Letter from Lavenda

18/6/2015

Dear Beverly Sykes,

I am fine n the Lord.  How are you?  We have opened school for second term and I am learning well.  Than you for your continuous suport and encouragement.

Thanks also for your letter.  I laughed when Bri could not understand the dance rules and crawled on her belly.

I can cook well.  My mum taught me to cook and I enjoy cooking rice and bananas.  I also enjoy being with my family, like you.

I am in grade six and my favorite subject is English.  I would like to be a doctor.  Please pray for my vision.

I like the book of Genesis and the story of Abraham.  Do you have a favorite story?

I wish you blessed stay with your grannies.

Goodbye
Love,
Lavenda

Letter from Miché

27/05/2015

Dear Beverly Sykes

I am so happy to write to you in the name of Jesus.  How are you?  How are your activities?  I was so happy to get your letters.  I want you to know I take part in a lot of activities in the church such as learn a lot of different subjects songs and Bible verse.  Your letters are always interesting to me.  I love reading them. 

I will have summer vacation in the end of June and I will have fun.  Do you usually go on summer vacation?  I will pray God for you with your family.  I hope God will bless you more.

Miché

Letter from Theresa

Theresa is 8

19th May 2015

My project's name is New Ebu Child Development Centre.
I go to my project four/five days in a month
Typical activities I do at project are:
   Devotions
   Cleaning
   Fun & Games
   Hand Washing  - Learning curricular lessons

When I am at the project, I typically eat rice and stew, Jollof Rice

My favorite activity I do at the project is taking her lunch.

Thank you for your
   words of encouragement
   pictures
   stickers
   prayer and sponsorship

Please pray for her academic success and excellence.

There are lots of trees planted around her project centre.

Theresa and her family are all well.  Theresa laughed and said you look amazing without hair.  Theresa does not cook and Joshua and Peter are twins.

Bittersweet news

I received the sad (for me) news that Shallon, from Uganda has left the program. I have been her sponsor for 5 years now.  She started out as a correspondence child and when her sponsor dropped her, I took on her sponsorship.

She was one of my better letter writers, a deep thinker.  When I first got to know her, she wanted to become a teacher, but family health problems forced her out of class for several months while she earned money during her sister's illness.  She went back to school, but in a program to teach her how to be a hairdresser.  She is now 22 and too old for the program and she wants to open her own business.

I will be getting a goodbye letter from her in a month or two (I've been told it's in the pipeline), but she no longer appears on my list of sponsored children.

I made the graphic above here, and printed it in a 5x7 glossy to send to her in my own goodbye letter.

However, they offered me a my choice of a new child and I chose Edilsar, from Mexico.  He's 12 years old and lives near Chiapas.  I don't know much about him yet, but I am his third sponsor in three years and in that time he has received only one letter, so I will make sure we rectify THAT situation right away.

I also chose someone from Mexico in the hope that our Mexican daughter, Marie, might at some time be able to take a package to him for me, but since her family lives closer to Mexico City and he lives in the far southeast, I don't think that will happen.  (Kind of like saying "Oh, you're going to New York, can you drop this package off for my cousin in San Francisco...")

But I look forward in getting to know him.

Introductory letter from Eunice

Eunice is 19

Dear Sponsor,

All about me
My mother's name is Doricas
My father's name is Gilbert

My Sisters' names are Siwana, Grace, Peris, Fausta, Miriamu

My best friends re Stelah, Fredrick, Cruta, Jamwel and Emmy Waya

My Favorites
Best school subject is cooking
Best Bible Story David and Goliath
Best Holiday: New Year
Best Food Rice and Fish
Best Game: swimming
Best Colour: Red

When I grow up I want to be a hotel manager

My question for my sponsor:  what is your favorite kind of weather?

My prayer question to my sponsor -- I wish to be in good health.

Your child in Christ,
Eunice

Letter from Henrique

Henrique is 8

18/05/15

Sponsor Beverly,

When I grow up I would like to be a soccer player.  I would like to travel to the United States.

Hello, Dear Beverly.  How are you?  My name is Caroline and I am writing on behalf of  Luiz Henrique.  He is a child who likes to play soccer and he knows the names of many soccer players (He wrote their names below with his drawing)  We are very happy because he is learning to read and write.  He has a peg dog and he is very well and healthy,  Hugs on behalf of Luiz Henrique, Caroline.

Letter from Brightone

10 April 2015

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Accept Easter greetings from me.  I hope this letter finds you well kept in the Lord Jesus.  I am fine together with my family members who have said hi. I am excited to write of you and it was such an encouraging moment to receive the lettes you sent me.  Yes, here in Kenya we live with our families in houses.  I live with my grandmother and my siblings.

I enjoy going to school, thanks to your support.  I am now in Grade 2 and my school is called Mayenje Primary School.  I love being with my classmates.  My deskmates in my class are Evans and Victa.  We help each other to do assignments before we go to play.

Yes, I enjoy drawing too.  I also like colouring and playing with toys.  I draw houses, people, domestic animals and colour them.  I hope you enjoy the ones in this letter.

Easter was with us we remembered the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For us we sang praise songs to acknowledge God's love for us.  How did you celebrate Easter in your church?  Thank you for your letters, pictures, and support towards me.  I also pray for you.  God bless you.  Good bye!

from Brightone

Letter from Emmanuella

28/04/15

Dear Beverly Sykes,

I thank you for your letters and prayers you have been giving to me.  Your letters bring joy to me any time I read them.  God bless you.

Yes, I did well in my exams and I don't know the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors.  Yes, I know blizzard but I haven't experienced some before.  Yes, I like to eat PawPaws.

I am reading a storybook titled "The Wicked Stepmother" and I am gaining a lot of lessons from it.  [I wonder what lessons she is learning from THAT book!]

How did you celebrated your Easter?

I pray that God will protect you from the hands of the devil and provide you all your needs.  Pray tat God will help me end this academic year successfully.

Memory Verse:  Romans 6:23 -- for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Letter from Lovson

27/04/2015

Dear Beverly Sykes,

I greet you with Jesus Christ's love!  How are you and your family?  My family and I are very well, thanks to God.  How is the weather in your country?  It's very hot here.

My project organized a program during the Eastertime last Aril 6.  We had lots of fun.  We were taught songs on the death of Jesus Christ and we ate lots of food.

I was very glad to get the letter you sent me and so were all my family.

The reason our signature is August is because Mom's is August and Dad's is August, so we get it from God.

Why were you very bad at math?  I'd like to become an engineer because there is lots of water in my area.  I'd like to exploit it.  [I wonder if "exploit" is the word he means!]

I want you to know that I know the story of Joseph with his colorful coat.

God bless you!

Letter from Shallon

Dear Beverly Sykes.,

How are you, dear?

Let me thank God who has given me this golden chance to say hey to you.  Praise God.  I thank God for that.

My family members are greeting you and your family members like Jeri, Ned, and Brianna.

My mother, I am praying to God such that I can get a job and start doing my work because I have finished my course in salooning. [I think she means "saloning," since she was studying hair cutting]

I thank you for your letters and everything you gave to me, like calendar.

You asked how we cook cabbages.  We first cut them in small pieces and then we cook them.

When someone dies, we celebrate the years he/she had.  We also sing church songs and pray for them that God receives them.

I have also seen Mike's photo.  Sorry about his loss.

My mother, don't worry about your good friend Mike.  God is there.  May he rest in internal peace.  Read from Exodus 14:14.  [The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.]

Also, we are in wet season.  How far with the snow I saw it in the letter how it was covering cars and roads.

I hope you are now okay and doing your work.

As for this year, I believe it's holding a lot for us.  Because even the bible says that that comes our way with a thankful heart.  I believe I will be able to earn a living and look after myself.

Otherwise, may God bless you!

Letter from Josphat

 09/05/15

Dear Beverly Sykes

Josephat greets you in the name of Jesus Christ.  He says that his family together with him are fine and doing well.  Josephat informs you that he is doing well in his academics.  He says that he would wish to know more about you.

Josephat is grateful for the support and also for the letter about good Easter celebration you sent to him.  He says that he is working hard in school to be a better person in the future.  He says that the lord is now great because of enough rainfall.,  He is asking you to pray for him because he has been praying for you too.

May God bless you.   Good Bye

Letters from Mwongela and Emilymueni

Be still my heart!  I have finally heard from the last two children of the "Kenya 7" They both sent form letters about their school.  First Mwongela...

06/05/15

I am in baby class.  My school is one and a half km from my house.   The name of my school is St. Patrick's Ngomana.  I go to school by foot.  The color of my uniform is orange and green.  My class teacher's name is Mrs Kilomo.  My best friend in school is Muteti Junior.  The games we play in school are football and chasing.  The other activities in school this term are athletics and drama.  What I like best about my school is playing and writing.  My favorite subject in school is number work.  After school, I like to become a policeman.

Mwongela passes his greetings hoping that you are doing good, together with your family.  He says his family is well too.

He says thank you for the letter you sent him.  He says he likes drawing animals.  He also says that he likes the picture of your friend and you, that you look nice.

He says bye for now and may God bless you.

 06/05/15

I am in pre-school.  My school is 1.5 km from my house.  The name of my school is Ndula pre-school.  I go to school by foot.  The color of my school uniform is light green.  My class teacher's name is Mrs Monicah.  My best friend in school is Mumbi.  The games we play in school are games and athletics.  The other activities in school this term are cleaning.  What I like best about my school is it's neat and well arranged.  My favorite subject in school is English.  After school, I like to scooter.

Emily says she likes dogs.  Dogs stay with families at home.  She thanks you for the photos.  She says she hopes to see you without any hair and would like to meet you.  She says in Kenya we do not experience blizzards in our place.  She wishes you a good time as you serve the Lord through others.

Letter from Annie Rose

Annie Rose is one of my best writers.  She sounds like a very upbeat child and I've never seen a photo of her where she wasn't smiling.

March 31, 2015

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Hello, Auntie!  How are you there Auntie?  And also your family.  How are they?  For me here, I'm fine together with my family.

I finished my grade 4 level and last March 26,2015 was our closing.  I joined our dance presentation.  Summer starts in our place and it is too hot, Auntie.  I'll stay at home.  I help my mother in her house chores.  After my work I just listening of music.

Auntie, I'm not yet know and heard about blizzard because we're not experienced about it.  But I wish to see on it.  I wanted to go a place whose have a season like a snow and like have a blizzard.

Love,
Annie Rose

Verse:  Mark 11:10
"God bless the one who comes of our ancestor David.  Hooray for God in heaven above.

Letters from Wainaina, Leniel, and Samuel

Wainaina (Erick) had a breakthrough in the last few letters, where he is starting to write actual letters that aren't just full of the same rhetoric every time.  I loved this letter.  (It helps that he writes in English)

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Hello!  I hope you are doing good  Well, I am so happy today to write  this letter to you.  You know, I like reading books of the old times because of the history and information they contain.  As I was reading a certain poem, I came across a saying that says, "Maybe God wants us to meet a wrong few people before meeting the right ones so that when we finally meet the right person we would know how to be grateful for that gift."  Though many of us find it difficult to accept the fact which is happenng in our daly life, maybe God had/has a reason for the to hapen.

I hope that you and your family are well and safe.  I am so happy today because every day in my life is always bright as a saying that says, "it always takes a smile to make a dog's day brighter."

How was your Easter?  I hope you had the best times ever because mine was fantastic.  I hope to receive more letters soon.

Love,
Erick (the first time he has signed his name Erick and not the more formal Wainaina)

Samuel is 9 and also from Kenya:

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Samuel greets you in the name of the lord.  He says he is doing well and he trusts the same applies to you.

He says he appreciates you as his sponsor and keeps on praying for you that God may keep you safe and bless you with long life.

Samuel says he recently celebrated the Easter and asks "did you also celebrate your Easter?"  He says in the project they celebrate the holiday by singing, dancing and praying and also eating some sweets.

Samuel thanks you for your letter and also for the stickers.  "God bless you, my sponsor," he concludes.

Leniel is in the Dominican Republic, and is 8.  He sends a fill in the blank form.

My favorite food is fried chicken.
My favorite color is blue
Other - my favorite animal is a horse
My favorite thing to do is watch TV

Hello Dear Beverly Sykes,

How are you?  I thank you for the letters you send me and also for the books.  I am going to the country this Easter.  I don't know anybody who has turned 100 years old.  I haven't met a pirate. 

My family and I are doig well.  There are no sunflowers.  I enjoy being with my family.  Do you have any animals at home?

Leniel

Letters from Lavenda and Michael

 21/03/2015

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Receive much greetings fro me.  I hope you are fine in Christ.  I am also doing fine.  I thank you for the letters that you have given to me  They were so nice and I love the pictures that you sent for me.  I also love dogs and happy that you rear them at your home.  I don't have them at home, but my neighbour has them.  They also guide us at home during the night.

I am also happy to see the pictures of your family members and am happy to hear more about your family.  I also have a grandmother who lives with us in the same compound.  My grandfather has died and we are preparing to bury him.  Please pray for my family and my grandmother who has lost her husband.

God bless you and greet.

Yours,
Lavenda

From Michael is a form letter which starts with blanks to fill in about his school:

10/April/2015

I am in one (grade).  My school is one kilometer from my house.  The name of my school is Burumba Primary School.  I go to school by foot.  The color of my school uniform is grey.  My class teacher's name is Madam Shallon. My best friend in school is Joseph Owuor.  The games we play in school are football hide and seek.  The other activities in this term are sports.  What I like best about my school is we go for sport competition every term . My favorite subject in school is mathematics.  After school I like to read story books.

Michael says hello to you.  He says he is grateful that God has enabed him to share with you through this letter.  Michael says he got your last letter and was happy to hear from youy.  He says he likes drawing wild animals.  Michael says he has just celebrated Easter.  He says during Easter celebrations in Kenya, Christians spent most of the time in the church.  He asks how do you celebrate Easter in your country?

Michael says God bless you so much.

Letter from Brightone

Wow...big letter mail today.  And all three were good letters.

Brightone writes in ENGLISH!

10/4/15

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Accept Easter greetings from me.  I hope this letter finds you well kept in the Lord Jesus.  I am fine together with my family members who have said hi.  I am excited to write of you and it was such an encouraging moment to receive the letters you sent me.  Yes, here in Kenya we live with our families in houses  I live with my grandmother and my siblings.

I enjoy going to school, thanks to your support.  I am now in grade 2 and my school is called Mayenje Primary School.  I love being with my classmates.  My deskmates in my class are Evns and Victa.  We help each other to do assignments before we go to play.

Yes, I enjoy drawing too.  I also like colouring and playing with toys.  I draw houses, people, domestic animals and colour them.  I hope you enjoy the ones in this letter.

Easter was with us and we remembered the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For us we sang praise songs to acknowledge God's love for us.  How did you celebrate Easter in your church?

 Thank you for your letters pictures and support towards me.  I also pray for you.  God bless you.  Goodbye!

From Brightone.

Letter from James

James also writes in English.

12/04/15

Dear Beverly Sykes

Hallo!  How are you?  I hope you are fine.  I am fine together with my family in the Lord.  I am grateful to God for giving me a friend like you to be my sponsor.  May the almighty God bless you.  Thanks for your letter.  I received it and it was really fun.  I enjoyed it as I hope you will enjoy mine too.

I am happy to inform you that I did well in my exam.  I was position 5 in my class and I thank God for that.

What is your favorite pet animal?

Please pray for me to continue doing good in school.  Please read from the book of Galatians 2:22.  Be blessed.

Yours faithfully,
James

Letter from Divine

4/21/15

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Your child, Divine, greets you in the name of Jesus and she is doing well together with her family, even though her siblings were suffering from malaria some days ago.  Her brother was bit by a dog.  She wants to be a medical doctor.

She has 70% marks.  They've started the 2nd term and she is deetermined to study hard.  She happily celebrated Easter day.  she was dressed in a new dress and so beautiful.  She sang in choir and rejoiced with her fellows over the resurrection of Jesus.

She wishes you the peace of God.  She thanks you for your 3 letters and the picturesyou sent.  They pleased her so much.  She keeps looking at the pictures.  What about Sonia?

We don't have dogs here.  the weather is now moderately rainy here and it's so nice.

Letter from Brayan

Brayan from Honduras is officially my very best letter writer!

Dear Beverly Sykes,

How is your health?  I hope you are well.  I thank you for all the letters you have sent me and I am very happy to reply.  It is so nice you are so attentive to your family and God will bless you more because you are helping your cousin.  Dogs are very loving when one treats t hem well and your cousin, it shows that she loves them very much.  Also thank you for all the photos in the name of Jesus.  Carolyn and her husband they will be in better health. The Lord Jesus is our best doctor that we could have.

In my country, Honduras, it is not too cold just when we are in winter.  At the time being it is very hot because we are in summer.  I feel very sad that in this season so many forests are on fire and nobody does anything and I am too young and my mom gets concerned if I go somewhere too dangerous.

It is nice that you are happy to help your cousin.  God will reward you so much in your mother's health and your cousin's too.  I will keep praying for your famiy and also for your cousin so it is God who does the miracle and also on your husband.

In my country of Zambrano there are many assistances, health centers, schools, kindergartens, CDC, churches, the community organization, several clinics, high schools.  There is someone who takes the mail. At the CDC Sister Jenny is the one responsible who is from the sponsorship and she takes it to Tegucigalpa to the Compassion offices.  In Zambrano there is no veterinarian yet but in Tegucigalpa there is.  There are people who take care of animals.  There a re people who pick up rash too in my town.  They clean the plaza and other places in town.  You are better prepared than our countr.  You are much better in assistance.

Greetings to Brianna and luck in the play.  I did not know what bowling was, but with the explanation you gave me, I understood and I will practice it to learn it very well.  Thank you for the explanation of bowling.  It is good that Brianna knows how to play it and she can teach it to others.  It is important. In my town in Zambrano there is no special place tobowl, but we play pretend with my friends.  In my town there are billiards and m mom says it is bad and I should not play it.

I would like to know what kind of checkup was your mother getting with the doctor?

What is the name of the tree that is in the snow?

I will continue to pray for your life and also for your family's.  I ask you to pray for me and also for my mom so she can have a permanent job.  She struggles with all her strength for us to be well.

God bless you always and your family.  May you receive much health from the Lord Jesus.  Until next time and thank you for your photos and letters.

Letter from Theresa

Theresa sends a form letter and then someone at her center writes a letter for her, which is kind of weird, in spots, when she answers my questions.

I get water from the tap
My house is made of mud
The floor of my house is made of earth
The roof of my house is made of tin
Do I have electricity in my house?  Yes
Thank you for your letter and sponsrship.
Child's prayer request:  Theresa wants you to tank the lord for her life.

I would like you to know more about my house:  Theresa's mother makes palm oil from palm fruits in their house.

Theresa says they grow food and vegetables for the family and also sell to get money.  She said no, because she has not seen some before (I am guessing this is in reference to my asking her if she had ever seen snow...but I'm not sure!)  

Theresa said she is doing well.  She said she do not know what is bowling.  She said the helpers they have in her community are the only health center.  She said it only happen a while which she did not know it was earthquake.  She said no.  She has never experienced any of them.

Theresa said Ghana is very hard and struggling.