World Vision

For a long time, I had been looking for a place where my voice and influence could be directed, intimately.

Where a cause that was dear to my heart would be brought into the words written here, that I could somehow impassion people to make a difference… even if only for one person.

We all need to start with one person.

After a few conversations, World Vision asked me to join them on a blogging trip with a team of incredible writers and influencers to Bolivia, where we would meet families and children affected positively by the presence of World Vision. They paid for me to go and in return, I blogged about my experience there.

I confess, it wasn’t my best writing, or my most compelling content. I was so struck by what I saw and experienced, I had a hard time processing it all into coherent thoughts, let alone eloquent posts here and at A Deeper Story. But I did my best with the passion and energy that I had, and it was enough to find sponsors for kids in Cochabamba. More than I could have imagined.

The experience in Bolivia changed me. It has changed the way I pray. It has changed the way I interact with my God and my family. I no longer see things in the same way. I parent my child differently. I spend my money differently. I read the Scriptures differently. Callouses were rubbed down until my heart was made soft and hopeful and I’m still trying to understand it all.

You can read all of my World Vision posts by clicking the link below.

My Trip to Bolivia with World Vision

What I can tell you about World Vision and their community development model is this: IT WORKS.

More effectively than any organization I’ve been able to observe, World Vision meets the needs of children and communities in the areas around the world that are neglected and forgotten. Families are restored and made healthy. Children are provided for instead of abandoned on the side of the road. They are educated and passionate. Parents learn from World Vision about securing proper nutrition for their children. And, all of these in-country models are operated by natives of that country, and sometimes, natives of that community. There is no western imposition or imperialism to be seen anywhere within the World Vision model. Simply working alongside communities to bring restoration and help to those who are most vulnerable: Children.

All of this is done through child sponsorship. It’s simple, really. A large percentage of the money that you graciously donate each month to World Vision for your sponsored child is directed toward that particular child. They are given access to regular healthcare (that has saved lives), school supplies, good nutrition, and any additional aid that’s needed.

The small percentage of your money left after the child’s needs are met are put into a community pool, which helps the local community secure proper food and irrigation, build schools, and offer healthcare.

So, when you sponsor a child, it’s not just the child that benefits. Their brothers and sisters immediately benefit. Their parents benefit. The community benefits. It’s a powerful model that works.

Once the community is considered stable and self-sustaining (this process usually takes about 15 years from start to finish), World Vision phases out their support and passes leadership and oversight directly to the leaders of the community. It’s a self-sustaining model, so there is no indefinite length of dependence between the community and World Vision.

World Vision comes into a community with a clear objective: Provide the tools needed to alleviate poverty in the area, allow the system to become self-sustaining, then phase out.

If you’d like to sponsor a child through World Vision, you can do so by clicking the image link. And if you’d like to learn more, I’d be happy to talk to you about World Vision. Just drop me a note through my contact page, or connect with me on Twitter or Facebook.