Adsense

Sunday, January 31, 2016

A Surprise Correspondent Child!

Last Monday, I was assigned three new correspondent kids, as you probably saw me post. Then, on Friday, I was checking my account for photo updates and saw a new name. I hadn't wanted anymore correspondent kids, so naturally, I didn't put my name on the list. So...this correspondent child was a complete surprise. However, as soon as I saw a new name (before I even saw the photo) I was squealing with joy. A new kiddo! A surprise kiddo!

This is not the first time I've received a correspondent child as a surprise. In fact, it's the 4th time. In the past, I've been assigned Kwizera, Derrick, and Nandini without ever requesting them. They just show up on my account.

I know that the best answer is that I'm probably added to the waiting list again, by mistake, since the surprise children always come after other requests are filled. However, my friend Teresa has another explanation. She says that if a child is meant to be mine, then God doesn't care if I request them or not. They're going to show up anyway. I like that explanation better.

So without further ado, meet 18 year old Ronaldo, from Colombia:


He's due for a new photo anytime in the next couple of months, so I imagine he looks much more grown up now. 

I am so excited to get to write to him! 

Friday, January 29, 2016

And Now, A Word from Faith!

I received a nice letter from Faith today. I really see her letter writing improving. She's opening up more and more and really getting better at sharing details. I love to see progress like this in my kids.

In this letter, Faith references a letter that I sent to all of my kids, about the lunar eclipse. I've gotten some great responses about that letter. I shared about the science behind a lunar eclipse. I also shared about how God has perfectly designed the entire universe so that things line up perfectly, giving us beautiful images that we can see how Earth. It was a pretty fun letter to write. :)

Faith is 10 years old and lives in Kenya. Her letter is dated November 16th, 2015.

_________________________________________________________________________________



Dear Kayla,

How are you, my dear sponsor? How is it going in your place? Me and my family members are okay, under God's protection. 

I am so grateful for the letter you sent to me. May the Lord grant you success in everything you do. I love the pictures that you send to me. In fact, I learned a lot. I was unable to see the eclipse with my own eyes, but I thank God you saw it and shared your experience with me. That shows your concern and love for me. 

I wish to meet you and have a walk and verbal talk with you. I wish you a nice Christmas. I pray that God will open a chance for me to share one celebration with you. 

All the best, 
Faith

_________________________________________________________________________________


Monday, January 25, 2016

Three New Correspondent Kids!

Hi Everyone!

As you may know, from reading my blog, I love having 50 kids in my sponsorship family, at all times. It's just the perfect number for me. I love getting to know that many kids and writing letters to them all. However, awhile back, I lost correspondent children due to a mix-up with Compassion's computer system. I was one of hundreds of correspondent sponsors to lose children, so as you can imagine, the waiting list for new kids became very long. Months long. In fact, I've been on the list for new kids since the beginning of September.

Along the way, the financial sponsor of Fongwin cancelled his sponsorship and I picked up it, so technically, I was only 2 children away from my goal of 50, but decided to stay on the waiting list for three kids, due to Lazarus graduating in March of this year.

After a long wait, three new faces arrived, all on the same day! :) Please welcome these new kiddos to my family:



10 year old Indresh from India


9 year old Fetehalew from Ethiopia



5 year old Tarimu from Ethiopia


As always, it was love at first site when I saw these kids on my account. I'm always amazed at how quickly I fall in love with these children. I've already sent my first letter off to them and I am looking forward to building a wonderful relationship with them! 



Friday, January 15, 2016

A Trio of Letters from India

I was happy to find three letters from some of my kids in India. Actually, I was surprised because two of the letters I received are from kids I just heard from earlier this month, so less than two weeks ago!

To begin, a letter from Nandini. She is 10 years old. Her letter is dated November 27th, 2015.

_______________________________________________________________________________


Dear Sponsor, 

Greetings to you in the miraculous name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am fine here. I hope and pray that you are also fine over there. Thank you very much for your love, prayers, and support. We had a vacation bible school at our church. We sang songs and learned many bible stories. Many children received Christ as their personal savior. There are no peacocks in our community. In the month of March, I will be in another class. I will be in grade 4. Psalm 93 is my favorite verse. Nature gives us fruits and beauty. Thank you. 

Your Loving Child,
Nandini

________________________________________________________________________________

Now, a letter from Sadiya. She is 11 years old. She wrote her letter on September 16th, 2015. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I hope you and your family are fine. Me and my family are also good. I received your letter. I am very glad to know about you. I like your beautiful pictures and I also like the stickers. Thank you very much. My studies are going on well. I went to my native place and attended a wedding at my relative's house. I enjoyed it there a lot. Please pray for me and my family. I always pray for you. 

Yours Lovingly, 
Sadiya

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now, a word from Sagar. He is 12 years old. His letter is dated September 18th, 2016. 

_________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Kayla,

Greetings to you in the precious name of Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for your love, help, and support.  I send you a big hello from India. I love you very much. You are the most important person in my life. I always remember you and your family in my prayers. I am happy to write this letter to you. How are you? I am fine. I hope that you and your family are doing well. Thank you so much for your beautiful letter and photos. I like your letter and photos. 

I am studying in 8th grade. I am regularly going to school. I daily completing my homework. My favorite subject is Marathi. I am regularly attending the project. I like the project center very much. I like the project center food. Our project center arranges many programs for children and families. My project center arranges meetings for parents, for bible study and educational awareness. My family likes the project center activities. 

I like Jesus songs and stories. I love you so much. I send you many strong hugs. Thank you for your help and support. I am praying for you and your family. 

Your Loving Child,
Sagar

________________________________________________________________________________


Thursday, January 14, 2016

Another Three Letters to Share

January has certainly been a busy letter month, so far. If this is a sign of things to come in 2016, I am thrilled!

First up, I'll share Sagitaria's letter, who is one of my favorite artists. Sagitaria is 11 years old and lives in Indonesia. This letter is dated November 10th, 2015.

________________________________________________________________________________



Shalom Mama, 

How are you? I am fine here. I think a good teacher is the one who loves his students, has patience, and teaches his students wholeheartedly. My favorite type of music is spiritual music. Mama, soon I will face some exams. Please pray for me. The project has some practices for the Christmas program. I'll be dancing in the program. That's all for now. I look forward to your letter. God bless. 

Sagitaria


_________________________________________________________________________________

Next, a letter from Enantenesh. Usually she is quite chatty in her letters, but not so much in this letter. She must have been distracted by something more interesting going on at the project. :) 

Enantenesh is 18 years old and lives in Ethiopia. She wrote this letter on October 21st, 2015. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Kayla,

How are you doing my beloved and respected sponsor? I am doing fine. My family forwards their best regards. Thank you so much for your support through the project. I got school materials. I am attending Sunday school class. I am a grade 8 student. I will be in grade 9 next year. I pray for you. Bye. 

Enatenesh

________________________________________________________________________________

Lastly, a letter from Lazarus. He graduates in March, so this will probably be one of the last letters I receive from him. I love hearing about all of the goals he is accomplishing. I know that he is going to have a great future! 

Lazarus is 21 years old and lives in Kenya. He wrote this letter on November 14th, 2015. 

_________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Kayla,

Hi! How are you? I hope you are fine with me here in Kenya. I am fine. My family members are also fine. How about your family members? 

At school, I am going on well with my studies and working extra hard to achieve my goals. I would like to inform you that I enrolled in college this year, in January and I have completed my first year. I am pursuing a diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology. I will be taking it for three years. Since I have completed my first year, I will begin my second year in January 2016. 

At home, I am going on well with my daily duties in assisting my parents to look after a family cow and sheep. I also take part in cleaning the compound. My parents are farmers and they earn a living through farming activities. I am the only child in Compassion in my family. 

I would like to thank you for the photos you sent to me. I really enjoyed the wedding photos of your friend and I am happy to see how beautiful it was. I would like to inform you that I have not attended any recent weddings. During the lunar eclipse, I was not able to see it because we were really affected by the rainy weather in our country. 

Lastly, I would like to inform you that I really pray for the success of your new job and I also request you to pray for me, as I am still going on with my studies. Let me share with you a verse from the book of Jeremiah 29:11, which says, "I alone know the plans for you, says the Lord. Plans to bring prosperity and not disaster, plans to give you future hope." Thank you and may God bless you. 

Your Loving Son,
Lazarus

________________________________________________________________________________


Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Two Letters from Chintada!

I received two letters from Chintada last week, just a few days apart. One was written in August and the other in October. Sometimes, I wonder how letters written so far apart can arrive at the same time. Clearly, they were held together for awhile. Probably ended up at the bottom of the translation pile for awhile. Either way, I'm super glad to receive them, of course!

Chintada is 19 years old and lives in East India.

First, I'll share the letter written on August 22nd, 2015.



_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla,

Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I and my family are doing well, by the grace of God. I hope and pray that everything will be going on well with you. 

I am enjoying you sending photos and letters. I celebrated Easter prayerfully in our church. I was remembering you at the time of prayer. I am attending the project center regularly. I am staying at the project three hours each day. Yes, I am taking tailoring training. Please pray for my tailoring training. I am practicing different types of programs at the project center. It will help to build my personal development. The weather here is rainy. What is your weather in your area? 

Please pray for me and my family. I am praying for you everyday. 

In Christ's Love,
Chintada

_________________________________________________________________________________

This next letter is dated October 21st, 2015.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla,

Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. I am keeping time with my family. I hope and pray that you are also keeping time with your family. 

I am very excited. I received your letters. Yes, I am doing well. I am praying for the people that were affected by the flooding. (Many homes were affected by flooding in my city last summer). I have seen the photos of the children and they are very nice. I also pray for the children. My brothers are doing well. My project teachers are loving very well, so I am feeling God's love. "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7. The teachers were teaching God's words. Now, winter season is here. Please pray for my future. I also pray for you everyday. 

Thank You,
Chintada




_______________________________________________________________________________






Sunday, January 10, 2016

Letters from HO-416

Yesterday, I received letters from both of my kids at project HO-416. They both wrote about themselves and their families. 

First up, a letter from Jairo. He's still little, so he filled out a template. 

Jairo is 8 years old. He wrote his letter on December 2nd, 2015. 

_________________________________________________________________________________



I like to be called: Jairo
I am the 1st of 2 children in the family. 
I am 116 centimeters tall.
The color of my hair is: Black
The color of my eyes is: Brown
One thing I do really well is: Take care of my brother
One thing I really like to do is: Play cars
When I grow up, I want to be: A teacher

I want to ask you to pray for my family, so we always stay together. I would like to meet you in person. I ask God for the opportunity to see you someday. 

Blessings,
Jairo

_________________________________________________________________________________

Now, Nahomy's letter. Along the same lines as Jairo's. Gotta love letter writing themes. They really help the kids share important information. 

_________________________________________________________________________________


Hi My Sponsor Kayla, 

I'm very happy to be able to greet you again. Everyday I thank God that you are my sponsor. Let me tell you some things about me. We are three siblings and we live with our mom and dad. We are a happy family. Every passing day, God blesses us in big ways. At home, I help my mom in the kitchen and I also like to play with my friends. We play different kinds of games, like jumping rope, soccer, and dolls. When I'm older, I want to be a professor and I would like to teach math. I ask you to pray for me and my parents so that we can always be together. God bless you. I say goodbye with affection. 

Nahomy

________________________________________________________________________________


Monday, January 4, 2016

First Letters of 2016

Four days into the new year and I've received four letters. That's pretty fantastic, I think. :)

First up, a letter from Nandini. She is 10 years old and lives in India.

Her letter is dated September 30th, 2015.

_______________________________________________________________________________


Dear Supporter, 

Greetings to you in the holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am fine here because of your prayers. I hope and pray that you're also fine over there. Thank you very much for your love, prayers, and support. I am very glad to know about Chloe and Gage. How are they? Thank you for very much for sending the 5th grade class picture. Our country, India's capital is Delhi. Our national flower is the lotus. Our Independence Day is August 15th. Mahatma Gandhi is the father of the nation. India is the largest democracy in the world. 

Your Loving Child, 
Nandini

________________________________________________________________________________

Now, a letter from Allison, my sweet girl from Ecuador. She is 11 years old. 

She wrote this letter on October 13th, 2015. 

_______________________________________________________________________________



Dear Sponsor, 

I salute you in the name of Jesus. In my country we speak Spanish. Our national bird is the condor. Our main religion is Christianity. What is your sister's name? I would love to know more about her. Thank you for the photos of the beautiful children. I am happy that you take care of children like them. I would like to know more about them. I hope to know more about you. I say goodbye in Jesus's name. 

Allison

_________________________________________________________________________________

Next, a letter from Rujikorn. She is also 11 years old and she lives in Thailand.

This letter is dated October 30th, 2015. 

_________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Kayla,

Greetings to you! My name is Rujikorn. My family and I are doing well and I hope that you are fine. I thank you so much for the letter and the beautiful picture that you sent to me. I was so happy when I saw the picture of your family. You made me so excited. Well, there is a bible school in my church. I am doing well well. My sister's name is Pondyanee. I like both Thai and English so much. I go to school every day and I always go to the project. I have Sunday school where I learn how to pray and do tithing. Thank you so much for your encouragement in the word of God. It helps me be happy. I miss you and your family so much. May you please pray for my studies and for my family? My family and I pray for you all the time. May God protect you and bring you good things in your life. I love you and I'll think of you forever. 

Love in Christ,
Rujikorn

________________________________________________________________________________

Last up, a letter from Nikko. He is 17 years old and he lives in the Philippines. 

He wrote this letter on October 17th, 2015. 

________________________________________________________________________________


Dear Ms. Kayla, 

Hello again! Thank God I'm doing well. Thanks for your prayers. I appreciate it. I just received your July letter sharing about your Vacation Bible School. I'm glad that the children at that age are learning about God. In our church, we only have our Sunday school for kids. By the way, last Saturday we had our math tutoring at the project center. I really enjoyed the discussion. I think that is the first time we've had tutoring about the math subjects in the center. By the way, my school is going fine. I hope to keep in touch with you in the next letter. Continue to pray for my family always; for protection, guidance, and provision. Take care and God bless!

Love,
Nikko

John 15:10 "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my father's command and remain in his love." 

_________________________________________________________________________________



Sponsor a Child Where I Sponsor a Child!

Hello everyone! I'm just stopping by to advocate for children that attend the same projects as some of my kids. All of these projects are wonderful and I receive wonderful letters from my kids. If you sponsored one of these children, I'm sure your experience would be great, as well!

To sponsor one of these children, simply click on the link under their picture. This will take you to their page on Compassion International's website. You can also learn more information about each child on their personal page.





Beatriz has been sponsored!












Beulah has found a sponsor! 



Emanuel has a new sponsor! 












Saturday, January 2, 2016

One Word: 2016

Can you believe it's a new year already? Actually...now that I say that, I can believe it. 2015 seemed to have been a long year.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know that, instead of making a list of unrealistic new year's resolutions, I choose one word to work on for the entire year. This idea came from Compassion International, several years ago. I like the idea so much that I've decided to continue with it, probably for the rest of my life.

Along with one word for each year, I also like to add a bit of fun to each year as well. My favorite kind of shoe (that I wear nearly everyday) is the classic Converse All-Star. Ever since I was a freshman in high school, it has become a tradition that I get a new pair of these shoes every year for Christmas. Even though I'm now 26 years old, the tradition has continued. I will probably will wearing these shoes for the rest of my life.

Anyway, I use my shoes as a daily reminder of my One Word. Every time I look at my shoes, I remember to focus on the word that I chose for the year. Here are the words I've chosen since 2011:


Each year, I've learned more than I could ever imagine about myself, in relation to the one word I've chosen. I truly believe that God provides me with each word for a specific reason. Let's have a small recap: 

In 2012, I learned to be patient with God's plan. That just because I want something to happen right now, doesn't mean that is what God has planned for me. 

In 2013, I learned to trust that God's plan was perfect for my life. I learned to be patient and wait for God's instruction, but I was struggling with accepting that God's plan was right. I learned to trust. 

2014 taught me to breathe. I had found myself with very high stress levels (which I actually linked to the job that I had in 2013). I learned to meditate, pray, and calm down. At the end of 2013, I did quit my stressful job and that made my 2014 much calmer and happier! 

In 2015, I needed hope. In 2014, I spent my life savings on car repairs, had my apartment broken into and electronics stolen, and I struggled to find the money to pay my bills. Going into 2015, I was pretty hopeless that I would be able to continue living on my own without going into severe debt. It seemed like 2015 was getting in worse when, in August, I lost my job. A job that I thought I was meant to have for a long time. I cried for about a week straight. Then, I found a new job. A new job I had no idea I was qualified for or would enjoy. Now, I can't even imagine myself doing anything else. This new job allows all of my best qualities to work together. I can be energetic, I never have to sit still, I get to invent, create, and try new things. The people I work with are amazing and it's so much fun! Plus, I now make enough money to pay my bills AND eat food. Amazing, huh? 

In 2015, I found HOPE. 

Now that it's 2016, I have a new word. Health. 

I know, I know, how cliche, right? Lots of people promise to be more healthy in the new year. But, I really do need to. I'm not horrible when it comes to being active (my jobs allow for constant activity), but my diet is terrible. I've gotten into the habit of ordering delivery food to my house 1-2 times a week. When I do cook at home, it's things like mac and cheese, tacos, and other unhealthy food. Fruits and vegetables hardly ever make an appearance. 

So, this year, I plan to change my diet. Just slowly, at first. I think the downfall in most new year's resolutions is that people go from eating all junk food to eating only vegetables for two weeks, before losing steam. At first, I'm going to work on including fruits and veggies in my daily diet. Every meal with include one, or both, of these food groups. I will cut down my delivery food to just 1-2 times a month (this will also save a lot of money!). 

As time goes on, I plan to learn to cook healthier meals, drinking fresh fruit/veggie smoothies, cutting out snacking, and eating less sugar. I thought about cutting out caffeine drinks, but that's impossible. Haha. 

The sole goal of the year is to simply put healthier food into my body. But, if weight loss happens to follow, that would also be great! 

To help keep me on track, my new pair of shoes! They will serve as a daily reminder to put down the brownie and pick up the carrot stick.