The letters seem like a template and do not seem sincere. Internal and independent audits are regularly conducted for our offices in the field and here in Colorado Springs. It was an experience I will NEVER forget. I sent money for her a Christmas present in 2013, money for her birthday for April 1, 2014, and a graduation check for $200, plus a good-bye letter, and never received any acknowledgements for these. We certainly want to ensure youre receiving these. Were excited to be able to start sending more communications to sponsors via email with our new system upgrade and you can go to your My Account on https://www.compassion.com and customize your preferences for receiving things via email such as our magazine! In April, we rolled out new software, similar to what you had mentioned, to translate and deliver letters faster than ever before. Please know that our desire is for every sponsor to have an opportunity to develop a meaningful relationship with their child. I noticed you have started writing to Farel more often lately, which is great! We know sponsors are eager to hear from their children when they begin sponsoring and so a pre-written introduction letter from your child is waiting to be sent once they hear they have a sponsor. Many countries do not view a childsupport birthday as important. Ive contacted CI via email and phone but didnt get a satisfying enough answer. We have three active sponsorships in Bolivia, Peru and Uganda, all started when these kids where very young and they are now aged between 10-12. Their smiles are natural and genuine. This makes quite a stack of wasted paper and effort so I would enjoy not getting it. I dont feel like it should be someone elses burden to do so. If you have specific questions for him, I encourage you to continue asking them :). I will also pray for great wisdom among your Compassion leaders in TZ in handling such matters. Sadly, the letters from my child is in Uganda were laced with political comments too and subject matter no kid would use. I hope this helps to clarify some of your questions. Look at their facilities, nothing wrong with a nice work place but it is obvious they put themselves in front of the children they claim to help. This is why after 20y of sponsoring with you, you were not able to follow-up nor contact me on my concerns regarding the child I sponsored (the letter translations became very brief, one of his letters informed me you do know I am disabled dont you? after 10years of sponsoring him)? On account of Compassion UKs handling Ive found myself making extremely tough choices at their expense. Their attendance at the center is in addition to their schooling, it does not replace it. Although video chat is free and would definitely be a fun interactive way to engage with your child face to face, its not currently a feature that Compassion is taking on right now with over 1.7 million children in our program as it would involve much staff time and would in turn cost Compassion money for the time to provide these chats. If someone has been burned before, they look for faults in everything the letters from the child they sponsor, the pictures we send them, the way we use the funds we receive. We all have that weird first letter. I started sponsoring a child with CCF/Childfund first but after a few years I discovered child sponsorship through Compassion. Again, I am so sorry for the disappointment that reading the 990 Form caused. Hi Pam! (Though please do this in addition to your other sponsorship not instead of!!) Good move! For example, he said that he finished the first semester of College and that he was on vacation with his family. Im in the exact same position Lisa. -protection from crime, violence and danger Hi Rayshell, We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding the letter writing process. He just wasnt getting the help he needed to write them at the time and the issue was fixed. As for repeated details, Im sure I repeat things too. Thank you so much for helping us direct more funds towards the children! Please chalk it up to my hunger to know how my children are progressing academically, spiritually, and in other ways that the kids might not talk about. She wrote me her first letter without any help in January!!!! Hey Marci! Hats off to them for wanting to apply their unique talents to the giving process. I am a long-time sponsor through Compassion, and I know they are not running a scam. Therefore, its difficult for the tutors to help him answer questions without your letter there for reference, even though they do encourage the kiddos to bring their letters or remember what their sponsor wrote. Either Im sponsoring a fake child or someone in admin messed up. I have not had any letters from either of my two sponsored children since their Christmas letters (and its now August) and they were writing me pretty frequently. I have no doubts that Compassion is trust worthy. It takes between six and eight weeks for us to hear back from the country offices regarding inquiries, but I will contact you immediately when we have the results back and letters from your precious kiddos. This is actually a letter Ive been waiting on (hopefully its the one) regarding a family $ gift I sent last October. Missionaries do not make this amount of money. The goal is to ensure Compassions ability to attract and maintain the expertise required of a President & CEO equal to the scope and complexity of the global ministry. Our statement on stewardship says the following: The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Implementing Church Partners and ultimately to God. This is a recent change that most of the sponsors hate. Then, Leos response letter will take about 2-3 months to be received by you. My child was in the 4th grade 5 years ago. * My childs mother was very sick and it wasnt your problem. There is One that loves you and your family so much more than we do! We actually just received the letter and photo back from the country office in Bolivia regarding the $500 gift you sent to his project :). Sarah, I see that you just began supporting a child with us on March 30th of this year. 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. Use these simple writing prompts to write your sponsored child a letter that will bring them hope and help you get to know them a little more. It is an honor and blessing to be used in the lives of these children. Also, please note that our leaders are faithful sponsors and donors as well, and personally and financially support the ministry. I am not so naive to think that everyone in these organisations is motivated out of selfless motives and I get angry at myself for not holding the leaders of these organisations to a higher standard. What Christ himself would say about Compassion UK in these cases? Our core mission remains to release children from poverty in Jesus name. Im a teacher in remote, rural Alaska where all of us faculty and staff stretch our pennies and live with exceedingly less than the general American, and I want every one of my dollars to count. Unfortunately, criminals sometimes prey on that generosity. Rest assured weve received your letters and theyll get to your boy. If you are in business, either for profit or non-profit problems are bound to crop up that is inevitable. If my child is legitimate and my donations are going towards assisting the family , praise the lord . Hi, Jill! I talked with my mens small group who asked me have I prayed to God for answers regarding this matter. Hi Miller. Were thrilled about this and I pray that you begin to find your questions being answered in future letters your child writes to you. He will receive the gift around the middle of July and then send you a thank you letter. How absolutely precious it is to hear from Dawkins Ochieng and Mworia! I fully believe you will be greatly encouraged. Protecting children and the sponsors resource is enthrined in the high level integrity as a Compassion International pillar. The practice of asking for a monthly commitment to a specific child is well-knownit's been around since the 1930s, and nearly 9 out of 10 Americans are familiar with it (87%), according to a study. I would like to help clarify some things for you and answer any other questions that you may have, as well. COMPASSION, COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL, COMPASSION EXPLORER and the Compassion logo (and elements thereof) are registered trademarks of Compassion International, Inc. 2016 Annual Report: Why Were Stronger Together. This transition has been difficult for everyone, and I know it is hard to hang in there! Compassion International Fraud Alert Fraud Alert Fraud Alert Compassion International values the support of its donors, who give generously to help children in need. or less frequently. Compassion International is far from a scam! Hi Christopher, The board retains an outside agency to provide unbiased, market-based compensation data to inform the boards deliberations and recommendations. Compassion chooses to send dollars to the Implementing Church Partners for our programs that impact children. I serve as senior Pastor of a church of around 200 people and wanted to get my church involved but before I did I wanted to see first hand where my sponsorship money was going. I expressed concerns but they were passed off as the centers fault for not educating the child. One of the websites I use to check out a charity is http://www.ministrywatch.com. I prayed to God about my decision when I was seventeen and I have sponsored children now for 27 years. This was immediately recognized by us. Don't forget! Im really sorry to hear that you felt misled and hassled by Compassion. Graduated in 2013 actually with a degree in Communication. neat to see. In a previous post it was said that 10% of all gifts is used for processing and something else, but here it says the child receives 100%. She would say things like, Please pray for my parents to have more money to provide for me and my two brothers. In every letter, it made me feel like my contributions werent enough. Like one person said, send me something asking me to do it, next week send me a letter to make sure I got the first letter, next week asking me to consider doing it again. I think that it is worthwhile. It would cost over 3,000 dollars to go hug my child. year in college, I found out that a lady working for Compassion UK was the one continuing to support me and Ive only received one letter from her during my senior year in college. Just remember what a blessing you have been to her, even if the distance or conditions did not allow a final note to you. To whom in may concern, I am trying to be patient and to understand that the new system of letter sending/receiving has changed, but I am pretty worried. I am grateful for it. I cried. After many months, I did receive a large photo of my sponsored child, working at a small computer, and thanking me for supporting him over the years. You can opt into getting the original as i have but who knows when you might receive it as everything involving the mail system with compassion seems to be messed up right now. COMPASSION IS REAL. I have in the past four years been led by the spirit of God to contact philippieans families ..I have directly helped with finances and economic development directly.. it took basically about 100 USD to feed and invest for family independence.. we managed to build a sari sari and increase the chicken (Monika) live stock start a baby or pig crip mating pigs and developing multiple pigs for consumption and sale.. we where able to bargain a share keep over a rice field.. also sent one of the adult women to college who will be graduating this year.. also one of the adult women was able to go out abroad to work and increase income and searched and gained work for the eldest boy.. clothes the family gave spiritual as well as materials to celebrate Christmases and birthdays.. the family after 4 years is flourishing in their own at this point in the leyete area burgs..behat will you do to help create family financial independents with my donations.. also is this a spiritual ministry or a Catholic organization.. signed interested to help. I was a sponsor child from the Philippines (female) since I was a grade schooler till I finished college education. Compassion UK has not worked for me. As Christians, we understand that every $38 we receive is really the Lords and He has called us to steward it wisely. We sincerely look forward to earning your trust and proving our hearts for serving our sponsors and children with excellence. Typically, letters to and from the children take about 2-3 months to be delivered each way. Its directly taking from the poor which is sad to me. Our statement on stewardship says that, The ministry of Compassion belongs to the children, our Implementing Church Partners, our sponsors and donors, our Supporting Church Partners and ultimately to God. Yes, the time frame is typically around forty-five days but we will let you know just as soon as we hear back. Assess them hard for what they say they do for YOUR child, or children you support, with your hard earned money, or the saving you live on and give up on account of them, and hold them accountable for every penny you sponsor to deliver that which they say they will do. We all are trying. I am sponsoring a young man. Hi Mandy! Youre such a blessing and care so deeply for these children. They are closely monitored by governments, religious organizations, and by us pessimistic sponsors. (They have instituted an internal and external review process.) (Their priority programs include condom promotion and distribution, anti-retroviral therapy for people with HIV/AIDS, surgeries for surgery-correctable conditions, mass drug administration to control river blindness, etc.) Once youve sponsored the child, you can sign up for either a group sponsor tour going to the Philippines or an individual visit through our Tours and Visits page: https://www.compassion.com/newsponsor/visit.htm. 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