Faith thrives in strong and supportive communities. Whether you live in Canada, Bolivia, or anywhere else, our faith is stronger when we are supported through a faith community.
Sponsored children and their families often talk about how they prayed for a sponsor. When you sponsor a child, you are the answer to that prayer. The same can be said for families who receive gifts from our catalogue or who are chosen to receive a new home.
Oksana lives near our sponsor site in Ternopil, Ukraine. Last year, she received a well through our gift catalogue. In her thank you letter she writes, "I believe that God will never leave us in despair if you trust Him and God heard my prayers. Before the beginning of summer, the time when the situation with water is most critical, God answered my prayers through you."
A parent or guardian of each sponsored child also must join a family circle to learn about budgeting and the best use of sponsorship funds. Family circles pray together and are a source of spiritual and emotional support in times of need. They grow together in faith, confidence, and friendship.
You can grow faith by sponsoring a child, giving a gift, or supporting our projects and programs. In turn, you can grow your own faith as you answer God's call to serve the poor.
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' He will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'" Matthew 25:44-45.
Grow faith with these other initiatives:
From sponsored child to Sister: Sharing faith in Christ
When Sister Angela Boniface was a young girl, she was sponsored through Chalice. With no parents or relatives to care for her, she lived under the loving care of the nuns who run our Neema site in Tanzania.
Through the Sisters' witness, Sr. Angela heard her own calling to enter religious life. Last year, she became the first Tanzanian to take the vows of their order!
She now serves at the Neema orphanage and helps care for many current sponsored girls. After undergoing five years of religious formation, she is looking forward to entering teacher's college!
