The night before our planned Fun Day with our sponsored children, we received quite a surprise! Becca, one of our awesome trip leaders was praying at the end of our evening together at the hotel. She was kind of taking her time too. Imagine our surprise when we opened our eyes and saw a big group of children in the front of the room...it was all of our sponsored kids!!!!! I immediately jumped up from my chair, my chair fell backwards, so I turned around to pick it up. By the time I stood back up and looked around, there was a beautiful young lady standing next to me. And I knew exactly who it was!!
There are no words to describe this moment...none at all! How do you put into words the moment of meeting someone you have loved from miles away, someone you have prayed for, someone you have exchanged letters with, someone you never thought it would be possible to meet in this life?
We didn't have long to spend with the kids at this initial meeting, but it sure helped to alleviate some of the nervousness that we had been experiencing about the next day.
Our fun day with our sponsored children was spent at a water park near the coast of Barranquilla, Colombia. I really didn't take a lot of pictures this day because we spent a lot of time in the water! Lina had never traveled outside of her community, so she had never been to the coast of her country. This was her very first time to the Caribbean Sea!!
Angelica (the center director from Lina's project), me, and Lina loving our day at the beach!
Me, Lina, and Mauricio (our translator)
Even though we spent a lot of time in the water, we still had time to talk quite a bit.
I learned that Lina almost left the program before we started sponsoring her. Her previous sponsor didn't send her any letters. Angelica told me that when the letters we sent to Lina when we started sponsoring her made a big difference in Lina's life.
Did you hear that?
Letters...a few words written on a page to encourage a young girl who lives thousands of miles away from us.
They.made.a.difference.
The thing is though...not only have those letters made a difference in Lina's life...they have made a difference in my life.
Almost every month, I set aside time to write letters to our Compassion sponsored kids. I don't write really long letters.
But in each letter I share a Bible verse and remind these kids that God loves them.
Doesn't it make you feel good when someone reminds you that God loves you?
Maybe if my words don't convince you that child sponsorship works, maybe this will:
Are you ready to make a difference in the life of a child living in extreme poverty in Jesus' name?