If you have ever looked at Compassion’s logo, you might have noticed that our tagline states, “releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name.” You might wonder, what exactly does it mean to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name?
For more than 60 years, Compassion has worked to develop children into all God intends them to be. We are advocates for children, working to release them from the shackles of poverty. Through a holistic approach to child development, we carefully blend physical, social, economic and spiritual care together…in Jesus’ name. It is an approach that has been scientifically proven to be effective.
On average, a child we minister to spends 4,000 hours in safe, nurturing programs, is at least 50 per cent more likely to graduate college and is 35 per cent more likely to find white-collar employment as an adult.
Our response to a world in need filled with millions of children living in poverty is simple: Love like Jesus did. Serve in Jesus’ name.
Children are particularly vulnerable to the physical threats of poverty as well as its emotional and spiritual messages of worthlessness. By working in Jesus’ name, we speak messages of love and hope.
We devote ourselves to helping children of all faiths, cultures, backgrounds and race without imposing any conversion requirements upon them. Every person is of infinite value, every person matters. And every act of love and compassion has eternal value. That’s what it means to work in Jesus’ name.
We offer our program to the children in greatest need without ulterior motive because we are a “love thy neighbour” ministry. We love God, and we demonstrate our love and live out our faith by extending care to others—in Jesus’ name—irrespective of caste, creed, class or religion.
Jesus Christ is the core of our ministry. His life and teaching shape our program. All aspects of our program align with His teaching. Jesus’ teaching guides how we love people, respect communities and cooperate with nations. We teach God’s Word, but we do not require any child to become a follower of Jesus. Jesus welcomed everybody, and we do too. That is loving and serving in Jesus’ name.
Our work in Jesus’ name is performed in partnership with indigenous local churches. Local churches are best suited to address the holistic needs of the children in their communities because the churches are already located and involved in the communities. We believe that only churches working in Jesus’ name can effectively deliver the whole-life care that children in poverty deserve and need to overcome the hopelessness and lack of opportunity poverty inflicts.
We rely upon and trust the ability of our church partners to create environments of unparalleled stability where children experience God’s love and acceptance in tangible ways. We, and our church partners, love our neighbours in age-appropriate, culturally relevant ways—never through coercion, manipulation or forced compliance.
Working in Jesus’ name is not a platitude; it’s a strategy we’ve followed since Rev. Everett Swanson first created our ministry to children.
Our commitment to Jesus Christ and serving in His name is at the heart of our ministry. Sponsor a child today and help a child in poverty mature in every aspect of life.
A version of this article was originally published by Compassion International.
