Pray for a resolution by March 15
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Dear Mr. & Mrs. Horning,
Our hearts are heavy today as we share an update with you on the challenges we face together to meet the critical needs of children in India.
In the next 60 days, we will likely be forced to shut down our sponsorship program in India. We want to be honest with you, there is very little hope. It deeply grieves us to think about what it would mean to end the relationships between Compassion children in India and their sponsors and donors.
Compassion has worked in India for over 48 years. Like you, we are so committed to helping children in extreme poverty that we have not arrived at this point in time without exhausting every available option to reach a positive resolution. Over the last ten months, we've done everything possible to maintain Compassion's current ministry in India: - We have sought the advice of legal experts in both the U.S. and India, all of whom have assured us we have kept all Indian laws.
- We have leveraged influential relationships, including U.S. representatives and senators, the former U.S. Secretary of State, our former U.S. Ambassador to India, the current U.S. Ambassador to India and the White House Office of Faith-based Affairs, as well as members of Parliament in the United Kingdom.
- We've asked Compassion sponsors like you to write Congress, and more than 35,000 letters were sent to bring attention to this issue.
- We testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, who gave us an overwhelming amount of encouragement and support.
- We have leveraged personal relationships to garner influential support within the U.S. and India.
- Our staff in the India field offices have stretched every last penny beyond what we thought possible to extend the programs for our children, while we in parallel explored alternative delivery methods to provide funds, yet a solution has not been discovered within the needed timeframe.
- Finally, the global Compassion family, including you, have prayed diligently each week for God's favor and intervention.
During these efforts, our local partners have depleted their existing reserves and have either fully ceased operations or are operating in a very limited capacity. Since we can no longer distribute funds to our field offices, we have just had to notify our India country staff that we must formally close our field offices in India by March 15. Should nothing change, that means an end to our sponsorship program in India in the next 60 days. Because of your committed partnership, we wanted to share this news with you today, too. And affirm that we will keep on working fervently for a positive resolution until the very last day.
Though this news is upsetting, we are taking comfort in our faith that this is not yet over. Working in India, and all countries where poverty is so extreme, comes with many different challenges. Your partnership and ministry to children in extreme poverty is desperately needed during times like these.
God has worked through your partnership, and sponsors like you, to provide all of these things: - care through a local partnership
- educational opportunities to defeat illiteracy
- key life skills training and vocational programs
- health care to prevent disease and fight sickness
- supplements to protect against malnutrition
- recreational activities to develop self-confidence and social skills
- protection from crime, violence and danger
- help for moms and babies to receive life-giving support
- disaster and emergency needs during times of crisis
Finally, as the united, global Compassion family who loves and cares for children in need, we believe God's heart is to reach every child in poverty in India … and all around the world. To that end, please continue praying for all of the sponsored children, Compassion's staff and our local partners in India. Pray with us for a positive resolution by March 15.
Here are updated requests to join us in praying: - Please pray that children will not lose the sense of safety and protection they found through Compassion's local partners.
- Please pray that the families we serve will feel stability during this time of uncertainty.
- Please pray for the local partners in India who are still trying to serve children without the funding Compassion has historically provided.
- Please pray for our Compassion India staff as they make difficult decisions during this time.
- And we at Compassion are praying that sponsors and donors like you will continue to advocate for children in extreme poverty through this time of uncertainty and frustration.
For today, we, like you, are just deeply saddened by the news of such a definitive timeline set before us. Our hearts grieve for the 580 local partners and the more than 145,000 Compassion children that have been impacted to date.
Thank you for standing with us to advocate for the children in extreme poverty in India.
In Christ,
Rick Davis
Vice President, USA
Compassion International
P.S. In case you missed my earlier messages on this topic, here is some background information. Compassion International currently faces serious challenges in our ability to disburse funds from sponsors to our local partners and country staff in India. Because of increased government restrictions, we cannot send sponsorship support to the local partners until we reach a resolution with government leaders. If the situation cannot be resolved by March 15, we will contact supporters to discuss options for the designation of any undistributed contributions.
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Compassion International is one of the world's largest and fastest growing Christian child development organizations. Since 1952, Compassion's revolutionary approach, through one-to-one sponsorship, has touched the lives of more than 2.5 million children.
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