First Sunday Advocate: August 2016

Before I go any further, I have to say that yes, I do know that today isn't August. :)

But, since tomorrow is August, I felt it made more sense to post the children's photos the day before the month started, as opposed to waiting for a whole week of August to pass.

So, without further ado, I hope that these children all find their sponsors this month. I know you have seen some of these children in previous posts, but I will continue to post them because they continue to wait for a sponsor.

If you're not in a position to sponsor these children, will you please join me in praying for them, their sponsors, and their futures?

For each of these children, I will list their age, name, project number and, in parenthesis, the child who I sponsor/write to from the same project.

12 Year Old Jhonny from BO-370 (Jhon)

6 Year Old Guilherme from BR-322 (Maria)

3 Year Old Luciana from CO-607 (Ronaldo)

6 Year Old Heike from EC-261 (Veronica)

6 Year Old Medina from ET-377 (Dagim)

Georgina found her sponsor! 

Edwins has been sponsored! 

4 Year Old Yolani from HO-352 (Carlos)

8 Year Old Alejandro from HO-416 (Nahomy & Jairo)

Sweet Reema has a sponsor! 

6 Year Old Biruta from RW-339 (Kwizera) 

4 Year Old Daniel from UG-137 (Brenda)

Sadiya's Updated Photo: 2016

I received another photo update! This time, of my sweet girl Sadiya. She is looking so beautiful in her newest photo! However, her face looks so sad and she has a bruise or a scratch of some sort on her face. I really hope that everything is okay with her. She has always taken serious photos, but this one is different than the others in that she not only looks serious, but heartbroken. I will write to her and find out if everything is going okay with her. Hopefully it was a just a bad day on the day that she took her photo.

Introducing Lahari!

My request for two girls to write to has been completed! Nearly two weeks ago, I introduced you to Veronika, and today, I am pleased to announce that my second girl has arrived.

Sweet 9 year old Lahari, from India

Ironically (or not) enough, Lahari attends project IN-389, which just happens to be the same project that my Solomon attends. I have been writing to Solomon for 4 years now, so you can imagine my surprise when I saw another name from the same project on my account. A great surprise, of course! 

A first letter is already on the way to her. I can't wait to get to know her! 

Project Director Letter: DR-161

Another Monday, another letter.

Today we hear from the Project Director at DR-161, which is where my littlest kiddo, Carolin, attends. She's still just a little peanut, but I am glad she is getting such a good start early in her life.

I love the pastor at this church was doing mission work in the United States! How wonderful! I guess this was originally supposed to be a Pastor Letter, but was written by another person.

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Dear Kayla, 

My name is Teresa Hernandex Berroa and I am the director at the church in the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, that ministers to your sponsored child at the Child Development Center. I am writing on behalf of the pastor of this church who was unable to write because he is on a mission trip to the United States. 

Photo show a slum similar to the community DR-161 is situated in

I am very grateful for the support of Carolin, which has helped to make a great difference in her life. Thanks to the benefit of sponsorship, we are able to meet our commitment to the holistic development of our children in educational, physical, social, emotional, and especially, the spiritual areas. 

In this community there is a lack of predominance of juvenile delinquency, drugs and alcohol abuse, along with a lack of employment opportunities, leading to much urban poverty. One of the great challenges in this community is to create awareness among the parents of the importance of a healthy upbringing, and of their responsibility towards their children, as the majority of the parents neglect their children. Many who have no employment nevertheless spend money on alcoholic drinks. This, in turn, leads young people to drinking and then to delinquency to obtain money to buy more alcoholic drinks. Addiction perpetuates the cycle of poverty. 

The center has the challenge of changing the mentality of both the parents and the young people in order to prevent the predominance of delinquency, and of finding a way to train the youngsters, and their parents, to obtain employment related to the training they have received. The center has had a significant effect on the community through the training of young people and parents. We offer courses on making bedspreads and quilts, handicrafts and other courses through institutions in our community. This helps the participants to stay off the streets and to become self-sustaining. We also help in this area through talks, conferences, and bible messages concerning family responsibilities, with God as the provider of all things, at the center of the family. We have seen young people commit themselves to the lordship of Christ, so that they may be prepared to make a difference in our community. 

During the past fiscal year, I have been able to see how one of the youngsters at the Center, after working with the "My Plan for Tomorrow" (a part of the Compassion International curriculum), was transformed in such a way the he is now a baptized servant of the church and is setting an example for the other young people to follow, who are just starting with the center. 

I also want to tell you how much the children appreciate the arrival of a letter from their sponsors. Letters deliver joy to our children and reminds them that someone loves them and prays for them. But I also want to mention how bad they feel when they never receive a letter from their sponsors. I encourage you to please maintain contact with Carolin. 

Please pray for the families of this community and for the plans that we have to achieve development here, that the community may be changed and improved. 

Sincerely, 
Teresa Hernandez Berroa

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Emanise's Photo Update: 2016

I received another photo update yesterday! While I have not be thrilled with not receiving many letters, lately, photo updates have been coming in droves. I do not have any overdue photos and have not had to inquire about any recently. That is a huge improvement over the last year where I was inquiring about overdue photos, literally, every month.

My Emanise sure has grown into a beautiful, young woman.

Letters From Some Itty Bitties

:)

Over the last week, I received letters from two of my littlest little girls: Carolin and Tamiru. With all of my teenagers and young adults, it's fun to see a few template letters thrown into the mix now and again.

First, I'll share Carolin's letter. She wrote on the My Favorite Things template. Carolin is 4 years old and lives in the Dominican Republic. Her letter is dated May 4th, 2016.

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1. My favorite food is: Fried Chicken

2. My favorite activities are: Watching TV, playing with toys, playing at the 

3. My favorite animal is: Dog

4. My favorite color is: Pink

Dear Kayla, 

May God continue blessing you today and always. These are the words of Carolin. How are you? She says that she is very happy for all the letters you sent to her and that she's doing well. Please pray for her family and for all of the sick. Until next time. 

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Now, a letter from Tamiru. She wrote on the My Learning About God template. Tamiru is 5 years old and lives in Ethiopia. Her letter is not dated. 

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1. I learn about God from: Sunday School

2. In my project, I am learning about (about God): Songs, prayer, and word of God. 

3. In my project, I am learning (about the Bible): The Bible is the word of God. 

4. When I pray to God, I pray about: My class

5. My favorite bible verse is: "God is love". 

6. My favorite thing I learned about God is: His goodness

7. My favorite song at my project is: Jesus is Lord

8. My favorite bible story is: Joseph

9. My prayer request is: Pray for my class and my family. 

10. Message for sponsor: I am very happy for your letters. Thank you. 

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Two Photo Updates from India!

Aren't photo updates great?! I received new photos of two of my Indian kids. They are two of the kids that I have had the longest, so it is always great to see them grow. I can't believe how grown up both of my kids look. They have really matured in the last two years, since their last photo, don't you think?

First, my boy Sandesh. He'll be a teenager in just a few short months. I can't believe it!

And my sweet girl Khushi also received a photo update. I think she looks lovely in her bright, colorful outfit! 

Project Director Letter: IO-115

We are down to our last seven letters! I can't believe it! If more letters continue showing up after the next seven, that means I got the remaining letters I was missing mailed to me from Compassion. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

But, onto today's letter, which is from IO-115, which is the project my girl Sagitaria attends. She's such a sweet girl and I am so happy to read about the things that she receives at her project.

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Dear Kayla, 

Shalom! Greetings in Christ! 

My name is Amazon Harahap and I am the Project Director of the Child Development Center Theresia. We are located in North Sumatera, Indonesia, where your sponsored child attends. Thank you for sponsoring Sagitaria. 

Actual Photo of IO-115

We are thankful for the support given to our children through sponsorship since it is a blessing for the children and their families. 

All the children at the center attends the activities for 6-8 hours a week. The children from age group 6-8 get school lesson so that they can get good grades at school. The other children get spiritual guidance so that they can know about the Lord Jesus well and they will have Christ-like characters. We also give the children other programs like saving money, cooking, baking, embroidery, and trading. 

Recently, we have given a seminar about Child's Protection for the parents and some church leaders. We have taught the children about how to wash hands using soap and how to brush teeth in the correct way. With this program, we hope that the children can learn more about the importance of their health and hygiene and take proper actions to protect themselves from various illnesses. 

We are planning to add more activity for the children like automotive skills class, making liquid soap, beauty class, and keyboard lessons. Other than those, we will have seminars about safety on roads. 

We are thankful because through Compassion's ministry, the children are growing and developing better. They are more encouraged to study and develop their talents. They have learned about setting their best priorities.

We want to share with you about a girl in the center. She has good grades at her school. Since 3 years ago, she is always the 1st rank in her class with an average mark of 88.8. She is always active in joining competitions at our center. She is the 1st winner of Kindergarten Chess competition, the 1st winner of making creative art competition, and the 3rd winner of little preacher competition at our center. We believe that the sponsor's support, she will show more achievement in the future and will become a leader who will change this town. 

We are doing the ministry at the center because our dream is to see the children become people who love God, have good character, reach good achievements in their lives, and become blessings among their family and society. In our society's opinion, the activity at the center is a positive one. Thus, many of them want their children to join the activities at the center. We really hope that the impact of our ministry can be enjoyed by our society and many more children can receive benefit through this program. 

Children feel very happy when they receive letters from their sponsors. It is gratifying to see them so excited, smiling, and telling their friends about their sponsors. The news about sponsors is so important for the children so we encourage them to continue to write the children. They feel very happy to know they have a sponsor somewhere in the world that cares for them. 

Please pray for our children, their families, and the community; that we grow in wisdom, knowledge, and understanding so that we can release children from poverty in Jesus' name. 

Thank you again for sponsoring Sagitaria. 

Greetings and prayers,
Amazon Harahap

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Welcoming a New Sweet Girl

On Friday afternoon, I found a sweet new face on my account, so without further ado, let me introduce 7 year old Veronika, who lives in Haiti. Look at that sweet face!

Project Director Letter: UG-721

Let's travel to Uganda today and read another project director letter!  Let's hear about UG-721, which is the project that my young man, Eric, attends.

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Dear Kayla, 

I am Musabyimana Peace, Project Director of Muganza Church of Uganda located in the South Western region of Uganda that ministers to your sponsored child at Muganza Child Development Center. 

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to you for the great work you do of supporting, caring, and loving Eric. 

We have 243 registered children at the center. These children normally come to the center once every week for different programmed activities purposed to develop them holistically. The staff and volunteers normally have time to interact with individual child at length, and this helps them to understand the uniqueness and ability. 

The lives of children at our center have improved greatly. A case in point is an 11 year old girl who comes from a struggling family and stays with her mother only. Her father deserted the family and doesn't communicate or send any help. She accepted Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior while in the program. 

She enjoys in leading other children in praise, worship, and prayer. She also leads a choir for Sunday school that ministers in church every Sunday. Last year, her mother, who was a drunkard and would spend most of her times in bars, confessed and accepted the Lord as her Savior during a conference organized at the center. She said she had developed too much hatred for her husband, had lost hope, and was mistreating her only daughter. In spite of her youth, the girl would always challenge her mother to forgive and pray for the father instead. 

Her mother testifies that after being born again, she forgave the husband, got peace in her heart, and is now working hard to look after her family. She and her mother now pray and go to church together. 

We have a hard working 20 year old young man who doesn't want to waste any of his time. During school time, he goes to school and concentrates on his books. During holidays, he makes pancakes which he sells to earn some money. He normally sells about 400 pancakes a day. He has ready market for his pancakes. He is able to cover all of his university tuition from the pancake profits. He acquired the baking skill from the center. He is a good example to other youths in the community. 

I deeply appreciate the good relationship between sponsor and child. The letters, cards, stickers, and drawings sponsors send speak volumes to the child and they treasure them so much. They are excited to know that their sponsor loves and cares about their lives. I hope you will write often. 

Our biggest encouragement comes from seeing children and their caregivers confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It's also wonderful seeing a child grow, progress in school, and become a healthy and strong young person with desirable behavior and able to sustain himself economically. This inspires us to continue with our work at the center. 

The spiritual aspect impacts children greatly to the extent that their attitudes change when they get saved, and they become good role models to the community. They are able to set goals and become focused on what they want to become in the future. 

I request you to pray for these children to understand the great love that the Lord has for them and be able to use this sponsorship opportunity profitably. 

Once again, I thank you for your love, support, and care you give to Eric. 

May God richly bless you. 

Sincerely, 
Musabyimana Peace

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Letters from Honduras!

Recently, I received letters from three of my Honduras children. Including the letter I received from Celeste a few weeks ago, I have now heard from all of my Honduras kids since the switch over to the new system. It's been a bit of a slow process, but I am seeing great progress being made.

I will share my letters in order from youngest to oldest, as always. The first two letters are from my HO-416 kids, Nahomy and Jairo. The last letter is from Carlos, my boy at HO-352.

First up, a letter from little Jairo. I call him that, even though he isn't really that "little". But, I think he will always be little to me. Jairo is 8 years old. His letter is dated April 20th, 2016. This letter is written on the My Typical Week template. He then wrote a long personal letter afterwards.

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1. Normally, I get up at: 5:00 a.m
2. In the morning, I typically: Bathe, eat breakfast, brush my teeth
3. In the afternoon, I typically: Do homework, play with my friends, ride my bicycle
4. My favorite day of the week is: Sunday because I play soccer
5. The days I go to the project are: Tuesday & Thursday 
6. I normally go to sleep at: 8:00 p.m

Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

I am Jairo's tutor. He says he is very happy to be in the CDC. He tells you that he is in school and his favorite subject is math. He starts class at 7:00 a.m and finishes at 12:00 p.m. He tells you he is doing very well. His house is made of wood and zinc sheets. He lives with his mom, dad, and younger brother. Jairo sleeps in a small, wooden bed and has electricity in his home. He says what he likes about the project is learning about Jesus and eating the snacks. Typical food in Joconal is roast beef, tripe soup, refried beans, eggs, cheese, and butter. There are beautiful places here, like the Bay Islands, the Copan ruins, and the raining fish of Yoro. Jairo says his brother Moncho is 6 years old and he likes to play with toy cars and play in the water. Jairo's parents plant and cut coffee. Jairo says that Compassion is the nicest thing to happen to his community because they help children. People here travel by car, bike, or horse. Our project has 226 children enrolled. He likes to follow the rules at school and at the project, like arrive early and be respectful. Jairo's parents also have rules, like finish homework on time. He asks you to pray for his dad and his whole family.

Jairo and Jorge (Tutor)

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Now, I will share Nahomy's letter. She attends the same project as Jairo, so her letter is fairly similar. She doesn't write on templates, but some of the information is the same between the letters, as they are answering the same questions from my letters.

Nahomy is 10 years old. Her letter is also dated April 20th, 2016.

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Hello Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

I feel very happy to have received a new letter from you. I very happy to be writing to you one more time. I am doing very well. I love with my mom, dad, and siblings. I have no defined schedule. I go to school in the morning. I do have time for studying. I am diligent in my studies. My house is made of mud bricks and I sleep alone in my bed. We have electricity available in the house. I like to be called Nahomy. In school, the teacher has rules and all students have to follow them. For example, respect your teachers. My family also has rules. For example, don't get home late and only go out to play for 30 minutes. I also want to tell you we have clean water available at home. The most common job here is agriculture. Compassion helps the community by looking for a sponsor for every child. My favorite thing to do at the CDC is read the bible. There are 226 kids in the CDC. The traditional foods are my country are many, but my favorites are beleadas, enchiladas, mondongo soup, chicken soup, and catrachas. There are many famous places in my country. I live close to one famous place: The Copan Ruins. We also have the Bay Islands. My family is very united. We are three siblings. I ask you to pray for my family so we always enjoy good health and lack nothing. Blessing. See you! 

Nahomy

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Last up, the letter from Carlos. He is 15 years old. His letter is also dated on April 20th, 2016. That must have been letter writing day in Honduras. 

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Dear Sponsor Kayla,

How are you? I am doing very well of health. My house is very secure because I live in a very secure neighborhood with police. I like to follow the rules at school and the rules at church and the Compassion project. I have a favorite book and it is the bible. I like to read God's stories. I like to wash the dishes. We can't go out without permission. I received your letters and I like the pictures in it. You look very beautiful in the picture with your family. I ask your prayers for my family and I say goodbye with a kiss and hug. 

Carlos

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Letters to My Kids: June 2016

Last month, I wrote one letter to my kids. I got to talking with a group of friends and we got on the topic of what some of our favorite toys were when we were kids. It was a conversation full of nostalgia, so I decided to spread some of that with my kids.

I wrote a letter to my children asking them what their favorite toys were/are. Most of the kids that I write to are teenagers and young adults, so I asked them to think back. To my kids that are actually still kids, I asked them to tell me about their current favorite toys.

I put three pictures of me when I was little playing with some of my favorite toys. I also told a short story about each toy, to make it a bit more personal.

I am really looking forward to receiving some responses to this topic. I am looking forward to hearing what my kids loved/love to play with.

Brenda's Updated Photo: 2016

I got a new photo of Brenda and I am happy to share it with you today. Taking a look at her collage, Brenda has pretty much looked the same since she was 12, hasn't she? Her face has matured a bit, I think, but she hasn't changed a ton, like some other kids do from photo to photo. I actually like that because I can tell it's the same, beautiful Brenda in each photo. :)

Project Director Letter: HO-416

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Today, I share the director letter from project HO-416, which is where two of my Honduran littles, Nahomy and Jairo attend. This project just opened last year and it is a wonderful place for the kids! A group of sponsors visited the project last summer and they said the staff at this project are so loving and great with the kids.

This project is located in a very poor area of Honduras, in a rural area. When Compassion got to the area, they found that most children were very small for their age, due to malnutrition. I am so grateful for Compassion coming to this community!

This letter to sponsors was written shortly after the project opened, so the letter part is out of date. I can assure you, me and the other sponsors (I know several of them) have written a ton since then! :)

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Dear Kayla, 

I thank God for your life and that of your family. 

I am Merlin Noel Lopez Acosta. I am the project director of the Child Development Center attended by your sponsored children, at the Church of God, Life of Faith Ministry in the region of Azacualpa, Santa Barbara, Honduras. 

Actual Photo of HO-416

Thank you for sponsoring Jairo and Nahomy. 

I want to share the story of a child who is 8 years old. He had behavioral problems. He was very aggressive with other children and some teachers told us that he had bad behavior also at school. He was a bit disobedient and very impulsive. They recommended us to monitor him closely and help him in his education. They no longer knew which method to use to help him. Now his mother is happy. She says that he has attended the center and she has seen an improvement in his behavior. Now he has a better relationship with other children, after developing in the socio-emotional area. 

With regards to the spiritual area, he now shows more respect for things related to God. Nowadays, he has control of his behavior. His teacher has made him the leader to monitor the behavior of his peers, which has helped him a lot. 

One aspect of the center that has a big impact on our children has been their diet. Most children do not have a good diet at home. There are children who, during the day, do not eat three meals because their families are poor. For the children, it is great joy to be able to have those meals here in the center. 

It is important to know that the children of our center are praying for God to touch the hearts of people from other countries so they can sponsor them and help them succeed. 

Regarding the child-sponsor relationship, the children have still not received letters from their sponsors because we are a new center. We are in the process of the children acquiring their sponsors. 

Some children are already writing letters to their sponsors. They are very happy because they are writing to the person who will help them in their development in the coming years. Other children had the experience of writing the introduction letter to their sponsors. When doing so, they were very excited because they were writing to a person from another country who someday will read their letter and will sponsor them. They show great happiness when we tell them that one day their sponsor will answer their letter and help them in their development. 

My inspirations to keep working in the center are God and the children in my community. It motivates me to know I'm contributing to the formation of many lives, who in the future will be people leading our church and community. I hope to do my best in this work. With the help of God and other people involved I'm sure this ministry will succeed. 

We ask you to help us pray to God that all children in our center can have a sponsor. With sponsors' help, our children can have a better development and in the future, have more opportunities in life. 

Thanks, again, for sponsoring Jairo and Nahomy. Our church and our community are very grateful to you for the help you provide for the development of our children. We expect God to pour many blessings on your life and on the lives of your family. May God always bless you. 

Sincerely, 
Merlin Noel Lopez Acosta

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