Final Final Letters from Uganda

Not too long ago, I talked about how my little brother from Uganda, Eric was graduating from his project. I also shared about how I heard that my boy Derrick may be moving away to live with his aunt and father. Well, both boys are officially gone and I have received official final letters from them. Reading their sweet words really touches my heart. I know that Compassion has made a lasting impact on their lives. In God wills it, I will connect with these wonderful men again someday.

First, I will share the letter from Derrick. He is only 14 years old, but has already completed a mechanics course. I fully believe that God will use Derrick's mechanical skills for good in the future. I pray that Derrick has a wonderful life!

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Dear Kayla, 

I am writing to say hello, Kayla. I am fine and I do believe that you are okay, by God's grace. I am writing this letter to inform you that I will not be able to continue with the project program. I have moved to live at my father's place, which is far from the project. I am so hopeful that I will be able to be taken care of by my aunt Safina, with my father's support. I am also soon finishing my mechanics course and I hope this will help me to take care of myself. I want you to know that you have been a blessing in my life. I so much enjoyed hearing from you and your support and care made me feel so loved. I was blessed to learn about Jesus's love from the project. I got various skills like hair-cutting and football playing. I got items like a Bible, a mattress, a mosquito net, soap, vaseline, and many others. I was taken care of when I got sick and I also got a lot of encouragement from our staff and teachers at the project. Being told about God's love has always blessed me and kept me going. I do believe that God will continue to be with me. God bless you Kayla and thank you so much, once again. I am Derrick, forever your friend. 

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Now, Eric's glorious letter. Over the years, I have written to many, many, many children, as you know. But there is something special about Eric. For one, he was one of my very first correspondent children. I was assigned three correspondence kids in 2011, Eric was one of them. At the time, Eric was 16 years old and I was 21 years old. Being just 5 years older than him, I called him Little Brother and he responded that I was his sister. I've never had a brother before and now, I will forever have one in Uganda. 

When I started writing to Eric, he was very much delayed. At 16 years old, he was in 3rd grade, could not write or read, and could barely speak or understand English. I watched him learn and grow literally before my eyes. What a difference simple encouragement of a sponsor (and a lot of prayer!) can make. 

Eric is a wonderful young man now and I am so proud of him. This letter makes my heart swell. I hope I get to see my brother again someday. 

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Dear Kayla, 

I am greeting you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Back to me, I am okay and my family is okay. Let me take this opportunity to thank you for the support to have been rendering to me since I joined Compassion. I am writing this letter because I am now 22 years old and I will be leaving the program. I joined Compassion when I was unable to write, read, sing, or speak English. But after joining it, I can now do all of the things above. Surely I benefited a lot from the program. Again, while in Compassion, I learned the skill of carpentry and joinery and I am now a fully trained builder with a certificate of qualification from a training institute. As I talk now, I am now able to work with some building companies and get survival. Let me also thank you for the frequent gifts and letters I always received from you. I could always use it as school fees topped up, buying food at home, buying clothes, shoes, and goats, which are still assisting me. May God bless you abundantly. Surely, also let me thank you and Compassion International, at large, because Compassion built a house for us where we stay and also gave us a tank for water reserve and a toilet, all of which my family are still appreciating. Socially, I was able to learn to socialize with other people after joining Compassion and I now have many friends from the project. From these friends, I learnt to play football and have enjoyed tours in which we could visit places like Lake Buyonyi and Kabale City, which helped me to be exposed to geographical locations. Spiritually, I learned how to read the Bible and also witnessed the love of Jesus Christ, which he showed by dying for us. Now I believe that Jesus is alive and I believe him as my Lord and Savior and I believe that he will come again to take those who truly believe in him. I have hope to join the heavenly kingdom with other believers. Physically, I am now an adult, mature person and energetic, able to work with my hands because of the skills I learned from Compassion. I am thanking Compassion for always giving us food in cases of shortage because I was able to grow. May God bless you. 

Eric

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