Growing up, my church used to go to Icthus every year. I'm pretty sure it was at one of those festivals that I first heard about Compassion International. I sponsored a little boy, Lutalo Joshua, for several years till I went to college. My mom was sweet enough to take over my sponsorship so I didn't have to deal with the guilt of abandoning him when I left. She even turned out to be a betters sponsor than i was, she wrote him letters for years till he graduated from the program.
Mike and I have been discussing sponsorship for a while. We hemmed and hawed, trying to decide which company to use (World Vision vs Compassion mainly). Eventually I went onto the compassion website and began looking at the kids. It was overwhelming. How on earth do you choose which one to sponsor, or maybe more to the heart of it was how do i look at these children and choose not to sponsor them? So I went to the section where the kids have been waiting the longest. We chose Mrisho, a little boy Suzy's age. Mike and I were excited, the joy of making a small difference shining in our hearts and excited to share it with the girls.
Our package came a week ago, the twins understand what we've done. Suzy knows there's a little boy her age that we pray for now. We all had a great time looking up information on Tanzania, a place so very different from our own. My heart is different this time. Sponsorship is different this time. I know the ache of a mother's love. Mrisho is a little boy that I will probably never meet, but God has given us an opportunity to make him a part of our family, to connect our family with his. God has given my children an opportunity to see that family goes beyond blood. My girls experience with sponsorship will be a little different than mine was as a child, but I hope that our experience as a family that's reaching outside itself to love the world that Jesus loves will be one that sticks with them.
Ironically, Simple Mom and several other bloggers just got back from a trip to the Phillipines with Compassion. If you want to be reminded of how good our lives really are, feel free to check out some of her posts and the posts of the other bloggers that went on the trip. as a fair warning, you might find yourself not really needing the $38 a month that you currently spend:)
