Every couple of months we get an update from our beyond team who are responsible for keeping us up to date on the charities and groups that we support here at BFC. Here’s the latest:

Compassion

Introduction
Compassion Child Sponsorship is all about showing love to children who are in need. It generally involves providing financial support but, depending on the setup, it may involve developing a long distance relationship in the form of letters and, sometimes, opportunities for gifts.

How does it work?

Many members of BFC are actively involved in Child Sponsorship. There are many organisations who provide facilities for child sponsorship – both Christian and non-Christian.

We believe that it is important to choose the provider of the facilities carefully. There is more to this than just providing funds to support a child. We believe that it is important that the services provided are done in a way that uses local people and resources and that these are developed so that the local community can eventually become self sufficient.

We also believe that it is vital that these children understand that God loves them and that it is His church that is helping to support them. The involvement of a local church can really help with spiritual and emotional development of the children.

What could I do?

1) Consider sponsoring a child. If you are not already involved in child sponsorship then perhaps you could consider sponsoring one or more children. More information can be found by clicking on the Compassion logo above. Many members of BFC give via Compassion but there are other organisations who you could consider.

2) Get more involved with your sponsored child. If you are giving financially, consider when you last wrote a letter to your sponsored child (if this is available within the scheme you are using). Receiving letters is such an exciting event for these children and really shows them that people care. We also know that the parents (often single parents or foster carers) of these children are so comforted by knowing that someone thousands of miles away is supporting their children. Letters really make a difference.

3) Pray for communities who need help. Many communities are being supported by organisation like Compassion but many are not. There are so many opportunities for prayer:

a) Pray that communities that need support are identified by the organisations who can help

b) Pray for all the practical intervention that is needed from God when organisations try to help communities. There are so many local challenges that need to be overcome such as travel, communication, sourcing supplies of what is needed, local regulation, government challenges, corruption, the right local people to bring in (teachers, medical professionals) etc

c) Pray for more sponsors – and that could be you

d) Really importantly, pray for the development of the local communities and economies so that they can become self-sufficient – this is the ultimate goal

e) Pray for the salvation of those who are being supported