My Sponsored Child

[Dee Dee Warren]

My family has sponsored a compassion child for six years now. We have seen him grow from a child to becoming a man. I wish to share his latest letter - we write and receive news regularly. He does not speak or read English so everything gets translated which makes for some ackward reading.

I am very happy to write you this letter. How are you and all your family? I think that the Almighty God is with you. I pray much for God to bless you. I am happy to get your letter. I read it with much interest. I thank you for your gifts. I bought an ox. Now, I have oxes and goats. I use them to make money. In Haiti there are many birds. They are different colours. My favorite bird is called "Colabri." Do you have this bird in your country? What is your favorite bird? My chickens are well. They eat much corn. My father is always a farmer. But it does not rain in this season. Pray a lot for my family especially for their spiritual life. I wish that God bless you. Thanks!

Sounds like a promising entrepeuner! My favourite letter is when we first learned that we could send separate family gifts and the case worker would work with the family to see what would serve them best. Well we sent such a gift and a few months later we got a note from our sponsored child:

It end with - Thank you for the goat.

I thought that was just adorable. So I am always asking him about his animals as that is common bond with our love for animals. I think we will send a new picture soon - we get yearly pictures of him with his family.

I do not know if this is a Haitian cultural thing but always in the pictures, it is like the old-fashioned American photos.... no one smiles, but are very serious and proper. And it is not just this family - if you go to a Compassion booth you see so many faces of desparately poor children but they are grinning - not the Haitian children, they are very serious.

If anyone on the Board is from Haiti and knows some insight into some things of interest that perhaps I should learn about that will help us relate more to this young person please let me know.

It is spine-tingling to think that the little sacrifice that we make each month has changed the course of this young man's life.

[Red Priest]

It is spine-tingling to think that the little sacrifice that we make each month has changed the course of this young man's life.

Agreed, the living standards that some endure relative to what we in the USA are used to is mind-boggling and that little sacrifice is much in these areas of the world.

I know zip about Haiti but I just wanted to chime in and relate that I have just started to sponsor a young girl in India about two months ago and have already received two letters from her. As a matter of fact I learned about Compassion from one of the banners on this website; they also have an impressive accountability record according to the charity watchgroups. I had considered Christian Children's Fund, but apparently they give a smaller percentage of their donations to the children than Compassion. Also, chickens do seem to be a favorite pet as my sponsored child has mentioned them in both her letters thus far.

I am really glad to know that she is being ministered to spiritually as well as being taken care of physically. Hope she sees the love of Christ through these "small" sacrifices.

[Gideon Brown]

I thank you for your gifts. I bought an ox.

Our worlds are so small, aren't they... Isn't it weird to realize that the majority of the world's population doesn't live like we do? Anywayz, I'm gonna look into this sponsoring thing.

[semmie]

Well we sent such a gift and a few months later we got a note from our sponsored child:

It end with - Thank you for the goat.

oh man... that is the greatest thing i've ever read.

may god bless your family richly, dee dee...for giving this family a goat.

i feel inspired. and thankful. and challenged.

[Gromit45]

It end with - Thank you for the goat.

So another way to say this is: "Got your goat!"


(sorry! my rule is never pass up on a bad joke)

[Dee Dee Warren]

As a matter of fact I learned about Compassion from one of the banners on this website

Wow, that makes us feel good. We solidly stand behind Compassion.

they also have an impressive accountability record according to the charity watchgroups. I had considered Christian Children's Fund, but apparently they give a smaller percentage of their donations to the children than Compassion

I did that same research too years ago and found the same thing. It is because it is "direct sponsorship" rather than a pooled fund. My money goes to "my" child.

[Dee Dee Warren]

oh man... that is the greatest thing i've ever read.

may god bless your family richly, dee dee...for giving this family a goat.

i feel inspired. and thankful. and challenged.

Yeah that letter I will never forget. It really touched my heart deeply. We hope to meet him some day - my husband is considering a mission trip to Haiti with some friends and will try to arrange to meet the family. We have heard that there are Haitians so hungry for the Word that they don't let the preachers stop. They say, "Do you need water, to go to the bathroom, please take a break and come speak some more" - for hours.

Please anyone - if you can - sponsor a child. You can radically change a life for so little (comparatively speaking), and it also breaks down cultural barriers and prejudices as you learn how we really are so different yet so the same.

"For this is true religion - to look after the widows and orphans."

Now these children mostly are not orphans but I feel that verse tells us that we have a God-ordained responsibility to take care of the weakest members of the world, the very young and the old and helpless.

We are a rich "Church" in America and we will be judged all the harsher for what we did not give.

I am feeling very convicted right now - do a random act of kindness today.

[semmie]

We have heard that there are Haitians so hungry for the Word that they don't let the preachers stop. They say, "Do you need water, to go to the bathroom, please take a break and come speak some more" - for hours.

one of my former pastors and his wife spent some time doing missions work in Haiti, and they said virutally the same thing. what an incredible thing, eh? can you imagine people in America being that desparate to hear a preacher speak about god?

i really hope and pray that your husband will be able to work it out to meet the compassion son (did you mention how old he is?). and you'll let us know if and when your husband goes on this trip, i trust?

[Dee Dee Warren]

one of my former pastors and his wife spent some time doing missions work in Haiti, and they said virutally the same thing. what an incredible thing, eh? can you imagine people in America being that desparate to hear a preacher speak about god?

i really hope and pray that your husband will be able to work it out to meet the compassion son (did you mention how old he is?). and you'll let us know if and when your husband goes on this trip, i trust?

He just turned 13. We have been sponsoring him about eight years. It was quite ironic when we got the information (we didn't select a country or gender preference, asked them to give us where the need was greatest) that his birthday is the same as our severe macaw. Not just the date. The year. The exact same day.

[Mujibur]

That's awesome, Dee Dee. We are also sponsoring a child through Compassion - a five-year old girl in India, just north of Kolkatta.

We selected her because they speak Bengali in the state of West Bengal, so my wife and I can write some things to her in her own language since I can speak some Bengali from living and working in Bangladesh, and my wife learned how to write some. We've only been sponsoring her for a couple years though so we have not been able to see her change as much as you have with your sponsored child.

One cool thing that I got to do while I was doing my thesis research in Bangladesh this summer was visit a school that had been built and was being run through sponsorship money and all the students were sponsored children. It was through Christian Child Care International, I think. Seeing the kids learning in the classroom let me picture what our sponsored girl would be doing at that same moment, a short distance away.

As for the not smiling thing, I can't speak for Haitians, but that is the same in South Asia. You cannot get pictures of people smiling, unless it is a candid shot. For portraits, it is a serious face.

[semmie]

He just turned 13. We have been sponsoring him about eight years. It was quite ironic when we got the information (we didn't select a country or gender preference, asked them to give us where the need was greatest) that his birthday is the same as our severe macaw. Not just the date. The year. The exact same day.

that's really cool!

i have to tell you, i'm sincerely challenged by all of this...and i just visited the website. i'll let you know when i receive my sponsorship packet in the mail.

[learning]

We sponsor a child through World Vision, in Roumania. We help pay for things like shoes for school, and other things, and sometimes they do pool the funds for improvements, like instead of outdoor toilets, they are building indoor ones for the school, and play equipment, etc.

I should really look into our own church for child sponsorship, as we have schools in Haiti, and they have kids that can be sponsored. Some have grown up to be Drs and gone on to work in mission fields, like Africa, and one even came to Alberta after he married a nurse from Canada that was down there. I know of a lady, I met her in our christian book store, she and her church are sponsoring bringing a boy from Haiti or Dominican Republic (our church has missions in both places) to come for surgery here.

[semmie]

i PMed this to the dee d-meister, and she suggested i post it in the thread. so here it is. perhaps she will follow suit and share the starfish story.

hey dee dee,


i'm about to take a brief hiatus from the internet as we get moved into our new house, but i wanted to drop you a quick line because i got my Compassion Sponsorship information in the mail today! i was so excited to see the photo and read the information about my child. his name is Melvin! can you believe that? what a great name!!! he's 9 years old and lives in el salvador. i'm so excited about sponsoring, and can't wait to send my first letter. of course, i'm half scattered with the move right now, but i'm going to try and sit and write to him soon anyway and send him a photo. i'm just so excited.

i wanted to share with you...when i was in high school, my church's youth group sponsored a boy, and i had the great pleasure of being the contact person. when i graduated and started pursuing school and work, it was a lot harder, and i kept saying "someday, i'll sponsor a child." and i don't know, dee dee...the thought has crossed my mind several times again in recent months, but i've shrugged it off because i'm dealing with my own financial burdens and trying to get to a place financially where i can go back to school...it's hard to justify adding another monthly bill, you know? but when i read your thread and about the goat for your child...it really pierced my heart in a way i didn't expect at all. it occurred to me that perhaps god had been putting it on my heart all these months...and perhaps the best way to keep some perspective as i'm trying to save the money to return to school and get my degree, is to be giving to someone else who is truly in need.

and that is Melvin. oh dee dee, i saw that envelope, and i couldn't even drive away from the mailboxes; i had to stop and open it and look at him...he's a beautiful boy! it broke my heart in a way i can't even explain--but then, i suppose i don't have to.

at any rate, i'm really looking forward to this, and i'm really thankful that you shared your story when you did. i'm really thankful that i am able to sponsor a child.

i wanted to ask you, also...as i was reading the material today, they suggested keeping a scrapbook of letters you receive from your child over the years. i was curious if you've done this, or if you have any suggestions as far as little things to send with the letters--i know they mention bookmarks or things like that, but it all seems sort of girly to me.

anyway...thank you. i just really wanted to share with you that i got my sponsorship packet, and my child has a name.

[Dee Dee Warren]

here ya go

*****


Wow, thank you for the encouragement, it means a whole lot to me. I wish you many years of encouragement with Melvin. Have you ever read the starfish story?

In a time and place not too distant from here, a gentle man walked along the shore. He enjoyed his walks and felt the freedom of the waves as they whooshed back and forth over the carpet of slippery, sandy beach. One day, he looked down and noticed that the sea had washed in many starfish. He picked one up, looked at, and realized it was drying up on the beach; so, he flung the starfish way out in the sea.

He bent down, picked up another and flung it, too, out to the sea.

He continued throwing out as many starfish back to the sea as he had energy to toss.

Another person walked along the shore. Having watched the man throwing the starfish, commented to the man, “I’ve been watching you. You know, there are thousands of starfish along the shore. What difference can it make what you are doing?” The gentle man just picked up another starfish, and flung it into the sea and says, “It made a difference to that one.”


That story is my life philosophy. I can't solve world orphancy, I can't everyones questions about doubts with their face. But I can make a difference even if to just that one.

Semmie maybe post your letter to me in the thread. It may just push someone else to reach out to a poverty-stricken child - it would make a difference for that one

****

I was "that one" in school. There is a teacher with a little effort who basically changed my life around. She made a difference to that one.

Consider throwing a starfish into the ocean today. I have a framed starfish in my room to remind me.

This was driven home a while ago when this older man said to me, "I don't even know your name but I like you because everytime you look at me you smile."

[Mujibur]

Awesome, Dee Dee and Semmie.

It can definitely be overwhelming when you look at the scale of need and the amount of poverty that exists in our world. But God does not ask us to change the world - just be faithful with the resources that he gives us. Helping that one child definitely makes a difference to that child, and their family, and often their whole community. And it helps us be more aware of the needs in other areas of the world that don't have things as comfortable as we have it here. It reminds us that we are blessed, but also that our blessings are meant to be shared, not hoarded.