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Building well being in a person is like building a strong house—it requires certain materials, resources and opportunities.
When these materials are not available, we may have a hard time surviving the storms.
For so many kids around the world, The Salvation Army is a key part of their building materials.
Did you know The Salvation Army operates more than 2,700 schools—including schools for blind and disabled children, and residential programs for orphaned, neglected and trafficked children?
These programs are supported by people like you and like me and the lady at the center of connecting it all for The Salvation Army on the U.S. West coast is Rachel Thieme-Ramirez.
In this episode, Rachel shares how she aims to do good and how you can be part of providing for the essential needs of children right where you are.
Show highlights include:
- Problem Solver: Rachel wants every child in the world to have an opportunity to live a full and dignified life.
- Day-in-the-Life of a Do Gooder: Rachel coordinates child sponsorship program and shares The Salvation Army’s work with children around the world.
- Become a sponsor to make a direct and tangible impact: $25 minimum per month for school, children’s home or after-school program
- While on Service Corps in South Africa: Discovered passion for world, children of the world.
- Love God and Love Others: Following commandments and faith.
- Doing good involves sacrifice; every person has intrinsic value, and what you could do to make God’s Kingdom a reality.
- Choose to Do Good: People forgotten by our power- and status-driven world are not forgotten by The Salvation Army.
- Master’s in International Development: Facilitating and improving health, education and other areas to address issues of power and equality.
- International development is dependent on combination of organizations and individuals; get involved and make a difference.
Good words from Rachel Thieme-Ramirez in this show:
“They’re born into circumstances that they can’t control, so whether a child has been abandoned or abused, orphaned, or suffers extreme poverty, I feel that it’s our human responsibility to ensure they are taken care of, and that they have opportunities to flourish.”
“There are needs here, but there’s also needs all over the world, and some countries or communities just don’t have as many resources, so [sponsorship] is just a way for people here to connect with what’s going on in another place around the world.”
“I was very much affected by the barriers that these children were facing. They didn’t have parents to care for their individual needs. They didn’t have financial resources. If it wasn’t for The Salvation Army they likely would have been street children.”
“Your sponsorship is actually helping pay directly for the costs associated with the children—their food, their clothing, their school fees, their school uniforms.”
“My faith is the foundation for my life. Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God, and to love others, and I really try to live my life in response to those two commandments.”
Additional resources:
- The Salvation Army Child Sponsorship Program
- World Bank study: “Does Child Sponsorship Pay Off in Adulthood?”
- Visit westernusa.salvationarmy.org to join the fight for good in your community.
- What’s your story? Take our free email course to see why your voice matters and how to find your story.
Download this episode wherever you get your podcasts. Connect with Rachel Thieme-Ramirez via The Salvation Army Child Sponsorship Program.
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