Mail Call Monday

Last week I received two letters from my Compassion kids. The first one was from 9 year old Duangdao in Thailand. I'm blessed to hear from her on a pretty regular basis.

Her letters are generally quite newsy. She thanked me for the letter and photo. She tells me her school performance is improving and she enjoys math. She goes on to explain that her friends help her when she doesn't understand her school lesson.

She says that her family has finished growing rice, and they also grew chili. She asks if I like cooking food, and tells me she helps her mother cook everyday.


My next letter was actually waiting for me when I got home today, but I wanted to go ahead and share it. It was from 15 year old Mwanaidi in Tanzania.

I believe it was a scheduled letter, as the youth group also received a letter from their Tanzania child today too. I thought it was neat that the translation was done on a typewriter. I can tell because it's typed, but not in perfect lines. Something we would think of as archaic, is used by third world country to give a nice appearance. The letter does look lovely by the way; I had just not received a letter translated by typewriter before.

She tells me she is doing well in her studies and will be doing a mock examine soon. I'm thinking this is a practice exam for a big test. The weather there is hot, and they are on school holiday. She tells me she likes to play different games like races, jump rope and football. She then asks my favorite sport.

I love how many details she gives. For so long I would receive letter after letter of the same thing. Hi, please pray for school. God bless. Very simple letters, void of details. I think she must have had a hard time opening up, possibly not knowing how long I'd stick around, or if I even cared or would write back.

None the less, I love how this lady has started to transform. And thank my elderly friend who sponsors her for giving me the opportunity to write, and both of us to be a part of her life.

Monday's Mail Call

This week I received a letter from my sweet Mwanaidi in Tanazania.

She wrote the entire letter in English, so no translation was needed. She congratulated me on finishing my nurses aid training. And told me she thought I would do well.

She mentioned she will be doing her terminal examination, which I believe to be like the final examination, maybe for the year? I'm not totally sure, but know she is not totally complete with school either.

She asks for prayers to pass her examine.

Short, sweet and to the point, are usually how her letters are.

Have you received any mail this week?

Mail Call Monday

I am very excited to share today, as I have received quite a few letters in the last couple weeks. I was unable to post last Monday, but I'm excited to share today.

I have six letters to share, it feels almost like Christmas!

First letters is from 15 year old Mwanaidi from Tanzania.

She looks almost stern in her photo, but she is really warming up, and sharing more in each letter. She tells me she is pleased with my questions. She tells me she is doing well with her lessons, and she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. The chores she helps with are washing utensils, washing clothes and sweeping. And when asked what her favorite animal is, she tells me grazing animals like cows and goats. She also  tells me she was happy to hear I got my nursing certificate (my CNA license). This girls is smart and has tons of potential.

Then I heard from my youngest, 5 year old Arsang in Thailand.

His tutor helps him write, and she tells me he is happy to know I sent him a letter. She also says he is still a good child, and that he looks after his little sister well. She mentions she attends the activities at the project also, and if she is crying he consoles her. The last sentence reads "His mother would like to ask will you come to Thailand?" I would love to go, God willing some day I may.

He drew me a very colorful photo and I love how Thailand has the children draw on a separate sheet. I can adore his letter and drawing at the same time.

I received another Thai letter from 10 year old Duangdao.

She writes, "I am glad you wrote to me again. Your work is interesting. I think you are very happy with it. You are a very good woman because you are taking care of the patient and elderly." I thought it was neat to hear back from two of my kids in regards to my new job, and job training with my Nursing Assistant certification. She tells me "I have a story to share also. I always ride my bicycle with my friends in summer." And that was the end of her story. I love how she just lets her thoughts flow, and I hear about many topics.

Then I received a letter from my sweet 18 year old Sarah in Uganda.

It has been a little while since I have heard from her, but she begins her letter again, "my beloved friend Heather." She writes in English, but I do not believe it to be her first language, or she hasn't done very well in school. Her first question she ask, "How are you and how is your life at large?" It made me smile. She tells me about her Easter holiday, and asks for prayers. She tells me she is proud and grateful for the letters I sent her.

She asks me again, when I will visit her in her country, and tells me as she has before, "I know that it is a long way from your home country to my home country Uganda and there are valleys and mountains, but don't fear that because there is a God who will make a way for you." She wrote this almost verbatim a few months ago when she asked me to visit. I believe I did not say anything back, as I did not want to lead her to believe I was coming, as my words might come across unlike I intend. But maybe she knows something I don't know yet, and I'll be heading to Uganda. I know I would love to go!

Then I recieved two letters from 12 year old Erick in Bolivia.

The week before he wrote me about all his pets, past and present. He told me he had 2 cats, but they were sick and died. (He's my child that knows his dog is old, and is scared for him to die.) He then tells me about celebrating children's day at school and taking a field trip to trout aquarium. I think that sounds like a neat place!

Then I received this!!

He tells me his birthday was the 22nd of May, and thanks me for the gift. He was a sweat suit and sweater. He tells me his parents bought a cake, and sang him happy birthday. He also tells me about mothers day, and his mom's birthday being in May and says "May is one of the most imprtant times of the year becayse it's my mom's birthday, my birthday, and mother's day. When is your birthday?" I'm pretty sure he'll be excited to hear my birthday is also in May. He signs his letter, "Your Boy, Erick"

Monday and Mail

I've very excited to share three letters I received this last week from Compassion. Two of them were child letters, and another is a project letter!

My first letter was from almost 16 year old, Mame Aba, from Ghana.

She thanks me for all the letters, and again for choosing her. It almost breaks my heart to read those words. Every letter she writes, she ALWAYS thanks me for choosing her. I believe God choose her for me, as I hadn't even seen her photo. I asked if they had any 16 year old girls in Ghana, and the lady told me they had one 15 year old; Mame Aba.

I sent little valentines to all my children this year. I wasn't sure how my teenager would respond, as most teenagers here wouldn't be too excited. But this is my second child to make mention. and she says"Yes!" her friends like the cards so much. She tells me she shared them with her best friend, sibling, and parents.

Next I received a letter from my 11 year old Bolivian artist, Erick.

Erick tells me he is doing well in school and is now in the 6th grade. He says his teachers are strict, and there are 39 students in his class. That is quite a few kids, but I bet there are much better behaved than students here.

He also mentions he's brother and nephew's both have birthdays coming up. And they are having a party with a clown, because Josue, his nephew, likes clowns. He says he's praying for my new job also.

The last letter was the project letter for Mwanaidi in Tanzania.

This letter I actually received indirectly from her sponsor. My friend who sponsors her (She asked me to correspond) gave me the letter along with another to read. She told me since it wasn't a specific letter from her child, I could keep it. I looked at it, and realized it was Mwanaidi's project, and I was so excited!

The gentleman who wrote it, is Nickson Yared Kilale, and he is the project facilitator for her project, and 10 others! He says he visits with projects often, when the children are in attendance.

He states that the suburb is 160 kilometers from Arusha, and how the area receives heavy rain from November to April. With the hot months being August, September, and October.

She tells how most of the economic activities are peasantry and very small irrigation schemes of padding growing. He says the average monthly income from this is 26 USD. He also mentions though the maddy crops have been good income, they are also a good activator of Malaria prevalence in the area due to the still water.

He talks about HIV being high in the area, due to people coming as laborers or buyers of rice. Witchcraft is highly practiced and girls education is not a priority to parents. So early marriage and school drop out is common.

He said that those registered compared to those unregistered is a huge difference! The registered children are in diminished frequency of poverty related illness because of their health checks, vaccines, proper and timely medication, nutritional literacy and provision and hygiene seminars. Compassion is making a difference.

One of the points I found most interesting is, there are 252 youth registered, and 202 are over the age of twelve. There is a lot of vocational training happening in this center, and I'm so glad to hear about it. What an informative letter!!

Did you hear from any of your Compassion International kids this week?

Meet My Child-Nuru

In the past I've done introductions of my current Compassion kids, with a few past kids also. Today I'd like to introduce to you Nuru.

He was my third addition to my correspondence kids. He was 17  and from Tanzania. I was introduced to him back in 2009 or so. And wrote faithfully and frequently. I know he enjoyed soccer, and his studies were about average.

I wrote Nuru for about 9 months. After a few months of not hearing from him, I became a little worried. I prayed even more, and wrote even more frequently. I thought maybe as a teenage boy, he needed me to earn his trust before he'd open up or want to write.

I think it was probably after 7 months of not hearing from him, I called Compassion to see if they could look into why I hadn't heard from him. I believe it took close to another 2 months to hear back.

At this point I was told he had gone off to college, but not returned home or to the project. The staff tried to track him done, but were unsuccessful. And due to the length of time that had elapsed he was no longer part of the project.

Honestly, my heart sunk. I wondered why all this time I'd tirelessly worked on heartfelt letters to send this young man. Had he received ANY of them? Probably not.

But then I started thinking about all the project staff that saw those letters. How they watched the stack of letters grow for this young many, a young man who may never have received many or any letters before. And as that stack grew, I'm sure their desire to search out this young man grew.

All those letters would need to have been translated also. Maybe one of those translators need to hear those words within on of those letters. Those words I intended for Nuru, God could have intended for one of them.

God has a way of doing things that don't always make sense to us, but they do have a purpose.

This week Nuru has been on my heart. My prayer is that he is serving God where ever he is, and he remembers the love of those in his Compassion project. Even if he never knew of me I pray he knows the love of God. And I pray for those words written, to whomever God intended, I pray they reach their ears, even years later.

"So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." Galatians 6:9

Mail from Tanzania

I didn't received any letters last week from my Compassion kiddos, so I didn't post anything Monday. But a dear friend of mine did!!

My friend who financially sponsor's Mwandai, (click the link to read a bit more about her) sponsors two other girls she corresponds with. Due to her age, she didn't feel she could take on the responsibility of writing another child faithfully. I share my letters with her, and she in turn share the letters she get from her girls.

When I met her, she already sponsored one girl, and then she choose 12 year old Neema from Tanzania. Neema was one of the first sponsorships I helped orchestrate after I became an advocate.

Neema celebrated a birthday a few months back, and she sent a lovely photo, I just had to share.

She was able to buy a school bag, school books, her cute shoes, and the photo to send. I can't believe how tall she is, especially for 12 years old. She lives with her grandmother, we're unsure of where her parents are. She always writes such nice letters, so full of love! My friend was so proud to share this photo off too! Like a proud grandma :)

And if you want to hear even more about Tanzania, you should check out the bloggers who are there now!

Jenipher

All those beautiful faces. Some light, some dark. Smiles, frowns, grimaces, tears. Sunday best, or holly mess. Most have lovely dark eyes, but occasionally you'll see lighter or even blue eyes.

As you scroll through the pages of waiting children on Compassion International's website, what goes through your mind?

I can think back to all the "criteria" I had when choosing my children. Most never met all of what my expectations were. But I know God had bigger, greater plans.  But even when I past my limit of sponsorships, I'd feel drawn the pages of beautiful faces.

I will say I don't often venture over to Compassion's website, as I fear I may fall in love with one of those precious young people. Often times my sister will be browsing and I'll walk by and stop and look with her. But I don't often spend too much time looking for myself.

I've see a few posts lately of others highlighting certain kids. I enjoy reading about them, and admiring their expressions. But last night was different. I felt God say there was a child I needed to find. And no, she wasn't for me.  I usually will start looking at the girls 17-21, but widened my search criteria, as I wasn't sure who I was looking for. I search both boys and girls 15-21.

So many neat names, smiling faces, and waiting children. After about 4 pages, I almost wanted to stop. I hadn't found the child, but wasn't sure I should keep looking. I clicked on several kids bios, but hadn't found them.

I then saw Jenipher. I loved the spelling, and it reminded me of how it was pronounced by the teenagers in South Africa (Jen-EE-fir). Jenipher is 15 years old and from Tanzania. She is gorgeous! And she has been waiting 270 days!! I couldn't believe it. She is privileged to live with both parents, and her five siblings. She is also above average, which is quite a feet in Tanzania. I received a school report recently from my "average" student, and her grades were not too impressive. Neither were the grades of a friend's of mine's child who also lives in Tanzania.

This special young lady has been waiting quite a while to find her sponsor. Will you pray with me for her sponsor? Maybe you know who's family Jenipher is waiting to join.

Excited About Mail

First off, I do apologize for my absence lately. I'm trying to relearn time management, and making sure I spend my time wisely, especially in respect to my time with God. Many other little things have played into my absence, but I'm super excited to share my first letter I received in the last few weeks of letter drought.

 

My letter this week comes from 14 year old Mwanaidi in Tanzania. The envelope was thick, which isn't a usual occurrence for her, so I opened it not sure what kind of surprise I might find.

It was a thank you letter, a separate blank paper with many flowers, and they were colored!! She usually gives me a pencil only drawing at the bottom of the letter. And its a simple flower or cross, so I thought maybe she didn't enjoy drawing, and I was ok with that. But now I wonder what spurred the extra drawing?

Then, attached to that was a Compassion progress report. I had never heard or seen one from Tanzania, but I have from Ethiopia. It was for the entire year and came on a full sheet, as opposed to the half sheets from Ethiopia.

I'm a little curious if they are very harsh/strick on grading because according to the grades she is about a D which is passing, but really not great. Anyone else know anything about Tanzania and school grades?

Her letter was sweet, and she started to say a little more than she spends time studying and what subjects she studies. I was excited to learn more details of her life. She's starting to open up a bit more.

How about you, any mail this last week?!

It's Monday...

And you know what that means...mail time!!!

And while I may not be hearing as frequently from some of my usual frequent writers, I am definitely thankful to be receiving letters most weeks. Especially when I hear other sponsors talking about a major lack of letters from everywhere!

This week brought letters from Mwandai and Duangdao.

Mwandai's arrived first, so I'll start with my 14 year old from Tanzania. I was just talking with her sponsor about how she's starting to open up a little bit more and I was anticipating her next letter to be even more detailed. And boy was it ever full of details!

She said she and her family are well and thanked me for the letter I sent. She tells me in history she is learning about ancient people and in math they are working on multiplication and division as well as geometry. (from her letters she really seems to enjoy school!)

She mentions helping her parents and also continuing to revise her study notes! She also tells me they have various animals where she lives, but her favorite is the baboon (I wrote to tell her about the zoo with photos). She also asks me to read Psalm 23.

My second letter is from 9 year old Duangdao from Thailand.

If I wasn't posting from my phone I would upload a photo of her handwriting, it's absolutely beautiful! But I ended up cover another shift, so I won't be off till late, so I'll have to post it later :)

I love the salutation. 'May God always be with you.' She asks what I like to do in my spare time, and tells me she enjoys reading and riding her bycycle.  She tells me its the beginning of winter in her village and asks about my weather. She requests prayer for her study and for her parents work. And lastly she asks specifically if I like to ride bikes. I'm excited to tell her about me and my nephews riding bikes!

Have you received any special mail?

Meet My Child-Mwanaidi

So glad to be getting back to some what normal. It's Thursday, and I'd like to introduce you to 14 year old Mwanaidi from Tanzania. She is one of my relatively newer kids, and I am her correspondent. But one of the neatest things about this young lady is, I know her sponsor!

I actually had her packet as an advocate and showed it to an elderly friend, who already sponsored 2 girls. I had share her packet with her, thinking she may share it with a another friend who has showed some interest in our sponsored kids, but does not sponsor her self. Miss M (as I'll refer to her by) called me aside later, and pointed out Mwanaidi's packet and said I want to adopt her too! She shared how she really was wanting to give more, especially since she isn't involved in a church so much anymore. But corresponding with her two girls was enough for her. And asked if someone might be able to write to her girl, as she understands the importance of letters. I told her I would love to! And I would share every letter with her.

And it's really worked out wonderfully. She even gives me a little extra money to help with stickers and goodies to send to her (I would write her regardless and treat her the same as any of my kids, but I think it's amazing that a financial sponsor things so highly of her girl). And it was due to her age that she didn't feel she could take on the responsibility of writing another child. But she loves her still the same. Another example to me, that finacial sponsors who opt to have correspondent sponsors are anything but heartless people. I believe it takes even more love to be able to ask someone else to write on their behalf, forgetting in most cases the precious letters they would receive.

I have received about 3 of 4 letters from her, and they haven't been filled with many details, but as I mentioned earlier in the week, she seems to be a very brilliant girl who loves school. I think she may be a bit shy, as she does ask me to pray for her exams, and her family, but doesn't give many details...except school, like the subjects she enjoys.

When she first joined my family I asked for her previous photo, and this was what I received:

She hasn't shown a smile in any of her photos, but she almost looked down right mad in this photo.

This was her photo when Miss M started sponsoring her:

She reminds me of Cinderella in her blue dress! She has come a long way, but I really pray we do someday see a smile on her beautiful face. They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

Monday's Mail Call

So last week I received two precious letters. Neither of them were Christmas letters, they were more of reply letters.

The first one was from sweet 9 year old Duangdao from Thailand.

She thanks me for my letter and prayers, and also spoke a very powerful blessing "May Gos be with you and your family forever." She mentioned it being exam times, but that she doesn't do any English exams, but she does do Thai and social science.

She told me she enjoys playing hide and seek with friends at the project and also with her older sister and little brother. And her school had a sports day on October 28th and she is on the red team.

My second letter was from 14 year old Mwanaidi from Tanzania.

From some of her first letters it sounded like she enjoys school. And I really think she is a smart young lady who is studying hard to do great things. She thanks me for my good questions :)

She says she loves her studies at her school; math and English (though her letters are translated into English by someone else). Her and two friends, Zaiubu and Husup  went and caught cat fish together. (I told her of me and my nephews going fishing).

She goes on to tell she will be on a school break soon and she will help her parents with house chores. And asked how my duties at my home are. And she ends her letter "I will continue praying for you in everything"

She's starting to open up a little bit...she seems to be a bit of a quite teenager. And she didn't draw me anything on this letter which is fine, as I think she doesn't enjoy it much.


On a side note, my job situation after this week should be normal or consistent for my new schedule, so hopefully I can get back to blogging a bit more and do some more "Meet my Child" intros, as Mwanaidi has a special story I'd like to share :)

YAH! For Monday

Welcome to this week's addition of Mail Call Monday! I had the pleasure of receiving letters from 2 of my Compassion International kids this week. And I was delighted to open each precious letter.


My first letter this week was from 14 year old Mwanaidi from Tanzania. I just recently received her updated photo, and was excited to hear from her also. She write frequently, but my letters are not usually filled with as many details as she provided this time. It was so nice to learn so much more about her.

She tells me she is doing well in her studies, and they "learn different types of subjects such as chemistry, geography and biology." She definitely sounds well educated, especially for a 14 year old! She also told me "we learn the Word of God from Joshua ch. 6." She also told me they take a short school break in September. And that in December they will be celebrating Christmas. She mentioned "the weather is good and we are preparing our farm for planting corn for irrigation in the month of August which goes up to November." (I think she meant they start harvesting in August, but can harvest for up until November. I know around here they put the crops in the ground early, way sooner than I would have imagine prior to talking to some seniors that use to do lots of farming.) She also drew me a simple drawing of a flower and a cross, just like last time. I do not believe art to be her best subject :) but I love that she tries. Also, Tanzania's stationary was new this time around. The heading says "Cheerful Greetings" with Phil. 4:4 on it.


My Second letter was 11 year old Pendila in Ghana. The date of the letter was October 11th and I received it Friday!! Not even 3 weeks! I can't hardly believe it! But excited none the less.

I had asked how often she goes to the project and she told me "every Saturday in the month." I had also asked why she had a green uniform in one photo, and a yellow uniform in her Christmas photo last year. She told me the green uniform was for school and the yellow uniform for the project. So in this letter she asks "Why do you like the yellow uniform for the project?" I was also informed she was promoted to primary 5, which makes me wonder why she is not back to writing her own letters. She wrote a few letters on her own, about a year ago, but ever since the project workers have been helping both her and her sister Priscilla write their letters.

Under the 'I would like to know more about' section she says "I would like to know more about what Jonathan and Nathanael are learning at church"-my nephews :) Her prayer request is for more wisdom, not only for her self, but for her twin sister also! And her memory verse is Judges 5:31 "May all your enemies die like that O Lord, but may your friends shine like the rising star." I found that to be an interesting memory verse. I'll have to ask her more about what she was learning.

Lastly I heard from 'My dear best friend Sarah' She is 17 years old and from Uganda.

She always addresses each letter 'my dear best friend Heather.' She is a young lady who came to me with a bit of a sad story. She had a sponsor many years, but because it was a company who sponsored many children, she had no one to write her letters. So she went I believe almost 9 years without ever receiving a reply to the 3 letters she wrote each year, to the sponsor she loved dearly. And so I take my job of writing her even more seriously, because I want her to understand God's love in a tangible way. She writes in english, but you can tell it is not her first language. And she writes my friend at the beginning of each sentence of this letter, making it a little hard to read, but just saturated with love! I feel blessed to be a part of this young lady's life.

She tells me her mother and sisters also send their greetings. She tells me her studies are not good and she needs prayers. So any extra prayers for her studies would be appreciated! She also tells me her family members are very happy with my letters. Which means Christ's tangible love is spilling over into her family! She tells me she has 4 goats. And in previous letters I told her about our goats, and her last letter she greets me, and my family, and prayers we are in good health and also our goats! It was cute! She also tells me she likes to read her bible all the time. She tells me that Jesus told his disciple to love your neighbor as yourself, and that "I love you my beloved friend and you know that God is my Savior and Creator." I was excited for her to actually tell me she knows Jesus as her Savior! She wrote all of the front and back of the letter this time! That is a first! I am so proud of her, and I know that if she is struggling in school, letter writing should help her academically. She told me the names of her sisters, Allen and Emily, and that it is the wet season in her country. She told me this in reply to questions I had asked her. Also, math is her favorite subject!

I had also written her telling her the meaning of her name Sarah, is Princess. And she told me she didn't know that. She also mentioned every year on October 9th Uganda celebrates their independence day. She signs her letters "Your faithful daughter, Sarah." Another thing I noticed with all her letters is the Uganda stationary has little animals down the sides of it, and she has taken the time, as a 17 year old! to color those little animals in every time!


Thanks to Michelle over at Blogging from the Boonies for the use of her handy mail call button. She posts letters every week and also uses a cool linkin feature for other Compassion International sponsors to share their letters. So check it out.

Photo Updates

I don't have much time before I head to work, but I really wanted to share some updated photos of my Compassion International kids. Two in one week was a nice surprise, and it hadn't even hit the 2 year mark, so earlier is even better. I'll show you before and after.

This is 14 year old Mwandaidi from Tanzania. I correspond with her on behalf of an elderly friend of mine. She was her 3rd sponsorship, and while she loves corresponding with her kids, at her age she didn't think she could take on a 3rd child, but she fell in love with her, and so I told her I could correspond on her behalf and share all her letters and photos, so she could still be part of her life :)

March 2010

October 2011

Then I received an updated photo for 11 year old Erick in Bolivia. He is a newer addition to my Compassion family as of the beginning of the summer. I think he is just a darling young man!

March 2010

October 2011

Despite the fact that I would love to see smiles, I know a lot of things play into updating or taking a photo. Michelle over at Blogging from the Boonies wrote an excellent post on that here. But I do see hope in their faces. And Hope makes all the difference.

Monday Mail Call

I enjoy sharing the letters I receive from my Compassion International kids, any chance I get. So every Monday I plan on sharing the joy of my letters from the previous week.


  Button compliments of Michelle over at Blogging from the Boonies.

This week we had an exceptional mail day Friday. Prior to Friday I hadn't received any letters, but on Friday I received 3, my sister received 3, my nephew received 1 and the youth group also received 1! So that was 8 letters total. I think that is probably close to a record, if not the record. Then another 2 letters from my boys on Saturday. So I have 5 letters in total to share today.

First was "My Holiday Plans" letter from Penidila in Ghana who is 11 years old.

My sister sponsors her twins sister Priscilla, and so 2 of the letters Friday were from Ghana. I also noticed Michelle this week received the same type letter from her Precious in Ghana. I received this letter a couple weeks back from my other girl in Ghana, Mame Aba. But she lives in a sister, which I'm sure makes for quicker transit time on her letters. Anyway, this letter is very much a form type letter, but is often times filled with lots of information. Pendila tells me at the project she is learning to operated a computer! And at home she will sweep and fetch water (this must be her chore as she has mentioned fetching water often in her letters and asked who in our house had to fetch the water. I then tried to explain the blessing of having plumbing with water into our house) and help her mother with selling. And I thought her prayer request was cute, she asked "please pray for me to be a good girl always." And this is not the first time she has asked for prayer to be a good girl. But most common of her prayer requests is for more wisdom...what a smart girl! I think she is now learning to use a ruler to draw straight lines, as her drawing is of a house with very straight lines. And a table with very straight lines.

Next was another from 14 year old Mwanaidi in Tanzania.

She writes "Thank you for the letter which you sent me. I am doing fine with my lessons at school and I like math, Swahili, history and social studies." She sounds like a very smart girl who really enjoys school. If she likes all those subjects, I wonder which ones she isn't fond of? She is 14, and so I don't always expect a drawing from my older kids (with the exception of a few), but there is a place on the back of the letter for a drawing, so I think she probably feels she must draw something. She drew a flower and a cross, but didn't color it in. I am thankful that she did decided to fill the paper in a bit more, even if that might be something she doesn't enjoy.

Then I hear from the 17 year old Sarah from Uganda.

This young lady is very dear to my heart. I had asked Compassion about her history, and she has been in the project since about age 9, and had a faithful sponsor who sent in the monthly support, but never wrote. The first letter I received from Sarah was so full of love and excitement from hearing from her sponsor. She always starts her letter "Dear my best friend..." I feel very privileged to have such a special young lady in my life. This is the second letter (out of 3) that she has mentioned this. "I have a desire to see you face to face." I would love to have this opportunity, but for fear that I may never, I haven't mentioned in any of my letters I would like to meet her to. I have heard of others who mentioned a desire and their kids thought they were coming. I would hate to disappoint this young lady. She also says "I need prayer to be promoted to grade seven." I have a feeling from her other letter she struggles some in school. And she signs her letter "Your loving daughter." This is my second child from Uganda, and I have really fallen in love with this country.

And then I received a letter from my youngest, little Arsang is 4 and from Thailand.

His project worker writes on his behalf. He writes "He feels very glad you wrote to him and told him many things about you. He would like to thank you for your admiration that he can draw well. He told me that he will try to draw better than this." That part just melted my heart. That he wanted to draw even better this time for me. He thanked me for some of the things I sent him (some Noah's ark cut outs) and told me that "his family knows and they believe and trust in the Lord and feel so warm." I'm glad he is in a Christian household, to encourage him. Here is his artwork:






Last, but certainly not least is 11 year old Erick from Bolivia.

This is only my second letter from and the first thing that caught my attention first is wow, I have another artist on my hands. Not only did he draw a very nice portrait of Jesus hugging a little girl, but he used beautiful bold colors on it too! He writes "I'm praying for you. I wish you all the best in your job. I tell you I am earning good grades at school. I'm the best of my siblings." I know there are 3 siblings, but I'm not sure of their ages. I thought this to be a cute remark. He also says "Let me tell you taht we played a famous game called "Tunca-Tungui"; we played it in the street." I have to do some more exploring into this. I asked a fellow advocate who spends quite a bit of time in Bolivia, and he said this was the first he has heard of this game. Erick also mentioned right after the game remark "When I saw my friend, she was chubby and my brothers told me that she was pregnant. I am very happy for her." I'm hoping this is a family friend, and not a school aged friend who is pregnant, but I'm not really sure by this letter. A very nice all around letter, and I'm really enjoying getting to know this young man. Here is his marvelous drawing I was bragging about :

I hope you enjoy these letters, and feel free to share any of your letters from your kids. Or if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Monday Mail Call

Ok, so I have really been enjoying reading from other's blogs about their letters they receive from their Compassion International kids, that I thought I would post some excerpts from mine. And since Michelle at Blogging from the Boonies created such a nice button for such an occasion, I thought I would give it a try.




So this last week I received quite a few letters, which isn't always the case. I received 2 letters from 16 year old David in Ecuador. He wrote in one letter " I thank you of my heart for all your prayers. When I heard that God told you to pray for me I was so happy and motivated to go forward. I also love you very much, as well I pray a lot for you." I've been corresponding with David for over 2 years, and he writes the most beautiful letters and always draws something on the back, which I have found quite the unusual treat for a young man of his age. He is an amazing artist and musician who really loves the Lord. In his other letter he wrote "It has also been a happy year for me too since I have gotten your letters more often." This is proof of how much your letter matter, and what a change the can make in the life of a young person!

I also hear from 14 year old Mwanaidi in Tanzania. This is only my second letter from her! She writes "I am so happy to see the letter you send me. I am happy to see the question from you. We at my home do not keep any domestic animal." This makes me wonder if she does not have a dog, but maybe has livestock, or chickens or something instead, since the word domestic was entered. Guess I have another question to ask later on :)

Last but not least is my dear little sister Sheena in the Philippines. I hear from her often, and she writes in English, which is nice. She just turned 18, and attends college. She writes "You are such a great blessing to me. I love you and I hope we could meet in the future, so that I could say my thank you personally." Why I would love to be able to meet her in person, and give her the biggest hug! I don't know that it will ever be possible, but I do have an opportunity to send a small gift with a fellow sponsor who is traveling to the Philippines this winter. I'm excited to be able to have this opportunity.

I hope you enjoyed my tidbits from my letters. If you are a sponsor and have recently received a letter, go ahead and share about it in the comments below. I love hearing about other's letters. And if you are a sponsor and haven't heard from your kids lately, I encourage you to write even a short note of encouragement to your child while you are waiting to hear from them. It will certainly brighten their day!