March 1
It is with heavy hearts we announce that on March 15, Compassion will formally end all program operations in India.
Due to government restrictions on funding, we are not able to get sponsorship funds to our church partners in India. Despite our continued prayers and concentrated efforts to work with the government of India, we have not been able to resolve this situation.
Please watch this video to learn more.
We grieve along with each of our India sponsors. We know many of you have developed close relationships with your sponsored children. But we also know that God used your sponsorship to change the lives of these children in poverty, and we trust God that the seeds you planted will continue to bear fruit.
We thank and honour all of the church partners, volunteers, and staff of Compassion India who for so many years devoted themselves to loving and serving children living in desperate circumstances.
We believe this verse is true for them, as well as for you:
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17
We will contact you by both email and letter with next steps.
India supporter funding options
We take the trust you have placed in us to steward your finances very seriously. Please click below to learn your funding and sponsorship options.
Update your sponsorshipFrequently asked questions
Can I write a final letter to my sponsored child in India?Yes! We weren’t sure at first if this would be possible, but our church partners in India have graciously found a way to make it happen. You will be receiving a letter in the mail along with stationery to write a final letter to your child.
Can I send my child a final family gift?No. Since we are unable to disburse funds to our church partners in India, we can’t accept gifts for children and families in India.
Can I have the address of my child’s centre so I can continue to write?As we are not able to provide financial support to our partners, their resources are greatly diminished. We know this is a difficult time for sponsors grieving the loss of relationship with their child, but without these funds, our church partners don’t have the capacity to maintain communication between former sponsors and children.
Why did Compassion have to end its work in India?Beginning in early 2016, the Indian government restricted Compassion’s ability to disburse funds to our local church partners. Without these vital funds, our church partners have been unable to continue the program. Compassion was not the only non-governmental organization to face these difficulties. In addition to Compassion, more than 20,000 non-profit organizations had their charitable registrations revoked, and 300 face similar restrictions to Compassion [figures as of Feb 10, 2017].
Why wouldn’t the government of India allow Compassion to disburse funds?We believe there are two primary reasons India has chosen to restrict our funding and limit our operations. First, the current India government has placed increased scrutiny on non-governmental organizations. Some of their concerns are that foreign aid comes with expectations, so they want to reduce their dependency on foreign funding. Second, we also believe their decision is religiously motivated. We are Christian and seek to serve children in poverty as a response to our faith, and we provide biblically-based curriculum to our church partners.
We fully understand government leaders’ concerns; however, we believe the values of the Bible are applicable to all people regardless of religion. Compassion accepts and serves children and communities of all faith backgrounds (or no faith background), and categorically does not require or force conversion to Christianity at any time.
January 18
Due to continued government restrictions on funding, we will likely be forced to shut down our sponsorship program in India by March 15. It deeply grieves us to think about what it would mean to end all of the relationships between Compassion children in India and their sponsors.
To learn more, watch this video from Silas Balraj, Vice President of Compassion Asia.
We are in the process of contacting our Indian sponsors and hope to have more news soon.
Please continue to pray for the children, our local partners and all of our staff.