Child sponsorship through World Vision or Tear fund etc...

 Today I was reminded about Child Sponsorship through a campaign that Radio Rhema is running in partnership with TearFund towards a drive to ask for more Child sponsors. You can listen to the campaign on Radio Rhema 1251 AM frequency.

For me, I remember the first time I learnt about this concept was as a child in Sunday school and our then minister, the late Bob Challis who was originally from the London Missionary society had settled in our community with his late wife, Rose Challis, (who was also my piano teacher) and they both encouraged the Sunday school to sponsor a child, therefore, every month we would take an offering so that we could contribute to that fund.

After some years, I remember they decided not to continue, perhaps because it was too much to ask for and so it was abandoned. I then took up the challenge to sponsor a child while I was still single with one in Africa, South America and then when I got married, as a family we now sponsor a child in India and it supports his family and community projects.

When I also started a breakfast prayer group which will be now 20 years running next year at my birth church of PIC Mangere, I also encouraged our prayer group to sponsor a child which we did and then my father took up the challenge to sponsor a child through the elders group and then the Cook Island EKLS (Ekalesia or church community) followed suit with other groups joining in.

It was also neat because one of the rep's from World Vision came years ago to talk about it at the church service and brought with them sponsorship cards, so that it made it all the more easy to do. The premise, however, was to see if it was viable for your family or to sponsor as a group because it was not designed to get your own family into financial hardship but to work together as a group as you can make a difference to the lives of other families and their communities in developing countries by your donation.

I am so grateful to have had that opportunity to sow into the lives of other communities and to make a difference for one child. I think in today's society, we need to look beyond ourselves and our communities and to look upwards and outwards to where we area able to extend a helping hand.

It is around $10 a week or up to $50 per month but it really is up to what your budget can afford. Some families sponsor two or more children and some even go to visit them in their lands to see the difference that their money is making in the community.

So my challenge is that if you have got a bit of savings or an extra $10+ per week, instead of having that latte or takeaway, why not consider sponsoring a child and making a big difference in the life of someone you don't know, they family and their community. You will never know the happiness that your $ will make in changing a life for good...