Milton has never met the man who saved his life.

When he was in grade 4, Milton’s father passed away. Already poor, Milton's family was left with few resources to buy food or have him attend school.  

At that time, a representative from World Vision visited the family in Bangladesh, viewed their situation, and selected Milton to be a sponsored child.

This changed the course of Milton’s life, or in his words, saved it.

From grade 4 until he was 17, a sponsor in North America provided enough funds for Milton to attend school. Because his family could not provide him enough food each day, Milton received the nourishment he needed at school, thanks to his sponsor.

“Through the sponsorship I survived,” he said.

He not only survived, he thrived.

Milton eventually graduated college and today is a well-respected young leader in the Church of the Nazarene in the Eurasia Region.

He gives back for what he received as a child as a leader in a child-focused community development program through Bangladesh Nazarene Mission, a partner of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries.

As one would expect, the ministry has a sponsorship program.

“We have more than 1,500 sponsored kids and we are providing the food and the school materials to them from our project,” Milton said.

"There are thousands upon thousands of kids in the ministry areas of the Church of the Nazarene in Bangladesh who are waiting for a chance to be part of a child development center," adds Hermann Gschwandtner, field strategy coordinator for South Asia.

The Eurasia Region is one of the fastest growing areas in the Church of the Nazarene.

Milton says Nazarenes “are very committed to share God's love in Bangladesh. Through the JESUS film the church has grown rapidly, and with the help of Nazarene Compassionate Ministries, we are able to build relationships in our communities and beyond.”

Challenges exist, however, as less than one percent of people in Bangladesh are Christians and many others are not friendly toward them. This is why, Milton confides, many “non-Christian people don’t want to hear about Jesus Christ.”

Although born into a Christian family, Milton was resistant to the gospel early in his life. It wasn’t until 1993 – the same year the Church of the Nazarene began in Bangladesh – that Milton became a believer. Nathan, now a district superintendent in Bangladesh, was a friend of Milton’s family and visited them often.

Nathan led Milton to Christ during a conversation that lasted more than 24 hours. Milton was baptized the following year and began to work full-time in ministry starting in 2000. By 2004 he was serving in evangelism and church planting, and in 2005 he began his work with the community development program. Today he also serves as the Eurasia regional Nazarene Youth International president.

His role as NYI president brought him to the USA/Canada Region’s Nazarene Youth Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this month. Milton was introduced to the crowd of 6,300 NYC participants and witnessed 1,482 of them come to the stage and pledge to sponsor a child.

“Many youths came to the front to help other peoples in the world – very amazing for me,” he said. “People, they want to help other people, so it means they want to show their love to others. God so loved the world He sent His only son to us. Through this helping to other people, it means we are showing that love to others. If we are showing love to people, we are showing love to our Lord.

“I’d like to [thank] all the people who are about to help other people so that they can help save their life.”

The hope is many of the 10,031 children sponsored through Nazarene Compassionate Ministries will have success stories similar to Milton’s.

If Milton ever met his sponsor: “I would give him thanks, because for his contribution I am able to celebrate my life and still have my life [because of] his love and his contribution.  I am very much grateful to him.”

Milton had a message for the global church, too.

“I’d like to request all my brothers and sisters in Christ who are able to sponsor kids that he or she can do it so they are helping to change a life like me.”

For more information on Child Sponsorship, see Nazarene Compassionate Ministries online at www.ncm.org/childsponsorship.

Note: Complete names of some individuals are being withheld due to security reasons.