Sometimes priceless treasure arrives sealed in an envelope.
Yesterday I received a letter from Pinki, the little girl we sponsor in India but have yet to write about here. Meeting her, holding her hand, hugging her neck…and then having to let her return to her impoverished village has proved too challenging to write. Yet.
Translation can be entertaining at times, and she began with “At first take my love,” a peculiar phrase but one that gave me reason to smile and receive the love she sent. I was reminded of our very different cultures as I continued: “Here, the weather is rainy season. I like to bathe in the rain. Do you like to bathe in the rain?”
I smiled at the image of her dancing in the rain, face upward and joyful while the filth of of the day washed off her skin, and it hit me I probably would like bathing in the rain if I tried it.
Then I remembered my (incourage) post is published today and its content is all about the hope Compassion International extends to program children (I hope you’ll click through to read!), and then I received a comment from Holley reminding me sponsorship can make a difference that lasts f o r e v e r.
Are you willing to make a forever difference?
🙂
I’ve been thinking a lot about our little Compassion child, Jerome, this week due to the floods in the Philippines. Thankfully he is not near Manila so I hope he is safe. But I am praying for the safety of his family and that somehow God will work the flooding for good.
I have always wanted to sponsor a child, but the Compassion blogger trips and hearing the reports are what really pushed us to do it. Seeing 5-year-old Jerome’s picture on our fridge makes my heart happy.
Also, from the info we have gotten, it sounds like if someone didn’t want/couldn’t sponsor a child right now, just giving $20 to help supply any child with a Christmas gift would be a huge deal.
I have sponsored several women through Women for Women International over the past few years and I so treasure the friendships I have made with women who live in a culture so different from mine, who live so far away from me. I get so excited whenever I get a letter from a “sister” in the mail. The women graduate from the program after one year of sponsorship and usually that is when the letters must stop because we speak different languages and no longer have a translator to translate our correspondence. One of my sisters, however, I have remained friends with for years because she and I both speak French as a foreign language and we have continued to write to each other about our lives, our children, our troubles and our triumphs. I am always brought to tears when one of my sisters says she prays for me every night for my generocity. But they help me just as much as I help them. Thanks for this post.
That is so precious! Jordan and I hope to sponsor a child sometime in the near future!
I remember our first letter –
our little girl isn’t 5 yet — so I don’t know how much is really from her
Hi,
I was bloghopping and stumbled on you, and this post really attracted me. Iam from India and not to mention Calcutta , my lovely city. It really filled my heart that people like you are helping out in places where they really need it, Iam just glad these children have people like you in their lives.
I had a great comment going here and it disappeared.
The synopsis. After rain, walk, birds, songs, peace