Extreme poverty steals choices from children – robbing them of the chance of a bright future. Children are left without hope that anything will change, and no real belief that they can do anything about it.
Over the past 70 years, World Vision has seen how lives change when a child is sponsored. Up to now it has been the sponsor who chooses the child. Now we're flipping this method of sponsorship on its head. For the first time, we're putting the power to choose a sponsor in the child's hands.
Our new child sponsorship model, Chosen, offers children the first real choice some have ever had. We're giving this gift of choice to some of the world's most vulnerable children, living in places entrenched in poverty or fractured by conflict or natural disaster.
Letting children choose their own sponsor – rather than being chosen – reflects our unshakable belief in these children. Our belief that, with the right support, children can change their own lives and their communities. That they, themselves, can be agents of lasting change.
This is an exciting opportunity for Christians to say yes to God's plan. In John 10:10, Jesus tells us that he came so that we could enjoy life in all its fullness. It's an indication of the infinite potential inside all of us – wherever we're born – to rise above the challenges we face.
A few chapters later, in John 15, Jesus says: "You did not choose me, but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit. Fruit that will last so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name." Chosen joins in with God's heart, and his belief in the children we serve.
Seven-year-old Ndinda in Kenya waited more than a year for a sponsor to pick her. But she didn't have to keep waiting. Her community took part in Chosen and she picked out a couple – Chrissy and Regis – from hundreds of pictures of potential sponsors who had signed up at church.
Ndinda was captivated by Chrissy's warm smile. She looked familiar, and she knew immediately that this was who she wanted as her sponsor. "I was very happy because she looked like my mother," Ndinda says.
Ndinda's mum, Miriam, died three years ago after a brief battle with meningitis. Miriam had been the family's main breadwinner and her death left Ndinda and her sister in the care of their grandparents, who eke out a living by selling fruit.
Ndinda sometimes joins her grandma on the long walk to dig for water in a dry riverbed. The water isn't clean, and she often gets sick. But she still manages to excel at school. She wants to be a doctor when she grows up "so that I can treat people" – people like her mum.
A large framed photo of Miriam is one of Ndinda's prized possessions, and now she treasures a photo of Chrissy and Regis, too. She keeps it in a special box and takes it out every day. "When I look at the photo after school, I smile," she says. "It makes me feel happy."
When she found out that Ndinda had chosen her and Regis to be her sponsors, Chrissy says she experienced a profound understanding of God's love.
"For me to be a little taste, or a little reminder of who her mum was, to hopefully be another loving female in her life that reminds her of her mum – I feel really honoured. It's just so, so special," Chrissy says.
"I want everyone to have this experience. To know in this moment I am loved, and in this moment, I am chosen. It's a sacred grounding."
It is transformational to know that through Chosen you have shown a child that they are loved and valued. And even more wonderful, it's not just one child you help. Donations are pooled to fund programmes that lead to positive changes for everyone in a community. In fact, for every child you help, four more children benefit as well.
That's why we'd love to partner with you, to make your church one of the first Chosen churches in the UK. We believe that not only will God bring about change in the community you help to sponsor, but he will change you, and your church.
You can empower a child to take hold of their future, while giving yourself the joy of being chosen. We all need someone to believe in us. To know they see our potential; that they trust we will flourish. When we show children that we believe in them it builds their self-esteem - a belief that they can reach for the stars.
By putting yourself up to be Chosen, you are saying to a child in desperate need: "I believe in you!" And having someone believe in us changes everything.
Graeme Newton is Director of Public Engagement at World Vision UK
