I came home on another snowy Friday night...and found a familiar brown envelope that I know holds some words written on the other side of the world...it's communication from Zambia where our sponsored kids live...the kids who we've been supporting for almost a decade, the children I've had the chance to meet, and those who we pray for as we eat together as a family wondering what they are earting on the same night...
I love getting these notes and find myself being taken back to a place in the world I love...
This particular mailing featured an unusually stirring letter and remarkable photo in its envelope...
In November of last year we decided we would all chip in some of our Christmas money allocated in the Christmas gift budget to give some to our two sponsored kids to purchase Christmas presents for each of them. World Vision had created an opportunity where you could designate some special funds to purchase extra things specifically for the extra specific needs of our kids rather than just the normal monthly support amount that goes to support all kinds of community development projects while making sure basic needs of sponsored kids are taken care of...and they promised that we would get a picture and letter showing us what the money had purchased...
We decided as a family we couldn't pass up this opportunity, especially given the Christmas celebration we were going to have in comparison to what Christmas was going to look like in Twachyianda and Singazongwe...our small sacrifice seemed to be pretty insignifcant in the larger scope of our full Holiday season...
Almost 2 months later letters arrived from both of our sponsored kids...we've gotten many, many pictures and notes from Africa before, but this one was totally different because of what I saw inside...there were pictures and notes that told us what they had done with our Christmas gift...
Our girl Gracious was sitting on her new mattress surrounded by new blankets, a new school backpack, and new books to read...it was her first ever "bed" and I was blown away by the massive amount of life-changing things she had bought with our gift...this was stuff she had never had before...a truly remarkable Christmas for a girl Olivia's age that she would never forget...and that would help her move to the life she dreamed of achieving someday...
Our boy Peter was with his brother outside their thatch hut that he had showed me around almost 10 years ago...he wrote that our present enabled him to pay his school fees and continue on with the education that was truly the hope for a new future...and perhaps the most eye-catching image of all were the goats he had purchased for this family for this Christmas...the goats that will provide food and income and resources for years that can change his life and the lives of a family that has been impacted by HIV in so many ways...
More than anything I was reminded that there is nothing better than giving...and that a small sacrifice on this side of the world can through the power of remarkable global partnerships and connections do more than we can ever imagine...and after all, isn't that what we do for our friends?
I think I'll remember this Christmas as the year we gave goats...and these pictures, these words, these amazing kids in Zambia compel us only to give more as God designed...for generosity obviously not only benefits those who receive but so enriches the giver with joy and a desire to keep on giving...
We can't wait to someday see these 2 very special teenagers in person once again...and we obviously endorse changing your life and the life of a child who needs you somewhere in our world...
http://www.worldvision.org/m/sponsor-a-child/?open&campaign=1193512&cmp=KNC-1193512&gclid=CJ3k9am60LUCFShgMgodFT0A9A
I love getting these notes and find myself being taken back to a place in the world I love...
This particular mailing featured an unusually stirring letter and remarkable photo in its envelope...
In November of last year we decided we would all chip in some of our Christmas money allocated in the Christmas gift budget to give some to our two sponsored kids to purchase Christmas presents for each of them. World Vision had created an opportunity where you could designate some special funds to purchase extra things specifically for the extra specific needs of our kids rather than just the normal monthly support amount that goes to support all kinds of community development projects while making sure basic needs of sponsored kids are taken care of...and they promised that we would get a picture and letter showing us what the money had purchased...
We decided as a family we couldn't pass up this opportunity, especially given the Christmas celebration we were going to have in comparison to what Christmas was going to look like in Twachyianda and Singazongwe...our small sacrifice seemed to be pretty insignifcant in the larger scope of our full Holiday season...
Almost 2 months later letters arrived from both of our sponsored kids...we've gotten many, many pictures and notes from Africa before, but this one was totally different because of what I saw inside...there were pictures and notes that told us what they had done with our Christmas gift...
Our girl Gracious was sitting on her new mattress surrounded by new blankets, a new school backpack, and new books to read...it was her first ever "bed" and I was blown away by the massive amount of life-changing things she had bought with our gift...this was stuff she had never had before...a truly remarkable Christmas for a girl Olivia's age that she would never forget...and that would help her move to the life she dreamed of achieving someday...
Our boy Peter was with his brother outside their thatch hut that he had showed me around almost 10 years ago...he wrote that our present enabled him to pay his school fees and continue on with the education that was truly the hope for a new future...and perhaps the most eye-catching image of all were the goats he had purchased for this family for this Christmas...the goats that will provide food and income and resources for years that can change his life and the lives of a family that has been impacted by HIV in so many ways...
More than anything I was reminded that there is nothing better than giving...and that a small sacrifice on this side of the world can through the power of remarkable global partnerships and connections do more than we can ever imagine...and after all, isn't that what we do for our friends?
I think I'll remember this Christmas as the year we gave goats...and these pictures, these words, these amazing kids in Zambia compel us only to give more as God designed...for generosity obviously not only benefits those who receive but so enriches the giver with joy and a desire to keep on giving...
We can't wait to someday see these 2 very special teenagers in person once again...and we obviously endorse changing your life and the life of a child who needs you somewhere in our world...
http://www.worldvision.org/m/sponsor-a-child/?open&campaign=1193512&cmp=KNC-1193512&gclid=CJ3k9am60LUCFShgMgodFT0A9A
