When Amber Van Schooneveld proposed writing a book about poverty, she had no idea how it would change her life. With a degree in English, Amber was working as an editor for a Christian publishing company. She went to Kenya, Africa, with Compassion International to research poverty firsthand.

“I realized how much I believed in Compassion’s method of working through the local church and focusing on children,” Amber says. A few months after that trip, Amber applied for a job at Compassion. And the rest is history!

Amber acts as a liaison between the field office in each country where Compassion has projects with sponsored children (Guatemala, Kenya, Thailand) and countries that have a partner office that actually sponsor children (the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and the U.S.).

Each field office has a person who writes stories and takes photographs to provide content for magazines, brochures and marketing materials for the partner countries. The partner countries contact Amber to request a story, and then she assigns the story to someone in the field office, gives him a deadline and then edits the story before passing it off to the partner country.

E-mails and Encouragement
Amber also gives the writers feedback on how they can improve their writing. “I coach them on how they can communicate their cultural context better, in a way that a reader from the U.S. can understand what their lives are like,” Amber says.

Because Amber works with writers in countries that are on the other side of the world, most of her communication is through e-mail.

“It’s interesting to learn the different styles of communication between different regions. The ways the Asian regions might interact is completely different from how South Americans would interact. It’s a challenge to make sure I’m being really clear,” she says. “But one of the highlights is getting to know people and their cultures.”

Fast Facts
How much in a paycheck?
An entry-level writing or editing job at a large ministry averages between $30,000 and $35,000 a year.

“I think I could do this!”
Do you . . .
• have strong interpersonal skills?
• enjoy empowering others through encouragement?
• have the ability to enforce deadlines and maintain a schedule?

Making It Happen
• Get experience by writing for your school newspaper or start a newsletter for your youth group.
• Study other cultures and brush up on your history and geography skills.
•0 International experience isn’t a requirement, but it helps. Consider going on a missions trip or spending a semester abroad in college.

Wise Words
“It’s been a huge blessing to see God use my writing and editing skills for Him. He created me for a specific purpose, and I’m glad I didn’t try to be someone I’m not.”

— Amber Van Schooneveld

Join Our Dream!
Be a part of our God-sized dream to sponsor a Brio Compassion project in Guatemala City. To sponsor a child through Brio, go to briomag.com/compassion.