Your sponsorship enables a child in Guatemala to attend an Impact Ministries school where they will receive an academic education and be taught to know and love the Lord!
We finished the 2023 school year with all our children sponsored! But we will have new students in January (and some may be available even sooner), so please add your name to our waitlist to be matched with the first available student. Or consider supporting a class.
What does my Sponsorship provide?
In the rural areas of Guatemala, more than 75% of Indigenous people live in poverty. Many Guatemalan children don’t complete elementary school. At a Vida school, Christian teachers – many of whom were once Vida students themselves – are personally involved in your student’s life on a daily basis. We reach out to your child’s family and encourage them to be involved in a local church. Our leaders, teachers and support staff provide godly role models to help your child know the Lord and become all that He intends for them to be!
Your investment of $49/month helps break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy for a child in Guatemala by providing:
- a broad academic education at one of our Vida Christian schools
- a daily nutritious meal and vitamins (and food packages for the family while learning from home)
- medical care through the Vida Clinic for your child’s whole family
- Christian discipleship and mentoring
- school apparel and new shoes
(some of these services are also funded through other gifts to Impact Ministries)
Your sponsor child is also blessed by your prayers and encouragement!
You can sponsor your child throughout their time in our Vida Schools. For most of our students, this is until they graduate in Grade 10. Some students continue on to the Vida Teacher Training Program or the Vida Extension Program, and they can be sponsored through Grade 12 or 13. We have many sponsors who have been faithful in supporting their child through their entire education! When your child leaves the Vida School program, we will let you know and offer you a new child whose life you can impact through your sponsorship.
How do I choose a child to sponsor?
We finished the 2023 School with all our children sponsored!
New students will be added as the Guatemalan school year begins in January 2024 (and, due to the ebb and flow of sponsorship, there may be children available to sponsor even sooner)
In the meantime:
- You may choose to support a whole class of child in Guatemala through our Support a Class program
- You can add your name to our Sponsor a Child Waitlist
How can I communicate with my child?
Communication with your sponsor child in Guatemala is easy through our Sponsorsoft System!
Log in to Sponsorsoft with the email address you used to sponsor your child, and click on messages > compose message to write to your child. You can even attach a picture! Our teachers are great at helping their students answer your letters!
You will also receive a yearly photo update of your child from your child’s teacher.
Important Links
Important Links
Sponsorsoft Information
We use Sponsorsoft to connect you with your sponsor child in Guatemala
- If you currently sponsor a child or class, you already have an account
If this is your first time logging in to Sponsorsoft (or if you’ve forgotten your password), simply click on “Lost Password?” and enter the email address you used to sponsor your child to request a password. You’ll be sent a link to set your password, and then you’ll be ready to view your child under the “my sponsorship” tab and find your inbox under the “messages” tab.
- If you would like to become a sponsor, you will need to sign up for an account
Simply click on “Sign up” and enter your name, your email address and a password. You will be sent a verification email with a link to activate your account, and then you’ll be ready to select a child from our children in Guatemala who are still waiting for a sponsor
Currently, only classes are available on Sponsorsoft and we have a waitlist to sponsor a child
No verification email? First, check your junk mail. If the verification email is not there, click “Lost Password?” on the Sponsorsoft site. Re-enter your email address and click the request reset password button. The link to set your password doubles as a verification email.
Having trouble? Contact us at child@impactministries.ca or (250) 434-4350 and we’ll walk you through the process.
Some Sponsor Child Stories
So Much to Celebrate!
Guess what?!? The sale just went through for the land where the NEXT Vida School will be built!!! After much prayer and consultation, Impact Ministries has acquired a piece of land in Mestela, a community about an hour and a half walk over the mountains from Vida Chamché. This is the village that two of our principals, Victor and Ignacio, come from (read their story here). It’s a great location and the community is eager to have us – and there are so many children who need a brighter future here. Watch for more details about Mestela in the coming months, but for now,…
For Children in Guatemala, Going to School is Not a Given
This time of year is synonymous with “Back to School” in Canada. Stores are advertising brightly-coloured school supplies and children are making decisions about what to wear on the first day of school. But what if the decision wasn’t about what to wear to school, but whether you got to go to school at all? For children in Guatemala, going to school is not a given. For many Guatemalan parents, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to send their children to school, because that’s taking them off the field, where they could be helping Mom or Dad earn some…
The Privilege of Prayer
As a sponsor, you have the amazing opportunity to change your sponsor child’s future – not just through your monthly donation, but also through your prayers. Whether you pray in person with your child in Guatemala, or from 6000 kms away, you have the privilege of petitioning our Heavenly Father on behalf of your sponsor child. But what should you pray for? Here are a few thoughts: Pray for your sponsor child’s mind and heart to awaken to the hope there is in Christ. So many children in Guatemala have been told that they will amount to nothing, undermining their…
In May, We Celebrate Sponsorship ?
May is the month we celebrate sponsorship at Impact Ministries. We’ll be sharing about children who are sponsored. We’ll be sharing about adults who were sponsored a long time ago as children. We’ll be sharing about the people who sponsor them. We’ll also be sharing about kids who still need sponsors. Kids like 13-year-old Lilian, who wasn’t going to study this year because her dad doesn’t have a permanent job right now. With the help of her mom, Lilian has been contributing to the family income by preparing tacos and tamales to sell in the market. But her parents wanted…
New classes, new teachers – and a new junior high!
Can you believe it’s February already?!? Neither can we! January is always extra-busy at the Vida Schools, because it’s when the school year starts in Guatemala. There’s lots of excitement with new classes, new teachers and new things to learn. And this year, even a new Junior High! Have you heard that we’ve opened a junior high program in Agua de Vida Chijulhá – our newest and fastest growing school? Just like at Vida Mocohán,Vida Purulhá and Vida Chijacorral, the elementary students attend in the morning, and the secondary students come in the afternoon. That allows us to double the number of…
Gabriel thought he’d be selling firewood for the rest of his life
Have you ever wondered whether sponsorship actually makes an impact? Does it really change lives and futures? Impact has been connecting sponsors with sponsor children in Guatemala for over 20 years – and we’ve seen some of those kids become teachers in our schools and leaders in our ministry. Kids like Gabriel, who thought his future would consist of selling firewood. But God had different plans for him. Did you read his story in our newsletter? If not, take a few minutes to read it right now Gabriel – middle of back row My name is Gabriel. Before I started…
Delighted to be Asked
You’ve already helped us find sponsors for 8 students since the beginning of May! That’s so exciting, not just because of the material benefits each sponsor child receives – things like school uniforms, food hampers, and access to health care – but also because it means there is one more person in their corner, praying for them and encouraging them in the journey. In our recent newsletter, we shared the story of how Rowena and her family started sponsoring a child. We love how sponsorship is making an impact in all of their lives – and we love that Rowena’s…
Great news! We have 130 students waiting for a sponsor
May is Sponsorship Month at Impact Ministries! Teachers in Guatemala have been busy collecting the details of new students, and we have over 130 students waiting for a sponsor! That’s great news – it means there are lots of new students at Vida Schools! But it also means we need your help to find sponsors for each one of them! Children still waiting for a Sponsor Sponsors for children like Alida. Alida and her siblings started attending a Vida School this year. They walk for almost an hour to get to school – but they think it’s worth it. Alida’s…
Back to School Update
Kids in much of North America have headed back to school, and we figured it was a good time to give you an update on what has been happening in our Vida Schools in Guatemala. Some of our students have been able to be in class sometimes, others have spent much of the year learning from home. Protocols seem to change from week to week! Through it all, God has been there, and we’ve seen children and families impacted by His love shown through our Vida teachers, the sponsors of our children, and so many others who come alongside the…
You are bringing hope & joy to children & families in Guatemala!
We’ve been so encouraged by everyone who has been sharing sponsorship this month! Did you know – 37 Vida children have found a sponsor since the beginning of May! And we know that sponsorship makes an impact – because we hear the stories, over and over again, of what sponsorship means to our students and their families. Like the story of little Jhon: Many people had a rough year last year – but Jhon’s family had it rougher than most. Even before the pandemic, Jhon’s dad wasn’t able to work, as he was recovering from surgery. Then came the Covid…
