Another Long Post of Letters!

I have to say, I am quite getting used to all of these letters. I was expecting a slowdown this month, after receiving so many letters last month, but that has not been the case. So far, this year, I've heard from nearly all 55 of my kids, some even twice! I can't say I hate that. :)

I was going to split this post up, but I decided not to. So, without further ado, I share five letters!

First up, a letter from my sweet Nandini. This month, most of the letters I receive are mentioning how Christmas was celebrated and that is always fun to hear.

Nandini is 10 years old and lives in East India. Her letter is dated December 24th, 2015.

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Dear Supporter, 

Greetings to you in the sweet name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I am fine with my family. I hope and pray that you re also fine over there. Thank you for sending the photographs of Gage and Chloe. I am very happy about that. Thank you for the Christmas card. Thank you very much for your love, prayers, and support. We had celebrated Christmas in our center. We had songs, dance, and a message about Christmas. We had AIDS Awareness day and many people became aware about the disease. Thank you for contacting me through letters. Please pray for my bright future. 

Your Loving Child,

Nandini

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Onto a letter from Allison, my sweet smiley girl! She doesn't seem to like to write letters, too much, but I can sometimes get a nice detail or two in each letter. Maybe she'll grow to like writing someday. 

Allison is 11 years old and lives in Ecuador. She wrote her letter on November 15th, 2015. 

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Dear Sponsor, 

I say hello to you in the name of Jesus. How have you been? I'm very glad to write you this letter. I have been praying for you. Referring to your question, yes, we do have a summer Bible school. I thank you for the present you sent me. I would like to know something else about your church. As you know, I am going to celebrate my birthday on November 25th. It has been very nice to have a friend like you. Not having anything else to tell you about, I will say goodbye to you now, in the name of Jesus. 

Allison

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Next, a letter from Fongwin. He has a great financial sponsor who always sends him money for extra gifts. But, it's always a mystery what Fongwin buys with this money. He never tells me, but chooses to keep it general. For example, "stuff" or "things". Boys, eh? 

Fongwin is 12 years old and lives in Thailand. His letter is dated January 11th, 2016. 

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Dear Kayla, 

Hello. I am very happy to write to you again. Thank you very much for thinking of me. Thank you for the family gift you sent me. I spent the money and bought things we need. My family and I are doing well. How are you and your family? We are in winter time and it is cold. Is it cold in your country? During Christmas time, we had so much fun. The project had a Christmas party and there were many activities for us to enjoy. I got a gift of new clothes. I thank the project very much. My studies are going well. I would like you to pray for my studies and for my health. May God protect you. 

Love in Christ, 

Fongwin

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Now we cross over into the big kids. :) A letter from Jose. He also tells me of his Christmas celebration (upcoming in this letter). He seems so excited! 

Jose is 17 years old and lives in Peru. He wrote this letter on November 30th, 2015. 

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Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

I greet you with a big hug and kiss. I hope you're in good health. First of all, I want to thank you for the letter you sent and the pictures are very nice. I want to tell you that we do have a Vacation Bible School for the children. It's called EBDV (Escuela Biblia de Vacaciones). It's in January and February. We sing and do bible contests and it's very fun. We have a beadwork workshop and silk-screening. I can't wait for Christmas to celebrate with my parents and siblings. We have fruitcake with hot chocolate. We're going to a youth camp with the church on the 26th, for a week. I'd like to know: How do you celebrate Christmas? I ask you to pray for me and my family. I say bye with a hug and a kiss. 

Jose

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Last, but not least, a long letter from Emanuel. He always writes more than a page to me. It's always nice to get a letter with another page stapled to it. 

Emanuel is 19 years old and lives in Tanzania. His letter is dated December 5th, 2015. 

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Dear Kayla, 

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. I am doing well together with my family. I hope you are fine and are doing well together with your family. I would like to inform you that I have completed form 4 and I hope to continue with my studies in form 5. I thank you so much for the letters you sent to me. I liked them very much. 

In your letter, you told me about moon eclipses and I was so happy to know about it and in this process there are two shades, white and black. I was so happy because I have never seen a moon eclipse taking place. 

In another letter, you told me about your church. I am happy to hear about all the news. I would like to tell you about my church. We go to church every Sunday and we have two sessions. The 1st service starts at 8:00 a.m am, up to 10:00 a.m. The 2nd service starts at 11:00 a.m, up to 12:00 p.m. In both services we have time to praise and worship God and then our pastor preaches the word of God. I would like to give you my memory verse from Psalm 102:1. "Hear my prayer, oh Lord, let my cry for help come to you." 

I also thank you for all the letters and gifts which you've sent to me. I was very happy and I liked them all. With the money gift you sent I was able to buy shoes, which I will wear on my birthday, which will be on January 4th and I will turn 19 years old. I was also happy to know the age of Abbas and that he likes art. 

May God bless you and give you good health every day. 

Emanuel

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I Love Photo Updates!

These kids just keep growing up, don't they?

Sweet Ernest from Ghana

Handsome Elias from Ethiopia

Illuminating Letters from India!

I tried to go for alliteration with the title, but I think it takes more than just two words that start with the same letter. Oh well. I'll stick with it.

Over the last few days, I've received 7 letters! I know, so exciting! Four of those letters were from some of my kids in India. I will share all of those letters with you today, in this post. Reading these letters, I've realized just how much my Indian kiddos are growing up. I've been writing to most of them for years. It's great to see them progress.

To start, a letter from Sadiya. She is 12 years old. Her letter is dated January 1st, 2016.

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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 fine. I received your letter and I am very happy to learn about lunar eclipses. I thank you very much. You told me about them. My studies are going well. We have cold weather. We celebrated Christmas and new year here well. Me and my family received gifts from our project. We got a blanket and a bed sheet. I am very happy to have received it. Please pray for me. I will pray for you. 

Yours Lovingly, 

Sadiya

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Onto a letter from Khushi. She is the first of my children to mention the "Fathers Love Letter" that I sent to several of my kids last year. 

Khushi is 12 years old. Her letter was written on November 24th, 2015. 

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My Dear Friend Kayla, 

Greetings. Thank you so much for all the wonderful letters that I received from you. I have been learning many things about you. Your work is about God. Through you, in one of the letters, I can see Celeste. She is so sweet. Thank you for introducing me to her. I am praying for her. I know you are praying for me and love me so much. I love you too. I also received the "Father's Love Note". I enjoyed everything. Here, I am doing well. My friends and family are all good. Yes, I can see God in my teachers. God is being with me in difficult times. He is with me when I am sad. When I walk, he protects me. We are preparing for our upcoming Christmas program. I am learning some new songs for Jesus. Last bible summer camp was a great time of learning, sharing, and blessing. My school is going well. Yes, I passed with very good marks last year. I am thankful to God. Thank you for sharing children's photos. The pictures tell a lot about your caring and loving heart for people. This is the season for lots of weddings in my village and surrounding villages. It is also a time of noise on loud speakers, which I don't like much. I don't like too much noise, but it is only for two days. I enjoyed your sticker and letters. God bless you. 

Your Khushi

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Next, a letter from my sweet boy Kalpesh. He was one of my very first correspondent kids, when I first learned about the correspondent program. I can't believe this year will be 4 years since I started writing to him. I love him so very much. 

Kalpesh is 13 years old. His letter is dated December 2nd, 2015. 

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Dearest Kayla, 

Family greetings to you in the Holy name of Jesus Christ from me and my family. Once again, I am very happy to write this letter to you. Thanks to the Lord by this precious opportunity to share with you. I'm very happy to receive your lovely letters with a beautiful greeting card and stickers. I'm very glad to get your letter and I am thankful for that and your best wishes. By the Lord's grace and through your valuable prayers, we are doing very fine. We hope and pray that you are also doing well over there. My school and study is going well. 

There was a state level Kho-Kho competition in the month of September. We participated and we were "runners-up" in the tournament. Very soon, our first semester exam is going to happen so I am studying very hard. Please keep praying for my studies and my family. We also keep praying for your job. 

Once again, thank you very much for doing everything for me. May God bless you and give you good health. Take care. 

With Love,

Kalpesh 

A game of Kho-Kho. It's a very fast, energetic game that resembles tag. 

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Lastly, a letter from Swapna. She is such a lovely, young lady. Every letter from her is a true treasure. 

Swapna is 18 years old. She wrote this letter on January 5th, 2016. 

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Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for your love and care. I am glad to receive your letter. I hope you are keeping well by the grace of God. I want to another Compassion center for "child protection policy" and career guidance training. We enjoyed it a lot there. There, we saw a river and a forest. We spent some time by the river. We celebrated our Christmas program on the 12th and 13th of December in our center. I wish you an advanced merry Christmas. We also observed the lunar eclipse here, but the moon was looking for reddish yellow color. I had studied about lunar eclipses in grade seven. Thanks a lot for the scripture verse. You are God's wonderful worker. Now, here it is the winter season. What about your country? I always pray for you. Please pray for me and write again to me. I wish you a happy new year. 

With Thanks,

Your Sponsored Child,

Swapna

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Two Letters from Abu!

I was happily surprised to receive these letters today! It's only March and I've already heard from him more than I heard in 2015. That's certainly a yay for me!

In Abu's center, the children don't write their own letters, but a family member or tutor writes for them. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but whatever works, I suppose. These letters were written by Abu's uncle. The letters aren't dated, but it seems that they were written before Christmas.

Abu is 13 years old and lives in Sierra Leone.

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Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

Abu said he was very pleased with your letter you wrote to him. Both grandparents are very well. Very soon, school will be closed and he is in grade 4 and by next year, 2016, he will be in grade 5, if he will be promoted. 

Abu said they have a female girls team in Bagbo (Really, I have no idea what this means). All of them are in school. He said he wants to see your children in Bible School. Thank you for everything you are doing. 

Your Child,
Abu

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Dear Sponsor Kayla, 

Abu, with his grandparents, thank you for your letter you wrote. They said they are all well and he said they are now having Christmas holidays. He was promoted to grade 5. 

He said they are all well and World Vision tried it's best to beat and stop Ebola in the community. They said that they are always praying for you and your new job, that it keeps you busy. Please don't forget about him, he said. Abu's friends and grandparents are praying for you. Thank you Kayla! 

Your Child,
Abu

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3 Days, 3 Boys

Okay, so it's been a bit of a whirlwind of correspondent kids for me! In the last three days, I've received three new boys!

Okay, so first, I received Haji. He was completely expected. With my Lazarus graduating, I asked to be put on the waiting list for a new boy to take his place. I only had to wait a couple of weeks and I was assigned 13 year old Haji, who lives in Tanzania.

Just one day later, a fellow correspondent sponsor posted a child on a Facebook page, asking for somebody to take over writing to one of her boys. I had zero intention of adding another child, but when I saw his little, angry scowl (my weakness), I just couldn't pass it up. So, along came 8 year old Degewa, who lives in Ethiopia. 

Then today, I got a call from Compassion. I knew it was going to be the official call about Lazarus graduating from the program, which it was. The woman on the phone was so nice and our conversation went like this: 

Compassion Rep: "I am calling to let you know that your child Lazarus has completed the program."

Me: "I was expecting this phone call. I knew he had graduated this month." 

Compassion Rep: "We'll go ahead and give you another child to write to in Lazarus's place." 

Me: "Oh, I actually put myself on the waiting list a few weeks ago to get a new child in his place, and I've already been assigned to a new child." 

Compassion Rep: "Oh...well 16 year old Daniel has already been assigned to your account, so I will go ahead and remove him." 

Me: "Wait! Since he's already there, I'll keep him. I already write to over 50 kids, what's one more, right?" 

Compassion Rep: "*laughing* I saw that you wrote to so many, that's great! Thanks for writing to Daniel!"

So...I now welcome Daniel, from Kenya, to the family, as well: 

I firmly believe that every child that I'm assigned to or feel led to add to my family is a nudge from God. There is no way I could let that Compassion rep remove Daniel from my account. 

There you have it, my story of getting 3 boys in 3 days. I keep saying my family is full and things like this keep happening. Guess it's not as full as I think it is...

Maybe I will hit 100 kids someday. 

Christmas Around the World

I have another two letters to share with you. In these letters, both kids talked about Christmas (after Christmas and just before Christmas, respectively), which I'm always happy to hear about. It's so fun to hear about how our sponsored kids celebrate Christmas, isn't it? 

First up, a letter from my sweet girl, Sagitaria. I love how expressive she is in this letter! She obviously really loves Christmas! Of course, I love when she calls me "Mama". :) 

Sagitaria is 12 years old and lives in Indonesia. She wrote this letter on December 28th, 2015. 

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Dear Kayla, 

Shalom, mama Kayla. I wish you a Merry Christmas. May Christmas this year bring joy to your family to welcome Jesus Christ. Let Christmas trees, fireworks, and the dazzling lights decorate Christmas so we feel no grief nor sorrow. May joy always be in your heart, mama dearest! I too had Christmas at the center. My heart leapt in joy and excitement to listen to the songs and perform the dances. Mama, I thank you for the money gift for Christmas. I bought new clothes and shoes. May Lord Jesus bless your family in America. I look forward to your reply, mama. God bless you. 

Love, 

Sagitaria

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The other letter I received was from Alexander, who turns out, doesn't like to be called Alexander anymore. Name change! He now prefers to go by his first name (he was previously going by his middle name). Now I need to make the change in my head. I've decided to called him Carlos Alexander, for now, get used to that, and then just call him Carlos. Baby steps. Haha! 

A lot of things in this letter seem like they are from an introduction letter. I wonder if his project made him write an updated version? Also, he says that he has 3 siblings. I only know about 2, so I guess his mom had a new baby! 

Carlos is 15 years old and lives in Honduras. His letter is dated December 14th, 2015. 

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Hello dear sponsor Kayla, 

How are you? I am very well. I like to be called Carlos. I am the first of four children in my family. My height is 157.2 centimeters (5 ft. 1 in. That's pretty short, right?). My hair color is brown. My eye color is black. One chore I'm good at is mopping. I really like to do homework. When I grow up, I want to be a teacher. What makes a school good is having good teachers, having a good environment, having good desks and blackboards, and having air conditioning. I will be a school teacher when I grow up. I like Christmas because I spend it with my family and I like to talk about Christmas. Your Christmas gift is beautiful. I say goodbye with love and hugs. I thank you for your letter and I ask you to pray for me and my family. 

Carlos Alexander

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First Sunday Advocate: March 2016

Happy March! It's time, again, to share with you some kids that needs sponsors! All of these beautiful children attend projects with my kids and they very well could be friends. If you decide to sponsor one of these lovely children, let me know, and I can tell you what I know about the project.

Under each picture, I will list the child's age and name. In parenthesis next to that, I will put the name of the child that I have in that project. If want to, you can click on that child's picture and be connected to information about their project and letters I have received from them.

Luis is sponsored! 

Sweet Esmeralda has been sponsored!

7 year old Jessenia from EC-261 (Veronica)

18 year old Seble from ET-513 (Enatenesh)

Abedi was sponsored! 

Handsome Steve has been sponsored!

Pavan has been sponsored! 

11 year old Ritesh from IN-868 (Sagar)

7 year old Dorcas from KE-784 (Faith)

Sweet, Baby Mercy has found a sponsor!

First Letters of March

Hey everyone! I opened my mailbox and saw two letters Whoo hoo!

Up first, a letter from Sagar. He writes his own letters in English now! He definitely has the handwriting of a teenager boy, though. It's hard to read. Apparently, he also doesn't know about punctuation. Not a period in sight. Just one, long run-on sentence. Haha. But, I will input the periods where they are meant to go. You know, just to help the guy out a little bit.

Sagar is 13 years old and lives in India. His letter is dated November 5th, 2015.

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Dear Kayla, 

Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. I send you a big hello from India in the wonderful of of Jesus Christ. I am so happy to write this letter to you today. I love you very much. I'm hoping that you and your family are healthy and are growing in your walk with the Lord. I love receiving your letters and pictures. Which season is going on in your city? Thank you so much for your love and support. I am regularly going to school. My semester exam is over. It was very easy. (Smarty pants!) Now, here in India, we had Diwali festival, while we have a long holiday. I am regularly attending the project center. It has been providing me with a balanced diet of food. My family is very thankful to you. I like Jesus songs and stories. I am very thankful for your prayers and blessings. I am regularly praying for you and your family. 

Your Loving Child,

Sagar

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The other letter I received was from Nikko. I love all of the details he shares in his letter. From reading this letter, it seems that Nikko attends a pretty great school. They go to some fun places! I looked it up and Shoe Mart (which he references in his letter) is the name a local mall, near him. It appears that there is a movie theater in this mall. :) 

Nikko is 17 years old and lives in the Philippines. His letter is dated December 29th, 2015. 

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Dear Ms. Kayla, 

Hi, my friend! How are you? Here in Philippines, I'm fine with my family. I hope that you're fine with your family. Merry Christmas, by the way! 

Thank you for giving me a Christmas gift. With it, I bought a shirt and shoes. I was really happy to receive something from you, my friend. At school, we had lots of activities. We had our recollection day and last week, we went to SM (Shoe Mart) and saw a Flipino movie called "E Kasi Bata". I learn a lot at school. At our center, we also had a lot of activities. We play a game called "Palarong Pinoy. I also play basketball. I got a new set of jerseys from the project. Our Christmas at the center was awesome! I played lots of games and I received lots of prizes. It was a memorable one and at home we had lots of firecrackers. I was so happy celebrating Christmas with my family. Thank you for the letter you sent me. I enjoy reading it, especially about the eclipse that you shared. I'll remember it. What did you do for Christmas? 

In the last part of this letter, please continue praying for me and my family. Pray that God will give me guidance, protection, and blessings. I'll continue praying for you and your family, that God will always protect you and give you blessings. Thank you and God bless. 

Love,

Nikko

Hebrews 13:8 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." 

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Lazarus Graduates!

I haven't known this young man for long, I've only been writing to him for a little over a year, but I am grown to love him. He's a very smart guy and this month, he has officially graduated from the Compassion program.

He is doing quite well in life and I am so proud of him. He is currently in college and is studying for a degree in Medical Laboratory. He plans to become a lab technician in a hospital. He told me that he wishes to test people for diseases, in order to help the doctors treat and cure them. I think that sounds like a great goal! He still has a couple of years to go in his studies, but I have faith that he will do well.

So, off into the world you go, Lazarus! I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers! I am so happy for the time that we had to communicate with each other.

Another great graduate of Compassion.

Tuesday's Child is Full of Grace...

...As the old saying goes

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today is an extra special day for me. I sponsored another child!

For the past week or so, I've known that I was going to sponsor another child. I had the means and the desire to sponsor one more. However, there were two girls that I wanted to sponsor. I couldn't choose between them, so I decided to watch and wait. My plan was when one girl was sponsored, I would sponsor the remaining one. However, with each passing day, both girls remained on the site and I was getting impatient (as I do). I was talking to my friend Teresa about it and she suggested, since I was playing a game of chance anyway, that I pray about it. assign each child a side of a coin, flip that coin, and that would be my child. Hmm...why not, right? God works in mysterious ways and can certainly lead me to the right child, whether it be through a little nudge, a gut feeling, and yes, even a coin flip.

So...I flipped. Tails.

7 year old Veronica. From EC-261. The newest member of my sponsorship family. I am overjoyed!

Between the serious look on her face and those sweet, chubby cheeks, I was hooked. I love her so much already. I can't wait to get to know her and watch her grow.