20 Letter-Writing Prompts You Can Use



20 Letter-Writing Prompts You Can Use

By Rachelle Dawson | Categories: Letter Writing

[pic] My husband and I have been sponsors with Compassion for about six years. During that time, I’ve heard a lot about the importance of writing letters to our sponsored kids.

[pic]

We even have a friend now who was once a child in the Compassion program, and he’s spoken about the importance of sponsor letters to him. I know writing to my sponsored child is important, and I do it pretty often, but sometimes I’m just stumped about where to start.

I decided to draft a list of specific questions that would help me explain my life and myself to a sponsored child.

Of course, if our child asks questions, I answer them. But I’ve found that children don’t always have the skill to carry on “conversations.” Giving them information about me is a good place to start.

These prompts are questions for you to answer about yourself. Expand on the answers, as space permits, in a letter to your sponsored child. Enjoy!

Your Childhood

1. What activities did you enjoy as a child?

2. Who was your favorite teacher? What was the teacher like?

3. Whom did you admire as you were growing up? Why?

4. How did you get your name? What does it mean?

5. Did you grow up in church? How did you come to know Jesus?

6. What was a challenge you had to overcome as a child or teenager?

7. What was your favorite part of school?

8. What was your least favorite part of school?

9. What happened during a typical school day?

10. What was your first job like?

Your Life Today

1. What is your typical day like now?

2. What do you do at church/work/school?

3. What do you like most about your hometown?

4. What are some interesting facts about your state/province/region?

5. How do you relax?

6. What’s your favorite holiday? How would you describe the sights, sounds, smells, tastes?

7. What’s your biggest challenge at the moment?

8. What other human understands you better than anyone else? How did you come to know this person?

9. What are you learning right now?

10. What’s one of your favorite Bible stories or passages? Why?

Courtesy of Compassion International: 

20 Good Letter Writing Prompts

By Rachelle Dawson | Categories: Letter Writing

[pic] Writing frequently to sponsored children is great for everyone. It lets the child know he or she is special, and it tends to keep the child more on your mind and in your prayers.

[pic]

Sometimes it’s hard to know where to begin a letter to your sponsored child. Here are twenty questions to help you get your letters started.

Your Spiritual Life

1. How has God recently answered your prayer?

2. How have you sensed God’s leading at different points of your life?

3. Who is your spiritual role model?

4. When have you needed to repent?

5. How has God comforted you in trouble?

6. Why do you love God?

7. How did you become involved in your local church?

8. What do you believe are some of God’s purposes for your life?

9. What was your latest sermon or class study about? How has it impacted you?

10. What is a challenge in your relationship with God?

Your Sponsored Child

1. What is your prayer for your sponsored child?

2. How do you remember the child throughout the week or month?

3. Why does this child matter to you?

4. What have you recently learned about the child’s country?

5. What do you hope the child will learn about God or spiritual life? (This could be a truth or skill.)

6. What do you appreciate about this child? (Comment on recent letter, the child’s prayers for you, artwork in a letter, smile in the photo, or something else.)

7. What do you want your sponsored child to remember when facing discouragement?

8. What concern of yours would you like your sponsored child to pray about?

9. What do you think about the child’s latest letter or picture you received?

10. How has being a Compassion sponsor changed you?

Courtesy of Compassion International: 

You Can Copy These Sample Letters!

By Gail Taylor | Categories: Letter Writing

My sister thinks I’m nuts. My friends think I’m developing an addiction. Truth be told, I just love writing letters to my sponsored kids!

I find writing letters easy and fun, yet I’ve spoken to many sponsors who find it difficult. Fancy templates and ease of attaching photos are great, as are dozens of ideas about what to send with your letters, but all of this doesn’t help if you struggle with finding words and putting them together.

[pic]

For sponsors who know the importance of letters but aren’t good with words, encouragement to write can bring on the guilt. Feel guilty no more; here is a solution for you!

Below are a few sample letters I’ve written for you to COPY, (yes, you’re allowed to be a copycat), and simply change the details, like names, to customize to your life.

If you also find letter writing a breeze, write a sample letter in the comments below, and between us there should be plenty of samples for others to choose from.

Dear Gasore,

Thank you for all your letters and drawings. I hope you and your family are well. I am well.

I have your picture on my desk at work. You are very handsome.

I have 2 cats. Seth is a black and white boy cat and Phoebe is a striped girl cat. Do you have any pets?

Love from Gail

(photo of cats could be attached)

Dear handsome Ruan,

Thank you for your letters. I enjoy hearing from you.

I pray for you and your family often. I hope you are all well.

I work for Compassion Australia. I work in an office as a Project Manager. What would you like to do for work when you grow up?

Please pray for me that I will do my best at work.

Love and hugs from Gail

To my beautiful Maria,

Thank you for your letters. I really like your drawings, particularly the princess one.

I have been reading in my Bible about Esther. She was a very brave queen who stood up for God. Have you learned about Esther?

I pray that God will help you be brave when you need to.

With love and hugs, Gail

(you may want to send an Esther coloring in sheet or book)

To my very clever Carlos,

Thank you for your letters and your prayers. I feel very special knowing that you pray for me. I pray for you too.

I am so proud of how well you are doing at school. I am well. It is summer here and very hot.

We live near the beach and go there on hot days to play in the cool water. Do you live near the beach or a lake?

Love and prayers from Gail

In my experience I’ve found that the first couple of letters to a child are fairly easy as you cover the basic facts: name, age, family introductions, what you do for work, favorites, pets. But after you’ve told them all that, what do you write next? Here are some samples for that as well.

Hello my Manuel

G’day from Australia! I pray that you and your family are well. Thank you for your drawings and letters. You are very good at drawing!

I have been studying the life of Joseph in the Bible. He is one of my favorites because even though his life had some very horrible times, like being a slave and being in prison unfairly, he still trusted in God and believed that God would bring his dreams to pass. My favorite memory verse about Joseph is Genesis 50: 20 where Joseph says: “You meant to harm me, but God meant it for good.”

I hope you like the postcard of the wombat I am sending you. Wombats are the size of a jelly bean when they are born but grow to 1 metre long. They live in burrows in the ground and come out at night or on cloudy days to find grass and roots to eat. We rarely see wombats in the city, but country people see them sometimes. I have seen some at the zoo.

With lots of love to my precious Manuel! Gail

(postcard or picture of wombat attached)

Hello my very special Kirubel

I am very proud of you for doing so well in your school work. I pray that God will help you in your studies. Please pray for me to do well at my university studies too.

With this letter I am sending you a photo of my brother Paul and my mom and dad. This photo was taken when my brother Paul graduated from college. He got his diploma in outdoor recreation. Paul doesn’t like doing school work very much, so this was a big challenge for him. We were so proud of him for finishing his course.

Do you like school? What is your favorite subject? My favorite subject was history, and I didn’t really like math.

Please tell your family I love them and pray for them.

I love you heaps! Gail

(photo of graduation attached)

Please share this with all your sponsor friends and let’s see more children receiving letters!

Courtesy of Compassion International: 

Nine Most Common Correspondence Questions

By Shaina Moats | Categories: Letter Writing

[pic] Questions about correspondence are among the most common we hear among our support community and in the contact center. I thought I’d make it easy for you and compile our most frequently asked correspondence questions together in one place.

1. Where do I send my letters?

You can mail your letters to the address below. Be sure to include your sponsor number (A seven digit number that starts with a 1, 2, or 3) and your child’s number (A seven digit number that begins with two letters) on the letter so we can process it correctly.

Attn: Child Correspondence

Compassion International

Colorado Springs, CO 80997

2. Why can’t I send a package?

Everything we send to each field office is declared as a document. If the box of letters went through customs and customs officials found something in it that was not a document, we would be charged hefty fines and that box would be held for weeks, possibly months.

Also, sending items overseas can be very tricky. There is a very high incidence of theft, and we’re not willing to take that chance with items that you have spent money on.

On top of that, shipping items can be quite costly. After paying for the item, shipping it to the country, and paying for customs fees, you would probably spend two to three times more than the worth of the item you shipped.

Instead, we encourage you to send monetary gifts. The child and family can choose what they need from the market and it helps to stimulate the local economy.

[pic]

3. What can I send to my child?

You’re welcome to send any items that are made of paper, no thicker than 1/4” and no larger than 8.5” by 11.” For a list of ideas, check out our Tips for Mailing Small Gifts.

We’ve also got some great ideas on our Pinterest board.

4. Why do my letters take so long?

Your letters will take two to three months to reach your child and it will take two to three months for your child’s letters to reach you. When your letters to your sponsored child reach our Colorado Springs office either by mail or through our online letter tool, your letters are processed, checked to be sure any attachments are within size limitations, and sorted by country.

Letters are mailed once a week to each country office. After the letters go through customs, the country office receives and distributes them to translators. Once the letters have been translated, they are sorted by child development center and placed in each center’s bin.

How far the child development center staff members are located from the country office will determine how often they are able to pick up the letters – anywhere from weekly to once a month. The next time each center meets they will distribute the letters to the children. Your child’s letter takes a similar process back to reach you.

[pic]

Sorting letters in our office in Inda

5. Why does my child not answer my questions?

Letter writing can be a difficult concept for a child to understand who has always communicated verbally. Here’s a great post with lots of information, Why Do My Sponsored Child’s Letters Seem So Impersonal?

6. When will I receive my first letter from my child?

After you sponsor a child, you will receive a letter from them within four months. Typically, your child will find out that they are sponsored about 2-3 weeks after you make your first contribution.

7. Can I write to my child in their own language?

Yes! You are welcome to write to your child in their language. Just know that this will not speed up the process as the translator will still check to make sure the child can understand your letter and that the content is appropriate.

[pic]

Translators in our Indonesian office

8. Will I receive confirmation when my child gets my letter?

No, you will not receive a confirmation when your child receives your letter. However, you can expect that they should receive your letter two to three months after you send it.

9. How do I email my child?

While you aren’t necessarily able to email your child, you may write a letter to them online using our online letter-writing tool. To write online, sign in to your account on  and click “Write My Child.”You can choose from several colorful templates and even upload pictures. We will print your letter in color in our Colorado Springs office.

So did I miss anything? If you still have a question about correspondence, feel free to share it at: 

Courtesy of Compassion International: 

What Your Sponsored Child Wants to Hear From You

By Rosette Mutoni | Categories: Country Staff, Letter Writing, Sponsors and Donors

[pic] Sponsored children are very grateful and consider themselves blessed to have sponsors who love them and write to them. The children are touched by the affection you express to them in your letters and the prayers you share with them.

They like when you pray for them and ask them to pray for you in return.

They[pic] love when you express your love for them and declare a blessing on their lives. And when you encourage them to study hard.

Most of the children are curious to know more about your lives, families and studies, if you are pursuing any, and also hope to one day meet you face to face. General topics the children like to know about also include religion and the general lifestyle of the western world.

The children of Rwanda are filled with glee when they share about the letters they receive from you.

“I like that my sponsor is still writing to me and that he and everybody else is fine. I always hear terrible international news and I am so relieved to hear from my sponsor and to know that he is OK.” — Kwizera

“I like how my sponsor sees me, his attitude and feelings towards me, his encouraging comments all the time. I like that he receives my letters, responds to my questions, and prays for my prayer requests. I really appreciate my sponsor and his family.” — Dieudonne

“I love when she writes ‘God be with you and your family’ and when she tells me she is praying for me. I thank her so much for this!” — Uwambajimana

“I like it when my sponsor wishes me the best in my studies and when she prays for me.” — Umurerwa

“I like it when my sponsor tells me how her children are doing in school; it encourages me to work hard not to let her down.” — Irabizi

“I love how my sponsor feels about me. I like that he loves me.” — Bagambiki

Courtesy of Compassion International: 

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download