You deserve to have your questions about child sponsorship answered--

Sponsoring a child
through Every Child Ministries

Street children
Homeless children
Abandoned children
Orphans
AIDS orphans
Desperately poor children 
Slave children
War-displaced and war-affected children
Albino children (Children with albinism) 

Your love may give them their first glimpse of hope !

Got just 3 minutes?  Watch "Give the Gift of Love".  This amazing video clip answers SO MANY QUESTIONS!

Answers to Most Frequently Asked Questions about Child Sponsorship

Yayra Aheto - a young girl abandoned at an idol shrine when her mother died,  now has a life and HOPE through Every Child Ministries' child sponsorship.  After being sponsored and coming to ECM's Haven of Hope, she didn't want to have anything more to do with her old idol shrine name, so she chose a new name for herself--Yayra (Yah-yee-rah) meaning "Blessed."  How does Yayra feel about being sponsored?  Her new name says it all.

Can I send special gifts to my child?

Yes! We encourage you to send a monetary gift of up to $20 for your sponsored child’s Christmas. This enables our workers to purchase what your child needs most.  If you really want to send a gift, it should arrive in April and our summer teams can take it in their suitcases, and it must be extremely lightweight--no more than 1/2 pound.  (Because our workers also need to take many other supplies for general use in the ministry.)  A t-shirt or a necklace are examples of acceptable lightweight items.  If you’d like to enclose coloring sheets, stickers or other flat, lightweight, inexpensive paper type gifts in your letters, that is OK, too.  Unfortunately, we have to discourage sending gifts through the mail.  Our workers will likely have to pay more than the value of the item in fees on the other end, and the likelihood of it being stolen in the post are great. 

Yes, we encourage you to write to your child at least twice a year, or as often as you want. Your child will write to you, too, or dictate a letter if he does not yet know how to write.  Our workers will coach younger children by asking "What would you like to tell your sponsor about...?"  Translation services will be provided if needed for any letters your child writes.   The ease and rapidity of communication varies with the different countries where ECM has children sponsored.  Communication to Congo in particular takes a long time (six months or longer), so please be patient.

Your child would like to hear about your family and life, but avoid references to how big a house you live in, new cars, many possessions, etc. Talk about daily life and activities. Talk about your children or grandchildren, if appropriate, and their activities.

Feel free to share Bible verses and things God is teaching you. Remember that your child knows nothing about American life, so any small event can seem an adventure to him or her. Your letters need not be long. You may want to keep copies so that you can more easily remember what you have already written about.

Be sure to ask questions and show interest in the child’s life and achievements, too. Your child will be greatly encouraged to know that you care.

Please DO NOT tell the child to let you know if he needs anything.  This invitation is WAY too open for our children to handle, and we do not want to encourage them to think of you as Santa Claus.  If they have real needs that you may be able to help with, we will communicate with you.  In such a case, you should not feel pressured to respond if this is difficult for you.  Most of of our sponsors want to know of such needs, so we do inform you of special needs from time to time.  If you receive such a communication from us, just pray about it and do as God directs you.

You will receive a picture of your child at least once a year, and we encourage you to send an individual or family snapshot.  Please avoid sending pictures of your house or pictures that show lots of "stuff".  Your face is the thing that will encourage your child. 

What about prayer?

We strongly encourage you to pray regularly for your child. We can vouch for the fact that your child will also pray for you.

Every Child Ministries has a consistent record over the years of 91 to 96% of every dollar received going to ministry projects. So 91 to 96 cents of every dollar goes to help your child. That’s a better record than any other child sponsorship organization we know of.

Why do the costs of child sponsorship vary from organization to organization?

One of the reasons is that the services provided vary widely. Some organizations pool sponsorship funds from many children to sponsor community-wide projects that help all the children. Some help children more directly by providing part of the funds to the child’s family or school. Every Child Ministries finds sponsors for children who are homeless, abandoned or orphaned. In many cases, such as children staying at Haven of Hope for example, we take complete responsibility for the child at Haven of Hope Home, providing fully for his care, food and clothing, and medical expenses. In other cases, we provide complete funding for the child’s education or vocational training and major funding for his other needs. It’s a wonder, considering all we provide, that the cost of sponsorship through Every Child Ministries is as low as it is at $30 a month. 

Another reason costs vary has to do with how much an organization spends on fund raising or how much it costs them to find sponsors.  Some organizations, for instance, bring music stars to visit a field at the organization's expense and the star then promotes the organization in future concerts.  Others pay for TV or radio advertising which is very expensive.  We're not criticizing that--an organization does what it has to do to find sponsors.  As for us, Every Child Ministries relies on low-cost, high return methods of getting our message out, so our fund-raising costs are very low.

This depends on the child's needs.  The amount and type of care provided by some of Every Child Ministries' child sponsorship programs is a lot more costly than providing some help, which is what is usually given by most sponsorship organizations. Therefore ECM may assign more than one donor to a child if necessary to meet all his basic needs, but we never seek more sponsors than are really needed. In any case, your sponsored child will know your name and pray for you, and you will be making an immense contribution to his or her life.

Specifically, children receiving complete care at Haven of Hope need three sponsors to support their needs at the orphanage (total $90/mo) and one sponsor for schooling.  High school and some vocational sponsorships also require more than one sponsor.  All our orphan assistance projects and Haven Academy sponsorships require only one sponsor, as do our orphan aid projects.   We never multiply sponsors needlessly.  Our aim is to fully meet the child's needs.

If your child needs more than one sponsorship for the type of assistance he or she is receiving, and you want to provide full assistance, this is certainly commendable.  It is also just fine to provide one sponsorship, and let others partner with you in completing the child's needs.  It means more people are praying for him or her!

You may sponsor your child through high school or completion of vocational training if this is deemed more helpful for your child.  As your child approaches the last years of high school, appropriate educational or vocational options will be discussed with the child, and you will have an opportunity to help sponsor such training if you so desire. In the unlikely event that the child dies or is removed from our programs for any reason, you will be notified.

Older children in vocational training programs may need support for only a couple of years.  You will receive information about your specific child.

Of course, we realize that your situation may change. If for any reason you are unable to continue sponsoring your child, simply inform us. We will look for another sponsor to continue the child’s support, and you will still have made a valuable contribution to the child's life.

Feel free to contact us at any time—by phone, mail, or e-mail. We have e-mail and phone communication with our workers on the field, so we can easily get an answer for you, if we don’t know the answer ourselves.  Your questions are welcome at any time. 

Your sponsorship will make all the difference in the world to your sponsored child! Many of the children have been living on the streets and have no home. Many of them have never slept in a real bed before. Some of them may be slave children who were freed but whose families still will not welcome them back home.  Your support makes it possible for them to come to Haven of Hope where they will be safe, cared for, loved and valued, or to receive vocational training according to the child’s needs.  In the case of children in our orphan assistance programs, your sponsorship makes it possible for the child to receive education, Bible teaching, supplemental nutrition, and medical care as needed.  In all our programs, your support makes it possible for them to learn of Jesus and have an opportunity to trust Him as Savior. Your gift gives them a precious, precious gift—HOPE!

FAX 219-996-4203 

e-mail:   ecmafrica@ecmafrica.org

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