Compassion

Compassion

Many of St Mark’s congregation had already sponsored children through Compassion. However in October 2011, we launched a partnership with a project at St Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ghana and more than 70 children have now been sponsored at this project by people who attend St Mark’s.  A team have just been out to visit our sponsored children and to see the fantastic work of Compassion on the ground.

In 2014 we launched the HG1000 campaign which has an audacious target of lifting 1000 children out of poverty through child sponsorship and providing 1000 families with water filters to ensure they have a life-time of safe water. 

Compassion works in partnership with local churches in developing countries; providing resources, training and expertise to assist in the operation of holistic child development programmes.

The local church is best placed to know the specific needs of their communities
and provide integrity, long term commitment and Christian support to children and
their families.

Compassion works with the poorest of the poor in 26 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Central and South America.

Sponsored children receive educational opportunities, including literacy and life skills training; health care and health education; and, if required, supplemental nutrition. Children are also given opportunities to hear and respond to the gospel.

The unique structure of the one-to-one sponsorship model allows sponsors and sponsored children to have input into each other’s lives by writing letters and through prayer.

If you would like to find out more about sponsoring a child in any of the Compassion projects, or about becoming an advocate for Compassion, please contact Michelle Hayes stmarkskingdomlife@gmail.com.

HG1000

We are looking for people who can spread the word about HG1000. To see 1,000 children sponsored through the HG postcode will require a movement of people working together…

Seeing 1,000 children lifted out of poverty would be amazing.  In the first year of HG1000 we have reached 560!Could you get a few children sponsored over the next year? By talking to friends? By hosting an HG1000 dinner in your house? By organising an event at work, or through your clubs/networks?It doesn’t have to be complicated. Show them our videos, talk about your own sponsored child.

Click here to read more about Compassion.

So…can you commit to seeing 3, or 5 children lifted out of poverty through your advocacy this year?Together, let’s do something Historically Great….

Read this short account from 2014 when HG1000 first began

The week after Easter five parents and their children went to Ghana with Compassion to not only visit the children they sponsor, but also over 80 children sponsored by people from the St Mark’s community. They took out gifts, video messages, and, thanks to the generosity of many people, were able to fund a day out for 120 children. In the melting heat!

It was unforgettable. We visited three projects – a Child Survival Programme, where pregnant women, or those with young children are supported and given healthcare, the Compassion Project at St Paul’s Lutheran Centre in Accra – St Mark’s partner project – and another project in Senya. We made home visits, witnessing the very basic conditions in which the children live. We saw with our own eyes the difference that sponsorship makes. We saw the fantastic organization and commitment of Compassion on the ground. There were tears, many mixed emotions, as we experienced how real the connection is between a child that is sponsored, and the relationship with the sponsor.

We will try to communicate over the next few months more about the experience. And we have fire in our bellies about seeking to get 1,000 children sponsored in the Harrogate area. Because it brings change – to the children, but also to us. We meet Jesus when we reach out to others. We don’t have much to give, but the most fulfilling purpose in life is to share His love. That’s what this partnership is about.