmas fund thing. In the email and via phone I was told the updated one is the correct one,but no explanation was given as to how something like this could happen. What did you expect Compassion to say or do when you threatened to quit them? I sponsored a child on Easter day and have not received any communication back yet. Regrettably, there arent any independent rating agencies that Im aware of that grade organizations on how trustworthy they are. What would Jesus do? I have read this email post quite a number of times, and it concerns me a lot. My child is in Peru and the first letters I received were original letters with drawings. We are honored to have your support and thrilled that you have chosen to be a devoted sponsor to your precious Compassion children! You are doing an amazing job of writing him and encouraging him. I can tell this it is a subject that is important to you. This was done just last month which is why you saw a letter in your My Account online so quickly and why it seemed odd with prior information you received. i speak in tongues with perfect prayers for you all in the name of Jesus Christ AMEN, I enjoy Compassion magazine and its importance She went from a scrawny, sad faced little one to a healthy, grinny little young lady. Thirdly, we have friends who are living as missionaries in Africa. Id encourage you to ask just a few questions per letter and highlight one or two so the translator can help her remember those are important to answer. Private Donations $1.1B. Two are now out of the program and we have another 2 that chose to leave the program on their own. [VIDEO], http://www.givewell.org/International/charities/Compassion-International, http://www.missionsinaction.tv/episode3.php, https://blog.compassion.com/tag/emilda-soriano/. When you began supporting your child, we were working with older systems in which processing letters to and from your child was very manual and took 2-3 months for letters to be delivered both ways. They talk about the letters that were so valuable from their sponsors and how much they treasured those relationships. We sponsor a young girl and a young man in Kenya, and two girls in Tanzania, so both countries are very close to my heart! (34 ratings) Duration: 15 mins Frequency: 1x/week Difficulty: Casual Save Practice Mark as Tried Download PDF Print Practice How to do it Why to Try It Quiz We appreciate your grace and patience as we move over to a new system together. In my junior year of high school, I went to 722 in Atlanta and Lewi Giggleo gave his testimony and recommendation of Compassion and outside the conference hall I became a sponsor. -clean drinking water Our statement on stewardship says the following: The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Supporting Church Partners and ultimately to God. They say these letters are from our sponsored child, but with what I received, thats not possible. I agree they could be more resourceful by doing paperless statements, but thats almost like saying you wont tithe at church because the church spends money on the bulletins that they hand out, or on the coffee they offer.? Now, other than the photo updates, I get grade reports on my girls in TZ, and from none of the other countries where we sponsor, or have sponsored children. Im sorry to hear that so many people feel their letters are generic and not coming from the children. You are exactly correct that we combine all Christmas gifts and distribute them equally among all of the children in our programs. March 8, 2022 March 8, 2022 Parenting Spirituality by Adam Green. Choose from the 5 yearbooks available for Somerset High School below to start exploring the extensive Yearbooks collection on Ancestry. Facilitating Global Growth As Compassion grew over six-plus decades, it quickly realized it was outpacing its processes and global technology. Be strong, brave and kind! They seem to have been just cutting costs lately which have impacted us negatively. Al Amer International Hospital - UAE has, over the years, become the hospital of choice, to citizens and residents of Abu Dhabi through sincere dedication of our medical staff in attending closely to each of our patient's medical needs with compassion, respect and dignity. But they are still double checked by individuals like those volunteer translators I just talked about, for quality. I fully believe you will be greatly encouraged. You indicated that the goal of the program included supporting the child until they are able to support themselves. For those of you wondering, here are my thoughts: We, as Christians, are called to be good stewards of the resources God has given us. Mrs. Johnston, I am deeply sorry to hear of your concerns about receiving the same letter twice from one of your sweet children :(. With her age, she does have help from a tutor with writing letters back to you. It would be goodbye in April 2014 for me too. I am hoping that as we are able to clear up the issues with this system and get back on track with processing the letters, you will continue to hear from Gadiel as often as you used to. Originally voiced by singer Mary Costa, Aurora is the only child of King Stefan and Queen Leah.An evil fairy named Maleficent seeks revenge for not being invited to Aurora's christening and curses the newborn princess . This helped a lot in explaining what happened. For these varying reasons, the information might not be 100% accurate for the child but its the best information our staff was able to provide when the child was registered. Report this GIF; Iframe Embed. Can you please reduce the paper mail coming into my mailbox as well? However, any letter you write online should automatically send a confirmation email with the text of your letter included as soon as you submit it. We will also be contacting you via phone as you requested in your email to us, to answer any other questions or concerns you may have. This is one of the highest percentages for an organization like ours. Rest assured weve received your letters and theyll get to your boy. I sponsor Josue Pina Garcia of Peru North of Lima. accountability / financial integrity / frequently asked questions / integrity / trust. There is clearly something wrong somewhere. She doesnt seem to have gotten any of our letters and knows nothing about our family. I would suggest you would have them make a video at least once a year, on their birthdays, and showing more of their lives to us so that we can be assured there is a positive impact, which we 100% believe there is. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to receive a regular newsletter from Compassion with inspirational stories, poverty news and more. We take financial integrity very seriously, knowing that every dollar we receive is actually the Lords money and should be stewarded wisely.The watchdog organization, Charity Navigators, has given us a 4-star rating for over 14 years in a row. You are correct that if you send a gift of $60 or more, a picture of the child will be taken and sent to you, as well. But it could be that your child might have been mentally challenged and for the childs privacy and dignity, the Field Office didnt wish to convey such information to you. They were always sad in their photos, their clothes look tattered, shoes that didnt fit, and one of them always looks hungry (my Ugandan child). I am doing that, and I will never let you down let me ask you how many times do yoou need a child to say that to you before you actually get the message! I would love to encourage you to consider letter writing your personal ministry to your child. Then when it came time to send money for the family, or village gifts. This GIF by Compassion has everything: letter, writing, LETTERS! On Off . What I can say is that Feed My Starving Children may do it differently than we do, but we are all trying to do the same thing bring children out of poverty and I am thankful that they are there too and are doing the best possible job that they can. I will be looking to sponsor an additional 2 children from that local Compassion field office/site. Thank you so much for your faithful partnership in loving and supporting a girl in Haiti! We counsel the child and family on using the money wisely and make sure that the use of the gift is developmentally appropriate for the child (i.e. I am so happy to hear you were able to achieve a college degree as a result of compassion. Also, while I know Compassion well, I am not an expert on all organizations and the intricacies. I pray for continued success in communication and connections, especially during an extremely challenging time for so many people. I would think by this time, he could have learned to write a few words. Thank you for asking this question. I understand that the delay in Ediths response could be the technical difficulties or maybe even just from being very busy this year, but I worry that she maybe isnt sure how to respond. Prepare strong reasons for canceling your membershipthey'll do their . If Josiane is unsure of what to write, then she may choose to write what the tutor is recommending, and this may result in letters sounding the same. For example, the letter that you wrote in February would have been received by Leo sometime around late April to early May. May God bless Compassion International. I hear you and understand where you are coming from, and Im very sorry to hear that these are things that are causing you to leave Compassion. Founded in 1952 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Compassion International is a child-sponsoring charitable organization that was originally known as the Everett Swanson Evangelistic Association. I am heartbroken over the matter of the handwriting. Does the tutor need a tutor? The letters seem like a template and do not seem sincere. Trying to have more patience, and most of all I pray my little Pamela is safe and sound. Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention and for your patience as we work to resolve this situation for you so that you can continue building a relationship with Mesfin and better know how to talk to him in your letters. He will receive the gift around the middle of July and then send you a thank you letter. Also, is there an age at which children are encouraged to write freely rather than only answering the questions on the formatted letters to sponsors? This may have been a misunderstanding during the translation of her letter, but we will be sure to clear this up for you :). Your letters and cards will make a major difference in her life! Essentially all these organisations are just multinational begging organisations and we , the sponsors, pay the top beggars a lot of money to beg for money from us. I prayed to God about my decision when I was seventeen and I have sponsored children now for 27 years. 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