Five Letter Friday: Volume 18

This week flew by!

Preschool was a flurry of fun activities and crazy kiddos.

Tomorrow, I will spend the entire day at a high school marching band competition, which I will love.

It is 10:45 p.m on Friday and I am exhausted.

But before I go to bed, I have five letters from five wonderful children to share with you.

We start with a letter from Jonatan. I love when my kiddos get old enough to carry on a conversation through letters, including asking their own questions for me to answer.

Jonatan is 11 years old and lives in Colombia. His letter is dated September 7th, 2018.

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

I am so grateful to greet you and to hear from you. Thank you for telling me stories about Pinocchio and about the hen with the golden eggs. Pinocchio's story is very interesting because it teaches us that we must not lie. One of God's commandments is that we must not lie. I want to tell you that I went with my parents and my siblings to a park called Los Fundadores and we had a great time. Are there many parks in your country? What are their names? I attend the church at my project. It is called World Missionary Movement. What is the name of the church you go to? I give you the beautiful biblical promise in Matthew 19:14. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Up next is a letter from my name-twin, Keyla. As seems to be pretty popular lately, she has written to me on the My Hobbies and Pets template. 

Keyla is 8 years old, lives in Ecuador, and she wrote her letter on September 12th, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

1. My favorite hobby is: To play tag 

2. I enjoy my hobby with: My friends at church 

3. I practice my hobby on: Saturday and Sunday 

4. Do you have a pet? No, but I would like to have a cat someday. 

Please pray, dear sponsor Kayla, for my dad who is sick. I want to thank you for the letter you sent. I also say thank you for the story and the picture to color. I am fine and I send you all my love. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Next is a joyfully chatty letter from Ronaldo. It's been such a blessing getting to know this young man. I will certainly miss him when he graduates in just a few months. 

Ronaldo is 21 years old, lives in Colombia, and his letter was written on September 11th, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Kayla, 

How are you? May God bless you. I'm very happy to write to you. It is so good to hear the story of Jack and the magic beans. I also love the picture of the sun and moon you sent me to color. You make me relive my childhood! Kayla, I am health tutor at the project, but I am not actually with the children. I am in charge of keeping track of their medical check-up records. By the way, in the month of May, I had a routine medical check-up in the project and my mom was there with me. We were concerned because I was having some neck pain. The doctor prescribed some pills. We really liked knowing that it was nothing serious. Now that I am working at the project, I have realized how good it is to help others. I owe that much to you. May God reward you. Next time, could you tell me about some popular, fun event in your country? I ask you to pray for my family. I say goodbye to you sharing this verse with you from Proverbs 24:3. I love you. 

Ronaldo

________________________________________________________________________________

We move onto a letter from Nicol, who I think it quite an amazing writer for such a young child. I can't wait to get to know her more and more over the years. 

Nicol is 9 years old and lives in the Dominican Republic. Her letter is dated September 24th, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Dear Friend Kayla, 

May the love of God be with you. My family and I are fine and healthy. Thank God I'm doing well at school. I've improved my reading. I'm working hard at it. I'm doing well spiritually. I'm learning that sin separates us from God. It doesn't reflect God's image on us. It's hurricane season in my country and the climate is unstable. We are under the storm Isaac's warning and it is raining a lot. It causes flooding the vulnerable zones, but where I live isn't affected, thank God. Thank you for your letter and the beautiful story and pictures. Is there a storm warning in you country this year? I ask you to please pray for the flooding in the vulnerable areas. I say goodbye with love. 

Nicol

________________________________________________________________________________

We'll end today's post with a letter from Shakilla. Her letter is written on the My Holidays/School Break template. 

Shakilla is 6 years old and lives in Rwanda. Her letter is dated September 25th, 2018. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

1. My holiday/school breaks are in the months of: April, August, November, and December 

2. My school break last for: 2 weeks in the 1st and 2nd term and for 2 months during the 3rd term. 

3. My favorite thing to do during my holiday/school break is: Playing with others 

4. My favorite person to spend my holidays/school break with is: My older sister Uwase 

5. One thing I would like to during my holiday/school break is: Revising notes 

6. One person I would like to visit during my holidays/school break is: My grandmother 

Dear Kayla, 

Your sponsored child greets you in the name of Jesus. She and her family are fine. She thanks you for your letter, which was full of thoughtful words. She is in the 3rd term at school. She got 82% marks in the 1st term and 80% marks in the 2nd term. Pray for her to improve. Her family sends you greetings. 

Love, 

Shakilla

_________________________________________________________________________________

Five Letter Friday: Volume 10

Somehow, it's Friday.

I've spent every single free hour this week in my classroom, trying to get everything done for the preschool year to start.

I will never get everything done.

Open house is next Thursday.

Everything with not be done.

I will have to accept that.

But, the joy of letters never stops.

Here are our five letters for today:


We start with a letter from Joel, who seems to be doing wonderfully! I am hoping for great things in his future!

Joel is 17 years old, lives in Mexico, and his letter is dated June 9th.

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Dear Kayla, 

I want to thank you for writing to me and telling me nice stories that I enjoyed. In this letter, I want to tell you how I have been doing in school. These are my last days at school and very soon I'm going to take my admissions exam for university. I'm very happy because I have finished another goal in my life and with the help of God, I am ready to start a new challenge in my life. It will be one of the most difficult because I will have to leave my house and learn lots of new things. God willing, I hope to pass my exam and continue studying. Thank you for the present you sent me. With it, I was able to buy a pair of pants and two shirts. Please pray for my studies and my family, so we are exemplary Christians and for my sister and me to do well in school and that we are exemplary children for other people. I would like to ask you, what is summer like where you live? What do you do in your summer vacations? Where do you go to? Do you like sports? I want to thank you for being my sponsor and telling me great stories. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Onto a letter from another young adult, a letter from Lina. She had been studying nursing, but had to quit due to lack of funds. It sounds like things are difficult for her right now. I hope that God can show her what next steps to take in life. 

Lina is 19 years old, she is from Colombia, and she wrote this letter on July 4th, 2018. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

I greet you in our Lord Jesus's name. How are you? I want to tell you that there are still many problems between me and my grandmother. Things with my grandmother have not improved. Also, I cannot continue studying nursing and I can't get certification. Someday I would like to visit South Korea and learn about their culture and self-discipline. I would like to participate in contemporary dance. I would like to be like Job because he was a man of faith. I would like to meet and talk with you. I want to thank you for your support. I'd like to become a pediatrician. My dream is to help my family because we have hard times. I would be nice to improve our quality of life. What did you want to become when you were a child? I thank you again for your support and prayers. I ask you again to please pray for difficult situations that we have in our house. I will pray for you. Finally, I say goodbye and I wish you blessings. I give you the Bible verse Psalm 103:1-22. I send you a hug. 

Lina

________________________________________________________________________________

Up next is a letter from my girl Tamire. This template letter is titled My Family. Even though I've been writing to Tamire for quite awhile, I had no idea she had so many siblings! That's why I love these template letters! They teach us so much good information. 

Tamire is 8 years old, from Ethiopia, and her letter is dated July 24th, 2018. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

1. My siblings from oldest to youngest are: Amde, Diribe, Mabre, Bose, Zina, Shalo, Damno. 

2. In my family, I spend the most time with: Zina 

3. Extended family that live with me are: N/A

4. My family lives in: Town 

5. My food is prepared by: My sister Mabre and my mother

6. My favorite ways to help my family are: Cleaning the house & child care 

Please pray for my family. I received your letter and I liked the pictures you sent me. Thank you for sponsoring me. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Another letter from another lovely girl is up next. This time, a letter from Nicol. She is great at sharing details about her life! Her letters come off as so joyful. 

Nicol is 9 years old. She lives in the Dominican Republic. She wrote this letter on July 7th, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Hi! I am so happy to write to you again and I wish that God blesses you always. In my family, we are doing very well. In my studies I did very well. We got our reports and I passed to the next grade. in the center, I keep learning Bible stories and many other things. I want to share with you I'm on school vacation. We will soon have a trip to La Vega. I also plan to spend time playing with my friends. I give thanks for your love and prayers. What is your favorite sport? Please pray so the Lord helps me be more obedient. I bid you farewell. 

Nicol

_________________________________________________________________________________

Today's final letter is from my boy Dagim. I've been saying it a lot lately, but I am so glad I decided to send a popular children's story to my kids each month. I have been getting so many good responses. Storytelling really seems to be something that is universal. Everyone appreciates a good story. :) 

Dagim is 10 years old, lives in Ethiopia, and his letter is dated July 25th, 2018. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

My dear family, how are you doing? I'm doing very well with my family. I'm so glad and thankful for your letter. I love the story of The Ugly Duckling. I got a great lesson from it. I learned that I shouldn't judge my friends by their current status because I don't know what their future will be. Thank you very much for sharing such a nice story with me. Please pray that I can have a nice and successful future. I would be so happy if you would share more stories with me. Thank you very much for your prayers and financial support. I love you very much. Until the next letter, be well. Goodbye. 

Yours,

Dagim

_________________________________________________________________________________

Five Letter Friday Volume 1

At the super high rate that I've been receiving letters (I received 6 letters TODAY) and the super low rate of me actually finding the time/effort to actually get those letters posted, I'm going to make myself a set schedule. Because I like alliteration, I will be titling these posts Five Letter Fridays and Three Letter Tuesdays. 

8 letters posted a week. I know that sounds like a lot, but I seriously have 45 letters backed up that I haven't posted on my blog and even more that I haven't sat down to respond to (that's my project for this week...and probably several more weekends...). 

I love writing to my kids and I'm typically so on top of these things, but with my new full time job this summer and my extra events (small group, trivia, piano lessons, seeing my family) my weekdays are pretty much booked. 

So, without further ado, let's begin our first Five Letter Friday! 

The first letter in this series comes from Ernest, who is 12 years old, and lives in Ghana. His letter is dated March 7th, 2018. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

Ernest says he thanks God for bringing you into his life. He says he has learnt about Jonah at the project. He says he helps his parents with household chores. He asks you to pray for him to be brilliant in his studies. He says may God shower blessings on your life. He shares John 14:14, "If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." 

________________________________________________________________________________

Our next letter comes from my girl Ayling. I will be joining her project in prayer for the ability to build classrooms! 

Ayling is 11 years old and lives in Nicaragua. Her letter is dated March 22nd, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

I hope that you are healthy with your family. I thank you for continually supporting me. God bless you. I want to tell you that I am close to finishing private school and will be in secondary school soon. I just finished Easter week vacation. I want to know what your favorite color is. Answering your question, I want to tell you have we have classes under some awnings and when it rains, we have classes in the church. We are praying for a donor to help us build some classrooms. Thank you for the picture that you sent me. I will be praying for God to help you to lose some weight (I asked her to pray for this. She's not being mean.) Also I want to tell you that I participate in an evangelistic campaign. We give pamphlets around the neighborhood and invite many kids to attend the campaign. I ask you to pray for the campaign. I say goodbye, sending you kisses and hugs. 

With Love, 

Ayling

________________________________________________________________________________

Up next is a sweet letter from sweet Nicol, who lives in the Dominican Republic. She is 9 years old and she wrote this letter on April 28th, 2018. 

________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Kayla, 

May God bless you! My family and I are very well, thank God! I am doing well in school. The school year is almost over and summer vacation is coming. In the center, I continue learning about God and his Word. I want to tell you that the Spring started on March 21st. This is a beautiful season of the year as the landscape changes and it becomes beautiful. Thank you for your love, prayers, letters, and family photos. Thank you for your nice stories about the three goats and Little Red Riding Hood with the nice pictures. Answering your questions; my favorite activity to do is homework. The names of my family members are Yosanna, Nicolas, Jesus, and Fernando. We have a private hospital where I live and they fixed the streets. It is much better. When is your birthday? I ask you to pray for my family. 

Love,

Nicol 

________________________________________________________________________________

This next letter is a form letter from my girl Marilyn. In this letter, she is answering questions about what things are like in her home. 

She also received a financial gift from her financial sponsor and I received a nice photo of what she was able to buy. 

Marilyn is 8 years old and is from El Salvador. Her letter is dated May 22nd, 2018. 

_______________________________________________________________________________

1. I sleep in: A bed 

2. My house is built of: Adobe 

3. We get light from: Electricity/Lightbulbs 

4. We get water from: A tap at home 

5. We cook with: A fire/wood stove 

Marilyn greets you Kayla in our Lord Jesus' name. Marilyn hopes that you are very blessed by our almighty God. Marilyn says thank you for the gift you sent her and also her family thanks you because they were able to buy beans, rice, sugar, cooking oil, soap, shampoo, and a mattress. Marilyn asks you to pray that God keeps her safe. Marilyn says goodbye with love. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

Last but not least, the last letter of this post is from Baraka, who is writing to me on the My School/Holiday Break template. I've shared this template from other of my kids from this country. It's a pretty great template, I think. 

Baraka is 9 years olds, from Kenya, and he wrote this letter on April 21st, 2018. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

1. There are three school breaks/holiday each year. 

2. They are in the months of: April, August, and December 

3. My school break normally lasts for: 4 weeks 

4. During my holiday/school break I normally: Help my parents 

5. During my school break, I love to: Ride a bicycle 

6. My favorite activity during my school breaks is: Reading story books 

7. My favorite person to spend time with during school breaks is: My siblings 

8. One thing I wold like to do someday during my school break is: Visit my sponsor 

9. One person I would like to meet during my school break in the future is: My sponsor 

10. In the future I would like to visit The United States during my school break. 

Baraka greets you in Jesus' name. He thanks you for the letter you sent him. He appreciates your support and wishes you God's blessing in your endeavors. 

_________________________________________________________________________________

A Whole Group of New Girls!

Over the last month or so, four new girls have joined my Compassion family! I am so excited to introduce you to:

Keyla from Ecuador

Mariza from Nicaragua

Yeraini from Dominican Republic 

Nicol from Dominican Republic

I am so excited to get to know these sweet girls!