The Value of a Child: Eternally Impacting Lives Through Child Sponsorship

At the age of five, in a PAOC church in rural Canada, Barry Slauenwhite gave his life to Christ. He knew from a young age God was calling him into ministry. “Having accepted the Lord as a child, I was keenly aware of the value of a child,” Barry says.

Often feeling like the church viewed children as a liability until they were old enough to be useful, Barry sought out at-risk children in his community. In his early days as a pastor, he and his wife started a kids’ camp for these vulnerable children.

Eventually, God opened a door for Barry to help even more kids than he could imagine. For over 38 years, he worked with several parachurch organizations, helping millions of children in a mission setting across 61 countries. His work was holistic child development, helping at-risk children to grow as Jesus did.

Referencing Luke 2:52, Barry says, “The Scripture tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom, which is cognitive; strength, which is physical; favour with God, which is spiritual; and favour with man, which is social.” All four elements are essential to help children develop fully, being prepared for life here on earth and in eternity.

We need to care for the everyday needs of children. We need to educate kids so they can break generational cycles of poverty. And most importantly, we need to introduce these children to Jesus, who changes their destiny. ERDO’s partners around the world are not only educating children, increasing nutrition and improving sanitation, but they are also connecting children to the local church, where the context allows.

Eighty-five per cent of adult Christians report coming to Christ as a child between the ages of four and 14.¹ And Barry’s own personal research indicates that typically, when a child becomes a Christian, an average of four other family members come to faith. God empowers people to change their lives as they come into relationship with Him. And much more than that, God brings people into a community of believers where they can be loved, supported and discipled. Child sponsorship, like ERDO’s ChildCARE Plus program, is a strategic way for the church in Canada to enable the powerful, holistic work of child development globally.

When Barry transitioned out of work life, he began volunteering with ERDO. Visiting Guatemala and Honduras, he saw our child sponsorship programs firsthand. Bringing his wealth of experience, he was blown away by how our partners reach children cognitively, physically, spiritually and socially. He saw children growing as Christ grew

In Guatemala, he visited a church under a bridge in slums controlled by gangs. He watched children living in this dangerous area as they were ministered to by the church. He heard stories of the adults who had grown up there, how they came to Christ, and saw that they now worked at the church.

In Honduras, Barry met volunteers and employees of the church who had been sponsored as children. They told stories of how the enemy wanted them involved in drugs and prostitution, but God changed their lives. Barry returned home to Canada and told his wife about the impact of the ChildCARE Plus program. He said, “We’re in. Both feet.”

When a family sponsors a child, they become missionaries to that child. They cover the child and their family in prayers. They write encouraging letters. They minister to that child. While reflecting on his family’s experiences, Barry fondly recalls how his daughters grew up with the photo of their sponsored child at the dinner table. He says:

“If every family sponsored a child through ChildCARE Plus, if we took that sponsorship not as a donation or a transaction but as a spiritual exercise where we become missionaries, and we then involved our children, imagine the impact it would have…. Your investment in a child has the greatest impact of anything you can do as a Christian. Jesus was never just consumed with Jerusalem. Jesus’s worldview was complete, and that’s what He told His disciples. He actually sent them out into this world, and that’s how the gospel spread. [Spreading the gospel is] a key strategy of this concept of child sponsorship or being a missionary as a family.”

Today, you can help a child learn their worth through child sponsorship.

Sponsor now!

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