On the ground in Guatemala: The power of sponsorship

When 6 a.m. comes in America, many kids are just beginning to stir and get ready for the school day. They brush their teeth, eat a full breakfast, and put on clean clothes. But in impoverished countries like Guatemala, children are often up early for a different reason.

They have to go to work.

During a recent trip to Guatemala, Tom Thompson, World Help’s senior vice president, saw firsthand the impact poverty has on a child’s life … and how sponsorship can make a difference.

In Guatemala, hardworking parents still struggle to make ends meet … so many kids have to drop out of school to help provide food and other necessities for the family. In fact, less than half of all Guatemalan children attend high school.

Many kids fall so far behind during their elementary years — the result of missing school because of malnutrition and waterborne diseases — that they wouldn’t be able to catch up anyway.

But you can help. By sponsoring a child, you can restore a lost childhood.

For just a little over $1 a day, you can help meet desperate physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Your sponsorship will provide nutritious meals, clean water, medical assistance, and so much more.

As a sponsor, you will come alongside your sponsored child to give him or her the tools needed to succeed in life. You will provide educational opportunities, and your encouraging letters will remind your sponsored child that you believe in him or her.

Because of you, one boy or girl can grow up and become an important member of society. Over the years, we have seen sponsored children grow up to become teachers, pastors, nurses, and many other types of professionals. Because of the love they received from their sponsors, they wanted to give back and have been able to invest in their own neighborhoods and villages.

So when you sponsor a child, you actually begin to transform an entire community.

All it takes is $35 a month for you to begin that transformation by investing in a boy or girl growing up in poverty. Through sponsorship, you can be the hands and feet of Jesus in some of the poorest communities on earth.