WorldShare Child Sponsorships
Why do Children Leave our Sponsorship Program?
One of the beautiful truths about child sponsorship from WorldShare is that it is designed to bring lasting change, not lifelong dependence. While there are many reasons a child may leave our sponsorship program, it’s important to note that every sponsored child eventually reaches the end of their sponsorship journey. As we faithfully serve alongside our local Christian partners, we see God working in different ways in the lives of children and families. Here are five of the most common reasons a child leaves the program.
Graduation
This is one of the most encouraging outcomes. A child completes their schooling or vocational training, equipping them for the future and helping fulfil one of the primary goals of the sponsorship program. A good education. As one young person steps into the next season of life, another vulnerable child is given the opportunity to experience the same life-changing support through the generosity of WorldShare supporters.
Financial self-sufficiency
One of the aims of this program is for participating families to become financially self-sufficient. Through livelihood and income-generating initiatives, our partners seek to help families build sustainable futures. When a family reaches a point where they can independently provide for their children’s needs, sponsorship is no longer needed. This can then open the door for another more vulnerable family to have a child sponsored. It is a wonderful reminder of God’s provision and the transformative impact of empowering families to thrive.
Family relocation
In Australia, we might move a few suburbs for a new job, but in the developing world, extreme poverty can force families to be highly transient and move far away. What’s more, many families living in poverty overseas face circumstances that require them to move frequently. Some relocate to find work, while others move to care for elderly relatives or to seek safety from conflict, famine or disease. When families move beyond the reach of a sponsorship program, children may need to leave the program as a result.
Leaving school to work
Sadly, severe economic pressures can sometimes lead families to prioritise immediate income over education. Despite the support provided through sponsorship, some parents or caregivers decide that a teenager should begin working to help meet the family’s needs. While this can bring a child’s participation in the program to an end, we continue to pray for every one of them and trust in God’s grace. Some of these students do end up returning to school later on, depending on their family’s financial situation.
Program and partnership changes
At WorldShare, we are committed to honouring God through excellence, integrity and the protection of every child in our care. We hold our local partners to rigorous standards in child safety, financial accountability, and their reporting. If a partner becomes unable to meet these mandatory requirements, WorldShare would end the partnership. Thankfully, this has not occurred to date, but we continue to regularly review all of our partnerships to ensure that the highest standards are maintained.
Every child’s journey is unique, and while sponsorship relationships eventually come to an end, the impact of faithful generosity can continue for a lifetime. Thank you for partnering with us at WorldShare as we share Christ’s love and help children, families and communities build hope-filled futures through Word and deeds.
WorldShare International Partners
Protecting those on the front lines: A note on why we don’t name our partners.
One of the greatest joys of our WorldShare community is the beautiful and personal connection that all of us have with our partners overseas. We love sharing stories from the mission field of how God is moving through their hands and feet, in transformation.
Recently, a few of you have noticed that we no longer explicitly name our local partners or their specific organisations in our newsletters, magazines and website updates. We completely understand why this raises questions, and we want to share our heart behind this decision.
Being Christ-centred, our highest priority – beyond running effective programs – is the protection and safeguarding of the local heroes faithfully serving on the frontlines. Transparency matters deeply to us, as does the safety and dignity of our partners.
A Changing Digital World
There was a time when a newsletter article or a field report printed in Australia stayed relatively local. But today, the internet has made our global village incredibly small. A simple, routine search online instantly pulls up articles from anywhere in the world.
In several regions where we serve, openly identifying local Christian ministries, churches, or specific aid workers, runs the risk of putting a massive target on their backs. Tragically, we have already seen how quickly things can go horribly wrong. It’s best to take precautions, as it could just be a matter of time before local leaders receive threats, or teams face persecution along with a backlash, simply because their Christian affiliation was exposed online.
This shield of digital protection extends just as fiercely to the precious children and vulnerable families in our care. When we share their stories of transformation, we gently protect their privacy by omitting full names, exact locations, or specific schools. In a world where people can use the internet to find or exploit the innocent, these simple steps act as a vital safeguard. By using careful photography and pseudonyms, we ensure that a story meant to celebrate God’s goodness never inadvertently opens a door to unwanted contact or risk.
For us, safeguarding isn’t a bureaucratic checkbox. It is our sacred duty of care to protect our brothers and sisters. If an extremist group or a hostile local authority can type a partner’s name into a search engine and find their location, their source of funding, or their connection to a Western organisation, it could place their lives – and the lives of the vulnerable families they protect – in immediate danger.
Wisdom and Humility
By choosing not to publish their names globally, we are wrapping a layer of digital protection around them. This quiet approach also beautifully mirrors the heart of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 6. We are reminded that acts of service are not meant to draw attention to ourselves or seek earthly recognition, but to honour God. Many of our partners choose to serve quietly and faithfully in some of the hardest places on earth, and explicitly ask us to keep their identities discreet, so that they can continue their work safely.
Please be completely assured that our accountability, our financial transparency, and our rigorous project oversight have not changed one bit. We continue to work intimately with these trusted, Christ-centred partners, who see their work as ministry to God, not a platform for acknowledgement.
While their names are hidden from all of our digital communications and on the WorldShare website to keep them safe, they are deeply known by God – and their impact is powerfully real. Thank you for standing with us in wisdom, for praying for their protection, and for partnering in this quiet, vital work.
WorldShare Supporter Portal
In our recent survey, many of our supporters wanted more details on how to receive and send letters to a sponsored child using the supporter portal. As a result, we’ve put together a two-minute read, below.
Sharing hope through letters – connecting with your sponsored child through the supporter portal.
There are few moments more touching than receiving a letter from the child you sponsor. Seeing their handwriting, reading about their daily life, and celebrating their growth reminds us that sponsorship is a deeply personal and relational experience.
Each letter is a glimpse into their world – and a powerful reminder that your faithful support is helping transform lives, open doors to education, and nurture a journey toward hope and faith.
Through this relationship, you become part of a child’s story. It is a rare privilege to walk alongside them, encouraging their dreams and supporting the life‑changing work of our partners serving faithfully on the ground.
To make this connection even easier, WorldShare has launched the new Supporter’s Portal on our website. This secure, easy‑to‑use platform brings all of your sponsored child’s letters together in one place – so you never miss a meaningful moment.
When a letter especially touches your heart, you can respond straight away by clicking ‘reply’. Your words of love, prayer, and encouragement are sent quickly and safely to our partners and the children they serve, strengthening relationships and fostering hope across the oceans.
The Supporter’s Portal is designed to help you stay connected, informed, and inspired – because every letter is more than a message. It is a shared step in a story of transformation God is writing through you.
Using the new portal is easy.
1. Simply visit the worldshare.org.au home page.
2. Click the ‘My Account’ icon (the head & shoulders image) at the top right.
3. Log in to see your latest letters, reply to them, plus also download tax receipts, manage your credit card payments, and contact details, safely with encrypted security.
A Prayer for Child Sponsors
Dear Father God,
Thank You for the blessing of being able to support a child and share in their journey.
Please watch over the children we sponsor – guide them, protect them, and fill their lives with hope.
Use our gifts, prayers, and encouragement to bring growth, opportunity, and faith.
Strengthen the work of those serving on the ground, and help us to reflect Your love in all that we do.
We trust You with every life touched through this partnership.
In your name we pray Lord, amen.
Donations
Unless clearly stated otherwise on the donation form, then yes. Most donations to WorldShare are fully tax-deductible and are used for approved international aid and development work.
WorldShare also offers opportunities to support evangelistic ministry, which is not tax-deductible. It will be clearly marked if a particular campaign or cause is not tax-deductible.
WorldShare uses secure payment forms to safeguard your personal and financial information. Your card number is never stored on our website or database.
Yes, we understand your circumstances can change over time. Call our office during business hours (Australia Eastern) on 1300 009 109 and we’ll be happy to assist you.