Compassion Blog

Featured Articles

5 Tips for Telling Other People about Compassion
So you love the work of Compassion, but aren’t sure how to tell your friends and family? Here are some helpful tips to get you on your way!
The Ethics of Child Sponsorship
Steve Holmes is a Baptist minister, presently employed to teach theology in St Mary’s College, St Andrews, Scotland. This article was first published on Steve’s blog, you can read it here. The BBC has a report under the title ‘Is child sponsorship ethical?’ highlighting Wydick, Glewwe & Rutledge’s recent study in the JPE on the eff ...
Vicky Beeching reflects on the BBC’s child sponsorship article
Today the BBC featured the work of Compassion, after seminal new research was published by Dr Bruce Wydick and the University of San Francisco. See the BBC article here - it’s fantastic. They ask “Is child sponsorship ethical?” – a question that many have pondered over the years. My answer to that question is a resounding & ...
Photo Friday – Black and White
“When you photograph people in colour, you photograph their clothes. But when you photograph people in black and white, you photograph their souls!” Ted Grant Last weekend I visited a wonderful Ansel Adams exhibition. Adams is known as the forefather of modern photography and his images of the American countryside, particularly Yosemite Park, ...
Photo Friday – Seeing the Joy
I talked a few weeks ago about the pride Haitians take in the way they dress for church. Today I want to look at the interaction I had with one small boy at that same church. As I quietly walked around the sanctuary trying to capture images that reflected the joy and hope that was pouring from the worship, my eye was drawn to this small boy. I took ...
Photo Friday – The Marks
Can you see the marks? The marks of students who have struggled at this desk, persevered despite their circumstances. This simple image is a stark reminder to me of the hard work that gaining an education is. The marks on the desk remind me of the many lives that have sat at this functional piece of wood striving to be better. Behind each one of t ...
“Let the little children come to me”
At Easter we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Across the globe children in Compassion projects will hear how much God loves each of them, and what Jesus’ sacrifice means for them. Here are a collection of images from around the world of children by the cross. Please do remember to pray for them this Easter. Over 138, 800 ...
Photo Friday – It’s About The First Million
I have a friend who is quite the entrepreneur. He’s always looking for the next big thing, the thing he can jump on and make his fortune. His mantra is, “The first million is the hardest, once you’ve got that it’s easy to make more.” I visited a family in Haiti that lived out this mantra, in a smaller way. Cherlise used to be in a Compassion proje ...
Photo Friday – Building a Road
I noticed something very interesting in Haiti. Every town seems to have one road that is very well paved. This tends to be the main road of the town, where people gather, markets bustle with life and goats make their homes. So what is so special about this road? Well this road gets extended every few years. Every mayoral election means that the ro ...
Blood Sweat & Compassion: The Kilimanjaro Challenge ’13
I’m one of those people is very comfortable in my comfort zone, perhaps that’s to be expected though. However, about 18 months ago, being snuggled up in my little cotton wool bubble started to itch. I began thinking of things that would challenge me and make me question attitudes or behaviours. For those of you who don’t know me, ...
Photo Friday – Holding Hands
Have you ever had an experience when everything just seems to stop and you’re caught in the moment? Following on from last week’s account of the joy at the opening of a Child Survival Programme in Haiti, I had just this very experience. Whilst running around trying to capture the joy and excitement of the opening of the new building it got to the p ...
She has no limitations – Compassion’s Health RESPONSE Fund
When Estheysi was three months old, her mother noticed her heartbeat was too fast. She took her daughter to a doctor and after being examined, she received the news that little Estheysi had a heart murmur. Comforted by the fact the doctor said the murmur would heal, Lizeth remarks, “I was in peace, because there was nothing to worry about. Every t ...
Compassion partner with the Official Christian and Gospel Album Chart!
Compassion UK is committed to seeing worship and justice become inseparable. As Ben Cantelon said when we met up with him on his latest tour, ‘I believe worship and justice belong together… you can’t have one without the other’, and we at Compassion UK whole-heartedly agree! That is why we have partnered with the Official ...
In my own words: Radhika
My name is Radhika. My father abandoned me when I was a year old. My mother got married a second time and since then she has never bothered about me at all. My second dad won’t accept another man’s child as his child. All this upsets me very much. At my Compassion project I am known and loved. I am wanted. I have friends and we play together. I d ...
I Changed My Life – Ty, 17 years old
This is the inspiring story of 17 year old Ty, who sponsors a child through Compassion International. “I think that it is something that God wants us and expects us to do, as he commands it. How can we just sit back and not even try?”
Dangerous Comparisons
I overheard an American business man yelling at a station porter this morning as I was queuing to buy my rail ticket. The nature of his complaint was regarding the secondary entrance to the station and it’s two ticket machines. Two machines not being enough. As the complaint gathered momentum, he finished with this comment; ”it’s ...