Evangelism & Discipleship

Why is Evangelism and Discipleship important?

“Evangelism and discipleship are important because child sponsorship is not an end in itself. Rather a means to reach people with the message of Jesus. Since spiritual poverty is by far the greatest human need, we use child sponsorship as an effective strategy to communicate the gospel and feed people's spiritual hunger.” says Barry Slauenwhite, president of Compassion Canada.

Evangelism and discipleship of children in the developing world is Compassion Canada's mandate.  It is who we are. Children are at risk of not knowing Jesus. It would be a tragedy to satisfy every human need and fail to speak the life-changing words of Jesus Christ.

That's why we make a point of presenting the gospel to all the children and families in our programs.

Our child development programs are unique in that they are: Christ-centred, child-focused and church-based. We have a responsibility to care for the poor among us (James 2:15-16). Providing for physical needs is a powerful way of modeling God's love.

We do not simply speak the truth; we also apply ourselves to live in truth, by holistically ministering to children at risk in Jesus' name.

We do this by equipping children in the following aspects:

Spiritual
Economic
Social
Physical

SPIRITUAL
Compassion-assisted churches help children regardless of their religious affiliation. But through the spiritual aspect of our program it is made abundantly clear that Compassion is an evangelical Christian organization and each child will participate in Christian training. Each Compassion-assisted child is introduced to the gospel and encouraged to accept Christ as his or her Savior. Through regular worship time, devotions, Bible study and other activities, child development centre staff teach children to live according to the principles of the Bible and encourage all children to assume responsibility within their local churches.

ECONOMIC
The most direct path out of poverty is through education. Each child development centre works to ensure that each Compassion-assisted child receives age-appropriate and various learning opportunities to better their economic situation. Whether it’s monitoring school attendance, providing on-site after-school tutoring in reading and math skills or offering vocational training that translates into employment, Compassion child development centres give impoverished children a pathway out of poverty through educational opportunities.

SOCIAL
What we become is to some extent determined by how we relate to others. Often children in poverty who have been abused or exploited have no good experiences relating to other children or adults. That’s why each Compassion child development centre becomes a safe oasis where children can develop critical social skills in a protected environment. Children participate in group or special learning activities that help young people to live in harmony, learn teamwork and support and encourage each other. The outcome is a child who is self-aware; exhibits self-control is self-motivated and committed to his or her community.

PHYSICAL
Children in developing nations can go weeks, months even years without seeing a doctor or receiving medical care. Each Compassion child development centre is tasked with monitoring the health of each registered child as well as teaching children and their families preventive measures that allow the child to experience healthy development. In addition to monitoring their health, child development centre workers teach children about nutrition, offering them a healthy meal and teaching them how to prepare nutritious food. Children are also given the opportunity to engage in child development centre-organized sports activities to encourage healthy physical development. By ministering to the “whole child” Compassion’s ministry provides children with the skills needed to succeed in life and to overcome poverty and hopelessness. We are able to do this because of our local church partners and dedicated Compassion sponsors.


In addition, our child development program benefits the child and his or her entire family and the wider community. Sponsorship eases the often insurmountable financial burden families in poverty must contend with. Additional sponsor gifts — 100 percent of which go to directly benefit children — are often used to buy items that benefit the entire family.

The Compassion program engages a community, encouraging it to take responsibility for its children. Community groups, parents associations and church leaders are all involved in the development and ongoing management of a Compassion-assisted child development centre.

Every community is encouraged to use its individual skills and resources to benefit the children attending the local child development centre. Compassion-assisted child development centres also transform communities by creating employment opportunities and stimulating increased church growth and activity. Many children graduate from the sponsorship program and pursue higher education. They then return to their communities as trained teachers, doctors, engineers and nurses with a passionate commitment to share the skills they have received with the next generation.

Compassion takes Stewardship seriously

At Compassion we take stewardship seriously, not only in our finances, but also in our child development program delivery. More than 80 percent of all our expenditures go to program activities for the children we serve. We conduct annual financial audits to show exactly how income is used and regular audits of each of our country and area offices. In addition, we conduct program audits to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs in the lives of the children we serve. Compassion is acknowledged as a charity with outstanding financial integrity by numerous publications and financial accountability groups. We are one of the few charities to consistently receive a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, while The American Institute of Philanthropy recognizes Compassion as one of its “Top Rated Charities.” By keeping accountability and integrity at the forefront of Compassion’s ministry, we make the most of the sponsorship money and gifts that we receive.

Compassion is committed to Integrity.

Compassion is committed to Christian morals and integrity in our work. We will never engage in bribery with corrupt local officials in the areas where we work. We also reject the practice of “double sponsorship,” where more than one sponsor is led to believe he or she is the only sponsor of a given child.

In our marketing and communications we always strive to reflect accurately the effect Compassion-assisted child development centres have on the lives of individual children, their families and throughout their communities.

When communicating the needs of children, we place great importance on preserving their dignity. We refuse to engage in “the pornography of poverty.” While we believe in being honest about the challenges that children face, we always seek to portray them in ways that show hope and the promise of a positive future.