Child sponsorship changes lives forever
PORT PERRY, ON - Child sponsorship began partly as an object lesson for my children - at least in the beginning. I can admit this. As much as we wanted to make a difference in the life of a child, we also wanted to raise three compassionate human beings.
We sponsored Angel first, a boy in El Salvador the same age as my oldest son. We went on to sponsor two other children, but we never tried to match up age and gender again. It just felt funny.
We have prayed for Angel, Mariam and Fred. We have sent packages at Christmas, full of stickers and photos of snow. We even met two of our sponsored children during a family trip to Africa. Our kids - and Mariam and Fred - were speechless to find themselves face to face. I believe those encounters will be a highlight of my children's childhood.
We have not been perfect sponsors. The pictures on the fridge get covered over with permission slips. Months go by without writing, and days without praying. Over the years we have tried to write to our three sponsored children. I'm sad to say that even if we got the letters written, there was no guarantee they would actually be sent. But that was true of letters to my grandmother too. It had to do with cluttered counters, not lack of caring.
But, when progress reports arrive, there is a ripple of excitement that goes through our house. Mariam didn't do so well in Grade 1, and we clucked and fussed and fretted like distant aunts and uncles.
Recently, two of our sponsored children moved out of the areas where the supporting charities work, and slipped out of our lives forever. Angel, our longest sponsored child, now 15 like Erik, was one of them. Mariam, whose house we visited, whose mom we hugged, was the other. I worry about her future in Uganda. We pray for travelling mercies for a six-year old African girl.
The other day, I asked my 11-year-old son Thomas what it meant to him that we sponsored children.
"They have the same imagination and dreams as me," he answered. "If we keep one kid alive, it makes a difference. If we can do that, imagine what a lot of people can do. It's a big difference." I'm glad he has seen hints of the difference one person can make in the life of another. I'm glad he knows he has power.
We have two new sponsored children now. Our support to the communities didn't skip a beat. That is the heart of most sponsorship models - whole villages are eventually transformed and children grow into healthy adults who stand a chance. And I guess that's true in my house too.
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