The Mission Life Experience: A Sponsor’s Perspective
Baileigh Collins is one of Mission Life’s newest sponsors and she is now a volunteer writer with us! Back in May, Collins decided to sponsor Nicol, a child at one of our new centers in Colombia. In a very short time, they developed an incredible connection. While Baileigh is new to our Mission Life family, she is not new to child sponsorship. In her story below, Baileigh gives her perspective on her Mission Life experience and how it was different from the start.
One may question what makes Mission Life different from other child sponsorship programs? While Mission Life is new to the child sponsorship world, they are paving the way for others to follow. In fact, Mission Life is the only organization to provide video messaging where sponsors can send and receive videos from their child.
What I love about Mission Life is there are real people working behind the scenes constantly to translate your messages. Within three days of sending my sponsor child a message, I heard back from Mission Life stating that they received my message and were translating it so my child would be able to understand what I wrote to them. Then, within a week, I heard back from my child and yes, it was translated for me. That is an amazing turnaround time. In my experience with other organizations (long before the pandemic), I found that it usually takes a couple of months before you are able to hear back from your child. Mission Life truly wants to foster a lasting relationship with your child and that is why their volunteers work hard to ensure your messages are being promptly translated and sent. This is part of the reason I decided to volunteer as a writer with Mission Life. I love that everyone on this Mission Life team is working to support healthy relationships, encouraging communication and doing whatever it takes to bring these children closer to their heavenly Father.
Selecting your child is similar to other sponsorship organizations. You are able to search by age, gender and region. However, at Mission Life, once you have found the child God has put on your heart, you instantly get to see a video of them. Seeing them and hearing their voice truly fills your heart with joy. I can tell you that this is not the norm. Usually when you sponsor a child with an organization, you get one photo of them and maybe an updated photo a year or so later.
During one of my previous experiences, an organization mentioned that if you gave a certain amount to your child on their birthday or at Christmas, you would get to see a picture of them with their presents. Wanting to see my child, I gave that amount but the picture never came and I later found out that my money was being split between other children. This was a hard reality to swallow. It made me wonder if there was indeed a child behind the picture I was sponsoring. With Mission Life’s video communication, you are able to rest assured that the child you are sponsoring is indeed a real child and they are benefiting from your generosity.
Unfortunately, when you mention that you are sponsoring a child, many people tend to have a preconceived notion that you are being “scammed”. Many of these ideas simply come from the fact that organizations for years have misconstrued the truth. After researching, I found that many times what you believe your money is going toward is not actually the case. For instance, I thought my former sponsor child was getting a meal through their center. After research on that particular organization, it turns out that children only received food assistance if there was “food insecurity”. It took some digging through their website to find that fact. It also appears that each child’s amount of help comes on a case by case basis.
With Mission Life, I was able to guarantee my friends that this was not the case. Mission Life has a close relationship with the leaders at their child development centers. Many volunteers travel to the centers. I know my child is getting one nutritious meal per day, receiving Christian teaching through daily devotionals, scripture and prayer time. I was able to assure my friends that my child is getting help with homework, assistance with any uniforms they may need and that they are helping my child achieve their dreams.
Mission Life is also open about how your money is spent. In fact, 87% goes directly to helping your child and the remaining 13% goes towards helping Mission Life’s administrative costs. Plus, receiving video messages from my child helped my friends see that Mission Life is an amazing organization.
Mission Life loves to help their sponsors if they have any questions or concerns and provides support and encouragement along the way. With Mission Life you can rest assured that you are joining a community of Christians who want the best for God’s children.
Matthew 28: 18-20 reads, ”Then Jesus came to them and said, ’All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mission Life helps us live out Jesus’ command to go and make disciples.
I remember singing a song as a child. The lyrics were “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” Jesus loves every child and wants us all to know him. By sponsoring through Mission Life, we can help fulfill His command of making disciples of all nations. Maybe the child you decide to sponsor will help other children come to know Jesus because they now have access to His word. - Written by: Baileigh Collins