Shallon and Wainaina

Well, after a long dry spell, I've finally had two days of very nice Compassion mail. Today it was my two oldest kids, both sponsored kids (not correspondence kids), both kids who write in English. The first was from Shallon, in Uganda, who writes:

My Beloved Friend, Beverly Sykes.

Let me take this opportunity to thank God who has given me this golden chance to talk with you in this letter. Thank you for your prayers in my exams. I did well in my exams with no problem faced in my exams. In my exams I scored the following - 6 English, 4 Math, 8 Science, 5 Aggregates, 23 Division two (I don't have a clue what any of this really means). That is in my exams.

Let me thank you because you have given me another photo and letters. I would like you to send my greetings to Ned, Jeri and Tom. Sorry about the death of Paul and David. May God rest their souls in eternal peace.

You have told me to tell you whether snow was around us in our country. Yes, it was near to us.

I joined the secondary school so pray for me to pass exams in the senior one.

So I wish you the best Easter day. After Easter day we are going to go back to the holidays. In senior I have made many new friends. Those are Moreeen and Phionah. In our school we have scripture union. This scripture union teaches us reading Bibl and singing Jesus songs. On last Saturday we enjoyed scripture union club at our school. We eat, dance and sing many songs.

When I saw your letters and photos I was very surprised because I take long time wihout talking to you. In the Bible I have a verse which helps me in my studies which is in Psalms 9:1-16. I want to send you a verse Psalms 13:16. It says I will sing to you, O Lord, because you have been good to me.

In our school I have already started to sing. I have a song to you. It is in Hosea 14:1. It says Return to the Lord x3. The lord is calling. We have sinned, Lord, against you but we call upon your presence. We are back you.

Let me stop here. Your loving daughter, Shallon.

That is the longest letter I have received from any of my children since I began this project.

Wainaina from Kenya also sent a very nice letter:

Dear Beverly. I am glad to write this letter to you. First is greetings from me. I am happy to know that you are doing well and you are healthy. I am writing this letter to inform you that I am doing well in school and Compassion. I always pray for you to God to bless you and your family to be protected. I hope that you are praying for me.

For now we are preparing for Easter celebration. That is death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I request you to pray for me to pass my exams. May God bless you.

Read Isaiah 60:1: "Arise Jerusalem and shine like the sun. The glory of the Lord is shining in you."

He also included a wonderful drawing.

Pedro and Anjali

Today I received a note from the project where Pedro was, letting me know that he "is being departed." I had to laugh...should I send flowers and a sympathy card? But it was nice to get a thank you for my sponsorship for the past 2 years.

I also had a letter from Anjali in India which reads:

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Anjali sends greetings to you in the Almighty name of Lord Jesus Christ. She says she is fine. She asks how you are? She asks about your health? She says she received your letter. She asks what kind of book you are going to write next year. She says she loves so much you. She says she is very lucky on behalf of you. She says she promoted to next class. She says she is studying well. she says she loves her project and project staff and children. She says she is praying for you and your family members. She asks you also pray for her cute future and family members. She says thanks for your love and affection

--on behalf of M. Anjali [name], sponsor relation assistant

(I had to smile about being asked to "pray for her cute future." I wonder what that means!)

Emmanuella

To replace Victor, I chose Emmanuella from Ghana.

I don't know much about her, but she has 2 siblings and lives with both parents.

I chose her because (a) she lives in an AIDS affected area, and (b) she has been waiting more than 6 months for a sponsor. I tend to prefer children who are less likely to be chosen. Little Henrique was assigned to me; my preference would have been for an older child, but when I saw his picture, my heart melted and I said yes.

But I hope to begin getting to know Emmanuella. I should get a packet with her information in about two weeks.

Victor

I received the sad news today that Victor's parents have removed him from the program. I will miss him, though I never really got to know him very well. He was a 10 year old boy from Bolivia and I don't think I've sponsored him a full year yet. I never got a letter from him.

Dulcisima Lopez

This is a Kiva loan and how could I not loan to this lady!

Dulcisima is 67 years old and lives in Sinacaban. She is married with 8 children. She has a motorcycle repair business and earns approximately $230 each month doing this type of work.

She has requested a loan to purchase materials for her motorcycle repair business. Dulcisima has been a member of PMPC for 2 years.

Kwagala

No, I haven't agreed to sponsor another child...nor did I take on another child as a correspondence child, but Michelle of "Blogging from the Boonies" put out a call for help the other day.

She explains, "Two weeks ago, as I was looking through children awaiting sponsors on the Compassion International website, a face caught my eye. It isn’t unusual, as I scan through the pictures and pray for the faces, that some of the sweet children pull at my heart. But this face… I don’t know if I can fully articulate, but once I saw Kwagala Deborah's face and read the story behind this young lady, I could not get her out of my mind. Several times a day, I would find myself looking at her profile. I posted her link here and there and mentioned her on my blog. I thought for sure that one of my family members or friends would also be captivated by her and stand up to sponsor her. But days passed and no one did."

She continued to be drawn to this girl, she could not afford to sponsor her herself. Then she had an idea. She decided to see if anybody would be interested in joining a group sponsorship.

"In the last week, thirteen people (and their families) have joined together to shower one beautiful girl with support, love and prayers. Enough donations have rolled in to pay for Kwagala Deborah’s sponsorship through May of 2012. ... Kwagala means love. This experience has shown me the power of love and I pray that Deborah in Uganda can soon feel the love we have for her."

I'm one of the group, though I couldn't send much. But I now consider her as part of my Compassion family too.

Briana

There was a letter from Briana in Haiti today, a bit worrisome, but since it was mailed a couple of months ago, I guess it is probably OK now.

Briana greets you in the name of the living God. How are you and your family? She wishes you good health. She always asks yes when we are praying, to pray for you and your family. Briana has grade for the second term. She is in a music class. She was not too well last week. We went to hospital with her. Now she is healed, in Jesus' name.

Briana thanks you for the anniversary gift that you sent for her in January. We bought her a beautiful dress. Briana is very happy for your mother, who is 91 years old. She says that she has many cousins. Briana has ten cousins. But three of these spend rarely time with her. She is glad to see you love your mother.

Briana thanks you for the beautiful pictures. Every time she is home from school, before studying, she looks at the pictures. She says that she is praying for your child Ned and the new baby so that she always healthy.

May God in his love bless everybody in your family. Thank you.

Welcome packet

Murugi's welcome packet finally arrived today, though I still have not had any mail about little Henrique in Brasil. This packet is to facilitate my sending her a short note of welcome, but I sent that two weeks ago, so it's kind of redundant.

The new packets that Compassion is sending out are great--regular little booklets with all the information in them, along with photos as well. I like them.

Murugi

Murugi is a new correspondence child, someone whose sponsor does not write to her.

She is 18 years old and in the St. Paul's (Episcopal) Cathedral program in Embu, Kenya.

Embu is home to approximately 45,000 residents. Typical houses are constructed of dirt floors, mud walls and tin roofs. The primary ethnic group is Embu and the most commonly spoken language is Kiembu.

The regional diet consists of beans and corn. Common health problems in this area include dental decay, malaria, amoeba infections, typhoid fever and malnutrition. Most adults in Embu are unemployed but some work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $18 per month. This community needs educational opportunities, literacy programs and employment opportunities.

Murugi's mother is dead and she lives with her grandmother and works at gardening, animal care, and kitchen help.

Leniel

After a long dry spell, I have finally received a letter from little Leniel, who is 5 years old. He sends along this family portrait...I am curious as to why his mother, father and himself are black and the baby is yellow.


His letter, written by someone else, reads:

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Hello, may God guide you. Leniel is fine and hopes you are well. He thanks you for having sponsored him and for loving him. Leniel comments, "my family loves me and takes care of me. The drawing is about my mother going to work. My relatives are Liliana (Mother), Papolo (Father), Margarita (grandmother), Gabriel (the baby). My family goes to work by bus. The people in my neighborhood go to work and church by bus. How do you travel? Pray for my mother and the baby.

Hugs,
Leniel

Henrique

I will eventually get a bigger picture of Luiz Henrique ("Henrique"), but I talked with a Compassion volunteer today who let me see his picture. I was going to replace Pedro with an older child, but how can you resist this cutie?

The advantage of sponsoring Henrique is that I am his first sponsor and, God willing, he won't have to deal with sponsors leaving throughout his life.

He's 4 years old and lives 22 km north of Fortaleza, which is in the far north of Brasil, along the coast.

I look forward to getting to know him, though with a 4 year old, it will take years before I am actually able to hear from him himself. Don't you just want to grab him, hold him in your lap and read him a story?

Pedro

I was very surprised to log onto the Compassion web site today and learn that Pedro, from Brasil, has left the program. There was no explanation, but there was the name of a 4 year old Brasilian boy and an option to accept him as a replacement, or not.

I was at first very upset about how this was all handled, but others in Compassion have convinced me that Compassion always either calls or sends mail when something like this happens and perhaps I just happened to log in when the news hit their web site, but there has not been enough time for them to contact me more personally than just posting to a web site. I hope so.

I will miss Pedro. He was the second child I sponsored, but he also was one who rarely wrote, so I really know little about him. My one disappointment was that he expressed interest in American football and I found all sorts of information on the internet that would help explain the game to him, and had it all translated by our Brasiian son (now living in Canada), who translated it paragraph by paragraph and left the English to help Pedro see the words that were being translated. I sent that about a year ago and it was never mentioned. It was one of the things I was the most excited about sending.

Oh well, as I have been told, several times, by my son in other instances "It's not about you, Mom." And it wasn't about me. It was about Pedro. I hope his departure from the program means that his family is in better financial circumstances and don't need Compassion's assistance any more.

Now I have to see what I'm going to do about a new child to sponsor, to take Pedro's place.

A Note from Fred

It's been a long time since I've had a letter from anybody and wouldn't you know that it would be Fred who would finally come through for me!

Dear Auntie Sykes,

Christian Greetings!!!

Have a pleasant day, Auntie Sykes!! We hoping of Fred that despsite of all the trials comes in your life you be still strong and have faith in God and everything wiill be OK!! Me and Fred we have been reading a lot of your letters and it's all have different emotions.

How's the condition of your husband's mother?

For our Christmas day we have spend time all together with our family and of course Fred and his two sisters. They were visit their grandmother and grandfather to send their love to them.

Fred like English subject, Auntie Sykes, and he also like drawing that was the one of his hobbies. Fred really like your photos send to him. He was happy when he saw his picture you being excited. It was nice and creative. Thanks for that, Auntie Sykes. Pray for Fred health together with his younger sister, Danica.

God bless you!

Lyra Cardinal
(Fred's Mother)

...before we leave

I've spent the morning writing letters to the Compassion Children, so they will all have something to read while we are away.

Each got a letter and something else. For Shallon in Uganda was a book about Michelle Obama. Fred in the Philippines got a book about Joseph and his technicolor dreamcoat. Pedro in Brasil got a book on instructions for making several different kinds of paper airplanes. Esther in Indonesia and Anjali in India each got instructions for string games (I'm hoping they can find string). Victor from Bolivia and Briana from Haiti each got pages from a book of "find a picture," things you are supposed to find within a photo--kind of like a Where's Waldo, but not quite as complicated. Leniel in the Dominican Republic, who is only 5, got pages of a coloring book. Wainana in Kenya got some superhero bandaids and a set of stickers with pictures of Jesus.

A New Kiva Loan

This is Jane V from the Philippines.

Jane is 33 years old and is a married woman with two young children. Her older child is 12 years old.

She is engaged in farming and hog-raising businesses. Her husband is a farmer and she helps him till their land to grow rice crops. She also helps sell their harvest at the market. Jane also grows pigs at their backyard. Jane plans to use her loan to buy pig feed, fertilizers and gasoline for the tractor.

In the future, Jane hopes for her family to have improved living conditions.

I find that when I make a Kiva loan now, I tend to look for people who are in the same countries as the children I sponsor...and how can I not loan money to someone who raises pigs in her back yard!!! (I love how the Kiva description said that she "grows pigs" instead of "raises pigs" ... I guess with pigs, "growing" is a more appropriate word!)

A Letter from Fred

You know, I feel really sorry for Fred's sponsor. He and his mother are THE BEST correspondents I have and the real sponsor is missing out on all the fun.

Dear Auntie Sykes,

First of all, we would like to greet you a pleasant hello. Thank you so much for the pictures that you have sent to Fred. They are very nice pictures, especially the puppies. Also the Christmas lights around your house. We are so happy to see it in the picture.

By the way, how is the condition of your mother? What the name of your husband's mother?

Here in the Philippines we are also experiencing rainy season. Fred were also enjoying his study at school. He is faithful in the church every Sunday School lesson. That's why he wakes up early because he don't want to be late.

So please continue to pray for the Cardinal family, especially to his father to find a good job. Until here, God bless you!!!

Love, Lyra Cardinal

(Fred's mother)

Leniel

I received my first letter from Lenial, my 5 year old correspondence child in the Dominican Republic. The letter reads:

May the peace of God is with you and your family. The child Leniel is well and he wishes that you and your family are well too. He thanks you for sponsoring him. I'm five years old and I like to run. In my house live my mom, the baby and me. I like to run. He asks you to pray for his mom and the baby. Do you have a baby?

The last made me chuckle a bit...but this morning I heard Zsa Zsa Gabor is trying to have a baby via a surrogate, so I guess we just believe in miracles. However, in THIS house that ship sailed long ago!

Anjali's math

From Anjali today I got what seems to be a chart of her multiplication tables.

(I like how she wrote "love" and then crossed it out!)

The letter written by her Sponsor Relation Assistant reads "Anjali sends greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ. She says she is fine. She asks how you are? She says she is studying well. She says she is very glad that she is in your life. She says she is celebrated Christmas very grandly, with her relatives. She asks how is your big dog Sheila? She asks how is your little puppies? She asks how many little puppies you have? She asks tell her remain dogs names also? She asks how is your family members? She says her school shifted to new building. She says once again thank you for your love and kind letters and support."

Another from Fred

There was yet another letter from Fred today. His mother must go to his center every day and write letters. I love it. Here is today's letter:

Dear Auntie Sykes.

Christian greetings!!!

It is a great pleasure to write you again. Hope that this letter finds you well. About us here we're so thankful to God for all the things that you've done in our lives. We praise God that Fred and his family was faithful in the Lord every Sunday. We went to church and worship him.

Fred was also enjoying his study. He was excited to wake up early in the morning to go to school.

By the way, how many puppies do you have?

Fred still continue to pray for you, so pray for us, specially the health of Fred and with his sister.

Once again, God bless!

Love,

Lyra Cardinal

(Fred's mother)

Fred

I received not one, but TWO letters from Fred today. One was another thank you for his Christmas gift. The other was a thank you for the family gift.

Dear Auntie Sykes

First of all I would like to say hello to all of you!!!

Thank you for the Christmas card and the bookmark you send for Fred. He like very much. And a beautiful picture wedding. Where they celebrate their wedding (I think this was Walt's cousin's daughter's wedding).

About Fred, he study hard so that he can get a high grade and he can passed on the next level. Right now we recover also our loneliness since my daughter pass by last December 6, 2010.

By the way, Fred join playground demonstration because our city celebrate the feast and all the school have a participation. So please continue to pray for us that God will strengthen our family circle.

God bless you!