When Kristin Baile went on a Work & Witness trip to Panama in 2017, she didn’t expect it to be the beginning of a relationship. On that trip, she met Elizabeth*, a teenager Baile would later end up sponsoring through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.

Sponsorship, Baile says, has provided a proven way for them to make a financial commitment to Elizabeth in a way that will make a difference. “To be able to combine that with the relationships we’ve created is just amazing,” she explains.

Baile’s church had committed to a construction project with a local church in Panama to build a Nazarene child development center. Over the next several years, the churches worked together to deconstruct a small, existing structure, lay a new foundation, and construct a building where children could learn and develop friendships.

Elizabeth, who attends the center, and Baile are both, “on the shy side,” Baile says. That made it a little easier to establish an initial connection. Elizabeth was already signed up for sponsorship, and after spending a week together, Baile and her husband, Dan, found her through NCM and committed to being her sponsors.

“We have been able to form a wonderful relationship, not only with our sponsored child, but with her whole family—her siblings and her parents,” Baile shares.

The two families have now shared life together four times, praying through the difficult times and celebrating the joyful ones. They even got to hear about Elizabeth’s quinceañera, a significant 15th-birthday celebration. There is a line in the song “Nobody” by the band Casting Crowns that Baile points to: “Everybody’s got a purpose.” She and Elizabeth both had a purpose in each other’s lives, and now that they have met, Baile plans to continue the relationship.

“Our church project in Panama just ended in February [2020], but we are connected to this girl and her family now, and it is not the end of our relationship,” she says.

Baile lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, Dan, and their two sons.

*Children’s names are changed for protection.

Taken from the latest issue of NCM Magazine. You can make a difference through child sponsorship. Click here to learn more.