About Us

THIS IS WHO WE ARE

We are advocates for children, committed to Jesus Christ in all that we do.

Jesus is the core of our ministry and his life, teachings and character shape our programs, reflect the spiritual commitments of our staff, and guide how we love people, respect communities and cooperate with nations.

We are Christ-centered, church-driven and child-focused.

That is what makes us distinct from other child sponsorship organizations.

We are the world’s leading authority in holistic child development through sponsorship.

THIS IS WHAT WE DO

We release children from poverty in Jesus' name. That is our mission.

Through a holistic approach to child development, we carefully blend physical, social, economic and spiritual care together…in Jesus' name.

Since 1952 when Rev. Everett Swanson first flew to South Korea to minister to American troops fighting in the Korean War and felt compelled to help the orphans he saw on the streets, we have worked to help children realize their full potential and develop into all God intends them to be.

THIS IS HOW WE WORK

We do all of our work through partnerships with thousands of local churches in 27 countries around the world.

Two crosses in the front of a yellow church building

We are church-driven. This is due to our desire to equip the Church to fulfill its role as salt and light, and because local congregations are catalysts for community change, optimizing the mutual respect, resources and common purpose critical in caring for children.

Local churches are best suited to address the needs of the children in their communities because the churches are already located and involved in the communities.

Our local church partners tailor our holistic child development model to the contextualized needs of the children in their communities to best deliver the whole-life care that the children they serve most need.

Whole-life care is not care for an entire life. Whole-life care is holistic care — comprehensive care — to help children fully develop and become responsible and fulfilled adults. Whole-life care means we begin, in some cases, with prenatal care and go all the way through young adulthood. It means we take a long-term approach to child development and provide opportunities that encourage healthy spiritual, physical, social and economic development.

We work primarily through child sponsorship.

But also have specific initiatives to:

Critical needs include opportunities to provide medical assistance (e.g., surgeries, transplants, casts, wheelchairs and canes, cancer treatment, etc.), food security with extra food and nutritional supplements, income-generation training, emergency home repairs and disaster relief, access to clean and safe water, education assistance, and other necessities.

Visit our blog to learn:

How We Decide Which Churches to Partner With >

What We Mean By Partnership >

What We Consider a Strong Partnership >

How We Build Healthy Partnerships >

THIS IS HOW OUR CHILD SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM WORKS

We fight poverty personally. We are child-focused. When a child is registered in our program the beneficiary of the support is the specific sponsored child.

a young boy stands with his arms crossed with a proud look on his face

We work with the neediest and most vulnerable children that we can reach — the poorest of the poor.

Our Child Sponsorship Program offers:

medical checkups and health care.
health and hygiene training.
ongoing Christian training through a local church.
educational assistance, including textbooks, school uniforms, post-secondary courses, tutoring, test and lab supplies and even literacy and financial training for caregivers.
key life skills training, mentoring and vocational programs.
nutritious food and supplements to protect against malnutrition.
recreational activities and support to development self-confidence and social skills.
protection from crime, violence and danger.
access to special services like surgeries and disaster relief.

The minimum standards for our Child Sponsorship Program dictate that each church-run child development center provide four to eight hours of programming each week, at least 48 weeks out of the year, and that individual child attendance be taken each time the center is open.

While at the church-driven child development centers the children receive life-changing opportunities that would otherwise be out of their reach, and which build on, add to and extend their school lessons.

Learn More About How Child Sponsorship Works >

Learn How Our Church Partners Choose Which Children to Register >

THIS IS HOW WE APPROACH OUR FINANCES

2021 Accountability Report >

As a Christ-centered charitable organization, we strive to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us. Our financial accountability, reporting processes, and results around the globe are consistently commended. We are a founding member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and meet the standards of the Better Business Bureau Wise Giving Alliance.

With God’s blessing, we will continue working to release as many children as possible from poverty in Jesus’ name.

What is the Wise Giving Alliance?

What is the ECFA?

THIS IS HOW WE APPROACH POVERTY

a woman and her sponsored child in front of a pink wall

We believe the most effective way to release children from poverty is through a one-to-one relationship between a sponsor and a child.

Our approach to releasing children from poverty is holistic, focused on the child, based in the church and centered on Jesus Christ.

We commit to connect each child in our program to only one sponsor at a time, to help sponsors cultivate meaningful relationships with the children they sponsor and to help sponsors understand the effects poverty has on children and their development.

We believe the protection of children is central to God’s heart for them.

Our approach to child protection begins with preventing abuse whenever possible It is based on several strongly held convictions.

No violence against children is justifiable.
All violence against children is preventable.
It's everyone’s job to protect children.

We commit to protecting the children in our programs from all forms of abuse and exploitation, to intervene quickly and to seek restoration and healing for children affected by abuse.

We believe it's important to uphold the dignity of the poor.

A poor African girl with a serious and dignified expression stands with a hand on her hip

Our approach to photographing the poor is to view the poor through Jesus' eyes and to show dignity and hope which live within them despite the suffering poverty inflicts.

We commit to handle the issue of poverty in people's lives with respect and to portray the poor in ways that express their need while maintaining their dignity.

Releasing Children From Poverty in Jesus' Name