Hope is a powerful gift, and it is a gift you can give by sponsoring a child.

Without hope, a child growing up in poverty faces many challenges. Staying in school is unlikely as day-to-day survival takes priority. Nutritious meals and medical care are rare, and even the ability to dream of a better future may become difficult.

When you sponsor a child through Compassion, that child receives medical and dental check-ups, spiritual and educational training, meals, and best of all, hope.

If you’re wondering how hope can be lumped in with those other life essentials, take a look at recent research, which shows that sponsored children fare much better in life than their non-sponsored peers.

A study published in the April issue of Journal of Political Economy and led by Dr. Bruce Wydick, a professor of economics and international studies at the University of San Francisco, shows stark differences between sponsored and non-sponsored children. 

Former Compassion-sponsored children were found to stay in school 1 to 1.5 years longer than their non-sponsored peers. In Uganda, that average was even longer at 2.4 years. 

They were 13.3 percent more likely to finish primary school, 27 to 40 percent more likely to finish secondary school, and 50 to 80 percent more likely to complete a university education than non-sponsored children. 

Those are just the study’s findings regarding education. Employment and leadership also were affected greatly by sponsorship. 

As adults, former Compassion-sponsored children were 14 to 18 percent more likely to have salaried employment and 35 percent more likely to work a white-collar job than their non-sponsored peers. They also were found more likely to become community leaders, church leaders and teachers. 

This is all statistical proof that the hope child sponsorship provides is changing lives. But how about some personal proof? I receive letters from my precious sponsored children sharing goals for their future, career aspirations, and sometimes, just simple requests of prayer to pass to the next grade in school. 

Here are just a few examples: 

“I want to go to university to graduate as a telecommunications engineer.” – recent secondary school graduate Favian, 19, Guatemala

“I want to finish elementary and high school and become a professional.” – Luis, 7 Colombia 

“When I grow up, I would like to be a cop.” – Winston, 11, Guatemala

“My dream for the future is to be a doctor.” – Esteban, 7, Nicaragua

“I would like to become a lawyer.” – Wagner, 16, Guatemala 

Imagine how these children’s lives have been changed by sponsorship that they are dreaming of careers. 

Please consider giving hope to a child in need. You can sponsor a child today by clicking here.