Our CEO Shares What Changed Because You Moved In 2025

In a hurting world, you moved with compassion. Compassion Australia CEO Clare Steele shares what changed for children throughout the world this year. Read the full story or listen to a short message below.

15 Dec, 2025

I grew up on Sunset Boulevard.  

Not the one in Hollywood, but one nestled in the Blue Mountains of Australia. It was a street full of families, the kind where we would spill over into each other’s yards without knocking on the door first. My favourite moment of each school day was when the bus doors swung open and I’d tumble out, racing home to shed my scratchy uniform and set out for adventure.  

But I never ventured out alone. Our whole neighbourhood was out exploring.  

Many years later, I'd find myself exploring a very different neighbourhood, walking the streets of Cebu in the Philippines. Unlike my safe street at home, these streets felt heavy with hopelessness. Children crouched on sidewalks, selling rubbish that they had collected. Homes were patched together from scrap tin and other debris, unable to keep out the relentless heat or the rain that turned alleyways into rivers of sewage. 

I remember the smell. It clung to my clothes, my hair—it seeped inside of me. I felt small, angry. I thought, ‘How do you solve something this big?’  

Then I heard it—one of my favourite sounds in the world. 

Children were laughing. 

I heard the slap of a ball against dirt, feet pounding, squeals of delight.  

Children were playing.  

As I turned the corner, I saw about forty children behind the open gates of the local church. I saw a simple dirt field, a bent basketball ring and some chairs and tables. In that moment, I was standing in the middle of a miracle. One that God had made possible. Despite the unthinkable circumstances these children grew up in, they were laughing.  

This is what justice sounds like.  

These joyful children felt like an answer to my question, ‘How do you solve something this big?’ You don’t. Not alone. But God does, and He invites us to partner with Him.  

The poverty I saw in Cebu is too vast for any one of us to fix. But standing in that playground, I was reminded of Paul’s writings in 1 Corinthians: 

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labour” (NIV).

When you partner in God’s mission, you don’t just add effort, you multiply impact. You strengthen the work of local churches as God uses them to carry His justice to the neighbourhood.  

Thank you for responding to the call to plant, to water.

You moved with compassion. This is what changed.

Because you moved, babies are born safely

Motherhood is challenging for any woman to navigate. But for mothers living in poverty, the challenges are multiplied.

Noeporlue is a mother to three in Thailand. Living in a secluded village meant she was far removed from medical facilities, but Mums and Babies staff arranged for her safe transport to the hospital, where she successfully delivered her beautiful baby daughter Napat.

Through your partnership, local churches advocate for women in the moments that matter most. And they walk alongside mothers for a year after birth, providing critical education to help them raise their children well.

“Joining the Mums and Babies program made a tremendous difference in my third pregnancy,” Noerporlue says. “I received much training that greatly improved both my health and my child’s.”

This year, more than 80 per cent of mothers like Noerporlue had a skilled birth attendant bedside them to ensure they could deliver safely. Globally, we safely welcomed 14,228 new little ones into the Compassion neighbourhood through Mums and Babies.

Thanks to the generosity of Compassion Australia supporters, 1,414 babies plus their mums had a village to support them during their tough first year of life.

Because you moved, children’s futures are transformed

Marjorie grew up in extreme poverty in the rural indigenous village of San Pablo, Ecuador. Despite hunger, a lack of education and limited healthcare, she dreamt of becoming a nurse.

“One of the most important memories I had when I was a little girl was the pastor telling me that everything is possible when you have God in your heart,” says Marjorie. “That changed my mind and my world.”

Through Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, children are connected with a church who knows them and a sponsor who believes in them. Your letters, prayer and encouragement show children going through unthinkable hardships that they are seen, loved and never alone.

Through Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program, Marjorie’s local church supported her with funds and mentorship to persevere in her studies. Now, Marjorie has returned to her hometown not just as a nurse but someone creating lasting impact for the next generation. Two days a week, she serves as a health specialist for Compassion, working with children at the same church she grew up in!

This year, 84,780 Australians moved generously to start or continue sponsoring children.

Thanks to your generosity, 122,758 children like Marjorie had a sponsor who believed their story could be more than poverty.

Because you moved, churches are empowered to serve

Mini urgently needed a new house to protect her children, but as a single parent, it would take her 120 years to save up enough money to build a single room.

“Every night, I prayed that the walls wouldn’t fall and bury me and the children in the house,” says Mini. “I put a big tree trunk outside the wall of the house to keep it from falling. I couldn’t imagine how I would survive in this house if it was not by the hands of God.”

Through Critical Needs, your support empowers local churches to move during decisive moments, providing children with the right support at the right time. Local churches know the children they serve and are best placed to identify their needs and respond with tailored solutions.

The local church in Burkina Faso mobilised to support Mini and her children. They gathered sand and stones from the neighbourhood, and thanks to Critical Needs funding, were able to start construction on a new home.

“I couldn’t have dreamed of a better house,” Mini says. “It is iron-roofed, and the floor and the walls are plastered with cement to make it stronger and safer than our previous home.”

This year, your generosity has meant that 6,144 children plus their families and community members are now drinking clean water. It means 1,478 youth are pursuing further education to better their future. And two precious children are thriving because they were able to undergo life-saving open heart surgery.

Critical Needs provides urgent help. But the change lasts forever.

This year, thanks to you, more than 53,000 children received critical support at decisive moments that changed everything.

Explore our Annual Report

I encourage you to read this year’s Annual Report and rejoice in what God has been doing in the lives of your neighbours.

Thank you for joining us as co-workers in God’s mission to bring justice to children. Because you’ve moved, impact has rippled. Children’s laughter is echoing along streets across the world.

Clare Steele, Compassion Australia CEO