Compassion International booster Shaun Groves recently took a trip to the Dominican Republic and shared a story about an 11-year-old sponsored child named Daniel:

The conversation eventually turned to his sponsor.  Daniel said his sponsor is a man named Benny who has written him once in the last four years.  “Do you write Benny?” I asked.  “All the time,” he said.

After hearing about all the care Benny’s $32 a month provides for Daniel—education, nutrition, friendships, spiritual mentoring, medicine—I asked Daniel, “If Benny were here, what would you tell him?” I expected some variation on “thank you.” Instead, Daniel looked into our camera and said, “Write to me, please.” And that’s all.

Ouch.

I can sympathize with Benny. It’s hard to find time to sit down and write a letter, never mind the complicated issues involved in corresponding with a child in a foreign country who you’re supporting. I’ve talked about that difficulty before. But I think the only solution is to suck it up and do it. It’s going to be hard and awkward to forge a relationship, but that’s the only way to do it.

So if you do sponsor a child, I encourage you to drop them a line. I think building that relationship is a way to open your heart and start to do more than just send your $32 a month. Sending that monthly amount is huge, but we’re in trouble if we think that’s enough. Compassion International even has an online form you can use to send them a note and make it easier.