Kirk Bookout, development director for Children of Promise, an organization that supports children in 30 of the world’s most destitute countries, will share stories of his organization’s triumphs and challenges during the 10:45 a.m. service at Athens Church of God this Sunday.

Founded 25 years ago by retired missionaries Sydney Johnson, an Alabama native, and his wife Jean Ratzlaff Johnson, COP links everyday people with the world’s most vulnerable children through a child sponsorship program. For an average of $32 per month, a sponsor can assure that a child gets the food, medical care and education they need to thrive. COP provides sponsors with photos of the child and updates on their progress.

“The goal, of course, is to provide these children the stability and education they need, so that when they graduate out of the program they will be able to support themselves,” Bookout said.

Over the years the program has supported 13,000 children from Botswana to Paraguay, making it possible for some of them to become doctors, nurses, pastors, educators and business professionals.

“We have a girl who went through our program in the Philippines who now works in the President’s (Rodrigo Duterte) office,” he said. “It’s pretty cool she went from a street child to working in the president’s house.”

Relying heavily on indigenous churches to run the program locally, COP avoids a great deal of administrative overhead.

“Unlike a lot of child sponsorship programs, we have no American employees employed in the countries where we have children,” Bookout said. “Literally, the people in each city or village form a group and run COP.”

“We are not a program that does for them. We are a group that says, ‘If you are willing to work for your own children’s good, we will provide the resources,’” he added.

Committed to making sure every single child gets the care they need, COP staff and volunteers make it a point to visit each sponsorship site at least once every three years, interviewing each child.

“It is core to our beliefs that we remember that this is not a job or program. We need to see their faces,” he said. “They need to know there are people who really care about them.”

It was during one of these visits that COP leaders discovered one of the children in the Rajupur Kalahandi program was missing. When COP leaders questioned the boy’s father, he confessed that he had sold his 10-year-old son Bishu to a local landowner in order to pay off an overwhelming debt. It took several months, but eventually COP and village church leaders secured his release.

Today, Bishu is a healthy high school freshman.

“We have many many stories of children who were heading toward a life of trafficking, and we have been able to protect them from that,” he said.

According to a 2017 report by the International Labor Organization, 5.5 million of the world’s children are caught up in human trafficking. The average cost of a human slave today is $100.

Mindful of the customs of the communities they support, COP requires only two things from their local church partners — that they select an equal number of boys and girls for sponsorship, and they provide expense receipts. Fiscal responsibility is paramount to the organization.

“We have to make every dollar count,” Bookout said. “We want to help as many children as we can, so we have to know resources are being spent wisely.”

As COP’s development director, Bookout’s primary job is to travel from church to church throughout the United States, sharing COP’s mission and encouraging churches and individuals to sponsor children. Currently, the organization provides for 5,000 children worldwide.

Based out of Anderson, Indiana, Bookout was thrilled when John Taggert invited him to come speak in front of the congregation at Athens Church of God.

The church’s mission committee chairwoman, Linda Johnson, explained the congregation started sponsoring a Haitian boy through COP about five years ago, and they wanted their members to learn more about the international ministry.

Although, COP is affiliated with the Church of God, Johnson said visitors are encouraged to attend the March 4 service.

Athens Church of God is located at 17835 Quinn Road. For more information about sponsoring a child visit COP’s website at https://preview.tinyurl.com/4COPKIDS or email Bookout at dkb@echildrenofpromise.org.