step into my life

change a ch ild’s l ife forever

“Blessed is he
who has regard
for the weak.
Psalm 41:1
step into my life change a child’s life forever

changing lives
TEAR Fund’s Compassion child sponsorship
provides a simple, practical and personal
way for your church to get involved in
reaching out to those in need with the
love of Christ.

It is an opportunity for your congregation to

learn more about the plight of the world’s
poorest children and to personally exchange
letters with and pray for the individual children
they sponsor. As they do so, you can expect
to see their lives transformed too.

We believe that TEAR Fund and

Compassion’s approach of connecting
the local church in developing countries
with committed sponsors through its child
development programme, provides the most
strategic way to end poverty.

1 BANGLADESH
2 BOLIVIA
3 BRAZIL
4 BURKINA FASO 17
6
5 COLOMBIA 11 13 12
6 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4
7 ECUADOR 8 18 24
8 EL SALVADOR
10
9 ETHIOPIA 5
10 GHANA
7
11 GUATEMALA
12 HAITI
13 HONDURAS 19
3
14 INDIA
15 INDONESIA 2
16 KENYA
17 MEXICO
18 NICARAGUA
19 PERU
20 PHILIPPINES
21 RWANDA
22 TANZANIA
23 THAILAND
24 TOGO
25 UGANDA

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 unwavering commitment to serve the poor as
Releasing children from Christ calls us to. Poverty is more than simply
poverty in Jesus’ name a lack of things; it is a lack of hope, which is
TEAR Fund’s child sponsorship partner, why we ensure that every child in our care
Compassion, is a leading Christian child gets to hear about the hope they
development ministry committed to have in Christ.
eliminating the root causes of poverty for
children. Children are the hardest hit by
poverty and have the fewest resources
available to change their circumstances.
Our passion and our purpose reside in our

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Where we work
TEAR Fund’s partner Compassion has more than 50 years’ experience of helping children
in need. At present, more than a million children attend Compassion child development
centres in 25 of the world’s poorest countries. Compassion partners with 5,000 churches
from a variety of denominations. Individual sponsors contribute $45 a month to TEAR
Fund to support one child.

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step into my life change a child’s life forever

Christ centred and Child sponsorship works

church based
As a Christ-centred ministry founded on
biblical principles, we believe that the Church
is God’s chosen vehicle for reaching out
to those in need with His love. That’s why
TEAR Fund through Compassion, partners
exclusively with local churches in the
developing world.
Through these churches, TEAR Fund’s
Compassion child development centres
provide practical care for children in
desperate need. Every child attending a
project is given the opportunity to hear and
respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ in a
way that is culturally appropriate and without
pressure.
TEAR Fund’s Compassion projects are safe
places where children are loved, valued and
have the opportunity to become all that God
intended. Loving Christian staff help children
to develop spiritually, physically, socially and
economically.
We have witnessed not only the lives of
children transformed, but also their families
and communities. Many churches who
partner with TEAR Fund and Compassion
have seen their congregations swell in size
as they reach out to the most vulnerable in
their community.

Last year, more than 102,000 children

gave their lives to Christ
through Compassion
programmes. Our experience
shows that when children
are provided with the
skills, opportunities and
encouragement to fulfil their
God-given potential, hope returns
and the tide of despair is halted.

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TEAR Fund and
Compassion’s
distinctives
TEAR Fund and Compassion’s
success in child development
revolves around three unique
distinctives. Working in
partnership with indigenous
church bodies overseas,
everything TEAR Fund and
Compassion does is
Christ-centred, Child-focused
and Church-based.

• CHRIST CENTERED
Christ is at the centre of
all we do. All TEAR Fund and
Compassion employees are Christian as are
our local church partners. We follow God’s
Word in response to the Great Commission
by teaching the life changing gospel to every
child in a culturally relevant way.

• CHILD FOCUSED • CHURCH BASED

TEAR Fund and Compassion engage each
child as a complete person, addressing
their spiritual, physical, economic and social
needs, enabling them to become responsible
and fulfilled Christian adults. Children are
particularly receptive to the gospel and our
church based programmes are therefore
powerful tools for evangelism.
Local churches provide continuity, stability,
security and are best placed to reach out
with the love of Christ to those in greatest
need in their communities. TEAR Fund
through Compassion equips local churches
so they can realise their vision of changing
their communities for the better.

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step into my life change a child’s life forever

We hope you can give your blessing

What your church can do to some form of church presentation
You have probably been given this leaflet by
about the work of TEAR Fund on a
a TEAR Fund sponsor in your church who is
date convenient to you. The presentation
keen to tell your church about our ministry.
could take many forms, from allowing a
few minutes for a sponsor to give a short
We provide a variety of free resources
endorsement of the work of TEAR Fund
to help educate your church about our
to structuring an entire service around our
Christian responsibility to the poor and the
Christian responsibility to the poor.
work of TEAR Fund through Compassion
child sponsorship.
They include a We appreciate the need to be flexible and
compelling leave it up to you to decide what would work
film, sample best in your church. We are grateful for any
presentations, opportunities that you can offer to share the
and needs of children in poverty.
information
about More than 100 children were released
children who from poverty as a result of church
are waiting for presentations that took place last
sponsorship. year as part of our TEAR Fund Sunday
campaign.

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Partner with a community
In the developing world
TEAR Fund offers a number of opportunities
to help your church respond to God’s call
to `care for the poor’. These could include
engaging with a specific Development
issue (i.e healthcare, water and sanitation,
education) a country such as the Philippines,
India or Uganda, or by sponsoring children in
a focus country.
By working alongside TEAR Fund you can:
• Extend the walls of your church into the everyone can get involved in some way at
world to include those in most need
• Walk alongside the poor overseas on a • TEAR Fund will take care of all the
journey of transformation
• Develop deep and meaningful connections
that go far beyond simply sending a donation
• Connect, discover, share and take action in
God’s mission to the poor
• Focus your mission activity and build
capacity for life-giving change
TEAR Fund offers tools and resources
that provide meaningful ways for
individuals to get involved:
• You will receive information and support to
help your congregation engage with world issues
• You can expect to see your congregation
transformed as they draw close to children
and families in one of the poorest areas of
our world
• Support comes from individuals, and
some level
administrative aspects of the partnership
If you would like your church presentation
to focus on a specific country/community
please call our Church Engagement
Manager on 0800 800 777. For more
information visit www.tearfund.org.nz

Our commitment to integrity

TEAR Fund’s partner Compassion has been recognised as a charity of outstanding financial
integrity by a number of independent accountability organisations. TEAR Fund shares
Compassion’s commitment to stewardship and the integrity of its programmes. We demand
the highest quality programme implementation and accountability of all the church and Christian
partners we work with, and as part of that commitment, our programmes and those of our
partners are audited on a regular basis.

TOTAL EXPENDITURE = $10,960,637 MILLION INCOME TOTAL = $11,823,250 MILLION

Programme Expenditure = 71.2% CHILD DEVELOPMENT = 46%
Advertising and Promotion = 7% OTHER INCOME = 5%
Education AND ADVOCACY = 1.8% GOVERNMENT GRANTS = 18%
Operating expenses = 20% UNDESIGNATED = 3%
MICROENTERPRISE = 9%
DISASTER RELIEF = 4%
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT = 15% 3
Tear fund
PO Box 8315, Symonds St, Auckland 1150, New Zealand
Freephone: 0800 800 777
Email: enquiries@tearfund.org.nz
Website: www.tearfund.org.nz