Written by guest contributor Jill Foley from Daily Bread.

In 1994 I began sponsoring a little girl in Kenya through Compassion International. Eager to change the world from my dormitory room, I set out to make a difference in Judith’s life.

Very quickly I realized how far my monthly contribution was going and how much this sponsorship was changing Judith’s life and living circumstances. I was very pleased to be making a global impact, but began to realize Judith was not the only one who was being changed.

I wanted to do more, but sponsoring more children at this point in life was not an option. Instead, I became an official volunteer advocate and began talking about Compassion’s ministry to others in hopes of recruiting new sponsors.

The ministry of Compassion International became my personal ministry and for the next 15 years I sponsored children, wrote letters and recruited new sponsors. Also during that time I got married and had two daughters of my own.

Although Compassion has always been a part of our family, it wasn’t until this past year that we made a decision to intentionally pursue and experience sponsorship as a family.

In August of 2010, I had the opportunity to travel to Peru and see the work of Compassion first hand. This was really the first step in opening my family’s eyes to the needs of those living in extreme poverty.

I came home with stories….stories of real people living in another part of the world and in very different circumstances from our own. Through the stories and photographs, these people came to life and we were challenged to take further steps in experiencing sponsorship together. As a home educating family, we decided to take a global approach to our learning.

Incorporating Child Sponsorship in Our Homeschool

In the center of our front room, where we spend most of our time learning, hangs a large world map. We refer to the map almost daily as we talk about the different countries where our sponsored children live.

If you were to walk further through our home, you would see other evidences of the ministry of Compassion and our involvement in almost every room; photographs on the front of the refrigerator, bookshelves and baskets full of books about other countries, collections of letters from our sponsored children in binders, prayer cards with country and family information, even framed Christmas ornaments on our Christmas tree.

Our global awareness and interest has not been limited to where our sponsored children live. Instead, they have served as a springboard for opening up the entire world to us. As we learn more about their country, we become interested in the surrounding countries.

The opportunities for turning sponsorship into a learning experience are endless.

• Your children can draw pictures and write letters to your sponsored child.
• There are many international cookbooks available and you can experiment with international cooking, or you can visit local international restaurants.
• As a family, memorize Scripture about children and the poor.
• Become an expert on your child’s country.
• Get books and DVDs from the library and read/watch everything you can get your hands on.
• After you have learned about where your sponsored child lives, begin learning about the other 25 countries where Compassion works.

Birthday Buddies

Another fun way our family incorporates sponsorship into our lives is by sponsoring children with birthdays similar to ours.

Three of our four family members have “birthday buddies” – children we sponsor who share our birthdays. This gives added meaning to our family celebrations and traditions as well as connects us to our sponsored children in a very special way.

Earlier this year I shifted the focus of my personal advocacy and started a blog called Compassion Family. My hope is that the space encourages others to celebrate, experience and share the joy of sponsorship as a family.

Compassion International is an evangelical Christian child development ministry, working in 26 countries around the world. With a focus on holistic child development, their programs help release children from poverty and enable them to become responsible adults. By working with local church-based organizations, Compassion’s program offers educational opportunities, health care and health-related instruction, supplemental nutrition, life-skills training and opportunities to hear about and respond to the gospel.

{Renee here again. For years we sponsored a child but when she graduated and left the program we stopped monthly sponsorship. In part, because I was tired out from being the only one in our family who did the correspondence etc. Jill's approach, incorporating sponsorship into their homeschool, is very inspiring to me.}