(Photo courtesy Katey Hearth, GFA)

India (MNN) — Some people wonder why child sponsorship is such a big deal. There are certainly many questions surrounding the topic: What’s the money used for? Am I the only person helping this child? How do you know your support is being used to help children and not for other purposes?

“Why do we need to do this? Does it make a difference? Well, absolutely,” responds Gary Bishop, CEO of Far Corners Missions.

Here are 3 reasons why child sponsorship matters:

1) Child sponsorship rewrites the future for children living in poverty.

According to UNICEF estimates, 80 million children around the world live on the streets. About 72% of these children are between the ages of 6 and 12 years old, while 13% are under the age of 6.

“Keyshor” was one of them.

“[He was] left to grow up on his own, needed a place to live, needed the safety and security and love of people that would care for him,” recounts Bishop.

If left on the streets, “his whole orientation in life would’ve been what a kid on the street learns: to survive at any cost. However you have to get something is okay, [even if it means stealing].”

These are just some of the street kids taken in by the Sydney family.
(Image courtesy Far Corners)

But, thanks to the kindness of Far Corners’ India Field Director, Aseesh Sidney, Keyshor found a new future.

“Today, he is the Regional Director for the Braun appliance company in India,” states Bishop proudly, adding that several thousands of workers report to Keyshor.

Currently, Sidney and his wife are housing 39 former street kids, in addition to their own family.

2) Child sponsorship opens doors for the Gospel.

While living with the Sidneys, Keyshor heard the Gospel and learned about God’s love for him. He accepted Jesus as his Savior. Now he speaks in churches from time-to-time about the importance of child sponsorship.

“Not only is he a successful businessman, but he is a man of God,” notes Bishop. “He grew up with values; he was cared for and loved. He did not have to try to learn to survive on his wits.

“All of that made a huge difference in his view of God and the compassion and the love that God has for the people that He’s created.”

3) Child sponsorship prevents street kids from becoming statistics.

Living on the streets is dangerous. It’s even more risky for street kids in India. There’s no one to protect them, so traffickers find them to be easy prey. Eating is necessary for living, and working is necessary for eating, so some sort of employment is a must. UNICEF estimates that India has the world’s biggest workforce under the age of 14 years old.

Little girl walks alone in the busy streets of Mumbai.
(Photo courtesy Katey Hearth)

Add to these risks frequent child abuse–police view street kids as annoying pests–and organ harvesting. The black market for organ transplants is huge in India, and the healthy organs of children are a prized find.

“Keyshor could’ve ended up in human trafficking, he could’ve been siphoned off and forced to become a drug mule,” Bishop says.

The same possibilities face millions of India’s street kids today, but you can save them from becoming a statistic.

Eight kids need sponsors; click here to make a difference for a boy like Keyshor.

“He had a right view of God as opposed to a made-up view of God, and that changed his life completely,” concludes Bishop.

Listen to the full conversation here.

(Image courtesy ECM)

Ghana (MNN) — Ghana’s street children usually become nothing more than easy pickings for traffickers and exploiters. A November 2010 census published by England’s Department of Social Welfare identified 61,492 street children–thousands of innocents with no one to protect them–in Accra alone.

But the Lord is working through Every Child Ministries to transform and redeem this vulnerable population.

“When we took them in, they could only say, ‘Give me money, me hungry’…. Now, they have turned into really great readers, and they expressed the desire to read the whole Bible through,” shares ECM’s Lorella Rouster.

Rouster spent the Easter holiday visiting with children and staff at ECM’s Haven of Hope Children’s Home and Academy near Accra. Holiday celebrations happened to coincide with the 12th anniversary of the ministry’s groundbreaking ceremony.

“Haven of Hope started as a children’s home, and now it has transitioned into a boarding school. However, it has exactly the same goal that it did in the beginning: providing safe shelter for needy kids in the name of Jesus,” Rouster says.

“They are not only bringing children to Jesus, but they are actually making disciples.”

Haven of Hope kids
(Image courtesy ECM)

ECM’s Haven of Hope ministry provides a safe haven, loving atmosphere, and Christian education to about 48 former street kids. A group of them have started their own Bible study, meeting weekly to study God’s Word. They’re holding each other accountable to the goal of reading the entire Bible.

Additionally, Haven of Hope children are getting ready to start high school, which means leaving ECM’s home.

“Many of the children are now in the high school age, and Haven of Hope only houses them through junior high school,” explains Rouster, adding that nearly all of Ghana’s high schools provide student housing.

“We hope to get them to a place where they will be able to live independently as adults; they’ll be able to make their own way in the world and, of course, contribute to society.”

Students leave Haven of Hope grounded in Biblical Truth and basic education. But, Rouster says, they need a little help crossing into the next phase. There are a lot of up-front costs associated with the first year of high school.

Thankfully, child sponsorships have helped ease the financial burden.

“So far, we’ve not lost any sponsors due to the transition into high school,” Rouster says.

“They’ve developed that personal relationship by then, that friendship, and so most sponsors do choose to continue on.”

(Photo credit ECM)

If you can’t commit to a monthly investment in the future of a street child but would still like to help, “We do have a Special Needs Fund for Haven of Hope, and that helps with that transition into high school,” shares Rouster.

“It also helps with any extra clothing needs that they have, extra medical needs, textbooks–just any extra things that are needed that we can’t quite cover through the sponsorship.”

Contribute to the Special Needs Fund for Haven of Hope here.

Although many former street kids are preparing to leave Haven of Hope and begin a new phase in their lives, they still need your prayers. Ask the Lord to give them wisdom for future decisions and the necessary resources for a safe transition.

Pray also for the younger children at ECM’s Haven of Hope, that they will come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

“Our goal would be that no child would go out of there without having every opportunity to know Christ,” says Rouster.

Sukant grew up in a Muslim family.
Through a Children’s Bible Club, he came to know
the Lord Jesus Christ as his personal Savior!
(Photo by Mission India)

India (MNN) — In some places, children do not even know what it means to be a child.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Mission India is working against that with Children’s Bible Clubs in India during the months of April and May.

Lindsay Ackerman of Mission India says, “A lot of India’s kids don’t have an opportunity for what we might consider a traditional childhood. Millions of kids work at home; they might be very responsible for household chores and caring for younger siblings, especially if their parents are working all day in the fields.”

If kids in rural areas do get to go to school,they will only attend a couple of years before they are needed back at home to take care of animals and other chores. Oftentimes, the jobs ascribed them are dangerous.

“Childhood in India is not always the most joyful existence,” Ackerman says. “One of the things our Children’s Bible Clubs bring to these communities is an opportunity for the kids to just have some fun together. They come every day for ten days: they get to play games, they do skits, they sing songs.”

The children get to experience an environment where adults care for them as children, and where they can play with others. More importantly, the children get to hear the Gospel.

“For many of these kids, this is the first time they’ve ever heard about Jesus,” Ackerman explains. But the Gospel doesn’t stop when it reaches the ears of the young ones. “These kids are hearing the Good News, and often their parents will tag along.”

The parents are often curious about what their children are learning. At the end of each program, the children do a performance with skits and songs to present the Gospel to their family.

The children bring home God’s Word in their hearts, and their club leaders reinforce what the children tell their family. Often the leaders will visit homes in the evening to develop relationships and encourage the parents.

Ackerman explains, “Those relationships that develop continue on long after the club ends because our volunteer leaders are part of the local church or part of a church in a nearby community that’s been working to share the Gospel.” These relationships become discipleship opportunities.

The Gospel is important not only to give hope to children leading adult lives: it is a source of truth amid multiple other religions. “What most people don’t think of is the fact that India actually is one of the most Muslim populated nations of our world. There are actually over 170 million Muslims in India. So this represents a unique opportunity to reach the people of the Muslim faith.”

One example of this is Sukant, a boy born into a Muslim family. His dad was out of the picture, and at a young age Sukant took to playing in the streets. He took up the habits of swearing and stealing, behavior that disturbed his mother. But she wasn’t sure what to do.

The door opened for him to attend one of Mission India’s Bible clubs in his neighborhood. Hesitant at first, Sukant soon got used to the kindness of the adults there and began to play with the other kids.

When he heard about Jesus, his behavior changed drastically, drawing the attention of his family. Sukant and his aunt accepted Christ as their Savior, and Sukant has a strong desire for the rest of his family to know Christ as well.

Right now, every dollar you contribute to Children’s Bible Clubs will be matched. For $5 you could make it possible for 10 more children to hear about the love of God. For $5 you have the potential to open the eyes of 10 families that are caught in the deceit of false religions.

Ackerman says, “We would just really ask for prayer for the Bible Club leaders as they enter the lives of these children, and that they would be encouraged as they pray for them and get to know the parents.” She also asks that you pray that the parents and their children will have open hearts ready to receive Jesus.

Riots began when Sudan's government lifted fuel subsidies on September 23, a move that nearly doubled the price of gasoline. Demonstrators quickly took to the streets in protest, and unrest spread throughout Sudan, reaching the capital city of Khartoum in record time.

Some 700 people have been arrested so far, and dozens of protestors were injured when national security forces stepped in. The death toll stands at 34, according to Sudan's government, but rights groups and a few diplomats have said over 100 were killed.

Jed Hamoud of Kids Alive International says the riots put children they care for at high-risk.

"Our biggest concern is that the rioters [and] demonstrators do not intrude on the property and put the children at harm," says Hamoud."Our top priority is really the safety of our children and the safety of our staff, in situations like this."

Tight security has largely shut down protests in the capital city of Khartoum, where the Kids Alive Boys' Home is located.

"What they will lead to, in terms of the overall country's stability, is very unpredictable," Hamoud says.

An estimated 10% of Sudan's children are orphans; many of them live on the streets or in refugee camps. Hamoud says the boys' backgrounds play into how they respond during times of crisis.

"Their abandonment sometimes plays into their fears and insecurity. And when we provide them with love and care and attention…we're living the message of the Gospel," he states.

"Our hope is that they come to see Christ through this ministry and they, too, will then change and turn their life to Christ."

Pray for this transformation to take place.

Kids Alive fulfills the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of children through Christ-centered care, education, and ministries, helping children become faithful followers of Jesus and pillars of their community.

To learn more about the work of Kids Alive in Sudan, click here.

"We're there to shelter them, to give them protection, to give them safety, and to minister to them," says Hamoud.

Would you take a moment to pray for them?

"We covet your prayers in terms of…the protection and safety for the children…for the staff there," Hamoud says. "Pray that the schools will stay open so we can continue to send our kids to school."

One of the recent lessons for the young men at CWO Zambia was focused on Nehemiah building the wall and how more is accomplished when there are many people working together. (Image, caption courtesy CWO)

Of the 6.2 million children under 18 years old in Zambia, 1.2 million are orphans below the age of 15. 800,000 are affected by HIV/AIDS and an estimated 20,000 children live and work on the streets.

Christian World Outreach (CWO) is helping young men get off the streets and find new life in Christ.

Because of their mere existence as street kids, “most people look down on them and don’t trust them,” explains CWO’s Greg Yoder.

“We call them ‘the nephews’, kind of an endearing term but one of those that came out of just how the missionaries there have cared for these guys.”

Addictions add to the social stigma surrounding street kids. Yoder says most of the young boys they work with have previously made money as “bus loaders.” The boys help get people onto public buses, and drives will toss them a few coins in payment.

“The problem with that is a lot of them, to kind of drown out their sorrows, you know, get into alcohol or drugs, things like that,” says Yoder.

Through an evangelistic outreach, CWO is sharing the Gospel and breaking the chains of oppression.

“A lot of them have become Christians,” says Yoder. “They’ve come and asked, ‘Hey, you share Jesus with us, how can we share that with someone else?’

“Some of the young men who started in our program years ago, they’re the older ‘nephews’ and they’re actually ministering to young boys.”

These “older nephews”, as Yoder calls them, pass along the help they’ve received from CWO missionaries.

“They’re able to share their experiences, share how Christ has changed their lives and [show them] that they can make a change in their life (too),” Yoder explains. “And, [explain that the younger boys] should improve their habits and everything else so that they can be an asset to society.”

Every week, CWO meets with the boys for a Bible study.

“Most of them don’t know anything about the Bible so they try to teach them that, and [how] God loves them and cares for them,” says Yoder.

The missionaries also use games to teach the boys crucial life skills.

“Living on the street, they’re very competitive,” explains Yoder. “Learning how to be gracious winners and gracious learners can be a big lesson for them.”

As a result of CWO’s efforts, the young men they help are thriving.

“Some of them have been able to get jobs and go to school,” says Yoder. Hopefully someday [they’ll] go far enough that they’ll be able to use that to get better jobs.”

Click here to come alongside CWO financially.

“Donating towards the ministry in Zambia allows us to send more of the boys to school, to help pay for their education,” Yoder explains.

Most importantly, pray for the boys CWO helps.

“People with addictions can slip back into that very easily, so pray for [the boys] as they really try to change their lives,” Yoder asks.

The needs of Kenya's children are huge: over a million are orphaned, many as a result of HIV/AIDS, and there are large numbers of kids who have no one to care for them. As a result, staggering numbers of children hit the streets, desperately in need of care.

Kids Alive International helps nearly 60 boys–all between 9 and 18 years of age–find new life in Christ at their home for former street kids.

Most of them graduate from high school and have the chance to attend college, an opportunity that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. The Boys' Center also provides education support for approximately 60 kids from needy families in the nearby community.

Boys at the home receive residential care and the Gospel. New on the docket are farming activities, which would allow the boys to grow most of the food they eat.

But to keep everyone safe, they need to put a fence around the land.

Funding is needed…can you help? Click here.

In the West, fences are often used to keep livestock within a designated area. In Kenya, fences stand as an important barrier between wildlife and humans.

According to a recent article from AllAfrica.com, long stretches of fencing are being constructed in Kwale to protect locals from attacks by elephants and other wildlife.

"When it is raining, the forests are slippery and elephants go to the farms," stated Kenya Wildlife Service official Nathan Gatundu.

Fences are first being constructed in Lukore where wild animals commonly access residential farms and destroy crops.

Pray that Kids Alive will receive the funding they need. Pray that by learning to grow food, kids will learn how God cares for them.

El Alto, while one of Bolivia's poorest and most dangerous cities, is also one of its fastest-growing. Formerly a suburb of Bolivia's capital city, El Alto's population has exploded from a mere 11,000 in 1952 to nearly 1.2 million in 2010.

While El Alto's unrivaled growth makes it an up-and-coming player on Bolivia's social and political stage, its people continue to suffer. Approximately 64% live below the poverty line, compared to a country-wide average of 60%.

Bethesda House of Mercy Church, partners of Bright Hope International, have a children's program in El Alto that desperately needs funding. If the money doesn't come in, 100 street kids won't have food to eat or a safe place to stay.

According to Bright Hope, El Alto kids live in an area polluted by poverty, witch doctors, and chronic abuse. While some are orphaned and have nowhere to go, many children willingly choose to "run away" from home. They'd rather live in the dangerous streets than face confinement, abuse, and forced labor.

The "homes" they leave usually house 5 to 6 people in a room roughly the size of two office cubicles. Confined in tight quarters, children are often subjected to intense physical, emotional, and sexual abuse.

Twelve years ago, Bethesda started their children's program as a place of refuge for desperate children of all ages. This place shines as a bright light in a darkened city for runaway, orphaned, and abused street kids.

Through Bethesda's Children's Program, kids receive one complete meal a day and are taught reading, math, and the Word of God. The education alone is essential in a society built upon and operated by neighborhood committees.

So far, some 3,430 meals have been served, and there are 98 kids enrolled in Bethesda's school program. A gift of $235 will provide care for one child through December.

Click here to help keep hope alive for 100 children of God in El Alto.

Bethesda is also trying to plant a church and bring their children's program to the nearby community of Huypaca. In the past, Bethesda has seen entire families come to church and begin learning about Jesus through kids that were enrolled in the children's program.

Bethesda recently identified a pastor for the church plant and started construction on a greenhouse to provide food for the children's program.

Would you like to help this dream become reality for the people of Huypaca? Click here and select "Bethesda Church Planting Proposal" to learn more about this church-planting project and how you can get involved.

However, recent studies show that there's an increasing number are girls on the streets now, many of them working as prostitutes as young as 10 years old. As to the reasons there are so many kids abandoned to the streets, they are many, says Lorella Rouster with Every Child Ministries. "Part of it is because of the wars that the countries have faced. Part of it is because of poverty… [and also] superstition, believing that any bad thing that happens must happen as the result of witchcraft."

The list of other reasons for ending up as street children is long. Children were conscripted to fight in bloody wars. Those who survived are now returning home. AIDS has decimated the adult population, leaving behind children who are fending for themselves as the head of a household. For most of them, surviving the next 24 hours is as much hope for the future as they can afford.

Rouster doesn't want that for these kids and therefore started working with the most vulnerable targets, places where the community gathers. "Every Child Ministries ministers in one particular area at a market area. Almost all open air markets have street children attached to them." For the past several years, ECM has been ministering to street children–primarily boys–around a market area across from the Teachers' Training University (Institut Pédagogique Nationale or IPN).

These street kids are eking out their existence and crave safety, dignity, and hope. A regular Fellowship for Street Children with Bible teaching and worship services has been established. ECM has also been feeding these boys.

With the help of the University Chapel Church, ECM has organized sporting events which have helped the street children begin to see themselves as normal children who could actually be accepted into society. With the help of a generous Congolese friend who donated use of some land, the street children of the area have developed their own garden where they learn the value of work and raise vegetables to enhance their diet.

That's all great, until you realize these boys are still ill-equipped for real life. What happens when they turn 18? Without training or skills, they will be in worse shape than before. ECM developed a vocational training program. "It targets older teens and matches them with a skilled worker who agrees to have that young person come alongside them as an aid, and then gradually teaches him or her skills of their trade", Rouster explains.

It's really an apprenticeship, and it has been successful for its participants. "It allows the children a way to eventually escape from the streets. If they don't get in with a family, or if they don't receive some kind of vocational training, they'll end up as gangsters or prostitutes," says Rouster.

Nearly a decade ago, the ministry graduated the first two individuals from their mechanic's apprenticeships. But that's not the only measure of the program's success, Rouster notes. "One of the teenage boys actually led his apprenticeship master to Christ. So, he had enough influence with the master and his life showed Christ enough that that master became interested in becoming a Christian, and he actually led him to Christ."

On her last visit to Kinshasa, Rouster saw a number of other success stories. "We have several now who have gone through the program, who are living on their own, and have started families . And really, that is just a dream come true for a street kid."

However, that brings an interesting challenge to ECM. First, they need other believers to stand alongside the street children and help get them off the streets. "Many vocational youth can actually be supported for $32/month while they're in training, and we also need extra funds to provide the business startup at the end of their training."

Students learn dressmaking, tailoring, auto mechanics, and carpentry, among other skills. When they graduate from the program, they're given the tools (like a sewing machine) they need to help establish successful businesses ($325/youth).

You could consider the apprenticeship program the beginnings of community transformation. "We're reaching the children with the Gospel while they're still homeless, before they even start this program, and then maintaining contact with them while they're in the program. So they are receiving regular Bible teaching and Gospel influence."

In a way, you could say that ECM is the tool used by God to flesh out Jeremiah 29:11 for the street kids of Congo. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Is it really that simple to provide hope and a future? All it takes is the willingness to help, and Rouster adds, "We need prayer that God will continue to open their hearts to the Gospel. To know that God cares for them so much that He sent His Son for them is really good news for street kids. We want them to  realize that, and that happens through God opening their hearts."

According to the data, one billion
children live in urban areas. By 2050,
70% of all people will live in urban areas. Traditionally, the numbers showed families and children
moved to cities in search of better opportunities. However, more recently, urban growth comes from children being born
inside the city.

In Africa, six in ten city dwellers lives in slum
conditions and faces unemployment, poverty, crime and poor services. That has led to a huge phenomenon of "street
kids." 

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the official government
estimate is that there are roughly 40,000 street children trying to eke out
survival in the streets–about half of them in Kinshasa, the capital city. 

Whether they are evicted by parents or leave in the heat of
unbearable accusations, the result is the same: They end up as lonely street
children, wandering about without comfort, guidance, or even the most basic
kind of care. Sometimes, children are
evicted because there are too many
mouths to feed. 

Every Child Ministries has been trying to help get the kids
fed, off the streets, and educated. ECM's
Lorella Rouster said their team then discovered something startling: "Many children who are living on the streets are
actually children of Christians, or at least, of church families."

ECM launched a program called "Restore a Family" a
few months ago. The street kids they
were helping in Congo had been organizing skits to let others know what it's
really like to live on the street. Whenever
they have done these skits in local churches, people's hearts have been
moved. 

Rouster says, "At first, we had hoped the skits would arouse the
awareness of church members. But we were really surprised that from the beginning,
these church members–when they saw the skits–began revealing that they
themselves had kids on the streets."

When parents realized the danger
their children faced, they began
trying to find their kids again. Of
course, there's always damage. "Some of them were distrustful at first when their
parents approached them. Most, in the end, agreed to return home when the
parents continued to show interest. We've seen a steady stream of children
being reunited with their families."

Families were restored. Forgiveness was sought. New beginnings were made. But, Rouster notes,
the original problem threatened some of the
reunions: too many
mouths to feed. Every Child Ministries is
expanding "Restore a Family" to address poverty issues. "We are much encouraged about this new program, feeling that
we'll be able to get vocational help for the others as well, so that they can
stay together."

More than just happy endings, Rouster says, this healing had
to happen for the testimony of the church in the community. ECM makes sure kids hear the Gospel and are discipled
in their new faith. "Pray especially, that
our workers will find the most effective ways to help those families with
different kinds of training that would be very effective in their own culture,
that God would use these families to be an example to others."

ECM has two desperate needs regarding
street children. First, sponsors are needed at $32 per month to enable other street kids to
receive vocational training. Second, they need
help for those who finish the training to get started in a vocation. Our
Featured Links section has details.

President of Russian Ministries Sergey Rakhuba says, "Project Hope empowers the evangelical church in Russia to provide resources, so that they will be able to pack Gifts of Hope and deliver them to needy children at Russian Christmas time in December and January."

Since it's nearly impossible to ship gift boxes into Russia for Christmas, Russian Ministries is sending money into the region so the local churches can buy the supplies. The money prints the boxes, buys the gifts, and furnishes a Bible or Bible Story book.

Rakhuba says these boxes will be delivered to difficult places such as the "Northern Caucuses that's predominately influenced by the neighboring Islamic countries, or arctic Siberia, or areas where Buddhism is spreading in Eastern Siberia in Buryatiya, Kalmykia, and other provinces."

While the gifts are important, they're only a tool to the most important gift — God's Word. "We print a Children's Bible that will go together with a gift to a needy child. And then, young people — we call them Next Generation Church Leaders — will be reaching out to the most needy children in orphanages, poor families, and street kids."

Your $25 gift does more than provide for one child. Rakhuba says it's added leverage into entire communities. "It helps them to open the doors into the institutions like orphanages, schools, and other places, and helps them reach out to needy families — single moms or poor families."

As children receive these gifts, not only are they hearing the Gospel, but so are the parents and other adults in the family.

Russian Ministries wants to provide 50,000 Christmas gifts this year. Your gift of $100 will touch four families. Click here to get involved.