Sponsor a Child. Change a Life! Guardian Alliance
“At school my society teacher asks many questions and I can answer them. I am a good student”-Bui (ZOE child)
When I think about sponsoring a child I automatically see the images that have been shown on television for years. I feel guilty sitting comfortably at home, a cold drink in hand, while a child somewhere in the world doesn’t even have clean water to drink much less a dwelling place deserving to be called “home.”
The child sponsorship program that ZOE offers is different, so I want to take a moment to explain how we care for children orphaned or rescued from human trafficking. So right now as you read about ZOE’s child sponsorship program, for just a moment I want you to block out all the images you have seen.
At ZOE we are not just caring for children today; we are raising tomorrow’s leaders. We provide ZOE children every opportunity to develop in every area of their life, so that they will become leaders of their nation. As more children are rescued from the horrors of human trafficking, they too will get the chance to make a difference in their world. These children will be the ones to fulfill the vision of ending human trafficking and to show compassion and love to orphans and those whom society marginalizes.
Orphaned and rescued children come with nothing but the clothes on their back. No toy, no book, no underwear — not even a smile. Even the clothing they are wearing is usually so filthy and potentially disease ridden that the first thing we do is give them new garments. I recall one rescue where a little boy’s clothes were such that we had to burn them in the remote mountain village to ensure that nothing contagious came with him to ZOE. In fact, the only thing he brought from his village was the worst case of intestinal worms imaginable. The torn and stained rags that once passed for clothes are left behind and transformation begins — first on the outside, and later within.
When ZOE rescues a child we take on the full responsibility of caring for that child’s every need. ZOE employs staff who have a heart to care for children and who become the mothers and fathers to the children. ZOE provides food and clothing and medical care. We provide tuition, school uniforms and transportation so they can attend school, many for the first time in their lives.
ZOE is unique among children’s homes. I have seen firsthand many children’s homes that have a single staff member responsible for 20 to 30 children. At ZOE, however, we keep our parent-to-child family ratio small. We believe that the best way for a child to heal from the hurts of the past is to have the love and care of a parent who has time for him or her on an intimate and personal basis. The benefit of our high quality care is that every child is loved and valued individually, and gets the opportunity to discover their God-given gifts and talents.
With the high cost of living in the U.S., 25 dollars per month does not go very far. Even as a volunteer at the ZOE Children’s Homes living in Thailand, $25 will not get me through the month. ZOE’s model of care costs more than $25 a month per child. That is why we align like-minded people who have a heart to care for a child and assign multiple sponsors for each child. Your $25 combined with that couple’s $75 added with the business that gives $100 a month allows us to do with excellence what needs to be done.
There really is no greater contrast than comparing the life a child has in the safety of the ZOE Children’s Homes, to that of begging on the streets, or being sold into human trafficking, or being an orphan with no one to love and care for them.
Sponsoring a child gives a child a hope and a future.
