Hope Sunday. Thank you for being a voice for children who are waiting. Event Guide

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1 Thank you for being a voice for children who are waiting. For we are God s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 (NIV) Weyerhaeuser Way S. P.O. Box 9716 Federal Way, WA United States hopesunday@worldvision.org World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice World Vision, Inc. Hope Sunday Everything you need to share child sponsorship and help children in need.

2 We re here to help. Please call us at Getting started It s easy to host a Hope Sunday! Thank you for hosting a Hope Sunday. Your decision will change the lives of children living in desperate poverty. Your willingness to share from your heart about why sponsoring a child is important will reap great benefits for children and families who are suffering. Use this Hope Sunday Checklist to prepare for a successful Hope Sunday. 1 Pray for your event Promote your event Get your sponsorship table ready Reserve all the equipment you will need Choose what you would like to share You can do it! Thousands have gone before you, and hundreds will be joining with you this year. We applaud your efforts to be a voice for children. You are not alone. We are here to help you every step of the way. Call us at or hopesunday@worldvision.org with any questions or ideas you have. We want to hear your plans and ideas, and share some of our own too! 2 The Day of your Hope Sunday Set up your sponsorship table and picture folders Check your audio visual equipment Share from your heart Show a video Have your church leader endorse World Vision 3 And He took the children in His arms, put His hands on them and blessed them. Before your Hope Sunday After your Hope Sunday Mail completed sponsorship envelopes to World Vision Keep your sponsorship table up for another 2-3 weeks Thank new sponsors with a note in the bulletin Host a letter writing party Mark10:16 (NIV) Host a Hope Sund ay. Motivate o to sponsor thers a child. When I was praying with [my pastor], these tears of joy just came from nowhere as I was remembering you only have one life do something. Deborah Baker World Vision Child Sponsor

3 Questions? Don t hesitate to call us at The week of your event, include a Hope Sunday insert in the bulletin. You can download and print a customizable insert with your church s logo from the Hope Sunday website ( HopeSunday) or make photocopies of the enclosed bulletin. 3 Get your sponsorship table ready by finding creative ways to make it attractive. Here are a few optional ideas: Find ways to prop up your picture folders with small boxes or easels for easier viewing. Find a colorful or ethnic table cloth you can use to create a theme or highlight a region of the world. I was honored to be a part of this ministry and to be able to share with others the tremendous impact that child sponsorship provides. Amy Koehler Seattle, WA 1 Before your Hope Sunday Follow these simple steps to make your event a success! 1 Pray. Ask God to give you confidence and guidance to share clearly and purposefully. 2 Promote your event Get others involved ask three or four friends to help pray for and promote the event, staff the sponsorship table and take pictures during your event. Have a friend video your presentation so you can share it with us afterwards. Place an announcement in your church bulletin two weeks prior to your event. You can use the suggested bulletin text provided in this packet. Put up posters in visible, high-traffic areas of your church. Talk to your pastor about endorsing World Vision the day of your event and encouraging members to sponsor a child. Make a binder or scrapbook of correspondence and photos from your sponsored child. Create a display board with photos and information about World Vision sponsorship. 4 Be sure to reserve all the equipment you might need including tables, a DVD player, a projector, or other items. 5 Choose what you would like to share Watch the enclosed DVD and choose the video that best suits your presentation. Prepare what you will share. See the enclosed outline of easy to use presentation ideas, or call us if you need help at This Hope Sunday volunteer displays her creative sponsorship table.

4 2 We want to help get you started Day of your Hope Sunday Making your presentation This is your big day! Plan to arrive early to make sure everything is set up and your team is prepared. Speak from your heart about your experience as a sponsor. Show one of the videos we provide that is best suited to your presentation. Have your church leader endorse World Vision and child sponsorship. Remind everyone at the end of the service to visit the sponsorship table. Getting ready to present Do a run-through with your audio visual equipment so it all works perfectly. Place your sponsorship table in an easily accessible location and decorate it with your items (i.e. tablecloth, scrapbook, etc.). Prop your picture folders up using small boxes or photo stands so everyone can see the children s faces. Find a way to make picture folders stand out. For example, place a ribbon around folders of children who have birthdays during the month of your presentation, or on the picture folders of the oldest children needing sponsors. Often people look for a child with the same birthday as their own child, niece, nephew or grandchild. Make it easier by arranging your folders by birth date. Or think about organizing them by region or country. Following up afterwards Have your team help direct people to the sponsorship table. Be ready to answer any questions. Help sign up new sponsors and celebrate them! Tip: Throw streamers, ring a bell, or make some noise when a child is sponsored. You will create a lot of excitement and draw others to your table. How to sign up new sponsors Each picture folder contains a sponsorship payment envelope. Make sure each sponsor: -- Completes all the information on the payment envelope. -- Encloses their first donation. -- Returns the payment envelope to you or someone staffing the table. The new sponsor can then take the picture folder with them. Within a few weeks they will receive a welcome kit from World Vision. Important: Because each picture folder represents a real child in need, please don t let anyone take a picture folder home unless they sponsor a child and turn in the completed payment envelope. Payment options for new sponsors Sponsors can pay for their first month of sponsorship by: Credit Card: Please encourage everyone to use a credit card. It saves World Vision $12-$18 a year per sponsorship. Have the sponsor fill out the payment envelope including all credit card information, and sign. Check: Have the sponsor fill out the payment envelope and include their check made payable to World Vision. Cash: Exact change is needed. Please encourage the sponsor to give via credit card or check whenever possible.

5 3 We d love to hear from you. Call us at After your Hope Sunday Commonly asked questions about child sponsorship Great job! You did it! Now, here are ideas to keep the momentum going: Keep your sponsorship table up for two or three more weeks to reach more sponsors. Immediately after your event and after each week you have your sponsorship table available, please send in the completed sponsorship payment envelopes using the enclosed pre-paid envelopes. Celebrate! Place a thank you announcement in your bulletin recognizing all the new sponsors. Have a letter writing party a few weeks later to encourage new sponsors to write a first letter to their sponsored child. You will not need to return picture folders of children that were not sponsored during your event. You can simply recycle them. Important Note: A date is printed on the payment envelope inside each child sponsorship picture folder. Until this date, the child will be eligible for sponsorship only through your event. This provides the best opportunity for a child to be sponsored quickly, but not twice. What is child sponsorship? Today and every day, nearly 26,000 children under the age of 5 will die, most from hunger or preventable illnesses. Sponsoring a child can help prevent these needless deaths. Child sponsorship is an opportunity to personally connect with a child and walk alongside their family and community. Sponsorship provides access to things like: clean water, nutritious food, education, basic health care, and spiritual encouragement. Sponsoring a child also offers you a way to share your blessings with those in need, and follow the Bible s teachings about showing compassion to the poor. Why sponsor a child through World Vision? World Vision s child sponsorship program creates real, lasting change for children and their communities. Our compassionate, Christian staff show God s love to all people as they help build healthy communities for children in the world s most impoverished places. World Vision works alongside community members over the long term to address critical needs and help them become self-sustaining. How does sponsorship work? He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy... Psalm 72:4 (NIV) When you become a child sponsor, you will be connected to one special child who will correspond with you. Your sponsorship donations will help build a stronger community and give children and their families access to programs that will provide greater opportunities. For just over $1 a day, you will help your sponsored child and other children in the community enjoy good health, be educated, cared for, protected, and participate in making their community a better place to live and to love God and their neighbors. Your donations, and the donations of other sponsors like you, work together within the community to address the needs and conditions of children and families to have maximum impact.

6 For more information, call us at How is my money used? Your monthly sponsorship donation supports your sponsored child, family, and the greater community. Historically, World Vision directs % of all funds per year directly toward work in the fi eld. World Vision has been consistently ranked as a top non-profi t in the area of fi scal responsibility. Please see the enclosed Annual Report brochure for more detailed fi nancial information. What do I receive when I sponsor a child? A welcome kit with a photo and information about your sponsored child. The opportunity to write and receive letters, and even your child. Annual progress reports and updated photos of your child. What kinds of sponsorship are available? When World Vision sent me an explaining how I could present child support to my church...i was glad to have the chance. They provided everything I needed to do the presentation. Emily Veil Palmdale, CA Mary Kate MacIsaac Traditional child sponsorship ($35 * /month) provides children and communities with access to things like clean water, improved nutrition, health care, and education plus caring staff who demonstrate God s unconditional love. *subject to change HopeChild sponsorship ($35 * /month) cares for children in communities affected by AIDS. It provides things like trained volunteers to care for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of orphaned and vulnerable children, and HIV-prevention education based on biblical principles. We d love to hear from you! Use your story to encourage others to host a Hope Sunday at their church! us your photos and/or video of your event. We want to feature YOU on our website, or in an or brochure. Where can I get more information? Your event kit contains three helpful brochures. Read through them so you ll be ready to answer questions from potential sponsors. Changing Children s Lives gives a full overview of World Vision and our sponsorship program. The Annual Report provides World Vision s general fi nancial information and statistics. Vision for a Village shows how child sponsorship works in a community. hopesunday@worldvision.org Phone Fax Website Hope Sunday: A Child is Waiting P.O. Box 9716, M/S Weyerhaeuser Way S. Federal Way, WA