Letters to My Kids: January 2013

I almost forgot to post this! As today is the last day of January, I want to share what I wrote to my kids this month. I like to do this as a way to hopefully inspire sponsors to write to their children and as a way to share ideas with those of you who already sponsor.

I want to let you know that this went to all of my kids. Things were taken away and/or added to make each letter personal for each specific child. On top of this themed letters, I also wrote a handwritten letter to each child asking about specific things that they have told me in letters or asking them about their family. I like writing a personal letter every 1-2 months. It's fun for me!

This month, the theme letter I wrote to my children was about the weather (cold!) in Illinois. I shared pictures of snow on a tree and a snowman that I built with one of my friends.

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Dear Jhon, 


How are you, my friend? I am very happy to be writing this letter to you today. Things with me and my family are going well. I am doing well with my job and I really enjoying spending the day with my students. They are working hard in their learning and having a lot of fun playing together. I am blessed to be a teacher.

In the United States, we are now in the season of winter. Where I live, in the state of Illinois, winter means that it is very cold outside. It is usually around -6 degrees celcius! Very cold! It is also very windy outside. To protect myself from this cold, I have to wear a warm coat, gloves, and a hat to stay warm in the cold. While I am very grateful to God for weather and for changing seasons, to be honest, winter is not my favorite season. I don't like to be cold! I much prefer to be warm and for it to be hot and sunny outside. I am looking forward to when spring comes in a couple of months and it starts to get warmer outside again.

One thing that I do like about winter is snow. I think snow is very beautiful! I think it is one of God's wonderful creations.  Anyway, we have not gotten a lot of snow yet this winter, only a few inches here and there. I've put some pictures on this page to show you some of the snow we got. You can see my footprints in the snow in one of the pictures. One day, it snowed enough that my friends and I went outside and made a man out of the snow. Usually, making a snow-man is something that small children do for fun in the winter, but I thought it was fun too. When it is not too cold outside, the snow sticks together and can be made into different shapes. It's very fun, but very cold, so we don't stay outside for very long. You can see a picture of a snowman on the bottom of this page too.

Does it snow where you live? I know that it can snow in some places in Bolivia, but maybe it doesn't snow where you live. What season is it right now in Bolivia? That is all I have to say for now. I hope you are having a great day!

Love,
Kayla

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As you can read, this letter was to my kiddo Jhon in Bolivia. The other letters were pretty much the same. I chanegd the name of the country (obviously) for each child and included other information about snow to those children whose country never sees snow.

What did you write about in January?

Touching Thursday: Baby Boy Edition

There seems to have been a shift in who my prayers are directed to lately. Usually, I am so drawn to looking at the boys ages, 8-12 on the website. I find something compelling about a boy who isn't a baby, but not yet a young man. You know, that awkward stage that we all love, haha.

But lately, I have been drawn to pray for the baby boys. They are all so cute! Today, I want to share three of these baby boys with you. If you are considering sponsoring a child, I urge you to consider one of these precious kiddos.

 

 

Pamol has been sponsored!

 

 

Yohendri has been sponsored!

 

 

 

Name: Jose

Age: 3

Birthday: May 23rd, 2009

Country: Mexico

Guardians: Father & Mother

# of Siblings: 2

Chores: Running Errands

Hobbies: Soccer & Group Games

School Performance: Not in School

Activities: Church Activities & Bible Class

 

Visit his page to sponsor him

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday Future 11 Year Olds!

Confusing title?

Maybe.

Allow me to explain. :)

In April, two of my Compassion children will turn 11 years old. Thanks to Compassion, my mind is always thinking three months ahead in the year. I write Easter letters in December, Christmas letters in September, and birthday letters WAY before the child actually celebrates a new year of their life, haha.

As I was saying, the very handsome Kalpesh and the beautiful Celeste will both turn 11 years old in April. I sent them both small, but fun (in my opinion) gifts that I would like to share with my lovely readers.

What do you think?

 

For Celeste, I chose a cat and dog theme, because, well, I think they're cute and because in a picture I have of Celeste, she's holding a puppy, so I think she may like them too. I sent her kitten and puppy stickers, coloring pages, and even a craft where she can put together her own cat. Celeste will also get a decorated picture of herself.

 

With Kalpesh, I went with another animal theme. I sent him jungle animal stickers and coloring pages of a tiger, a lion, and an elephant. I feel like it's not much, but I know he's going to love it. I've heard that he likes to color the things I send him. Kalpesh got a decorated picture too.

A Sweet Letter from Celeste

I got another letter from Celeste today. I just heard from her two weeks ago, so this letter was definitely a surprise. I am very excited to be getting to know this precious little girl that I will get to visit in August.

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

 

Hello my dear Kayla,

 

 

I'm glad to write this second letter for you to answer your letters that I received in October and November. I want to answer your questions: I have not played all the games you tell me about in your letter. What I play with my friends is jump rope and tag. I thank you for thinking of me and I thank God for keeping you healthy and well, as you tell me in your letters. I pray that God helps all the famers and that he sends the rain and that you can have a better harvest. I also want to thank you for your gift, which I will use to buy cups and clothes. I also want to tell you about my house. It is very small but I enjoy it very much.  I want to ask you to help me pray that in the future I can have a better house. I would like to know if you have a dad and what his name is. Yes, I enjoy playing with my friends, especially during recess at the project. We have a 30 minute break and I enjoy it very much.

 

Celeste

 

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I love how she started the letter, her dear Kayla, so sweet!

 

In the summer, I wrote to her telling her about how our summer had been very hot and dry, with very little rain. I told her that the farmers were having to bring in less crop than usual. I love that she prayed for the farmers. She is such a thoughtful girl.

 

I also sent her a letter telling her about some of the games that children play here at recess. I think I told her about hopscotch and kicball, games that I enjoyed playing at her age. Too bad she's never heard of kickball, it's so fun!

 

 

 

 

I linked this letter to Blogging from the Boonies' Mail Call Monday post. 

Touching Thursday: Sweet Smile Addition

I can't help but be drawn towards those children with beautiful smiles and bright eyes. Today, I want to share three smiley children with you. All three of these children look like they would be an absolute joy to sponsor. If you are feeling lead to sponsor a child for the first time or you are looking to add to your already large Compassion family, I want to encourage you to pray awhile for these children and see what God may be saying to you.

Lamley has been sponsored!

Sweet Liseth has been sponsored!

 



2-1-13 Nixon has been sponsored!

Two Letters from India!

Raise your hand if you thought I was going to say that I got two letters from Kalpesh when I mentioned India.

Haha.

But nope! Today I got two first letters; one from Sagar and one from Pranali!

I'll start with the letter from Sagar. I sponsored him on August 30th, so this letter has been a long time coming and it was very exciting to receive it today. Here's the letter:

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Hello, I am: Sagar Schiwappa

Mother's Name: Tara

Father's Name: Shiwappa (has died)

Brothers: None

Sisters: Tanisha

My Favorite Color: Orange

My Favorite Game: Cricket

My Favorite Food: Rice and Dhal

My Best Friend: Sachin

My House is Made of: Mud

 

 

Dear Sponsor,

 

Greetings to you. I am Shubhangi, child development associate of the project, writing this letter to you on behalf of your loving child Sagar. Meaning of Sagar is Ocean. His father died due to illness. The project Morning Star is working in the red light district area of Miraj which is working for empowerment of children and women. Sagar has a sister name Tanisha. She is studying in second standard. Sagar has grandmother named Krisha. Mother Tara goes from house to house washing vessels and clothes. She is unable to provide good education and balanced diet to Sagar and Tanisha. Please pray for them. Thank you for your sponsorship. On behalf of your sponsored child,

 

Shubhangi

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

It was so nice to hear about Sagar. I knew that his father had died, but I was unsure of what happened. When I think of illness in a red light area, my mind automatically goes to AIDS or other sexual and/or communicable diseases. It's very sad. It could also be due to a whole slew of other diseases that are easily treatable outside of an Indian slum. My heart breaks for this family.

 

I was very happy to hear that Sagar's mother does not work as a sex worker. It's a big relief. I am still sad that she works so hard and cannot provide for her family. I am beyond happy that Compassion chose to open a project in this area. I hope it can be a huge blessing and breathe life and love into the people here.

 

My other letter is from Pranali. I was just assigned to correspond with her on December 27th, so not even a month ago! I realize this probably means that this letter was written before she had a sponsor and then sent out to me and she probably doesn't even know about me yet, but it was nice to learn about her! Pranali wrote the letter herself, in English, and filled up the whole page! She actually put two lines of writing per line that Compassion wrote!

 

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Hello, I am: Pranali

Mother's Name: Nanba

Father's Name: Sudhakando

Brothers: Gopal

Sisters: None

My Favorite Color: Pink

My Favorite Game: Langadi (A form of hopscotch and tag mixed together)

My Favorite Food: Rice, Veggies, Fruit

My Best Friend: Karishna

My House is Made of: Mud

 

 

Dear Sponsor,

 

Greetings to you in the name of our loving Lord Jesus Christ. I am fine here and hope you are also fine there. I am very happy that you are my new sponsor. Thank God. He selected me for you. My village name is _______. It's situated in forest area. Here are aborigine people. Here do not have proper road and electric facility. My school is 5 km away from my village. I go to school by walking. Here many people do laboring work. My parents also do laboring work. I go to school and center regularly. I also go to church on every Sunday. There I sing Jesus songs and listen to bible verses. I believe in God. I always pray to God to solve my problems. My favorite verse is Luke 22: 14-23. I participate in all the project acitivites. Only because of project I take good education, so thank for God blessing. Please keep me in your prayers. I always pray for you. Thanks!

 

Your loving sponsor child,

Pranali

 

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See Your Impact Results: January 2013

If you're a friend of my blog in the last month, I want to tell you about a wonderful organization that exists. It's called See Your Impact. When you visit this page, you can choose to donate to hundreds of different causes. You can narrow your search by area of the world (Africa, Asia, South America, etc) or by cause itself (education, clean water, disability, etc). After you decide on what cause you want to donate, you put in a specific share of money. Your gift is combined with other people's gifts to fulfill that specific cause. When the gift is given, you get emailed a picture and a story of the exact person that you were able to help. It's truly amazing.

This month, I chose to donate money toward the organization Sahaara in India. This organization helps young people who have gotten themselves into tough circumstances, in some manner, and need help to get back on track. Here is the story I received today:

Dear Kayla and Raja,

Sahaara believes that every person has a dream and their work focuses on ensuring that marginalized persons are able to articulate and work towards achieving that dream. Children in observation homes are one of the most marginalized populations in Mumbai, India. On discharge, these children are forced to deal with poverty and social stigma, which often results in them returning to a life a petty crime. The Sahaara tracking program of children released from observation/children's homes help children get a start that will help them break out of the poverty cycle and fulfill their dreams of a stable future.

Sahaara staff procures addresses of discharged children from the home authorities. The trackers then traverse through labyrinthine gullies of Mumbai slums searching for the children's residences. Through such home visits, networking with local schools, and providing books and materials, Sahaara officials help children begin to receive formal education, thereby paving the way to a bright future.

Rajendra is a 17 year-old boy studying in the 10th standard. His family is extremely poor and he was involved in a neighborhood brawl that caused someone to file a police complaint against him. As a result, he was sent to an observation home. Sahaara personnel met him there and learned he was unwilling to continue his studies as a result of the trauma and the embarrassment caused by his stay there. The school authorities were reluctant to re-admit Rajendra because of the break in the academic year. His parents had resigned themselves to the inevitable -- discontinuation of his studies. However, after Sahaara employees met with Rajendra, his parents and school authorities, he was re-admitted to school. He cleared his tenth standard and, with Sahaara's help and guidance, he joined the 11th standard at a college in Elphinstone. He is currently continuing his studies in school and he looks forward to attending junior college and making friends.

Your generous donations, Kayla and Raja, enabled Sahaara to provide support and the educational expenses necessary for Rajendra to continue with his education!

Thank you so much for your gift to Rajendra!

Touching Thursday: Beautiful Special Needs Children

Each Thursday I share three children that have been on my heart from the Compassion site. This last week, I was especially drawn to the special needs children on the site. There are a few pages of so many beautiful children all who need special medical attention in some way. If you are considering sponsoring a child, I encourage you to prayerfully consider one of these special needs children.

Rasmata has been sponsored!

Name: Prokit

Age: 7

Birthday: August 15th, 2005

Country: India

Guardians: Father & Mother

# of Siblings: 2

Chores: Running Errands

Hobbies: Soccer & Running

School Performance: Above Average in Primary School

Activities: Bible Class & Church Activities

Special Needs: Crippled in Both Feet (Clear in the Picture)

You can view Prokit's page here

Rodrigue has been sponsored too!

Wordless Wednesday: When Poverty Meets Compassion 5

Fun & Games in India

Food Security in Haiti

Ethics Training in India

Healthy Competition in Thailand

A Midday Meal in Colombia

Letter to a Sponsor in Haiti

Happy Birthday in Guatemala

A New, Stable Home in Tanzania

Former Sponsored Child Serving Sponsored Children in Rwanda

Happiness in Uganda

Good Education in Guatemala

Faith in Togo

A Letter from Sagitaria!

I was assigned Sagitaria as a correspondence child on August 2nd and until today I hadn't heard anything from her. Last month, I put in an inquiry because I had not heard from her. Today, I got an email from Compassion with the answer to the inquiry. Yay! I love the letter that was sent, but it wasn't actually the first letter format that you usually receive first. I think a first letter must have been sent and just never got to me. Or one wasn't sent at all. Oh well!

The letter that was sent to me today was a "My Project Learning Letter." There were check boxes on the front for her to check and on the back she wrote a nice message where she mentioned some of the things that I had asked her and sent her. I'm so glad she's receiving my letters!

Also, attached the letter was a picture of her parents. Love it!

________________________________________________________________________________

In my project I am learning: Drawing

About being polite and kind, I have learned how to: Greet People

About taking care of my body, I have learned about: Washing my hands before eating

About my community I have learned about: Helping one another

My favorite thing I have learned about at the project is: Drawing

Dear Kayla,

Shalom. How are you, mom Kayla? I am very glad to go to school. The thing which I like to do is drawing. My family is fine. My father's face is handsome. My mom is pretty. I have three brothers and three sisters. I don't like music. I like singing but I can not play music instruments. I like to praise God with my voice. I don't have another talent. Thank you for letter with the picture in there.

Sagitaria

Sagitaria's Parents

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Gift Letter from Kalpesh

Back in August, I saved up some money to send Kalpesh a family gift of $50. I'm always amazed with how far money can go in some of the countries that Compassion works in, especially India, which is where Kalpesh is from. Here's the letter he wrote about his gift:

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Dear Kayla,

 

I bought a steel rack, two aluminum tins, a pressure cooker, four steel plates, and two blankets with family gift which you sent for me. Received all these in the month of November 2012. I like it very much because it is very useful for us. Thank you so much for the gift and your love for us. May God bless you and help you in your job and every work.

 

With Lots of Love,

Kalpesh

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Short and sweet letter. I am so happy that he was able to get all of these things! I think the pressure cooker might be my favorite thing that he bought. His family will be able to cook things better and more efficiently. I'm not so sure what a steel rack is or what it will be used for, but I intend on asking him about it. He's usually a great question answerer, so I'm sure I will find out what a steel rack is. It'll be several months down the road, of course, by the time he gets the letter and writes back, but I'm eager to know what everything is used for.

 

Oh, my sweet boy. 

Touching Thursday: Women of the Bible Edition

This week, after being inspired by a post on Our Compassion, I have chosen three girls with popular biblical names to share with you this week. For the next week, I pray that these children find loving sponsors. I encourage you to pray for these sweet girls too and even think about adding one of them to your family.

 

1-17-13 Deborah has been sponsored!

1-28-13 Martha has been sponsored. Praise God!

1-21-13 Esther has been sponsored!

Wordless Wednesday: When Poverty Meets Compassion 4

From Sponsored Child to Politician in Uganda

Small Group in Honduras

Learning Games in Peru

Friendship in the Philippines

Prayer Break in the Dominican Republic

Holding Joy in Rwanda

Feeding Children in Peru

Bibles for Everyone in Peru

Sweet Babies in India

A Future Pastor in Honduras

Small Group in the Philippines

Loving Families in India