10 Images of Where Children Sleep Around the World

This boy (who remains anonymous for his own safety) was a child soldier during the war in Liberia. He became a soldier because the offer of food and money was too hard to refuse. He goes to a school for ex-child-soldiers. He is an orphan and has three brothers. He wants to be a teacher when he grows up.

Click below to view:
Where Children Sleep
After viewing those, consider sponsoring a child. For the amount of money you spend a month on burgers, you could change a child's life. We sponsor through Compassion and the group of little girls I work with on Wed nights at New Hope has just recently sponsored a child through Mayan Families. The adults of New Hope sponsor from Amazima. The point isn't which organization you sponsor through, but that we stop saying it needs to be done and actually do it. You can check out each organization through Charity Navigator to see how they monies you give are spent. But, again, make a difference and do something.

Compassion International 

 Mayan Families  

Save the Children 

 World Vision 

 Amazima

My soul is so satisfied...

There is little that could have made my day go better than to have gone to the mailbox and found an updated picture of our Mukashyaka Alphonsine. She is my pride and joy of Rwanda. She stands tall and straight and in this picture, our first updated one since we sponsored her, she is smiling. Yes, she is smiling. The last letter we received from her was one of her her referring to herself as "your daughter"...I cannot tell you how that touched this mother's heart. I have two incredible sons who are now grown men. They no longer need me but to have a young girl in Rwanda who I can watch grow tall and strong... I am a happy "mama" to her.

Adam is my beloved first-born - so filled with a heart of compassion that it bursts forth. Sean, is our joy-filled baby boy, always smiling to the point that a neighbor at one point asked what we did to make him so happy. Mukashyaka came to us late in life, a child we have yet to touch, but one day I hope to see this smile in person.

A Question of Only Five Words

It's a long post, but one that speaks to the heart of abject poverty.

Soul Manna

In the midst of just terrible news worldwide, David reposted this. It's one of those "places" every Christian is required to be in...that every person needs to find. Read the whole post because the "Soul Manna" offered there is fulfilling.

Letter to Mukashyaka

I've had quite a bit of correspondence with Compassion regarding our sponsorship of Mukashyaka. David and I desperately want to bond with her. Considering she is a little girl from Rwanda and for the most part actual handwritten letter correspondence is nearly obsolete now, we try to include along with our letters a small gift. One letter will have a length of ribbon. The next will have a packet of stickers.

The problem is, we try to send items that are a smidgen over 1/4" thick. Do you know how hard it is to find items to send that are that skinny??? We included a sweet little Golden Book with the last letter we sent. Remember the beautiful illustrations from Eloise Wilkin? The particular book was too thick. Ugh! I grow weary of such restraints.

I had been trying to figure out a way to add interest to what must be very boring letters from us. The last letter from her began with, "your daughter, Mukashyaka Alphonsine greets you in the name of Jesus." Oh, my goodness...she had me. I knew I had to do something more.

Last night I had 5 of the kids from Child 2 Child write her letters. I hadn't had time to read them until just a bit ago. They are all lovely and sweet, handwritten, and from the heart. I was almost finished with them and about to grab an envelope to mail when I read the last one in my hand. Keep in mind that this is from a 10 yr old New Hope girl. Here's a portion:

"Do you know that every day and every second of your life God and my church and I are caring for you? We love you. God cares for you and knows what's happening however you're feeling."

Can there be much better testimony of how the Lord is working in the heart of our kids at New Hope?

I'm discovering that most problems that develop within a church are brought on by adults.

The people brought children to Jesus, hoping He might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: "Don't push these children away. Don't ever get between them and Me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. (Mark 10:15)

If only... Why is it so hard for us? What happens to adults that we have such trouble seeing the good in life?

I want to be like New Hope's little 10 yr old girl. I want to be an encourager that shares the Good News easily and simply.

Three Things All Sponsors Should Know

David and I sponsor this beautiful little Rwandan girl, Mukashyaka, via Compassion International. We struggle writing letters to her. We try to send her a note with photos and little gifts about every 6 weeks, but it doesn't come easy for us. I think I try too hard to say the "right" things. I also want to buy stuff for her that isn't acceptable (meaning it is over 1/4" thick). We've sent quite a few items that have ended up in Colorado's local charities because of my hard-headed insistence.

If you're like us, then you'll appreciate this post from Compassion entitled "Three Things All Sponsors Should Know." It helped me to know that she really looks forward to the letters and photos. I needed to hear where the kids needed encouragement. I needed more to hear she just needed to know we care enough about her to write. Maybe once every six weeks isn't enough...

And, if you don't sponsor a child, take time to give it some thought and prayer. You can make a difference.

Opportunity Knocking

Worth the Sacrifice

The King will answer, "Whenever you did it for any of My people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for Me." Matthew 25:40

This morning begins our challenge of eating rice & beans for a week. Our breakfast here consisted of plain white rice and coffee. This is a part of New Hope's effort to see what it might even start to be like to eat like the more than 800,000,000 who go to bed hungry each day.

God has been working in ways we've never seen Him work with New Hope before. From individuals sponsoring children via Compassion or World Vision to a group of little girls crafting their hearts out in order to sell their items to church members with monies going to hungry children throughout the world, to our adult couples class sponsoring Worth the Sacrifice - the Lord is changing us. He is growing our hearts bigger and deeper in our love for The Least of These.

It's one of those things that is so easy to not think about. We live out our incredibly God-blessed lives turning on the tap for clean pure water, grabbing a snack, and eating meals large enough to feed an impoverished family 4 times over. We take our daily bread for granted simply because it's always been there for us.

It's staggering to find out the stats on how many people do not have clean drinking water or how little some have to eat. We've found that once you actually take the small step to coming to know a child through a sponsorship or simply reading a blog written by someone who is devoting his/her life to caring for those who have nothing, there's a shift in the way you view the world. It brings you closer to the Father...and there is no better place to be.

Mookie writes!

We just received our first letter from Mookie. I can tell it's not her handwriting, but that of an adult. She is in primary school and her performance is considered average. The vocabulary in the note is more advanced and I'd love to hear her actual words, without someone "fixing" it for her. But, you know what? It just doesn't really matter. To know that there is a life on this earth that Dave and I can make a small difference in brings me such great joy.

Her name is given to us as Mukashyaka Alphonsine and since I have a propensity to give anything that moves a nickname Mukashyaka immediately became "Mookie" to us. Even my Wed night little girls call her Mookie when we're in our prayer time. The letter is signed "Alphonsine" so I may have to rethink the name. She says:

School is fine and I am studying well. I would like for you to pray for me so I can be brilliant in school.

I had plans to go this afternoon to the bookstore to find something that will show me more about Rwanda other than the incredibly horrific genocide. I need to know about the Rwanda that she lives in today.

My heart wants to know this child intimately - to know her likes and dislikes, what her favorite foods are and if she loves purple and pink like little girls here do. I want her to know that David and I love her already and we pray for her daily.

Mukashyaka

This is Mukashyaka. She is a 9 yr old little girl living in Rwanda. David and I just signed up to sponsor her through Compassion International. We've prayed about doing this for quite some time, but with all we were going through with Mama it just never got done. This evening, we finally were able to do it.