Heres the financials chart used by Ministry Watch so you can see how Compassions numbers line up with other organizations: Industry average vs. Compassion: I do have the perspective. Please accept my personal thanks for your wonderful correspondence to Leo. Not that I dont trust Compassion, but rather that I do trust Compassion. Hello Kate. This is so disappointing. Our wonderful field staff there will confirm what her actual grade level is and why she may have said a different grade in her letter to you. He should now be going on 13. I pray that the Lord shows you what a beautiful difference youre making in the lives of the children you pour into. It use to not be that way as I had a conversation in my letters with one of my sponsors mother a couple years ago. Yall really didnt think of that? For the vast majority of children, our photographs are the only ones they have ever had taken and in some cultures smiling for a photo is not the norm. I do know that some sponsors receive a lot of information in their childs letters and they have a wonderful correspondent relationship with their child. If you have specific questions for him, I encourage you to continue asking them :). God Bless. Youre such a blessing and care so deeply for these children. Other people have commented about the same thing, and even so, the salaries continue to increase well beyond what is needed to make a good living. This comes out to at least 80 cents on each dollar and we do everything we can to be as efficient as possible so that we can send more. How many sponsors does it take to support one child through the process? I do absolutely believe these are written by my children. In our church, we also have a disabled child named Emilda Soriano, and she reached her dreams and changed her familys life through Compassion. Of course, there are many explanations as to why your questions may not be answered or why some letters seem generic, but there is a wonderful blog offering an explanation of why letters may seem impersonal. When the person came on she said it showed I got a letter in January, but I never did. 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%. or give you a full refund? Emilys reply to you, below, is very good, and I hope you will follow through on her request. Although not long, I can truly say that I am VERY pleased with my decision to partner with Compassion. But here are some other resources for you to review if you want more information: Note from the Editor: Financial accountability is so important to us, we want to show you our books. But I was born in a third world country and live in the modern United States. In addition, I do want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. It is a Xerox copy! The customer service is available Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Hmmmm, I think I am beginning to get the picture now. She doesnt seem to have gotten any of our letters and knows nothing about our family. And youre right, its a scanned copy! I asked myself how they were going to provide clean water for a childs family if there wasnt enough money to spend for the entire village. Founded in 1952, Compassion partners with more than 8,000 local churches in 27 program countries to deliver spiritual, economic, social, and physical care to over 2.2 million babies, children, and young adults in poverty. I pray that God will lead me in the right direction in regard to my further participation . Compassion International has grown from those initial roots in South Korea into a global nonprofit with nearly 7,000 international church partners and over 1.7 million sponsored children around the world. I am confused too. I am very sorry for any concerns that the salary of our CEOs has caused you. Junk King Colorado Springs. We actually just received the letter and photo back from the country office in Bolivia regarding the $500 gift you sent to his project :). Thanks for asking such a great question! We want our program to be effective, so we monitor the child development centers to make sure they are making a difference in the lives of the children we serve. I love getting updates and photos from them, too. However, you always have the option to designate your donation as a child gift specifically to Leo, instead of to the Christmas fund. a) Activating Compassion: Step 1 = Breath (Body, Being) b) Compassionate Connection Begins with Self c) Compassionate Connection Begins With Companioning Our Own Suffering In Parting May this. We meet as staff to pray for our supporters several times a month. I think this letter is a sham to one degree or another. We are so thankful that you are a part of the Compassion family. With this new method of calculation, Compassion still receives a 4 Star rating specifically for Accountability and Transparency. She responds to my questions, she draws me pictures, and I am consistently recieving updates, not only on her & her family, but her school as well. Also, while I know Compassion well, I am not an expert on all organizations and the intricacies. I also felt hassled by Compassion International for not including prayers in my letters, not a big deal, but annoying. I was quite upset as one can imagine! I find it unconscionable that you could communicate for ten years and not know of a disability if that is an important issue to you. You all are amazing letter writers and always are so generous in what you send to your kiddos which is why our children write thank you letters for the gifts they receive to give their sponsors assurance that they received it. -And much more! Once this new process is complete, letters should take weeks instead of months to be received. I think the best way to eliminate confusion is to do it all yourselves. Please know that our desire is for every sponsor to have this opportunity to develop a relationship with their child. We value integrity and treansparency and are happy to answer any other questions you have. Its directly taking from the poor which is sad to me. Please let me know if you would like us to research this gift further for you. I declined. They get 100% of the donations we give through their sponsoring organization. God used Compassion International to change my life. Compassion International is a very large company. Thank you! What Christ himself would say about Compassion UK in these cases? Choose from the 5 yearbooks available for Somerset High School below to start exploring the extensive Yearbooks collection on Ancestry. Will Compassion give us an address so we can locate this child and take gifts to him and his family? I love your comment Elizabeth and totally agree with you! It's part of our ongoing efforts to protect child privacy in a digital world. For those that are thinking of dropping the sponsorship please, please reconsider and dont drop it. I have heard questions like Is my child even real, and How do I know that the funds are actually getting to the child?. In April 2016, Charity Navigator informed us that we had once again achieved their 4 Star rating based on the 2015 990 forms filed with the Internal Revenue Service as well as transparency and accountability provisions in place at Compassion. Every financial process undergoes intensive and continual scrutiny to ensure that funds are properly received, tracked, and managed. I contacted CI for an inquiry by live chat yesterday. Today God has blessed me with the courage and a heart to become a child advocate for Compassion International. Graduated in 2013 actually with a degree in Communication. I am grateful to the musician that came to my town and told me about compassion. Something began to not seem right about it anymorewhich seems to be the common thought in this thread. Please know that it costs us very, very little to print most of our mailings because they are done in house. The Compassion development centers often help enhance what the child is learning in school and they focuses on the most important areas of growth while promoting life skills. Hoping things improve for every sponsor soon. He alone knows the absolute truth about the heart of any individual or organization and whether it would be of benefit to both the sponsor and the donor. So that our field staff can better assist you, can you please send us a copy of the letter you received? You should also begin to see his letters become more personal as your relationship grows. or less frequently. God is ultimately the one who touches us and provides for us. You may definitely visit a correspondent child and give financial gifts! Hi Joe and Brenda! I write often enough that I cant remember what Ive told them about, so Im sure they wonder why my letters say the sames things sometimes! This year has been so hard on everyone! I have not felt good about Compassion from the beginning. They were at once the lay face of the church, the spiritual heart of civic government, and the social kin who claimed the allegiance of peers and the obedience of subordinates. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust: A Hopeful Reminder, A Call to Prayer for Ukraine My Country, My Home. There also exist the letter "A" symbol inside a circle icon -- which to some, represents the letter symbol meaning "Anarchy" -- or "no government". Your letters of love and support give Edith the message that she has value, worth and is loved. We have the opportunity for donors to give to different funds such as income generation for families, donating livestock, or classes on health and parenting skills. Sometimes I get letters that arent noted as translated and sometimes they are translated. Just remember that letter writing is a pretty foreign concept for most of the children in our program. But you would not believe the difference it makes when the Child has so little. and as compassion says its the Lords money so why panic if you know its going directly to a child in need. If you can, travel to see what we do firsthand and meet your child. I always receive a picture of my child with her gift from the extra money I sent for birthdays. We all are trying. Your right that it can be difficult to get to know them really well when you only know the basics they share in their letters at the younger ages. Whenever I doubt that I can make an impact upon the world, I pick it up. I thought it was odd, exactly the same? This practice is part of the Pathway to Happiness Program Self-Compassionate Letter Stop beating yourself up for flaws and mistakes. The local Christian Churches are partnered with Compassion and most of the monitoring and supervision is done through the Priest and a couple of local Compassion employees. With months in between being able to view letters, it is sometimes difficult to remember what you have and havent shared with your children. I posted a link at the end of this comment for a blog post about this same issue. Princess Aurora, also known as Sleeping Beauty or Briar Rose, is a fictional character who appears in Walt Disney Productions' 16th animated feature film Sleeping Beauty (1959). 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. Again, Im so sorry for the confusion this caused you but we want to keep our sponsors informed at all times and updated on the records we have for your child. We give through their sponsoring organization partner with Compassion also, while I know Compassion well I. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback money sent... 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