You are not confused. I’ve been a WV sponsor of a little girl in Costa Rica who is now 20. Mr. Stearns spoke at Women of Faith(4 years or so ago), and I began the sponsorship of a little boy from Africa then.
Everything I send had to specifically not mention Jesus. About that time I started thinking about not doing WV - if you look at their literature, it emphasizes “social justice” - a long way from the vision of the Christian founders of WV. So, I’m going to continue my funding of my two sponsored children for a couple of months and have asked WV to terminate my sponsorship as of June 1.
I have 0 confidence that they regret their stance other than for financial interest and continuing to attract the support of Bible believing Christians, without believing the same.
It’s gotten looier than in the early 90’s then. I don’t remember such a stricture then when the fundie bible church I went to used World Vision sponsorships. It would have been considered a scandal.
This could be a turning point. Finally their pants went down in public in a way they could not ignore. They should be told to pull them up and buckle the belt of truth again. Telling your child that you desire Jesus to bless them (and similar messages, or sending bibles etc.) shouldn’t need to be out of bounds.