International (MNN)–Compassion International is working to break the cycle of poverty around the world.
Compassion’s Wes Stafford says their mission is meeting needs, both physical and spiritual. “Sponsoring children is at the core of how Compassion works. We believe that by sponsoring a child, you can change the life of a child forever.”
The response from believers has grown significantly over nearly three decades. “Over 103-thousand children got sponsors within Compassion’s ministry this year. That’s kind of cool, because I’ve been around a long time, and it took us our first 28 years as a ministry to ever get to 100-thousand children, and here that’s happened just in this year 2004.”
Compassion forms partnerships in places where local churches are active and focused on caring for children who are ensnared in poverty. We love this shared faith and sense of purpose: it’s a partnership that works.
This year saw new outreaches in Bangladesh and Burkina Faso. “We’re in the business of helping little churches in very poor settings spread the Gospel both through their words and through their deeds. One of the things that we think is the most strategic and loving things we can do, is to give the children an opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior. 78,262 of these little children made decisions to accept Christ as their Savior.”
June 2004 marked the beginning of Compassion’s work in Bangladesh. The Burkina Faso project launched in Summer 2004. There are currently 1,400 children participating in 10 projects there.
