Sponsorship: Before & Beyond Birth

As a mom in the midst of the adoption process, I often see the parallel between adoption and sponsorship.

Obviously, sponsorship is quite different from adoption, but the similarities can't be ignored: it is still the grafting of a child and his or her family into your own, the commitment to nurture, love and lead a child, and it is the obedience of a commandment from God to care for His precious lambs.

So often, babies are adopted from birth. The older the child, the more difficult the adoption process, and often the longer the children wait for a family. Older children in Compassion's Sponsorship Program often wait longer than younger children too.


Through Compassion, a sponsor can choose a child from age 3 and up, or as is most often the case, the child will choose you...

But what if you could sponsor a child younger than three?

Younger than two?

What if you could sponsor a baby?


An infant?



What if... you could make a commitment to a child before he or she is born into this world?


Yes, Compassion International's ministries assist infants by helping their mothers learn to care for them through the Child Survival Program, one of Compassion's 4 Core programs.

Child Sponsorship (CS)
Complementary Interventions (CI)
Leadership Development Program (LDP)
Child Survival Program (CSP)


Until recently, though, all one could do was donate to the Child Survival Program in order to give the best start possible to babies and their moms. Some of the most amazing Compassion testimonies have stemmed from CSP -- have you seen this powerful story from Ethiopia?

Imagine if we could sponsor moms and babies together?


We can.

I have something quite rare in my hands.


It is a sponsorship profile from Rwanda unlike any other that I've ever had.




What's special about this profile isn't just that this is quite possibly the longest name I have ever seen... :)


It's special because this is an expectant mother's profile.


The sponsorship is for this beautiful mother and her unborn child.



This mother (Mukanzabarushimana Genenivieve) is from Rwanda, and was born April 11th, 1988. Her baby's due date was in April of 2011, so she has had her baby by now (a quick call to Compassion will obtain the baby's details such as gender, date of birth and name), and they are both available for a very special sponsorship. The sponsorship will cover the first three years of the baby's life, at which time it will transfer to the traditional Child Sponsorship Program.

Sponsorships like these are an amazing opportunity to sponsor a child from before birth to beyond birth.



The cost is slightly more than a typical sponsorship ($56 Canadian, possibly slightly less in the U.S.), but it will then revert to the regular cost at age 3. Correspondence is a crucial/vital part of the sponsorship just as it is with older children. You get to correspond with the mother and build the relationship with her and learn about the child as he/she grows until it becomes a regular child sponsorship, at which time you can continue under the regular program.



Have you ever considered co-sponsoring with your own mother? My mother and I co-sponsor Bessy and Justin in Honduras... imagine you and your mother co-sponsoring a mother and her child?


Launched as a pilot program in Canada, these sponsorships are available in very, very limited quantities -- I only have one of these sponsorship packs, and I only know of ten in the entire Atlantic region. Would you prayerfully consider taking part in this blessing?



If you are interested in sponsoring this beautiful mamma and her baby, or if you have any questions, please contact me (JD (at) beyondmeasure.me) or simply respond in the comment section. As an added bonus, I will offer a copy of the Compassion book "Hope Lives" to the person who steps forward to sponsor this duo!