As a sponsor you are in a position to model Christ's love. Your letters establish you as a significant person in your child's life. You are acting as a mentor. Sponsored children treasure every letter they receive, and many children read their letters repeatedly, eagerly sharing them with visitors. Even into adulthood Compassion graduates emphasize the importance and influence their sponsors' letters had in their lives. Regardless of cultural and age differences, everyone grows stronger with consistent messages of love and support. Plus, letters are an important part of your child's development. Exchanging letters improves your child's basic literacy skills and his or her self-awareness and ability to put thoughts and feelings into words. And keep in mind that topics you consider uninteresting, or that you feel you've discussed before, are viewed differently by a child in the developing world. Every day poverty tells children, 'You don't matter.' But that is a lie, and your letters demonstrate that. They say, 'You do matter, Suzana.' 'I care about you, Renato.' 'Jesus loves you, Lerionga.' Our blog has numerous stories from our country staff about the importance of letter writing, along with other letter writing perspectives and thoughts from sponsors and sponsored children.