My Sponsor Story

I’m not sure when or where I first heard of Compassion, but I do know it’s something I’ve been familiar with for quite a while now. I decided a long time ago that when I started teaching, I would sponsor a child through Compassion. Looking back on it now, I’m sure I could have managed to pay the $38 a month with the various part time jobs I’ve had. But I knew that when I started getting a set income, it was definitely something I wanted to do.

The day I got my first paycheck, I started browsing the Compassion website looking for a child to sponsor. And then I had a slight panic attack. Have you ever browsed through the pages of children looking for a sponsor? It’s overwhelming. I knew my cousins Curt and Amanda sponsor children through Compassion, and I spent a couple days looking through the kids before I sent an email to Amanda that basically said “HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO CHOOSE?” Except my email was a lot spazzier than that. But then, I didn’t even wait for her to reply back before I chose my sponsor child. (Sorry Amanda.) I think I just needed to get all of those worries out of my head, and then I was ready to go.

As I was looking through the children, I found a little girl named Jhannoly. She looked as sweet as can be, and I was drawn to her. I mulled it over for a while, and when I finally decided to move forward to be her sponsor, the website said “I’m sorry. While you were on the site, this child was sponsored by someone else.” (Or something to that affect.) I knew I should be really happy that this little girl now had a sponsor, but I couldn’t help being bummed that it wasn’t me.

The next day, I started looking through the children again. And after clicking through about 12 pages of kids, I spotted Jhannoly’s face. I clicked on her picture, and all of her information was right there again. It must have been a fluke.

Well, that decided it for me. I knew that Jhannoly was meant to be my sponsor child. I know this was just a simple little story of what happened, but I really believe God worked this way to affirm my choice. I was so indecisive about who to choose, and I was worried that I might wonder if I picked the right child or not. (Which is silly, because they all need help just the same.) I am so thankful for the way things worked out. I was so excited to tell Jhannoly in my first letter that God picked her out just for me.

So this is my sweet little Jhannoly.


She lives in the Dominican Republic, and she is 9 years old. She lives with her father and mother, and she is one of 7 children. Her father is employed as a laborer, and her mother maintains the home. Jhannoly’s family duties consist of running errands, making beds, and carrying water. I love her already, and I absolutely cannot wait to learn more about her as I receive letters from her!