Six Word Saturday

 

 

 

 

Shopping For Food Sounds Like Work

 

 

 

Food Perspectives

Lately, I've been struggling with food. Not in the sense that I am eating too much or that I'm not eating enough, just in the fact that I'm getting bored in my variety of food.

Which is nothing short of ridiculous. You guys, I have more food options open to me, than every single child I sponsor. Heck, if I only had 10 choices of foods to eat, I'd have more food options available to me than every single child I sponsor.

So, I did a little research. I signed my Compassion account and looked at the reginal diets of each of my children. I also did some research into the countries of the kids I sponsor through World Vision. All 10 of my children's diets can be summed up in 1-3 pictures. Wow. Just Wow. To put things into food perspective for myself, and anybody else who is interested, I'm going to share what each of my children eat on a daily basis. And that's all they have. They can't just run down the street and buy some fast food when they don't feel like eating it again.

 

Celeste in Honduras eats chicken, rice, beans, and tortillas.

 

 

Kalpesh in India eats curry, chicken, rice, and potatoes.

 

 

Eric in Uganda eats irish potatoes, a paste made from maize, and veggies like cabbage.

 

 

 

 

Sadiya in India eats apples, oranges, and biscuit type cookies. Seriously, that's it.

 

 

 

Sagar in India eats rice with curry, chicken, and flatbread.

 

 

Sagitaria in Indonesia eats fish, rice, cassava, and friend bananas.

 

 

 

Yonas in Ethiopia eats a porridge made with teff (local grain) and flatbread. Really, that's about it.

 

 

Abu-Bakarr in Sierra Leone eats rice, cassava leaf paste, boiled cassava, and beans.

 

Xhuliano and Florenc in Albana eat chicken, lamb, rice, and bread.

 

 

 

Makes me feels guilty that I complain about being bored with food. 

 

 

Touching Thursday

Each Thursday, I post three children that I've been praying for in the hopes that they will find their loving sponsors this week. Sometimes the children I post have common themes, but other times, random children find their way into my heart and touch it enough to make me want to do something.

Here are the children I'm sharing this week:

 

9-30-12 Gabriel has been sponsored! He waited 210 days for this. I sure hope his sponsor shows him a lot of love through letters and gifts.

 

 

9-30-12 Suwatchai has been sponsored too! This handsome boy in purple is going to have a wonderful life!

 

 

 

Lastly, we have Rocio, the little cutie with a pouty lip and watermelons on her pockets. She is 4 years old and her birthday is June 14th. She is from Bolivia. Rocio lives with her father, mother, and three siblings. Her father is a laborer and her mother maintains the home. Rocio helps at home by running errands. Rocio is not presently attending school. Singing and playing with dolls are her favorite activities. She also attends church activities regularly.

The regional diet consists of maize, bread, beef, plantains, rice and potatoes. Common health problems in this area include colds, diarrhea and malnutrition. Half of the adults in Villa Candelaria are unemployed but some work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $74 per month. This community needs law enforcement, schools and technical training centers.

Rocio would love to have you as a sponsor! Click here!

 

 

 

 

Two First Letters!

Today I received two wonderful letters. These were two first letters from two of my most recent sponsored children.

One letter was from my Celeste in Honduras. I sponsored her on June 5th. So, a little over three months to receive her first letter.

The other letter was from Yonas in Ethiopia. I sponsored him on July 22nd, so it only took 6-7 weeks to receive his first letter. Wow.

Both letters were the typical About Me intro letters, but I still love them. Tons of information in one fell swoop! Here are the letters:

___________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

Date: 7-10-12



My Name: Celeste
I am a: Girl
My Age: 10
I live in a: Village
I live with: My grandparents and brothers
My favorite color: Purple
My favorite food: Rice with chicken and baleadas (wheat tortillas)
My height: 1.27 meters (About 4' 2")
My weight: 65 pounds
My eye color: Dark Brown
What I like most about me: My hair

What I love to do: I like to read the bible and other important books and play dolls with my classmates.

Questions to my sponsor: How's your health? I would like to know you a little bit more. I would like to know if you have children, if you are married. Do you live with your parents. How's the weather in your country?

Celeste also drew me this adorable picture:

_______________________________________________________________________________

 

Date: 8-8-12

 

Dear Kayla,

 

Yonas greets. He is doing good. He is thankful for your kind response to support him.

 

My Guardian: Almaz (Aunt)

My Sister and Brothers: Bedlu

My Best Friends: Samuel & Anuwar

 

Best Game: Cycling

Best Food: Soup

Best Pet: Horse

Best Bible Story: Noah

Best Color: Red

Best Song: My Eyes on Heaven

Best Holiday: Ethiopian New Year

 

I Live: In a Town

When I Grow Up, I Want to Be: A Scientist

 

Message for my sponsor: Yonas, your child lives in Jimma town with his aunt. He is in grade 3.

 

Questions for my sponsor: He wants to know about your country and current situation.

 

Please pray that: Pray for his family and good health

 

______________________________________________________________________________



A Letter to God

Hi Dad!

How it's going?

Remember the days when I was a new Christian and I was struggling to understand how to pray? I couldn't seem get myself calm enough to sit still and just talk to you? Well, then somebody at church told me that I should write my prayers in letter form and it worked great! I haven't done that since high school, but sometimes, I do kind of miss it.

God, I want to start out telling you how much I love you and the young woman that you've created me to be. I know that you and I have had our ups and downs over the years, mostly caused by me thinking I could run my own life and I didn't always need you to show me what to do. Boy, I sure was wrong, wasn't I?! Life is so much better now that I know to trust in you with every aspect of my life.

God, thanks for being my heavenly father, especially when my father on earth doesn't make the cut. Thank you for always loving me unconditionally, for listening to my prayers, supporting me in my decisions, and for always being there for me.

Above all, dad, I want to thank you for leading me to Compassion International. I seriously can't imagine my life without it. You have connected me to 7 wonderful children that I feel a family bond to. When I first signed up Compassion's correspondence program last December, I had no idea it would turn into my sponsoring four boys and three girls from all over the world. Thanks to you, a piece of my heart now lives in Uganda, India, Ethiopia, Honduras, and Indonesia.  The adventure you are leading me through with this organization has gone beyond all expections that I imagined it would. Receiving letters from these children and knowing that we have so much love for each other, over thousands of miles, is all I need in this world.

Thank you, over and over, for providing the money I need for these sponsorships each month. I have never wanted for anything. When you call me to sponsor another child, you always give me the provision I need.

Life with you, father, is amazing.

Your Loving Daughter,
Kayla

Letter Day!

I know that I've said this before, but I absolutely love my boy, Kalpesh, in India. He responds to every single letter that I write to him. I write 3 times a month to each of my sponsored children. Kalpesh, I write more often because he always asks questions in his letters that I just have to answer, haha.

Basically, that means that I receive anywhere from 2-4 letters a month from him. It's just great!

Yesterday and I today, I received a letter from him. I would like to share those letters with you today.

________________________________________________________________________________

In February, I sent him a birthday package (his birthday is at the end of April). It got to him late, but that's okay, he still seems to have really liked it. I included some of these watercolor paint pages from the dollar store. He painted one of them and sent it back for! He's awesome.

Dear Kayla,

Greetings to you in the matchless name of our savior Jesus Christ. Thank you very much for your birthday wishes and cards. I am very sorry to say that I received your letter in the month of May. I hope you had celebrated your birthday wonderfully with your family & friends (I told him that my birthday is also at the end of April). I also wish you Happy Birthday. How many years you are now? I am praying for your health and your work. In my life I never celebrate birthday but this year with all the parents of our project children we celebrated very enthusiastically at our project. Thank you very much for your love and support.

Your Friend,
Kalpesh

Here's the painting he returned to me!

________________________________________________________________________________

Also in February, I sent each of my children a Mother's Day themed letter. I gave each of the children a pretty notecard for them to write a message to their mothers to tell them how much they love them. Here's Kalpesh's response:

Dear Friend Kayla,

Greetings to you in the Holy name of Jesus Christ from your Indian friend (Seriously too cute! My Indian friend.) I received your letter before Mother's Day. Thank you so much for your letter with beautiful card for my mom. Previously, I did not know about Mother's Day, but after your letter our sir (what he calls his teacher) told me about Mother's Day. Two days before only my mom returned from her work. Because she is staying other place which is about 120 km from our village for daily wages work. She was very glad to receiving beautiful card and gave thanks a lot for it. Wishing you may have great health and may God help you in your work and bless you. Once again, I am very grateful to the Lord and you too for love and care for me.

With Lots of Love,
Kalpesh

______________________________________________________________________________

IN860 Update

I blogged about two weeks or so ago about a project in Compassion that opened up in June. IN860 is located smack in the middle of a the Miraj Red Light District. If you aren't familiar with what red light districts are, I will explain a little bit.

A red light district is a place where women and men work in the sex industry. Men often work as pimps and sex traffickers, who work to lure in young girls, teens, and woman into selling their bodies for money. Women, many who join the sex industry against their will, are forced to stand outside"shops" until a man chooses her to have sex with. Afterwards, the women are paid a measely amount of money for selling their bodies. Most of this money ends up going back to the pimp/the owner of the "shop." It's just tragic.

It's even more tragic that children lives in a place like this. Inevitably, the women in this project get pregnant and have children. Not being able to leave their lifestyle (either because they were kidnapped and sold into the industry or they have no other means to make money) the children are forced to live here too. I can't even imagine a child walking through streets lined with litter, seeing images and hearing sounds of sex and drug use and abuse that nobody should have to see. And this is every day life for them.

I want to share some sobering pictures of what red light districts look like:

 

This is an image that is actually from the Miraj Red Light District. This is what the people here actually live like.

 

Women waiting outside their "shops"

 

These poor people

 

 

Want to make a difference in the lives of a child living in these conditions?

 

You should consider sponsoring one of the boys in this project through Compassion International. For just $38 a month, you can provide these children with nutrition meals, clean water, quality healthcare, a good education. spirtual learning through church activities and bible classes, and the best of all, hope.

 

Children in poverty quickly learn to believe that they aren't important, that they don't matter, and nothing will ever save them from poverty.

 

These are all lies.

 

Please take a look at these three boys from IN860. To sponsor one of these boys please email me at Groth.Kayla@mail.ic.edu . I would love to help you get started in sponsoring one of these boys.

This handsome guy is Rohit. His birthday is January 20th and he's 9 years old. Rohit lives with his mother and 2 siblings. His mother is sometimes employed as a laborer. Carrying water and caring for children are his household duties. Art, running, and playing group games are Rohit's favorite activities. He participates in church activities and his performace in primary school is average.


This little guy is Saifali (I love his name!). His birthday is January 11th and he's 9 years old. He lives with his father, mother, and 4 siblings. His father is sometimes employed and his mother maintains the home. Saifali helps at home by carrying water and caring for children. (Seems to popular chores for these boys). For fun, Saifali enjoys art, running, and playing group games. He attends church activities and has average performance in primary school.



Last, but certainly not least, is sweet Shivraj. His birthday is April 12th and he's 9 years old. He lives with his father, mother, and 1 sibling. His father is sometimes employed as a laborer and his mother maintains the home. In his home, Shivraj helps by carrying water and caring for children. He participates in church activities and in primary school his performace is average. Hide & Seek and running are his favorite activities.

Touching Thursday

Each Thursday, I post three children that I would love to see sponsored over the next week. I have a list of 10-15 Compassion prayer children at all times. On Thursday, I choose the three at the top and share them with the blogging world in hopes that somebody's heart will be touched.

9-17-12 Nikita has been sponsored! It didn't take too long for someone to fall in love with that wonderful smile.

Carlos has been sponsored! I am always excited and happy when one of my prayer children get sponsored, but I am beyond ecstatic that Carlos has been sponsored. I've been praying for him for a long time. Praise God!

Uddal has been sponsored too! Wow! 2 of my prayer children sponsored in one week. So happy!

Sponsor a Child With Compassion International

Good day my faithful blog readers!

I started my walk with Compassion International last December. I had already been sponsoring two children with another organization when a friend of mine introduced me to Compassion's correspondent program. I knew that I could not necessarily afford to sponsor another child at that time, but I had room in my heart for another child and writing to one is exactly what I needed to do.

Since then, my Compassion journey has taken off! I now have three children that I sponsor through Compassion:

 

My Beauty Queen Celeste. I saw her on my friend Amanda's blog and I just had to sponsor her. She looked so sassy in her photo with her hands on her hips and he head cocked to the side. I instantly knew that she was meant to be mine.

 

 

My Bright Eyed Boy, Yonas. I started to feel like I was meant to sponsor again and I began to pray about what direction I was meant to go. God began to throw details at me, over the span of a couple of weeks. Boy. 8-10 years old. Ethiopia. Big Eyes, Bright Clothing. I finally signed on to the website and searched specifically for an Ethiopian boy in his age group. Yonas popped up and I didn't even think about it. I had to sponsor him.

 

 

And My Confindent Boy, Sagar. Just recently, I found out about a project in India that is located smack dab in the middle of a red light district. Basically, that means that the main occupation in this area is sex work. Women are prostitues, men are pimps and sex traffickers. Both girls and boys are stolen from their homes to work in this industry. I requested 5 packets of boys from this project. Sagar was the first boy I pulled out of the envelope. I prayed about it and I honestly am trusting in God to provide the money each month. I just couldn't pass Sagar up.

 

 

Man, I love sponsoring these children so much. For only $38 a month, I help provide them with nutritious meals, clean water, a quality education, healthcare, and spiritual learning (bible classes, sunday schools, VBS, etc).

 

My all time favorite part of sponsoring is getting to write these kids letters and to receive letters back from them. The relationship that forms is just amazing. I am beyond blessed to be able to know and love these children.

 

Have you ever been curious about sponsoring a child, but haven't know where to start? Well, I've found that prayer is a great place to start. If you visit this page, Compassion International (you can also find this page by clicking on the Sponsor a Child box on the right side of my blog), you will see page of children who are waiting for sponsors. Pray for them. Pray that they will find loving sponsors, pray that they will know the love of Jesus, pray that they will know that they do count in this world and that they do matter.

 

These kids do matter.

 

If you feel yourself drawn to sponsor one of the children you see, you will not regret it. Sponsoring a child is certainly an adventure.

 

 

 

Sagitaria's Birthday Gift

My dear Sagitara will be turning 9 on December 2nd, in three months. I put together a birthday gift for her that I'm hoping she will love.

I centered everything around a flower and butterfly theme because I think it's just so cute, haha.

Here's what I sent her:

 

 

I sent a letter on the Compassion stationary so I could send her some birthday money. Then I also sent her some pretty flower paper, a butterfly card, a flower envelope, and some flower/butterfly stickers. I also sent her a postcard that lists all of the names that Jesus goes by in the bible. I thought it was super cute.

 

Here's to hoping she's a girly girl! If not, she's going to hate this, haha.