Sometimes sponsorship changes more than a child's life... it changes your own. You can develop a relationship over time and distance through letters, but it's in that first embrace that you discover that "[the] joy was real. Contagious. Proof again that the Gospel truly transcends culture, geography, and socio-economic status."
 
That's what Erik Cooper, pastor of one of our partners, City Community Church in Indianapolis, wrote after meeting his sponsored child, Jorge. A team of 22 traveled to Honduras to meet the community of children they are investing in, and quickly learned that they couldn't fix the poverty these children faced in a week-long trip. They could, however, fix their own understanding of God's Kingdom and the hope Jesus offers for "the least of these" (Matthew 25:31-46).
 
In the end, we don't know who is changed more: the children who get to hug those who have supported them in so many ways, or the sponsors who finally see why sponsorship matters.

[In this picture, pastor Nathan LaGrange of City Community Church, hugs his sponsored child, Anna, in Honduras.]