Lent: The Family I Chose

***Don't forget to sign the petition (and this one too!) to save refugees from North Korea!***

I know.  I missed a day.  I, however, have been sick, and it was all I could do to exercise my rabbit before falling asleep after work yesterday.  Perhaps I will do a double post in the coming days to make up for it.

Blessing #22 - The children I sponsor through Compassion International.  (You knew it had to happen at some point.)

I just finished up writing letters to my Compassion kids.  My cousin Becky always gets so excited about doing this.  Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, to be honest.  Tonight, I'm so tired, that I wasn't thrilled about the aspect of all the work that was going to go into it, but I love the results.  I love forming relationships with these kids, and I love learning from their hearts for people and G-d.  Trust me, I'm pretty sure that I get more from them than they do from me.

I've debated for a long time whether I should show you my kids or not.  On one hand, I'm thrilled to know them, and I want everyone to know them too.  On the other, I'm afraid that people will be focused on the number of them, and that's not the point.  Yes, it's a semi-shocking number.  But, since I've decided to show you their precious faces, I want you to know that I sponsor the number of kids that G-d tells me to sponsor: no more, no less.  That is how I believe all people should operate.  I also think you should know that not all of these are financial sponsorships.  Some of them are only "correspondent sponsorships," which means that someone else is paying the money, but, for whatever reason, they were not sending letters.  I believe that the letters are crucial, because it is through the letters that the children actually feel loved, and that may be even more important than the financial sponsorship in breaking the cycle of poverty.  So, I volunteered to fill that gap.

Now, without any further adue, I'd like to introduce you to my sponsor kids, the family I got to choose:

This is Abel.  He is 8 years old.  He is the latest addition to my family.

This is Enock.  He just turned 13.  Please pray for his sister; she returned from the fields one day, having lost her ability to talk.  No one can figure out why.

This is Estefany.  She is 8 years old, although you'd never be able to guess it from that sassy picture.  Her father passed away before I started sponsoring her; I can't imagine how hard that must be for her family.

This is Juan.  He will be 14 soon.  He isn't incredibly verbose, but he sends me wonderful drawings, usually of Bible characters.

This is Moumita.  She is 8 years old.  It's incredibly hard to get a visa to go to her country.

This is Natthida (Taeng).  She will be 12 soon.  She is the only one of my current Compassion Kids that I've gotten to meet.

This is Raquel.   She should be 17 or 18 now, if my memory is correct.  She left Compassion's program shortly after I met her in 2009 so that she could pursue a job.  I was able to write her a couple of letters at an address she provided before they started bouncing back to me.  It's so frustrating not knowing how she's doing.  But I work hard to entrust her to G-d, and I know I will see her again one day.

So, yes, that is my family.  Are you ready to add to yours?

Do you sponsor any kids (through any program)?  You should tell me about them.