Esther

Got a wonderful new photo of Esther today.

Fred and Emmanuella

Yippee...letters from Fred and from Emmanuella. It was my first letter from Emmanuella, who actually filled out a special form that helps her write. I learned the names of her family kembers and her best friend. I know she lives in a town and that her best game is "amps" and favorite color is blue.

Then she writes, "thank you for sponsoring me. I am the second born of my parents. Are you also a second born? I pray that God will lift you high and bless your work. Pray that God should give me knowledge and understanding in my studies."

As for Fred, his mother's letter reads:

Dear Auntie Sykes:

Have a blessed day, hope and pray that you are doing great in the Lord. We're thankful for the post card that you have sent for Fred. He likes very much. They have many colors.

Right now Fred is enjoying his schooling. He is excited to go to school every day. But it said that first day of his school, Fred's cry because his pencil, crayon get the other student. But in spite he continue to go to school.

By the way, what is your favorite book in the Bible? Fred was so happy to go to the center every day to learn bible stories and characters. He is faithful every sunday. Kindly pray for his schooling this year.

God Bless You!

Love,
Lyra Cardinal

Guess I'm going to have to find a favorite bible book!

Anjali

How delightful to receive a letter from Anjali today!

This was the first letter she's written by herself, though it contains all the same pictures she draws every time. The letter reads.

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Greetings to you in the almighty name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I am fine. I hope you are also fine there. How's your health? We are in summer season. How is your season?

Her part ends here and the translator's part begins, some of it clarifying what Anjali had written:

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Anjali sends greetings to you in the Almighty name of Our Lord Jesus Christ. She says she is fine. She asks how you are? She asks how is your health? She asks how is your family members? She says she is in summer season. She says she draws some pictures above. She says she completed her academic year, and now she is in new class and new teacher. She says which you sent her finger paint photo that is very nice and beautiful. She says she is very happy for her photo. Her words are very cute to listen. She says thank you for your loving letter and support.

On behalf of M. Anjali

Mail Day!

I wrote letters to each of my 10 compassion kids today, adding a little thing for each of them, whether a book or stickers or soccer cards or whatever seemed appropriate for the child. I decided I want to get a small story book and send a chapter a letter to Shallon in Uganda, since she reads English (and is 18 years old).

Esther

There were two letters from Esther, one a day after the other. The first promised photos which were not included in the envelope. But when the second envelope came, there they were!

With her 10 month old nephew

With her cousin

With her school friends

With her sister and brother
(or it might be her cousin and brother; not sure!)

To Beverly Sykes,

I am writing to tell you how I am doing. Within 2 days after I write this letter I am going to do the 2nd semester exam. I hope I'll do it well and I also pray that God will be with me. It will end next wee. Then we will celebrate the 60th school anniversary.

Before the exams I got a task to be one of the Red Cross member in the flag ceremony on May 2nd. You can see my photo - I enclosed photos with my family, too. It was after Church in Jakarta.

My favourite music is pop. I like a song with title Rainbow of His Love (Pelangi Kasth Hya) What is your plan on this holiday?

My love regards. I am happy to receive your photo, letter, the bible marker, and the colouring paper.

May God always bless you.

And the second letter

To Beverly Sykes.

I'm glad to receive your letters. Today is the fifth day I have been joining the final exam. I have been joining the final exam on this last (2nd) semester. I'll complete it in these next two days. I wait for it.

The school holiday is coming soon. It's my favourite thing. We plan to visit mother's sister, who is ill. Her house is quite far from our town. It is in Bandung. We need 10 hours to get there. It will be exhausting. Please always pray for me that I'll pass to the next grade on good marks.

Regards with love from me to you.

Henrique

I was surprised to hear from little Henrique so soon. He is only 4, so he doesn't write letters, but he did make this nice picture for me.


The letter also included information about him -- he's 4 years old and wants to be a doctor when he grows up. He likes playing with cars, his favorite food is spaghetti, his favorite thing in school is drawing, his favorite animal is a cat, his favorite color is orange and his beat friend is Pedro.

There was also information about his family, which consists of two parents, two sisters and two brothers.

His message to me (which I suspect is not his message to me!) is "Thank you for sponsoring me! God bless you!"

Latest Kiva Loan

Atta is the woman in Ghana to whom I have made my latest KIVA contribution.

In the picture, Atta has some fried donuts which she sells in the community of Dompoase near Elmina in Cape Coast. She is married and has two children. Her husband is a teacher.

She has been selling donuts for nine years. She assists her husband in providing for the basic needs of her family. Her loan will be used to buy flour, sugar, cooking oil, and other ingredients to fry donuts for sale. She wishes to use the new profits from her business to save towards the university education of her children.

Hey...I won't pass up an opportunity to support ANYBODY who sells donuts!

Fred

I had two letters from Fred:

May 20

Dear Auntie Sykes

Have a blessed day!!! Hope that you are doing fine well. We are so blessed that every time Fred have a letter come from you. We are enjoying reading your letter. Well thank you for all the post card that you have send for Fred. We enjoyed seeing.

He likes to play drum, and his favorite song is "Jesus Loves Me." The subject that is easiest for him is Filipino language and the hardest is "mathematics."

You know, Auntie Sykes, in ever since we have ever seen a tree that we seen in the picture that the car passed under it. (I sent them a picture of a giant Sequoia with a car driving through it). And also the place of Santa Barbara. It so very nice even though we cannot go there, but through this picture it seems that we are there.

By the way, what is the work of your husband? We still praying for you that God will guide you and protect for you. So continue to pray for him specially his father that God would really change his life.

God bless you!


May 21

Dear Auntie Sykes.

Christian Greetings!!! We are still praying for you that God will pour out his blessing for you. Well, about Fred, he's still doing good at home. He is responsible to his sisters. He is doing also at school. This coming June he proceed to the second grade level. He is excited to see his classmates and his friends.

This month he attended Children's Camp at Bible Baptist Church. He sleep at church with his fellow children. He enjoyed very much, because he join in ball games and parlor games. Their group won and received many prizes at the last day of their program. Is your church also having this activities such as this? Next week he have a DVBS (Daily Vacation Bible School) so please pray for Fred that he will grow in the Lord.

May God Bless You!!!

Love,
Lyra Cardinal (Fred's mother)

Murugi

I'm amazed that my first letter from Murugi came so quickly.

"She says thank you for picking her for sponsorship and wishes you God's blessing in all you do. She asks you to pray that she asses her forthcoming exams."

She also says that she would like to be a nurse when she grows up and includes a couple of puzzles that she did on the backside of this page.

Anjali

Today I got a list of words written by Anjali. An interesting assortment of words. Click on the picture to see it larger and read better.

It also came with an update about her.

Dear Beverly Sykes,

Anjali says greetings to you. Matchless name of Lord Jesus Christ. She says she is fine, she asks how you are and your health? She says now she is writing annual examinations for next class. She asks to pray for his examinations and for results too. She says after examinations she had summer vacations. She says she enjoyed a lot in summer holidays with her friends and relatives. She says she had holidays on 23rd of April. She says school reopens on June 13th. She asks how is your family members and what are they doing. She says her (portion? not sure if that is the right word) She says she will be going to VBS in summer holidays. She asks how you are spending. Once again I am very thankful for your kind support and affection on me. Thank you.

Henrique

I was able to get Compassion to send me an updated picture of Luiz Henrique. No additional information about him is forthcoming yet, but I have the photo.

He's such a cutie, but I worry about the circles under his eyes. Hopefully being in Compassion will get him an upgrade to his nutrition and maybe put a smile on that face.

Fred -- Finally

I've been so worried about Fred, but there was a letter from him/his mother today, finally.

Dear Auntie Sykes,

Christian Greetings!!! We are still praying for you that God will pour out his blessing for you.

Well, about Fred, he's still doing good at home. He is responsible to his sisters. He is doing also at school. This coming June he proceeded to the second grade level. He is excited to see his classmates and his friends.

This month he attend Children's Camp at Bible Baptist Church. He sleep at church with his fellow children. He enjoyed very much. because he join in ball games and parlor games. Their group won and received many prizes at the last day of their program.

Is your church also having this activities such as this? Next week he have a DVBS (Daily Vacation Bible School) so please pray for Fred that he will grow in the Lord.

May God bless you!!!

Love,
(Fred's mother)

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.