Dear COVID-19: You Can't Stop Us from Being the Church

Compassion Launches Global Fundraising Campaign to Combat the Devastation of COVID-19

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May 19, 2020, 16:38 ET

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., May 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Compassion International launched its first-ever global fundraising campaign, "We Rise as One," across its 15 global partner offices to meet the critical needs of 2.2 million children and their families.

We've all felt effects of the coronavirus. No matter how much money we have or what country we live in, we're not immune from isolation and loneliness, separation from loved ones, sickness, death, grief, and uncertainty.

We Rise As One - Compassion International

If the world were to write an open letter to COVID-19, airing our collective frustrations wouldn't be difficult.

However, in the low-income countries where Compassion serves, pandemics have a much different and greater devastation. The unpredictable spread of the coronavirus has led to more sickness. Moms and dads can't work. Kids can't attend school. Food is scarce. And jobs, education, food, and access to health care are already hard to come by for those who live in poverty.

Funds raised from "We Rise as One" will empower Compassion's 8,000+ church partners to draw from its disaster response fund and respond at a moment's notice to COVID-19 affected areas where daily survival is on the line.

Compassion is dedicated to providing stability to children, families and their communities in the most critical situations – with an emphasis on nutrition; shelter; basic hygiene; medical care; water; clothing/household items; and psychological, emotional, and spiritual support.

Interventions include (but are not limited to) distributing hygiene kits, and food kits (including essentials like rice, eggs, meat, milk, and corn); covering a family's rent costs; helping individuals with COVID-19 symptoms gain access to medical services; or paying for emergency medical care.

"I am stirred by the stories we're hearing of how the global church is responding to the needs of the poor," says Ben Webb, director of global experience. "We see this global fundraising campaign as fuel for the fire – uniting millions of people in different languages, cultures, and contexts to rally behind the most critically vulnerable children affected by COVID-19. When we rise – not just for ourselves, but as the collective church – we rise as one."

The world's #DearCOVID19 letter might detail our frustrations. But it would also highlight our resolve to stand for the vulnerable. COVID-19 may have robbed us and made us feel small, but it won't stop us from rising together and being the church.

Sincerely, Compassion.

About Compassion International
Founded in 1952, Compassion International is a Christian child development organization that works to release children from poverty in Jesus' name. Compassion revolutionized the fight against global poverty by working exclusively with the Church to lift children out of spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Compassion partners with more than 8,000 churches in 25 countries to deliver its holistic child development program to over 2 million babies, children and young adults. Its Child Sponsorship Program has been validated through independent, empirical research.

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SOURCE Compassion International