Letters = A Great Birthday

Technically, I got these letters in the mail yesterday and my birthday is today, but oh well. I think it still counts as a birthday gift.

I received three letters in the mail yesterday. One each from Sandesh, Celeste, and Jhon. I will share them with you now.

First up, is a letter from Sandesh. I always get such great letters from him (and all my Indian kids, especially my boys). Sandesh has written letters by himself in the past, but the last few by him have been written in English, by a translator, and both the front and back of the page is full. I don't know if this is done to save space or to save time in translation. I would love to see letters written in Sandesh's hand again someday, though.

Sandesh is 10 years old. This letter is dated February 18th, 2014.
________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you in the mighty name of Jesus. Myself, Priyanka, am writing this letter on behalf of Sandesh. How are you? Sandesh and his family is happy here. He got your letter. He is very happy about you and your family. He likes your photos. How is your nursery going on? Church and family? 

Sandesh is always excited about you and your letters. You are such a good writer. He likes your letters very much. What is the weather like where you live? Here it is hot now. Sandesh tells love for your family, friends, students, you and your close friends, church members. 

Please do let him know how he can be praying for you. 

He likes Good Samaritan story in bible. God loves you. Psalm 23:1. 

Sandesh is regular student in our project. He invites you to India and our project. He likes you. He says you're beautiful girl and kind, loving, and brilliant girl. He wants to see you. Your writing skill is so good. He is impressed on your letters. 

Sandesh likes Compassion syllabus in project. He is very excited to hear about Jesus as the creator of human beings as well as nature. 

He wants to know more about you. He likes your sister and her boyfriend. Is so good. They both are really beautiful and made for each other. Your mother is also pretty. He loves your family. He always prays for you. Please pray for him and his family. He and his family is happy here by the grace of God. 

Thank you very much for your support, prayer, help, and love. God bless you. Love you. Take care. 

On Behalf of Sandesh

________________________________________________________________________________

Next up in a letter from my Honduran firecracker, Celeste. Man, I love this precious girl. It is always a celebration when I receive a letter from her. 

In February, a friend of mine went on a sponsor tour to Honduras and took gifts for my three kids there. Celeste is the first one to mention the gifts. I'm so glad she received them. 

Celeste just turned 12 years old, but was 11 when this letter was written. The letter is dated March 11th, 2014. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

To My Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

It is a great joy to be able to write you a letter once again to someone who I really love. I want to thank you for the letters you have sent to me. Also I am very glad for the little packet of gifts that you sent me. I received a beautiful white Hello Kitty purse, the little notebook, the hair laces, hairband, the crayons, and playdoh. It was a great joy! I want to tell you that I am very happy that you are part of my family. My grandma, my sister Vicki, and my brother Mario send you greetings. Also, summertime is coming up here in my country. It is a very beautiful season because many of us can enjoy going to the beaches or river that we have in my country. Also, Holy Week is coming up and we have a week off from school and also from work, because this way we can enjoy the family and also we enjoy yummy meals that we do for that time. Do you celebrate that week in your country as well? Are their beaches close to your house? My friends send you greetings. I want to ask you to always carry me in your prayers because I always pray for you. I thank God because you have been so nice to me. Greetings. I love you very much. 

Celeste

________________________________________________________________________________

Last, but not least, the letter from my dear friend, Jhon, who lives in Bolivia. His letters are always great. I've said it before, but the letters from my older kids, especially my older boys are always so full on information and love. My older boys are very special to me. 

This letter is a bit shorter than his letters usually are, but he does mention that he's been very busy with school. I can't blame him for writing a shorter letter. 

Jhon is 15 years old. This letter was written February 17th, 2014. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

I greet you with the peace of the Lord. I thank you for the letter, the Christmas card, and the photo. The truth is I barely have time because I'm busy with homework. Yes, we did decorate the Christmas tree with lights. The weather in Bolivia varies because it's raining, but it's sunny at the same time. We are fine and my entire family thanks you for praying. Thank you for the birthday gift. I bought pants, a shirt, and shoes for school. I want to tell you that classes started two weeks ago. I'm happy because I'm eager to study. Classes didn't start in the city of Beni because it was flooded by their pouring rain. I say goodbye with the peace of the Lord. God bless you. Isaiah 40:31. 

Jhon

My prayer request: My family. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Treasure from India!

Today I received letters from two of my Indian boys, Sagar and Kalpesh. These two boys absolutely have my heart. It is always a great day when I hear from them.

Awhile back, Sagar wrote me a letter telling me that he learned about vitamins that you get from eating healthy food. I showed interest in the subject and asked him to share some things that he learned about vitamins. Well, the boy went all out with his explanation...

Sagar is 10 years old. This letter is not dated.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla,

I am sending you joyful and loving greetings to you in the name of our dear Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

Play for Peace is a game all are playing without noise. (He wrote about this game and I asked him what it was) I also played in that game. The winner was Bhagyashri and Naina, who are in the project. 

By mistake I wrote in my last letter that I was in 6th grade. Now I am studying in 7th grade. Sorry for my mistake. Please excuse me. (Of course, dear) 

I would like to tell you about A, B, C, D viatmins: 

1. A Vitamins: Essential for night vision. From milk, eggs we get Vitamin A. 

2. B Vitamins: It is important for healthy nervous system. From fish, eggs, milk we get Vitamin B. 

3. C Vitamins: Vitamin C is important for wound healing and prevention from infections. From citrus fruits, tomatoes we get Vitamin C. 

4. D Vitamins: Vitamin D are getting from sun rays. It's important for bones. From sunlight, oily fish we get Vitamin D. 

We had Christmas program at our project center. We celebrated with big party. We had meat in party. We had danced to spiritual songs. We all participated in this ceremony. We have seen My Hope video clips. We all got clothes and blankets for Christmas gifts. We all were happy on Christmas month. 

I am so happy for you and your family. I love you very much! How are you? Thank you very much for your letters. May God bless you and your family. 

Your Loving Son,

Sagar

________________________________________________________________________________

Kalpesh also wrote to me about Christmas. I love hearing how my sponsored children celebrate Christmas at their projects. It always sounds like so much fun. 

Kalpesh was 11 years old when this letter was written. The letter is dated February 12th, 2014. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Sister Kayla,

Greetings to you in the lovely name of Jesus Christ. I am very glad to receive your letter and Christmas tree card. I'm also glad to see the stickers. Really it is very nice drawing of Christmas tree because you have decorated it with stars, candles, and flowers. I got good Christmas message from that. 

This year we had celebrated Christmas wonderfully at the project and I had participated in action song "Tingu Dance" and skit named Seven Fools. We enjoyed in it. My uncle and his family are Hindu so they didn't celebrate Christmas, as well s did not decorate the house and there are no symbols at home, but I would like to decorate the house. Here I tried to draw a design which girls commonly draw on their hand with henna. I am sending it to you. (Drawing below) 

We are very well here and I hope you are also doing well. Continue to pray for my study and health. I am also praying for your job and your health. I wish you a happy New Year to you and your family. 

Your Younger Brother, 

Kalpesh

_________________________________________________________________________________

Praise Songs All Around

I received two more letters in the mail today. And to think, last week I was complaining that it had been longer than usual without any mail from my sponsored children. I'm sure singing a different tune this week.

Today, two letters arrived to me from Africa and Asia. One from my boy Abu-Bakarr and one from my precious girl, Khushi.

First up, Abu's letter. I've only ever received one letter written by Abu himself. I'm not sure why this is because that letter was written in English, so I know that Abu is able to write to me himself. But, never the less, the letters are usually written by World Vision volunteer. In fact, it's been the same woman the whole six years I've sponsored Abu. Ms. Mary Kebbie, it's always great hearing from you. Haha.

 The letter isn't dated, but I'm guessing it was written early February. Abu is 11 years old and lives in Sierra Leone.
_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Your letter dated November 11th, 2013 came in on January 22nd, 2014. 

Abu and his grandmother appreciated the car stickers and the letter too, for which they say many thanks to you and always remember you and your family in prayers. 

The season here is cold and some trees are shedding their leaves. That shows sign of the dry season. Farmers are now brushing their lands for the next season. 

For Christmas and New Year's Day, they celebrated them in a small way. Christmas fell on a Wednesday, same as New Year's Day. Children ate and danced from house to house of their friends and families. Christians went to church in the morning and late in the evening to say thanks to God. Abu's favorite song is titled, "He Called on me Today." 

Once more, Abu and grandmother say thank you and always remember you in their prayers. They wish you success through 2014. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Next up, the letter from Khushi. Khushi is a very smart little girl. She is only 10 years old, but is already finishing up (may be done already) with 6th grade. I'm not sure if she finished grades quickly or if she skipped some, but it's not usual that you see a 10 year in 6th grade. My other Indian children are older than her and are in lower grades. Khushi has some of the neatest handwriting I've ever seen, whether she's writing in Hindi or English. It's just beautiful. Man, I love this precious girl. 

Khushi lives up in the Himalayan Mountains, so the winters are often very cold.This letter is dated February 13th. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Sponsor, 

Greetings in the name of the Lord. I want to thank you very much for sending me a beautiful card and letters with beautiful pictures. I really enjoyed so much. I am very glad hearing how you decorate your house for Christmas. I am doing very well. Everybody in my family is doing well. I am enjoying my school & project program. It rained here. We have had snowfall here. It's too much cold. (Girl, I completely understand too much cold.) But, nice sunshine today. The leaves on trees are a bit yellow and they will be turning green. We are about to enter a spring season. I like it so much.

I just learnt some new songs at the project in Hindi and English. We also decorated our project center nicely during Christmas. Here in village, farmers are plowing the fields. Next month, we will be sowing the rice fields. I am in 6th grade. My final exams are approaching very soon, so I must work hard to pass 6th grade with good marks. 

I am so happy always learning new things from you. Thank you very much for your great kindness and love. I want to close my letter now. I am also praying for you. Please keep praying for me. Thank you. 

Your Khushi

________________________________________________________________________________

Two Loving Letters from Xhuliano

I can never think of good titles for my posts. 

Yesterday, I received two more wonderful letters from Xhuliano. I always look forward to hearing from him and learning more about him and his family.

The letters weren't dated, but I think the one about Christmas and New Year go first, though, I have no real proof of that, since both are referring to winter.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear My Friend!

I am always very happy receiving letters written by your hand where you express your thoughts through which I feel your sweetness and warmth. 

Lately, Marsela has been sick and I pray to God to heal her as soon as possible. I love her so much. 

I am very happy that the sheep we have gave birth to two beautiful lambs. We have also another sheep which we bought at a small age and which is getting fed by a bottle. We have got even two goats that in March will give birth to some little kid goats. I will revel a lot to them. I would love to have a cow but my dad could not buy it because it costs a lot. I have got at home two rabbits that very soon will be giving birth to some little rabbits. I have got hens and a white dog too. I would to have all kinds of animals at home. 

I enjoyed celebrating Christmas and New Year's Eve and I am glad you enjoyed celebrating with your mom and grandma. I hope you always enjoy celebrating the special days. I love the smile of your mom and grandma. I wish to all of you lots of luck and happiness in your lives. I hope next time you will send me a photo of your stepfather. (I sent photos of my family on Christmas, but my stepdad wouldn't let me take a picture of him. I told Xhuliano that. Haha). 

I hope you will write me back very soon. May God bless you and make your dreams come true. 

With a great love,

Xhuliano

________________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear My Friend, 

I was overjoyed when I got your letter again. I am doing great with my health. How are you actually doing? I hope you and your family be safe this year. 

My wonderful friend, here in my country the weather is so cold. Going to school you can feel the cold on your face. Sometimes we even have strong rains. I have the same opinion with you that it is very beautiful outside when the snow falls. I would love to see some snow falling in my village, but here no snow falls. I would love to play in the snow in a sleigh like you. I would you could teach me to glide on a snow sleigh. 

I liked a lot the pictures of the street where you live. It was a beautiful and special one. And the picture of yours was so beautiful, too. You had come in that picture with suitable clothing for winter time. I was a really nice photo. You have there a beautiful smile on your face. I hope you to be smiling throughout your life. 

My friend, I am signing off now. I wish you lots of luck in your life. May God bless you and your family. I send hugs to you through this letter.

Lots of Love, 

Xhuliano

________________________________________________________________________________

Super Full Mailbox Today!

Today, I opened up my mailbox and it was super full! I had 8 envelopes inside my little gold, apartment-style mailbox. Three of the envelopes weren't very exciting (two were about my credit card and one was my internet bill). However, the other five were awesome! I got two letters from Xhuliano (those will be posted tomorrow) and I got three Compassion envelopes. I will share those three letters with you today. How about we go in age order, because well...I like it that way. Haha.

First up, I got a letter from my sweet Solomon from India. It was the My Christian Learning template, with a message on the back. The written letter was a bit of a jumbled, confusing mess because it appears he is answering/referring to several things from a few letters from me.

Solomon is 8 years old. This letter was written January 17th.

________________________________________________________________________________

 1. My favorite bible story is: Noah

2. My favorite bible verse is: "The Lord is my shepherd" Psalm 23:1

3. What I like about Jesus is: Loving and Living God

4. My favorite English action song begins: "Jesus loves me this I know..."

5. When I pray to Jesus, I pray for: My family and my sponsor. 

Dear sponsor, 

Greetings to you in our Lord Jesus Christ. How are you? I am Mrs. Umakumar (project staff) writing this letter on behalf of Solomon. He and his family is doing well. He is very happy to receive all your letters. He was so glad to hear from you. An angel looks like a beautiful queen with bright white dress, with crown and wings. (I asked my kids what they think an angel looks like). The soldiers are brave. I like their braveness. He likes to fight for the country. (Solomon wants to be a soldier when he grows up. I asked him why). Christmas was celebrated happily in their house. He decorated his house with colorful stars, Christmas tree, and balloons. On Christmas, he shared sweets with his neighbor. Sweets and clothes he received at the project. What is the meaning of Fall Festival? (I told my kids about a fall festival we had at my church.) Yes, we do many activities like singing, learning, coloring, drawing, and games. Yes, he is absolutely fine by God's grace. He likes the picture of autumn leaves and apple tree. He likes the Christmas tree card. Stickers are very nice. He liked it. Please pray for him. He is also praying for you. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Next, I received a letter from my girl Maria, who lives in Brazil. This was the very first letter I received from her and I learned a lot of things about her! I love first letters, especially when they are so descriptive.

Maria is 9 years old. This letter was written March 10th.
________________________________________________________________________________

Dear sponsor Kayla, 

I and my family are fine. How are you? Here in the project there are many courses. I do swimming, ballet, and art. My school is very good. My favorite subjects are Portuguese, Science, and English. What are yours? How old are you? I will turn 10. When is your birthday? Mine is June 11th. What is your favorite animal? Mine is a dog. Do you have a pet? I have a beautiful dog. Her name is Morenna, but she is naughty. She turned 1 year old on February 25th. Do you have brothers and sisters? I have a brother called Junior. I like drawing. What is your favorite color? Mine is lilac and pink. 

Bye Kayla. Many kisses, good luck, much peace. God bless you always and forever. 

Maria

________________________________________________________________________________

 The last letter I'll share today is from Fongwin, in Thailand. I think "thank you very much" must be one of his favorite phrases, haha.

Fongwin is 11 years old. This letter was written on March 6th.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Good morning my sponsor. I feel very happy for writing this letter to you again. I am my family are doing well. Are you and your family doing well? I thank you very much for your prayers for me and I also thank you very much for supporting me as well. I thank you very much for you have kept me in your prayers. I also thank you you very much for sending me the gift and I received it. (A friend took a gift to him in January) I like it so much. During this time, it is summer time in my country and I think that the weather in this year is the hottest year compared with the past. I would like to know whether there is snow falling in your country or not. I am going to holiday after the final examination and the school holiday this year is about two months. The project is organizing a summer camp during the school holiday in April at the church and I feel very happy for going to attend the camp together with my friends. I will tell you more about the summer camp in the next letter. I would like to know whether there is a summer camp for the children in your country or not. I would like you to pray for my final examination too. Finally, may God bless you and your family with happiness. 

With Love in Christ, 

Thawatchai

________________________________________________________________________________

Two More Photo Updates!

I logged on to my Compassion account today and saw two brand new photos. Yay! I'm only waiting on two more photo updates now.

Here are the new photos for more of my beautiful kiddos.

First, here is Elias. He's from Ethiopia.

Then, my beautiful Khushi, from India. 

Brenda is Doing Well in School

On Saturday, I received a letter from Brenda. I have to admit, I was absolutely shocked. I just received a letter from her on March 10th. When it comes to Uganda, my experience is that letters only come every 4-5 months, even with the new letter writing system telling me that I'm supposed to get a letter every 2 months. Though, of course, this was a very nice surprise.

Brenda is 14 years old. This letter was written on March 4th.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla,

Receive my warm greetings. 

How are you and how is your life? Back to me, I am okay. Now we are receiving sunshine and rainfall. We are planting irish potatoes and harvesting maize. 

My family members are okay. They greet you in Jesus name. We pray for you, so pray for me to do well in class. In primary leaving exams I got 28 agreegates (Any idea what those are?).  I got third grade (Maybe the 3rd best score on the exam?) I am now in senior one. So pray for me to perform well in secondary school. 

I have a verse that I found and I want to share with you. It is Mark 16:15. "Go to all the world and preach the good news to all creations." It teaches me to preach the word of God. 

Thank you. May God bless you. 

Brenda

_________________________________________________________________________________

Changes and Updates Left and Right!

There is all kinds of Compassion excitement happening around here lately. The changes are happening so quickly that I really haven't had time to get everything together to even blog about it. But, today is the day.

At the end of March, two new correspondent children joined my family. First, Emanuel appeared on my account. He is 17 years old and lives in Tanzania.

Then, the very next day, Allison joined the group. She is 10 years old and lives in Ecuador. 

Then, in just the last week alone, I've gotten four photo updates. Four! Which is awesome because I really was gathering quite a list of children who were due for a photo. In fact, I still have four children who are due for photo updates. You could be getting another post like this very soon. 

Alexander: 

Solomon: 

Antonio: 

And Allison:

I sure do have some beautiful children, don't I? 

Project Letters: IN-860

I have one more project letter to share with you, from the project my boy, Sagar, attends. Project IN-860 is located in the Miraj Red Light district in India, where many women are involved in the sex trade. It's a rough community for anyone to live in, especially for the children. Compassion has really been a light in the darkness in this project. I am so happy to have a letter like this that shares what the children have been up to.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla,

I am Dr. Shweta, working as Project Director for the Morning Star Child Development Center, where Sagar attends. I take this opportunity to extend greetings to you. I feel honored and privileged to get in touch with you through this letter. I want to thank our God for transforming the life of your child through your valuable sponsorship. 

We are serving the children of a red light area which is experiencing increase in the number of orphans, extreme poverty, and unhygienic living conditions. As per government records, 40% of sex workers and their children are living with HIV/AIDS in our area. 

 

Our normal day starts with devotions in the project and children undergo various activities which are planned in advance based on the holistic child development model. We provide a nutritious diet to all the children in our projects. We take care of their health and hygiene as health issues are much more in this community. We are also focusing on demonstrating the love of God to the community by visiting houses every day and inquiring about them and praying for them. We also conduct regular parent meetings to understand their issues. Our child development facilitators are mentoring children and facilitating in their holistic growth. 

This year we were able to celebrate holidays with all the mothers our our children and with the community as well. It was a great time for us to share the good news of God. We could also conduct medical checkups and treatment for all the children and mothers. We have provided school supplies to all our children and distributed hygiene supplies to them. We have taken all our children to visit industrial training center in the tour where children were able to understand about different employable skills. Children have summer holidays during May and June and this was an opportunity for us to conduct Scripture classes for our children. 

Parents are realizing that children are precious and are created in the image of God. They show willingness to enroll their children in the project. The future will be bright as the children would continue to grow and work toward the development plans. 

Letters and gifts sent by the sponsors have given dignity, honor, and new hope to the children. Sponsor letters show that they are so much concerned about the day to day life of every child, their families, and surrounding community. When the children come to know from the letters that their sponsor loves them and prays for them every day, they feel loved and cared for and pray for the sponsor, too. 

We request you to pray for our ministry as we continue serving the children and their mothers in the red light area. Pray that God to touch their parents. Please pray that the mothers would be given alternative livelihood and also that they would be able to understand the importance of coming out of commercial sex. We request you to pray that this would be broken and none of the children living in this community would be engaged in the same trade. We also request you to pray for the transformation of the community.  

Once again, we are so thankful to our sponsors, which is enabling us to develop the children holistically. We assure you we pray for you and your family. May God bless you and lead you through all that you do. 

With Gratitude, 
Dr. Shweta 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Project Letter: IN-866

I have another project letter to share with you today. This letter is from the project where my Sandesh attends, IN-866.

Join me in learning more about what life is like for the children at this project.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you! 

My name is Anand. I am the project director of Astha Child Development Center, where Sandesh attends. I express our gratitude and would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your valuable sponsorship and also for your prayers and support in changing the life of the child. 

Our project starts with prayer and with meditation on the Word of God. We conduct some indoor sports activities; children would be mentored by the Child Development Facilitator. We close the session with prayer with the children and the children would leave to school. 

Some of the activities in our project are: we conducted health checkups, camp at our project, parents meeting, spiritual retreat for parents and children, distributed spiritual booklets to parents, and storybooks to children. Holiday gifts, special children gifts, and family gifts have been distributed as well. 

This project made a great impact in the community. School drop was high but after the intervention of this project, children attendance rates has increased. Now the parents know the value of education and so the parents are taking interest in sending their children to school. Parents send their children to the project and are seeking prayer support from us. We could also see change in parents' life as many parents are addicted to alcohol and other social evil practices, these parents were counseled and many gave up alcoholism and lead a happy life. Some parents began to attend church regularly and they have asked questions as a result of interest and have been asking us how to grow spiritually. Children started praying and reciting verses. 

Your letters are so special for children, which give them the feeling of self worth. The child knows that someone from far loves them so deeply and as a result to show their love towards you, they pray for you and your family. We hope that your regular letters would create strong bonds for the development of the children. 

We ask that you pray for our community and uphold our project in your prayers as we try to spread the truth about God by showing love to the children in our center. Pray for the project and for the project staff. Pray that the social evil should be eradicated from the community. Pray for the parents who gave up alcoholism, for them to be strong in their decision. 

Once again, I would like to thank you for all the support in the form of sponsorship and prayers, which are really helpful to this child. We assure you of our prayers for you and your family. May God bless you and lead you in all that you do. 

Thanks & Regards, 
Anand

_________________________________________________________________________________

Project Letter: HO-348

I received three project letters in the mail. This is the first time that I've received a letter like this and I think they were very interesting to read. The letter was written by the project director at the project my children attend. I will be posting each of these letters on my blog. As with all the letters like this, I will attach photos to this letter, just to make it more visual. The pictures themselves will not be from the actual project, however.

This letter is from project HO-348, which is where my Celeste attends.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

It is an honor to address you, blessing your life and your family in the name of Jesus Christ. Wishing his grace shines upon you and accompany his favor always. 

My name is Fany Jackeline Murillo Contreras. I'm the project director of Hacia Una Vida Nueva Child Development Center, where your sponsored child, Celeste, attends. Our project is located in a quaint, little village called San Jose del Boqueron, a rural area on the outskirts of the city of San Pedro Sula. 

I want to thank you for sponsoring Celeste. You are a great blessing not only for her, but for the family and for this community. How wonderful it is for these children that someone they do not even know personally loves them and is interested in them! Thank you very much for all your support. 

In our project, children attend every week. This year we will have the 5th generation that will be graduated. They attend the project very excited, they like going to learn and have fun. We have a small play area, which is their favorite. 

We have extracurricular activities for each age group. We went to swim to a water park and to a zoo called San Ignacio. They had a lot of fun as ever and they appreciated the beautiful animals that God created. We also conduct workshops for them to develop their skills and abilities. 

Annually, we conduct an event called Festival of Nations where each group represents a country in the world and they present an act of praise to God. This is a tradition and both children and parents are involved in this activity. 

Our adolescents fill their "My Plan for Tomorrow" booklet. This tool is very useful because through it the youth of the project present their plans for short and long term and it helps them to be more organized. Plus, they enjoy this activity and they dream of a better future for themselves and their families. 

Due to the vulnerable area where the children live, many suffer from flooding during heavy rain and the Complementary Intervention Funds has been a blessing. With this fund we bought beds, food, blankets, etc. They have also been blessed with the Consumer Store, where we sell basic food products at a minimum price of what is in the national market. 

You are a very important person for your sponsored child as they see you as a part of their family. They get very happy when they receive a letter from their sponsor and when they do not get one, they are sad. There are some who have never received a letter and they always wonder if their sponsor has written. They are excited to write and to maintain a nice relationship with their sponsors. For them it is wonderful to read those words so full of love and friendship that encourage them to persevere in the Child Development Center. 

We ask you to please help us with your prayers for this project to move forward changing the lives of every child and youth and that God continues to bless us and to give us wisdom to lead this work which is the Lord's. 

I thank you again for your generosity and for your commitment. 

We, the Hondurans, believe and declare that Honduras is a land of blessing and we are in the hands of God. Honduras loves you, our children and youth love you, thank you very much, and may God grant the requests of your heart and may you be prosperous in everything you undertake. THANKS. 

Fany Jackeline Murillo Contreras 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Letters to My Kids: March 2014

This month was a very busy one for me, so I only got one letter out to all my kids. However, I received many letters from my kids, so a lot of them got a response letter from me as well.

This month, I wrote about Easter, even though the letter probably won't reach most of them before Easter actually happens. But, better late than never, right?

World Vision sends Easter cards each year for us to send to our sponsored children. I literally copied the text word for word for this letter to my Compassion kids. I hope that's not some copyright issue, because I just really wanted to share the story of Easter with children. The first paragraph and the final sentence are my words, everything else belongs to World Vision. Anyway, here's what the card/letter said.

________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you are doing well in this happy season. As you know, Easter is coming soon. This year, Easter occurs on April 20th. I want to retell the story of Easter to you, using scriptures from the bible. When I share a bible verse, I will also tell you which one it was, so you can look for it in the bible and share it with your family.

Do you know the story of Easter? Jesus, son of God, died on the cross. His body was put into a tomb and sealed with a large stone. On the third day, two of his friends came to the tomb. "Suddenly...an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone." (Matthew 28:2) "Don't be frightened," he said, "I know you are looking for Jesus...but he isn't here! For he has come back to life again, just as he said he would." (Matthew 28:5-6) "The women ran from the tomb, badly frightened, but also filled with joy...and as they were running, suddenly Jesus was there in front of them! "Good morning!," he said to them, "and they fell to the ground before him, holding his feet and worshiping him." (Matthew 28:8-9) "That evening the disciples were meeting when suddenly Jesus was standing there among them...and how wonderful was their joy when they saw their Lord." (John 20:19-20) Jesus said, "...I am always with you, even to the end of the world." (Matthew 28:20)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

The time around Easter is one of my favorite times of the year. The weeks before Easter, my church has special programs and we worship while we wait for Jesus to return. On the Friday before Easter, we remember the sad day that Jesus was killed on the cross. But, on Sunday, we celebrate and rejoice that Jesus has come back from the dead. Jesus beat death and sin! We also praise God because we know that Jesus will come again someday to rescue us all. That is such good news!

What do you think it will be like when Jesus returns to Earth?

_________________________________________________________________________________