About Us

The One Life Child Sponsorship program started as a project of Oceans of Mercy, a non-profit organization located in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.  Oceans of Mercy has been a strong presence in the Port Elizabeth region for several years--the primary projects of this organization are three Children’s Villages for 130+ AIDS orphans.  (Oceans is also working in community outreach programs in the local schools and with local community health workers.)  The child sponsorship program quickly grew and before long, over 80 children were enrolled.  As a purely volunteer-driven non-profit organization, Oceans was overwhelmed by the numbers of children in need and the resources required to serve them.

Oceans’ Child Sponsorship program then joined forces with several churches, all located in the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.  The One Life Child Sponsorship Program is the result of a wonderful collaboration between these churches, other non-profit organizations, and many people who simply have a calling and great heart for the world’s most needy children.

One Life Child Sponsorship Program is based on relationships with organizations and with people both here in the US and overseas.  These relationships are our strength.  We have partners on the ground in our target countries who are well-known community leaders and respected child advocates.  By joining forces with these groups, we can assist more children more effectively than one organization alone, and we can reach out to needy children in other countries (India, Thailand, and Mexico) as well.

Regardless of the country in which they live, these vulnerable children face similar challenges on a daily basis:

  • Extreme poverty:  Over 11 million children die from starvation every year.  Children who do survive are small for their age and often suffer from cognitive deficits stemming from chronic malnutrition.
  • Orphans:  There are over 15 million children orphaned by AIDS in the world today.  Living without the supervision and care of an adult makes life extremely perilous for the youngest.
  • Homeless:  200 million children live or work on the streets.  This environment is especially cruel for children in need; this form of neglect often pushes children towards substance abuse.
  • Child soldiers:  Condemned the world over, this form of exploitation causes tremendous mental anguish for those children who survive it.
  • Child prostitution:  Currently, an estimated 1 million children are working as child prostitutes.  This is a terribly demeaning and dangerous means of survival.
  • Child laborers:  Forced into these jobs, children laborers are literally robbed of any semblance of normal childhood….

The world is a very tough place for these children and unfortunately, they are simply not long for this earth.  We know that we cannot help every vulnerable child, but we can do our part.  By matching sponsors with a child in need, we can make a difference, one child at a time, one life at a time.

You can make a world of difference in the life of one child.  God can use you to help a child.  With your help, we can assist AIDS orphans living in the townships of South Africa and child laborers living in the slums of India.  We can help the children who have been rescued from child prostitution in Thailand and street children addicted to drugs in Mexico.  These are very real children living in very dire circumstances.  But with your help, it is possible to change the life of one child, one life at a time.