LACC Sponsorship Program Advances
By Rod Boyd

For 10 years, I have had the privilege of chairing the Latin America ChildCare Data System Commission (DSC). The commission continues to advance the LACC sponsorship program, coordinating the flow of information between the Sponsorship Care Office (SCO) in Springfield, MO and the 19 country sponsorship offices. The DSC oversees the development of the Sponsorship Management Program (SMP)—the software database application that all country offices use to manage sponsorship data and communication with the SCO. In addition, the commission coordinates the development of the software used by the SCO to manage sponsorship.

The 2007 version of SMP was released in February in conjunction with two Seminars conducted for those who have daily responsibility for LACC sponsorship in their countries. Sherry and I hosted both seminars. The Spanish Seminar, February 7-9, 2007 was held in Panama City, Panama. Eighteen missionaries and national administrative personnel attended the seminar. Twenty attended the English Seminar, held February 14-16 in Orange County, CA. All national offices except one were represented in the seminars. Also present were representatives from the Sponsorship Care Office and the DSC.

As developer of the program, I taught both seminars that featured hands-on training in the use of the SMP program, with special emphasis given to changes and features offered in the new version. There were also workshops in digital photography and general computing. Latin America ChildCare announced important changes in digital photography and the case history form that will require all countries to update both photos and case history information for all students in 2007.

The seminars also provided an opportunity for fellowship and team building. Each participant was reminded of the importance of his and her ministry, helping to connect a caring person with a needy child. Latin America ChildCare partners with more than 300 schools in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries, helping more than 80,000 children and youth receive a quality Christian education.