Children International and our Sponsor Child

Before I was married I would receive mail asking to sponsor a child or give to a charity. Occasionally I would respond with a little here and there.  I decided in 2002 that I needed to do something small but consistent and wasn't sure where to put my money. The next day I received a letter in the mail with this sweet little picture inside.

The tug I felt was probably exactly what the company was looking for, I signed up and the rest is history.

You see it's 14 years later and Romnick is turning 18 next month! This particular organization is great about having the sponsor child write a couple of times of year, they also send letters letting me know how his health is doing and if there are any immediate concerns for his health, and of course with the changes in technology they also have the ability for me to send him letters online.  They send me information through the mail with already written cards with his language on it where I can sign them for various holidays that I have pledged to support. They also tell me what the special funds get the child, for instance birthday presents or Hope fund.  I can change my support amounts and information online. Their customer service is really great as well, through the phone or through email.

A little bit about Romnick and his family. They live in Quezon City in the Philippines. He lives with his mother, who is a daily worker and his father who is a driver. He has 6 siblings and they all live in the same small home. Up until last year he attended school, but now due to money issues he is helping out at home as needed. When he writes he tells me about where he and his family have been on their trips around the city and what types of activities he is enjoying at the time. He has mentioned a passion for sports in the past and he seems to do really well with art. This is his current picture.

He's slightly taller than my 11 year old son and the same weight.
One of the things I like about the up to date photos is that I can pin them to the wall where I can see it constantly, it keeps me accountable to think and pray for him and his family. Truthfully it's a passing thought most days, but I want to be more intentional about it. Support stops when the child turns 19 and then you can trade contact information with them, however, in asking if I could continue to support Romnick's family after he turns 19, they do allow this since he has younger siblings but they don't allow the exchange of information while you support the family in any way. I am guessing that is to protect people from direct requests.

Children International's website is  https://www.children.org/
Back when I decided to become a sponsor I didn't know what to look for in a charity but the information I did find on this one was pretty decent so I went for it.  Now there are sites that you can go look up charitable organizations to see how much of your money is actually going to the end cause and how transparent they are with what they do with their money. One such site is:
http://www.charitynavigator.org/
Downfall to this website is that the organization has to meet the minimum financial revenue of $1 Million.

SO WHAT NOW? Maybe you are asking why you should care about this or about people outside of our country.  There is a lot of political upheaval lately , which I'm not going to get into, I don't think I have any wisdom to add to that conversation at this time. Why not take care of people in our country first?  I'm not saying you shouldn't take care of those around you. In fact you should support things that you are passionate about and know why you are passionate about those things.  For me, this was one of the first things that pulled at my heart strings for giving and it still does and I wanted to share this with you.  Maybe you've always thought about doing something like this, don't wait, just do it. This is one of the places in my life that I don't procrastinate and that's saying something from a life long Procrastinator.

Show your compassion in some way that builds someone else up. Who is your neighbor and how can you help them out?

For some Biblical encouragement, read about the Parable of the Good Samaratin below.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+10%3A+25-37&version=NIV