Mary Kathleen Mahon, Ph.D., is the President of ChildHope
“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.” — Jeremiah 29:11
Maybe you’ve never thought about sponsorship’s incredible impact …
How it reaches beyond the precious sponsored child …
To sow seeds of hope and transformation in families — communities — and churches!
This is why ChildHope loves and supports the local church.
We believe that Jesus established the church to bring about change in the world. For that reason, all of our ChildHope schools are part of a local church’s ministry to their community. We partner with pastors and churches who share our vision to reach the children and families in their communities.
This is what sponsorship is: A beautiful outreach of transformation … not just in the life of a sponsored child, but in the community as well. The support of sponsors like you is helping pastors and their people reach their communities with Compassion, Education, and Transformation.
ChildHope is happy to empower the vision of Pastor Ramón Reynoso in San Isidro, Dominican Republic.
Upon seeing new housing being built in his community without a public school to educate the children, Pastor Ramón got a vision for a school large enough to reach all the children that would live in that new neighborhood. Because of his vision, and sponsor support, children in San Isidro will receive the education they need.
Pastor Alexis Mora from the ChildHope school in Caracas, Venezuela recently shared with me that he believes that the gospel of Jesus Christ should be expressed by showing compassion in the community.
The Bible instructs us to “let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). For Pastor Alexis, the school is his church’s compassionate arm of ministry. Through the ChildHope school, they have been able to reach children with the gospel … and through the children they have been able to reach multitudes of families in the community!
I think of Pastor Miguel Ovalle in the Dominican Republic. His birth was the result of an unwanted pregnancy. His dad rejected him — and Miguel was sent to live with his grandmother. Despite the terrible poverty in which Miguel and his grandma lived, he was able to attend a ChildHope school, because of the support of a sponsor like you.
There, Miguel’s life was transformed.
He turned away from the gangs in his community and began to follow Christ. He was provided a quality education and given nutritious meals to help him concentrate and learn.
Eventually, Miguel felt God calling him into the ministry — and the local ChildHope pastor recognized it. He helped Miguel go to Bible school and encouraged Miguel’s spiritual growth. For many years, Miguel served as a missionary in Haiti. He is now back in the Dominican Republic serving God as a pastor.
We are so thankful for the support our sponsors give to their sponsored children! And thankful they support the vision of the pastor that God has placed in the communities where our children attend school — many of them, like Miguel, were once sponsored children, too. God had a wonderful purpose for their lives …
And he has a wonderful plan for every sponsored child and every child waiting to be sponsored!
Rejoice in knowing that ChildHope, the local pastor, and you can work together to help these children fulfill their divine purpose.
