Eric is Right on Schedule!

I's been a bit of a slower week here, with only one post from me. I'm sorry for that, but there just hasn't been much going on here lately. I posted my first Honduras post and have the next one planned and my mailbox has been empty, until today that is!

Since I started corresponding with Eric he has always written me a letter every three months or so. I last heard from him on June 4th, and then again today. That makes it less than 3 months this time. Hooray!

Eric started out a pretty quiet, closed, shy, and not very confident guy. Over this last year and a half, he has really opened up and seems to really think he can do well in life. I am so proud to get to see his confidence rise as he learns more at his Compassion project and as he starts to believe more in himself as he's grown into adulthood.

I am so grateful for Compassion and for God for pairing me with Eric. What a special young man he is. Here is his letter:

(I've noticed that Eric writes in first person, as far as I can tell, and the translator doesn't directly translate his words, but instead changes it to third person. I find that very interesting.)

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Dear Kayla, 

Eric sends his love greetings in Jesus' name. He says that he is extremely happy for you especially the support and love towards him. Eric loves you so much and says that he is so proud of you. Eric adds that you have improved his standard of living. 

He appreciates so much for the money he received equivalent to 200,400 F. Eric says he was able to buy a school uniform, shoes, a sweater, t-shirts, clothes for his young brother, and also food at home. He says thank you so much and that may God reward you for the generous heart. 

Eric says that he is reading hard inside to improve his studies. He will continue praying for you. 

Eric says that it's summer season and with a lot of wind. He asks that how is weather over there? What are you doing these days? 

Eric ends by wishing you the best in whatever you do. Thank you so much. 

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Honduras Tuesday: Champions of the King

Before I begin, I want to tell you that all photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. 

When I sat and thought about how I should start updating about my Honduras trip, I decided to start at the very heart of what Compassion International is.

Compassion exists to help children in poverty. That is why this organization was created over 60 years ago. The main focus of Compassion always has been and always will be on the children.

On the very first morning of our trip, we traveled to a local Compassion project. The project we visited was HO-372: Los Campeones del Rey. This translates to Champions of the King.

This is exactly what these children are. They are Champions of the King. They are fiercely and unimaginably loved by God. And guess what? They totally know it! These kids live in the most horrible of conditions. They live in homes made made of iron sheets and cardboard boxes. They eat when they can. They don't always feel safe at home. They may or may not have shoes on their feet or the best clothes on their body, but they completely and utterly love God and know that He is in control of their lives.

When our bus pulled up in front of the project, we were immediately surrounded and greeted by sweet, beautiful faces. I was hugged by children almost instantly. No shyness. Just love.

(Photo Credit goes to the Schmitt Family)

We were ushered into the church at the project and asked to sit down. We were introduced by the pastor of the church and then we shared in a time of worship with the children and some of the parents. I have never in my life seen a child praise God with their eyes closed and their hands up. It was beautiful. 

After worship, we were invited to the courtyard area of the project. Here, we were greeted even more with some great dance performances. A group of girls performed a dance they had created and then a group of children did some traditional dances for us. Let me tell you, it was over 100 degrees outside at this point, but I would not have moved from my spot if you had paid me. I loved watching these children dance.

When the dancing was done, we did what children know best. We played! We played and we played and we played. We had various ball games going on, we blew bubbles, we played with stickers, we smiled, we laughed, we took pictures, we did group dances, and we just let the love pour out. We did all of this without really talking to each other. The language difference doesn't matter at all when you're playing. Fun crosses all language barriers.

After a wonderful morning of so much fun, it was time to gather inside to settle down a little bit and have some lunch. Each child received a nutritious lunch and a special drink full of vitamins and minerals. For some of the children, this may have been the only meal they would receive that day. 

After lunch, it was time for the children to start making their way home for the day. Some of the children were picked up from the center by their parents. The children that lived closer, started their walks home. Even better, some children stayed. I learned that the children are asked to stay for the few hours in the morning for activities, but they can stay longer. The staff at the project won't ask them to leave yet, if they are not ready to go home. I do wonder how many children typically stay. I think the group of boys who chose to stay were mainly just interested in watching us. They sat on the stairs and watched us eat lunch and talk for about an hour. 

After seeing this project and learning more about it in our group meeting after the children left, I am even more grateful for Compassion and the work that they do. They really are interested in every area of development for each child. Each child's progress physically, emotionally, socially, academically, and spiritually is tracked in detail. Anything they can possibly need, is provided, and noted in their file. It's just amazing how much the small staff at the project is able to accomplish. They truly love these kids. 

There are still children at this project, HO-372, who are waiting for sponsors. I brought back home one packet for a little girl from this project. I encourage you to take the details you have just read about this project and to look at the photos of all of the good that is happening here, and prayerfully consider sponsoring this little cutie. 

I want you to meet Debora: 

I sponsored Debora. Yay! 

A Info Packed Letter from Jhon!

This is the 3rd and final letter I received while I was on my tour in Honduras. It's always so nice to come home to a full mailbox after a trip away from home.

In this letter, Jhon is answering my questions about his project, school, etc. I love how much he told me in this letter. Jhon is such a great guy. He writes just about every two months, which is absolutely ideal, according to Compassion's standards.

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Hello Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

Greetings in the peace of the Lord! Thanks for sending me the letter, photo, and stickers. About your questions, my house is made of Duralit (?) material. I live with my family and I sleep in the only bed. Yes, there is electricity in my home. We receive water through a water bomb (?). In Bolivia, there are many works in different part of Bolivia. People travel my plane, bus, train, or driving. In my project there are 350 children and young adults. The traditional food in our community is called Majadito (rice, dried meat, eggs, and bananas) and Churrasco (BBQ meat on skewers). I go to school by walking because my school is almost in front of my house physically. The subject which is hard for me is math. I go to school wearing a uniform. Also in my school I stay in classes for 4 hours and I like to play soccer at school. In my classroom there are 40 students. I think your turtle should be named Linda and if it's a male, Cars. I have a dog as a pet, but it doesn't know how to do anything. It just takes care of my house and her name is Princess. Everything is going on well in my life thanks to my parents and to God. I'm regular at school. I pray for you and your family's well-being and job. God keep you and your angel. Well, I say goodbye in the peace of the Lord. God bless your family! 

With Love,
Jhon

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Letters from my Indian Boys!

While I was in Honduras, I received a few letters from some of my kiddos. Today, I want to share the letters I received from Sandesh and Sagar, my sponsored boys from India. For some reason, the letter I got from Sandesh was written in December. I think it may actually be his very first letter. Isn't it odd how first letters sometimes get lost in the mail and show up so many months later?

Anyway, here is the letter:

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Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you in Jesus name. I am writing this letter on behalf of Sandesh. He is 9 years old. He study in 4th standard. His father's name is Sunil and mother's name is Maya. 

He like this project very much. He like to study and he is interested in singing and biblical story activities. 

He is a very good boy and he is regularly doing studies and prayer. Sandesh goes to school everyday. His family member is 6. 

He like to learn many biblical verses. Thank you for all your support and help and also for your prayers, on behalf of Sandesh. 

Your's in Christ

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This next letter, from Sagar, is a very informative letter. His project is, yet again, doing wonderful things in his life and in the lives of the other children. I am continually amazed and happy to read about the positive change. I feel so blessed that God has chosen me to be a part of the lives of this project, through Sagar. 

In this letter, Sagar shared his daily schedule with me, which is so exciting!

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Dear Sponsor Kayla,

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

I am so happy to write this letter to you! How are you? Thank you very much for your letters. Please pray for me increasing my faith on God. I want to become as like Daniel. 

Every day I wake up at 6:00 a.m. I take my bath and eat my breakfast. I leave for school at 7 a.m. My school time is 7 a.m to 12 p.m. I eat my lunch and going for project center everyday until 4 p.m. I sit in the shop for sale until 8 p.m. I eat dinner and sit for a study. I take time praying to God and the I go to bed. This is my schedule time everyday. 

Every I am going to project center, learning gospel songs and stories. In my project center they teach me curriculum activities. From the subject of physical development we have learned lesson number 1. We learn Genesis 1:27. They give me school bag, dress clothes, books and notebooks, and raincoat. It's very good. I have attended medical camp at my project center and they checked my blood group and HIV test. They give me well balanced diet foods. It's a very good diet. I am so happy to say about my project center. 

God bless you and your family. Thinking of you! 

Your Loving Child,

Sagar

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A First Letter from Domenik! (With a quick update)

Hello Everyone!

I am officially back from Honduras. I had a wonderful time and experienced many amazing things. Please stay tuned for a new blog series. I will be posting a blog post about Honduras every Tuesday, starting next week. When I had many hours to spend in various airports yesterday, I planned out an 8 part series. So, 8 weeks of blog posts. Get excited!

Anyway, onto the meaning behind today's post. I received a first letter from Domenik. It took 4 months for this letter to get to me, which is the longest I've had to wait for an Albanian letter. I figured out by reading this particular letter, that another one had been sent previously and I never received it. I hope it makes it way to me someday!

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Dear Kayla, 

I received your letter, your gift, and the card. When we saw your photo, I was with my mother, and when she saw it she said, "She has an angelic face and smile." (Heart melting already!). We loved them and I will send you some of my photos along with my mother. As I told you in my first letter, I have my mother, my father, my sister, and my grandparents. My mother does not work because she takes care of my little sister. My father helps my grandparents at the store, because we have a small grocery store. My father is 31 years old and my mother is 23 (She had Domenik when she was 17 years old). I am 6 years old and I will get in the 1st grade. My sister is 1 year old. My mother is writing the letter because I am little. We are all happy to get to know you so we would love to get to know you more. I was born in Greece and we lived there for three years and my mother knows Greek. I hope that you will write to me again so our friendship will be long. 

Domenik

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Happy Birthday Eric!

Today is Eric's 18th birthday! It's a pretty big day in a young man's life when he turns 18 years old. I'm not sure if the law is the same in Uganda, but in my eyes, I suppose I have to stop calling Eric my sponsored "child", since...well...he's an adult now. Is it weird to call him my sponsored "man". Haha. Yeah, that sounds weird.

Either way, I pray birthday blessings over Eric today.

Dear Eric, 

I hope that you are having an absolutely wonderful day today! I hope you woke up this morning with excitement for your birthday. I hope you know how much you are loved and appreciated by your family, by your friends, by me, and most importantly, by God. 

God has certainly made you into a wonderful young man. I know that God has many big plans for you and your life. I will continue to pray that God blesses you and your family with abundant grace. 

I hope you get to do something special for your birthday. Maybe your mother will make you your favorite meal today. Maybe you'll have time to spend with your friends. Maybe you get to even have a party! Whatever you get to do, I'm hoping that you have a wonderful birthday. 

Love, 

Kayla  

Letters to My Kids: July 2013

I completely forgot to post letters for June or July. I'm sorry, I know that some of you really enjoy using the ideas I post on here. 

Well, I'm sad to say that I will not be sharing my June letters with you. The online writing system that Compassion has only shares the last 3 letters you write to the kids and there aren't any remaining from June. And, I don't keep a typed record of what I handwrite, at all. 

But! You're in luck, because I am going to share the letter I wrote in July!

I wrote it on July 4th. I wanted to write it on Independence Day, so the kids would know that I was writing it on the day I was celebrating. I got this letter idea (and pretty much copied parts of it exactly) from Jill over at Compassion Family . Here is the letter: 

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How are you? I am so thankful to have this opportunity to write another letter to you. It is summer here in our country and during this season we celebrate the independence of our country. Our national holiday is July 4th and everywhere you look you see red, white and blue - the colors of our flag. People celebrate independence day by spending time with their families and by setting off fireworks. I've always loved watching fireworks, since I was a little child.

My country is divided into 50 different states. I put a map of my country on the bottom of this letter? That map shows you the 50 states. Our flag has 50 stars on it to represent these 50 states. I put a picture of our flag on the letter too. I thought I would share some interesting facts about my country with you.

Sports - Our popular sports include football, baseball and basketball.
Food - All American food includes hamburgers, hot dogs and french fries. We also like our soda (Coke).
People - Our country is made up of people from all over the world. There are very few native Americans compared to those who immigrated here and had descendants.
Cities - Our biggest cities include New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and our capital city is Washington, D. C.
Landscape - In our country we have forests, mountains, volcanoes, deserts, plains and coastline.
Agriculture - We grow many things in our country including apples, corn, wheat, cotton and hay.
Animals - Some of the animals native to our country include deer, black bear, raccoons, beavers, skunks and alligators.

I hope you enjoyed reading a little bit about my country. If you have any questions or want to know more about something, please ask me.

When is your country's independence day?

-Kayla

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A Letter and Photos from Fongwin!

Isn't it so great to get a letter from a sponsored child in the mail? I am beyond blessed to have these children in my lives. 

Today, I got a letter from Fongwin and attached to the letter was a family photo (!) and a photo of Fongwin with a big smile on his face. (! again). 

Here is what Fongwin wrote? 

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Dear Kayla, 

Hello sir (Haha. Oops). I am very glad to write you again. Thank you so much for always supporting me and thinking of me. My family and I are fine. I hope that you and your family are doing well. I go to school everyday. I wear the school uniform when I go to school. There is one day in a week that I have to wear the Boy Scout uniform. My mother sends me to school everyday because my home is not far from school. I like to study mathematics. I am not good at science. I have a close friend. His name is Pee. I like to play with him everyday. My teacher's name is Ms. Wilawan. 

My family has taken a family picture for you. Please find the enclosed picture. 

Are there a lot of naughty students at your school? What is your favorite activity? What is your favorite kind of sport? 

Please kindly pray for my study. May God bless you forever. 

Love in Christ, 

Thawatchai (Fongwin)

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News from Gemechu!

Gemechu is my lovely correspondent boy who is sponsored by a company of some sort. I'm not sure what kind of company it is, but I know that somebody from this company has gone to Ethiopia and met with Gemechu and his family. In this letter, Gemechu mentions meeting George, which I'm assuming is the man that went to visit him. This company is also sending large amounts of money to him on a regular basis, which I think is wonderful. Gemechu's family has been able to build a new home with the money that has been sent to them.

With this letter, I got a picture of the progress on his home. Gemechu tells me that it isn't finished yet. I think it's looking great!

Here's the letter:

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Dear Kayla,

How are you doing beloved sponsor? Praise be to God that my family and I are fine. I write this letter after I completed formal class. Now we are in break time. I've received all of the letter you sent me. Thanks! When I read your letter, I knew that you were ill. I was so worried and so were my family. And we prayed to God to heal you. (I feel horrible! There must have been a mis-translation somewhere. I don't recall telling my kids that I was sick. I don't remember when I was sick. I didn't mean to make them worry so much!) I think you are better now, because I could see the photograph you were taken at your uncle's wedding. I can't tell you details about the marriage custom in our area. (Is it a secret or does he not know?) 

I like the story of the Good Samaritan. I like playing soccer. I have received your letters that require 8 answers: 

1. I enjoy when I learn, play, or work at home. (What makes you happy?)

2. I get angry when my parents quarrel. (What makes you sad/angry?)

3. I get scared when I see a chameleon. (What are you afraid of? I love this answer!)

4. I always like drawing and painting pictures (Probably: What do you like to do?)

5. I use my right hand to write. (What hand do you write with?)

6. I got to bed at 4:00 and get up at 12:00 (Hmm...this answer is odd to me)

7. The same as you do (Vague answer. I looked up the list of questions he is answering and saw that I said, "I think that I look like my dad. Which parent do you look like. He must look like his dad too.)

8. Soccer is my favorite (What's your favorite sport?)

I have received *money amount* last March and bought roof cover & wall frames with *money amount* and spent *money amount* for the carpenter. With the *money amount* I received in April, we have bought other things for the house. The house has been constructed already, but it is not finished yet. George has seen it and I was pleased. May God bless you. 

- Gemechu\

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A Surprise Letter from Celeste!

I was completely shocked to get a letter from Celeste today, as I just heard from her on July 9th. But, of course, I am so happy to hear from here. Especially since I will be seeing her in less than two weeks.

I am so pumped!

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Hello Dear Sponsor, 

I hope that you are in good health with your family. When I grow up, I want to be a teacher and I'm studying a lot so I can become a teacher. We just received our report car and I did well. Thank God. My parents congratulated me on doing well. Could you do me a big favor? Please pray for my grandfather because he is sick. I pray for him every day that he gets better so he can be here with us. Do you have a pet? I'm so grateful for the letters you sent me. I like the story of the Prodigal Son. I will read it at night. I'm very happy when my teacher tells me that there is a letter for me. We celebrate Holy Week here and we go out swimming and have a good time. 

Celeste

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