My Sweet Isaac

I received a letter from Isaac in Mexico today with this picture enclosed.
Oh my goodness!  Don't you just want to squeeze him?
Isaac just turned nine, and I love his cute smile.  Boys always have a hard time knowing how to smile for pictures, but they come out looking adorable.  
On the back, he wrote, "Estoy en jardin de mi mama, hay flores, platanares."
That means (although not written perfectly), "I am in my mom's garden, there are flowers, bananas."
I will not correct his comma splice. After all, I just learned his language.  :)
I'm so happy to receive a picture of him other than the official Compassion pictures.  He is only the second out of my eight children who has sent a picture.  I love the fact that I can see him at his home, and I totally love the banana trees, being the fan of all things tropical that I am.
Isaac wrote a rather long letter; I've always been impressed with how well he writes even though he's so young.  He's been writing his own letters ever since I began sponsoring him, which was about 18 months ago.  It's unusual for one so young to write himself.  The cool thing about that is that I've been able to see him mature as a writer.  Oh brother, there I go being an English teacher again!
I write very often to my children--once a week.  At first I was afraid that was too much (how crazy is that?), but they thank me often for sending "muchas cartas."  I pray the letters help them to feel loved.  He says that it is the rainy season where he lives and wants to know if it ever rains where I live.  Hmm--there's a tropical storm headed this way at the moment, so yes.  
This is the part I like the best:  He says his family is happy because they know me through my pictures.  I often think of just the child and me and forget that the family is also involved.  I imagine how good his parents must feel to know that someone in another country loves their son.  :)
Sponsorship rocks.  That's about all I have to say about that!
Even though Isaac writes his own letters, he always draws a picture.  This is the first one without a mountain, but he always has a horse (or maybe it's a donkey), and I think this one might also include a rabbit.  I love it.  I'm glad to see that he has drawn a sun.

Bite Back!

I recently became a Compassion Advocate (more on that at a later time, I'm sure).  Do I feel inadequate?  Reference Moses--You sure you picked the right one for this job, Lord?
For my first official event as an Advocate, I decided I might have a yard sale.  One problem--I live alone, and therefore, didn't really have enough "stuff" to make a good yard sale.  Someone on OurCompassion suggested I ask friends for donations, so I posted a request on Facebook.
To say I was overwhelmed by the generosity of my friends is a vast understatement.  I was amazed at all that I had for the sale.  Of course, that meant a lot of work organizing and pricing (and I'm a perfectionist, so that was fun), but because I had to work four ten-hour days the first three weeks of August, I actually had the day before the sale to organize.  I still didn't get much sleep.
Then there's the little issue I have of anxiety.  I'm really quite afraid of talking to people I don't know, and having a yard sale meant talking to people all day long.  Yikes!  But I put that in the back of my mind and went on with it.
I decided to give the proceeds to Compassion's Bite Back program.  My goal was to raise at least $200.


I raised $200.


I've never had a yard sale before, but I've been told that's a pretty good profit.  Our weather in Virginia Beach had been in the 90's that week, and we'd had a lot of smoke from the Dismal Swamp fire in North Carolina (that stuff can choke an elephant), but the high temperature on the day of my yard sale was only in the mid 80's with an amazing ocean breeze blowing across my screened-in porch, where I held the sale.  No smoke.  No heat.
I'll admit, I was quite nervous when I spoke with the people, and there was a steady stream of people from before 8 AM until noon.  I'm sure they didn't notice my anxiety, but I sure did!
God clearly had His hand on this event.  For the weather to suddenly be so good, for so many people to graciously donate items, to be able to reach my financial goal . . . it was all awesome.
I have only two regrets--no one sponsored any of the five children I had available, and I now have enough stuff to have about 12 more yard sales!
But the important part is that the profits from the sale can buy 20 mosquito nets, and since on net can protect a family of 4 from mosquitos and potentially malaria, that's a potential of 80 people helped by my sale.  That rocks.
I had some Bite Back stickers.  One lady told me she would put that on her car because, "we really need to get rid of the mosquitos in Virginia Beach."  Okay, so she didn't quite get it, but at least that sticker's out there traveling the city.
And with that in mind, here's a video from Compassion that will help you to realize the severity of the malaria problem and the importance of the Bite Back program.  (If you'd like to contribute, let me know.  You'll be saving lives.)

What I Learned at Vacation Bible School

Have you ever read Too Small to Ignore by Wess Stafford?  If not, you must.  One really important point that he makes is how trusting children are of adults, and the important responsibility we have to care the children and NOT to break their trust.

I was reminded of that time and again this week when I was a Crew Leader at Vacation Bible School for a group of five-year-olds.  Another lady and I had twelve of those sweet children in our care.  What amazed me is that they immediately trusted us.  They had never seen me before in their lives, but I suddenly had all the answers and the power to protect them.

Our theme was PandaMania, which I loved because it had a tropical flavor to it.  One young man dressed in a panda suit and walked around the church.  Most of the children loved him and ran to hug him whenever they saw him.  I had one little girl in my group named Whitney who was scared to death of the panda.  Every time we saw him, she said, "Oh no!  The panda!" and clung to me while she either buried her face in my legs or covered her eyes with her hand.

One day our Bible story was about Peter's denial of Christ.  First we heard about some of Jesus' miracles while we were sitting in our normal story room.  Then we had to pretend that we were followers of Jesus after He was crucified, and we had to find a secret place to meet.  As we walked through the hallway, we had to plaster ourselves against the wall if we saw a Roman soldier or a Jewish religious leader (just robes hanging on the wall, but it was pretend, you know).  Whitney and another girl were terrified.  Each girl had to hold my hand, and when we saw a robe hanging on the wall, they pulled me into a corner.

And then don't you know . . . the Panda showed up!

When we finally made it to the secret (rather dark) room, the girls were still petrified, and then Peter showed up.  They kept saying, "I'm really scared" as they clung to me with grips of steel.  

I felt so bad for them because their fear was real.  They were so very afraid.  I felt quite heroic being able to hold and protect them.  I hope I made a difference.

The thing that struck me the most is that they trusted me to protect them from those very scary situations . . . and they didn't know me until a few days before.

I've always been angered by child abuse.  If I ever were given free reign to mete out justice on someone guilty of child abuse, I wouldn't stop.  Just thinking about it angers me.  When I looked at the sweet faces of those trusting 5-year-olds (okay, I know they're not perfect; I saw that, too), I can't imagine how anyone could ever, ever hurt a child.

I thought of the Compassion children I sponsor and the scary things they face each day -- much scarier than a pretend panda and robes hanging on the wall.  I can't be there with them, not like I was with the children last week, but they still trust me.  They trust me to pray for them, to care for them financially, and to be their friend, to develop that friendship through writing.

Every time I looked at those children in VBS, I thought of my Compassion children, and I remembered that they are trusting us, that their need is so great, and that Jesus has commanded us to care for them.

I am so grateful for those children who trusted me and allowed me to care for them.  And I am grateful for what I have learned from them.

Nancy or Michelle?

I received a letter from Nancy Michelle on Saturday.  Her first name is Nancy, but when she first wrote to me (her mother writes for her), she called herself Michelle.  In this letter, she called herself Nancy.  Haha.  When I replied to her, I said, “Hola, Nancy Michelle.”  That way, I’ve covered both names.

So . . . any guesses about what the animal is in the picture she drew?  I say a pig.  A very classy pig with false eyelashes.  :)

She thanked me for her birthday gift again.  She also thanked me for writing to her a lot and said that she receives more letters than the other girls.  YES!!  No, this isn’t a contest, but I am glad that my letters make her feel special.

She (her mother) also said, “Te felicites por esforzaste mucho en las clases de español ya que lo haces por ella.”  That means that she is thanking me for my efforts in Spanish classes because she knows I am doing it for her.  How awesome is that?  What a blessing this little girl is to me!  To think that I can make someone feel so special so many miles away is beyond my comprehension.  Only through God is this possible.

She also sent a picture of her singing in school.  She’s in the back left.  All these little girls look so sweet, “pero mi Nancy Michelle es la más hermosa.”

Birthday Gifts

I received a letter from Isaac thanking me for his birthday gift.  I sent him $25, and he received a pot.  That makes me kind of sad because I want him to have something fun like the other children I sponsor.  The children usually get to pick what they want, so I hope that’s what he wanted.  I hope it made him happy.

This is the picture he drew for me.  I love his pictures.  I just don’t usually know what everything is in them.

First Letter from Alberto

Alberto can draw well for one so young.

I received my first letter from Alberto this past week.  It is the introductory letter that is always the first letter.  The picture above is what he drew for me.  He’s only 7, so I think that’s really very good.

His first name is Camilo, so that’s what I’ve been calling him, but he goes by his second name, Alberto.  He lives in Colombia.  He has two sisters and three brothers!  I’m excited to be his sponsor because he had been waiting over six months (which could actually mean a couple of years) for a sponsor.  He’s SO cute; I’d like to squeeze him.  :)

His teacher says that he is “muy juicisoso y obediente”--very wise and obedient.  

I really look forward to getting to know Alberto better.  I hope I can be a blessing to his very large family.

A Magic Trick for Kristen

Some skeptics have asked me how I can trust Compassion, how I know that my money really goes to the child.

If you’re one of those people wondering, or if you just want to see how your money is used, you have to read this blog post.  It’s so encouraging.

And it makes me want to help even more.

http://shaungroves.com/2011/05/a-magic-trick-for-kristen/