The Compassion International CEO and President, Wess Stafford, has spoken movingly of the abuse he suffered at the hands of his teachers and older pupils at the missionary school he attended in Africa as a child.

In an interview with Focus on the Family, Stafford went on to explain why child sponsorship has such a dramatic effect in reducing poverty and why every Christian should consider sponsoring a child with Compassion.

In particular, Stafford emphasised that by helping children develop financially, physically, socially and spiritually Compassion enables them to become adults who can make an impact on the world around them.

Stafford calls Compassion's children's ministry the 'Great Omission' because our little ones are often over-looked and seen as useless. In his new book 'Too Small to Ignore' he writes: "No matter what the ill of society, it tends to spiral downward and eventually land with its cruellest and most smothering impact on our littlest citizens."

One shocking fact that Compassion is highlighting is the desperate living conditions of nearly half of the 2.2 billion children in our world today.