Child Sponsorship, Evangelism, and Belonging in the Work of World Vision Zimbabwe

In this article, I examine the child sponsorship program of World Vision Zimbabwe—offering perspectives from nongovernmental organization (NGO) employees, sponsors, sponsored children, and rural communities being assisted. I demonstrate how transnational processes of giving and membership in a global Christian family contrast with Zimbabwean interpretations of humanitarian assistance and efforts to initiate a Zimbabwean child sponsorship program amidst growing local inequalities. in effect, new perceptions of economic disparity are produced by the very humanitarian efforts that strive to overcome them. I explore the intimate and personal relationships encouraged by sponsorship and the political economies within which they are situated, which include jealousies, desires, and altered senses of belonging. Africa, NGOs, humanitarianism, transnationalism, development, Christian evangelism, Zimbabwe