It’s the end of a long day. You sit down on your couch in your pajamas, your favourite snack in one hand and your phone in the other. You let out a sigh of relief—finally, some time to relax!
As you unlock your phone, you see red bubbles with double-digit numbers on almost all your apps.
Reels. Text threads. Direct messages. Emails.
Before you dive into your favourite evening activity, you quickly respond: You “heart” a couple of text messages, send a GIF to your group chat and accept the AI-suggested reply to your email.
It’s a picture of modern-day communication. Our days are full and life moves fast, and so must our interactions.
Let’s talk about the elephant in the room: Letter writing
In our fast-paced culture, we’ve developed so many quick and efficient communication solutions. So why, with all our innovation, do we still invite you to write or type a letter to the child you sponsor? Are we blissfully ignorant of the world around us in keeping our letter writing model? Are we just stuck in the 90’s?
It’s a worthwhile question. If there was ever a time to ditch letter writing prompts and templates, now would be the time.
Quick and snappy communication might be a smart solution for our schedules. But, we’re convinced—through the stories you and children across the globe have shared with us—that continuing the slow and thoughtful practice of letter writing, but digitally and on paper, is a massive faith-strengthener.
What letter writing can teach us about God’s Kingdom
In the Gospels, Jesus uses parables to talk about how the coming of His Kingdom is anything but quick. It is slow but sure, like yeast and mustard seeds. Building Jesus’ Kingdom takes time and intentionality.
“When we write letters to children around the globe, we’re not just growing Christ’s kingdom through relationship with our global neighbours. We are growing deep spiritual fruit within our own lives.”
The more intentional we are about being a good and loving neighbour (Mark 12:31) and making Jesus known, the more our efforts will sprout both within ourselves and in the world around us.
When we write a letter to the child we sponsor, we’re not just growing Christ’s kingdom through relationship with our global neighbours. We are growing deep spiritual fruit within our own lives. By taking the time to commit ourselves to what seems like a practice of the past, we remind our hearts of the spiritual fruit we are called to bear throughout scripture.
1. Patience
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23
What is one of the first words that comes to mind when you think of writing someone a letter? For me, it’s patience. The patience it takes to sit quietly with your thoughts until you think of something to write down. The patience it takes to wonder if a letter got to its destination. The patience it takes to wait for a response.
It’s a ton of waiting.
In a culture that is accustomed to instant responses and quick quips, we risk losing the virtue of patience. Did you know that the word “wait” is listed at least 140 times in the Bible? If this is the case, there must be something valuable God wants to teach us about waiting. There is deep spiritual work that happens within our hearts when we practice patience.
2. Intentionality
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” – Galatians 5:13
Intentionality has become a buzzword in Christian culture. But what does it really mean?
Intentionality means going out of your way for something. To be deliberate. To carefully and attentively pursue something or someone. Doesn’t this sound just like Jesus?
When we sit down at our laptop or desk to write a letter, we push ourselves to think carefully about what we are saying and how we want to say it. Being intentional requires us to quiet our hearts, avoid distraction and posture our spirits prayerfully towards God.
The more we put intentionality into practice—in our faith lives and in our pursuit of loving our neighbour—the more we can live our lives with gospel-infused purpose, direction and passion.
What a gift this is!
3. Empathy
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”- Romans 12:15
Another kingdom-saturated virtue that grows within us when we write and read letters is empathy. Giving undistracted and purposeful time to reading the words of the child we sponsor and figuring out how to respond allows us to tap into a piece of ourselves that feels empathy.
We feel heavy when they are heavy.
We feel joyful when they are joyful.
We feel heartbroken when they are heartbroken.
Putting ourselves in this position means we are sitting there with them feeling it all, not just watching their life from afar sending our regards. When we take the time to ask and hear about the life of the child we sponsor, we close the gap between us. We become close to one another in heart, praying and advocating for one another.
The power of your written (and typed) words
At Compassion, we know some things are not worth losing. Along with the faith-building fruit that grows through the tried and true practice of letter writing, we know the impact of your words on a child’s life is real.
We know, because we’ve experienced it.
We’ve heard the joyous shouts of a group of children in Uganda on letter delivery day. We’ve seen the dog-eared, tear-stained stack of letters kept safely in the drawer of a young girl from Peru, the ones she reads repeatedly when days are hard.
Your letters? They’re the hope-sharing, truth-telling, world-shaping, slow kingdom-building good stuff. They’re the forever-treasured keepsakes that tell a child in poverty that they’re known, loved and connected—not just to a friend across the globe, but to the God who created them.
Through your words, truth is affirmed, confidence is built and hope is put in motion in the heart of a child. It may not be quick and flashy, but it’s the slow, evergreen work of the kingdom of God reminding a child that they are worth someone’s time.
So, we’ll continue to celebrate slow, thoughtful words typed out on laptops and scribbled on paper.
We’ll continue to use up all 2,800 characters and attach a quirky family photo.
We’ll type out Bible verses, scribble hearty prayers and sift through letter writing prompts.
We’ll do all this because we’ve seen and we know: Hope Moves Through Words.
Let Hope Move Through Your Words Today!
