Our Windsor Park Baptist team in the Philippines see the Compassion project we support first-hand. (Photo: Supplied)
Partnering through the local church
Ordinary New Zealanders from an ordinary church, walking single file through a community experiencing significant economic hardship, beginning to see a different part of the world for the very first time. Their eyes were wide open.
I was walking at the back as they took in the sights, sounds, and realities of poverty in Cebu City for the very first time.
“You can’t easily unsee it once you’ve experienced it”
I’ve always loved child sponsorship, partly because I know personally how transformative it can be. Years ago, I had the privilege of visiting a child our family sponsored in India, with my teenage son. Sponsorship stopped being an idea and became deeply personal. I realised that sponsorship really does change lives, not only for the child, but also for the sponsor.
From then on, I dreamed of our church embracing this work together. Not simply as individuals doing good things separately, but as a community sharing stories, praying, giving, and participating in something bigger than ourselves.
When the whole church gets behind sponsorship
There’s something powerful about a church family carrying a shared vision and seeing the collective impact of many small acts of generosity.
Today, our church sponsors around 100 children through Compassion projects in Cebu City. Over the past two years, we’ve taken groups of sponsors to meet children and families, walk the streets, worship with local churches, and witness first-hand the difference sponsorship makes. Much of this kind of work is slow Kingdom work. You plant seeds. You walk alongside vulnerable people. You invest in futures you may never fully see. Again and again, our team members return home changed, more grateful, more aware, and more committed to living generously.
Why the local church matters
What has struck me most is the power of partnership. Tearfund New Zealand and Compassion Philippines have helped make this possible, but importantly, the work happens through local churches. That matters deeply to us because it reflects the way of Jesus, caring for people practically while also pointing them toward hope, dignity, and faith.
Trying my hand at some crafts with children in the Compassion project. (Photo: Supplied)
Slow Kingdom work, lasting impact
It took nearly a decade to build enough momentum to take our first team to Cebu. Good things often take time. But every time we share the story publicly, more people sponsor children, more connections are formed, and more lives are changed. We do our part today knowing that God’s timeframe is so much bigger.
“So much of this kind of work is slow Kingdom work”
I’m already looking forward to taking another photo someday. Another group of people with eyes wide open, discovering that even small acts of generosity can help change the life of a child, a family, and a community.
We met some of the children we sponsor and visited their homes. (Photo: Supplied)
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