Loved Features of the Compassion UK App (That You May Not Have Discovered Yet)

Never underestimate the impact you’re making when you connect with your sponsored child.

Yesterday I was sitting having a cuppa with Compassion graduate, Richmond, and this simple truth struck me again.

“Many people fix their eyes on physical poverty because that’s what they see, what arrests their heart. But poverty is also a voice that tells a child, you are nothing, nobody loves you, nobody will ever want you,” he shared.

“To silence this voice, my sponsor’s letters were very, very powerful. I can clearly remember highlighting words like Richmond I love you. Even statements like Richmond how are you? That just emphasised to me that I was known. That brought me great healing!”

Our words have power. The fact that we can share encouragement across the oceans is a beautiful thing. Yet I’m right with you in struggling to make time to write and pray for my sponsored children.

That’s why I was so thrilled to be part of the team who created the Compassion UK App. Our aim was to make it as easy as possible for you to connect with your sponsored child and send and receive encouragement. For you to write while you’re on the train to work, pray whilst stuck in the supermarket queue.

What’s more we wanted to encourage you by giving you greater access to stories of hope from children and churches around the world. To provide you with quality resources and information about global poverty issues.

Eight months into the launch of the app, we’ve learnt a lot. We’ve been overwhelmed by how you’re loving this new way to connect with your sponsored child. Here are seven of the features that supporters have been finding helpful:

1) Child hub with weather and compass

Feature: Find all the information about your sponsored child in one handy place. Discover when you last wrote, find out what the weather and time is in your child’s country and even their approximate direction using our fun compass feature!

Where you can find: When you log into your Compassion app, you’ll enter a feed of exciting information about your sponsored child and inspirational content around the world. To quickly connect with your sponsored child, simply click on the yellow tile at the top left.

What supporters are saying: “It is so handy to keep up to date with everything about my sponsored child so easily! Love it!” Lisa

2) Prayer pointers

Feature: We’ve created a range of pointers to help you as you lift up your sponsored child in prayer. Use the suggested topics to pray into different areas of your sponsored child’s life including their family, health, education, relationships and self-esteem.

Where you can find: Use the plus button to open your click links. Then select “Pray”.

What supporters are saying: “There’s so much you can do on the Compassion app. It’s easy to access everything you need on your sponsor child. I love the layout. It’s very user friendly. I love the extra options for praying for your child and Bible verses to read. I found it has made it much easier for me to correspond with my sponsored children. I’ve found this to be one of the best apps I’ve used.” Catherine

3) Messages on the go

Feature: Write and read messages from your sponsored child when you’re out and about.

Where you can find: You can find the letters hub by clicking on any of the blue tiles on the main home hub content feed. Or you can use the plus button to find the “Letters” quick link.

What supporters are saying: “The app makes interacting and writing to your sponsored child so easy.”

4) Photo gallery

Feature: The app’s photo gallery collects all your child photos together. If you’ve been sponsoring for a number of years, you’ll be given a wonderful snapshot of how your sponsored child has grown and changed over time.

Where you can find: Click on your sponsored child’s photo in the main home hub of the app (top tip, information about your sponsored child will only show when you’re logged in).

What supporters are saying: “The app is fantastic! Seeing an up to date photo of my child, it was such a joy to see how much he has changed and progressed in a year!” Grace, Conway

5) Inspirational stories and scriptures

Feature: Read powerful testimonies of lives changed and be moved by the latest Compassion videos while you’re on the go. You can even save your favourite stories by clicking on the heart icon and they will appear in your “Loved and Prayed ” section on the main menu bar.

Where you can find: There’s lots of inspirational content on your home hub feed when you launch the app, including daily scriptures and stunning photos from our Instagram feed. The latest stories will appear on the orange tiles.

What supporters are saying: “The app is very easy to use even for a technophobe like me! Love the fact I can see a record of all the letters to and from my sponsored children plus extra info re the country they live in. Lots of interesting short videos too re Compassion’s work all in one place. Brilliant!” Gill, Hampshire

6) Reminders about your sponsored child’s birthday

Feature: Never forget your sponsored child’s birthday again!We’ll send you a helpful notification message reminding you when their birthday is coming up.

Where you can find: If you’ve chosen to receive push notifications from the app, the reminder will appear on your phone, even when you’re not inside the Compassion UK App.

(Top tip: you’ll only receive this notification when you’re outside the Compassion UK App if you are opted into Notifications about my child/children. You can change your app communication preferences at any time using the “Notification Preferences” section on the main menu.)

What supporters are saying: “Getting reminders about my sponsored child’s birthday straight to my phone is absolutely brilliant. Thank you Compassion!”

7) The Compassion Scanner – stories brought to life!

Feature: Our app has an Augmented Reality feature that you can use to bring the stories we send you in the Compassion Magazine and other communications to life! For example, in our latest magazine edition, you can use the Compassion Scanner to see the celebration at Akloblessi’s project when she was rescued from a Voodoo temple.

Where you can find: You find the scanner feature on the main menu of the app. To step inside a story, simply look out for the Compassion Scanner icon (Skippy inside a phone) on our printed materials, launch the scanner and then point your camera at the image or QR code.

What supporters are saying: “So inspiring to see a Compassion story coming to life with the app feature. I read my magazine in a whole new way.” Richard

 What we’re working on next!

We’re continually developing our app to improve it for you our supporters. We love receiving your input so please help us steer the changes we make by using the in-app feedback function.

Here are some of the exciting developments we currently have in the pipeline:

• Design changes to the home hub
• More giving options including the ability to give by Credit Card
• Christmas in the app! This will be the first year where you’ll be able to send a Christmas greeting to your sponsored child using the app.

Haven’t got the Compassion UK App yet? Download it free today for ios and Android.