Today’s post is written by Steve K., The Leopard at the Summit, member of the blog on child poverty hall of fame and latest addition to our SpotLINK focus on you, our readers.

The other day I received my first letter from my sponsored child — six-year-old Richar, from Peru! I picked up the mail late that night and there it was — a business-sized envelope with a see-through address window, and “Message from Your Sponsored Child” in blue letters on the outside. Woo hoo!!!

This represents the first step in making it real for me. There is this little boy on the other side of the equator that I’m communicating with. Other Compassion blog posts that I’ve read have been written by employees of Compassion, sponsors of 89 different children ;-), or by people who have been sponsors since they earned their first paycheck. I’m the new kid on the block . . . dancing with the letter in hand, cooler than Jordan, Jonathon, Joey, Donnie or Danny could ever hope to be!

The letter is written in Spanish, and the translation is typed in English. (It is funny to see both versions because I know a little Spanish and can see a few details that have been left out in the translation, and I see that there are differences in Peruvian Spanish that I haven’t heard before.)

In addition to the letter, I received a picture of Jesus with four little children that my child so neatly colored. Guess what’s going on my refrigerator until the paper turns yellow?!?

A “tutor” named Maria Angelica (that can’t be her real name, can it?!?) helped him write the letter, and his name is written on the picture. His first name is printed, and his last name is cursive. I wonder if he only did his first name. So cute!

And before I wrote this blog post, I wrote Richar via Compassion’s e-mail page. It’s true, I care more about him than all of you put together! ;o) (BTW, I like to put the little “winky faces” in letters and e-mails to show I’m joking or kidding . . . I tried to explain to him that is what I did in part of the letter — he and Maria might have no clue what I was talking about and just think I’m a crazy 38-year old American man that sends him letters!) ;o)

In addition, to the reply letter, I sent him a Christmas gift/contribution. I hope I get to hear what he gets with that donation. I know the local program could pick out what he needs or wants better than I ever could.

For a newbie, this is a fun first step (by step) . . . I feel like I’ve got The Right Stuff! (If you don’t understand, good for you . . . I’m an American child of the ‘80’s!) ;o)

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Story and photos by Vera Mensah-Bediako, Compassion Ghana Field Communications Specialist

Letters from sponsors come in to the Ghana office through the Global Ministry Center (GMC) in Colorado Springs. They come in mainly by DHL, but a few letters also come in through e-mail.

When these letters are received they are sorted out and entered into the computer system to track that they were received. They are then distributed into pigeon hole mailboxes created for every church partner at the country office.

The next step is for the child development workers from the child development centers to come to the country office to collect the letters, get them to the children, make sure that the letters are replied to and then bring the replies to the country office in good time to be sent to the sponsors.

Compassion Ghana started its Child Sponsorship Program barely three years ago. The majority of the children who were registered into the program were not in school. They only got the opportunity to go to school once they were enrolled into Compassion.

As such, even though some of our children are 12 years old, you find them yet in kindergarten or in the first grade. The best children in these grades can say the alphabet and read two- or three-letter words.

So in Ghana, just a few of our children are able to read and write their own letters. It is therefore the responsibility of the child development workers at the centers, and when possible, some volunteers who help at the centers, to read letters to the children and reply to these letters.

Nana Kojo Sekyi-Arthur is the social worker at the Mount Zion Methodist Church Child Development Center. He has been with the center since it started almost three years ago. Nana Kogo, just like all the other child development workers, visits the country office once every week, if there is no emergency.

Each time he visits, he checks the center’s pigeon hole for any mail or other materials placed there by the office. If there happens to be any correspondence from sponsors to children, Nana Kojo collects them and brings them back to his office. As soon as he gets there, he makes photo copies of all the letters. The original is given to the child to take home, and the copied one is kept on file for reference purposes.

In the community where Nana Kojo works, the people are mostly fisher folks with very little or no formal education at all. They are unable to assist their children with responding to sponsor letters.

For unscheduled letters, which are not too many, when Nana Kojo collects the letters from the country office he makes sure to read all of them before meeting the children again.

The next time the children come to the center the letters are distributed. The older children who can read and write are encouraged to read their own letters and try to write replies to them. There are a number of volunteers who help.

Georgina and Enoch are volunteers who give a lot of assistance with the letters. They correct the older children’s letters. They also read through to see if the sponsor has asked any questions and whether they have been answered. If everything is done well, Nana Kojo copies all the letters into an exercise book.

Every child has an exercise book specially set aside for letters. Each letter the child writes to his sponsor is copied into these exercise books. When writing the next letter, the previous ones are read again so as not to keep repeating the same things over and over again. The children then copy their letters onto the appropriate sheets designed for letter writing by the country office.

The next letters to be written belong to the children who cannot read or write. For this group, Nana Kojo likes to work on the letters personally. He reads the letter to the child. If there is some information the sponsor asks that Nana Kojo cannot provide and the child cannot help with, Nana Kojo goes to the child’s house or invites the parents to the office to help in providing the information needed to complete the letter. (more…)

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1. Do you have a favorite Bible verse or story that has personal meaning to you?

Yes, I do. My favorite Bible verse is Lamentations 3:21-25. And if you read the whole chapter you’ll see why even more.

My favorite Bible story is the story of Joseph, for I can associate with how brothers (and sisters in my case) can disown you or treat you in a way that suggests that you are not part of the family, and how God uses all those bad experiences not only for His glory but also to lift us up and to bless others in the process.

2. What piece of the Compassion program had the biggest impact on you and your life? (Fellowship with Christians, having access to medical care, meals that were provided, educational opportunities, or something else?)

Gosh, it’s really hard to pick one program that had the most impact because all of them played a major role in my life as I was growing up, but the one that comes to mind was the Thursday Bible study I used to attend when I was 9 years old. It was here that I was exposed to the word of God, which gave me a chance to give my life to Christ (my best decision ever) and equip me with the basic foundation for the Word of God and fellowship with others - something I still treasure to date.

By the way, I can’t forget the meals (which tells you I love to eat … Ha!) coz honestly, this was the only place where most of us children from the slums had the chance to enjoy three meals a day.

And yes, educational opportunities, because I wouldn’t be where I am were it not for the chance to go to school.

3. Are there things Compassion could do to improve their service to young people and families?

(more…)

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I just got this cute, cute picture of Pamela at her child development center, viewing herself on the blog from Wednesday’s post! Samuel says she was embarrassed at first but couldn’t help smiling once she saw it.

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The following letter was written by Ruzamba Niyomwungeli, a 24 year old graduate of Compassion’s Child Sponsorship Program. It was written in Kinyarwanda and translated into English at the Compassion Rwanda country office.

“Life has meaning when someone touches it at tender age. Someone stood out and shaped my life. I believe in life of fullness. Thank you my sponsor where ever you are.”
- Ruzamba Niyomwungeli

I really do not know what I would be looking like if Compassion had not touched my life when I was at the age of four - sick, starved, almost naked and frustrated with no hope. Thanks God.

God has been on my side since I was a child up to today. I really extend my sincere gratitude to my loved sponsor who stood by my side up to now, and I do promise that I will never disappoint him or God, who has been witnessing my daily life. Thank you my sponsor.

Presently, I am a mature adult, and above all it’s through your hands I grew up to become an adult with a mission to change my family, my community, my country and the world at large. My dear sponsor what can I give you and what can I say if it had not been your incomparable love you extended to me and my family. I believe in the next day, that I always count as a day of grace and new hope.

My sponsor, I do love you and wish you to see God’s grace day by day. My prayers rest in the hands of God. God of mercy bless my sponsor and Compassion. By God’s love I am who I am because of what you did for my life, where my parents were unable to support me in all the aspects of life.

I cried in my neighborhood, but no one listened to me. I called to my neighbors because of hunger, but there was no boon coming to me. I was sick in my bed, but no one could render a service. But not far from God’s hands, a sponsor, a parent, came to me from the far country that is beyond the sea where my eyes could not imagine a thought. What a blessing and love. God I am too special in your eyes. Thank you God.

My sponsor stretched out both his arms to bring me back to the foundation of hope where I stand right now - with all the courage to make a difference which is positive for my life, my family and my community. God of mercy, bless my sponsor and Compassion.

My sponsor, you became the spiritual, economic and intellectual garb I wear now. You became a friend where many people were not able to welcome me.

My sponsor, I believe that God will always be with you. I really want to assure you that what you did in my life has touched thousands of lives through me; for now I am grown up and am making a positive difference in my family, community, and more especially in my church where I was blessed from.

The God of mercy who brought me to your life is the same God who gave me this real time to say that I really thank you. My sponsor, you came into my life when I could not speak write or read, but now I do write and read. What a friend I do have!

My sponsor, you are my friend, and I do credit you most of my blessings. I believe God has heard my prayers for you, as you pray for me.

Blessings to you.

Ruzamba Niyomwungeli

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Have you ever wondered how your sponsored child’s letter gets to you? The long journey it takes from Tanzania or Thailand to Connecticut or California? There’s a lot more to it than you might think!

Samuel Llanes, Guatemala’s Field Communication Specialist, gives us a peek at the journey of one letter from Guatemala to a sponsor in Australia. (Did you know that Compassion International has sponsors all over the world from Australia to France to South Korea?)

Pamela, a little girl sponsored by a married couple in Australia, says, “I love writing letters to them! When I write my letter, I wish I was right there with my sponsors.”

She has received two letters in the two years she has been sponsored, and she keeps them safely at home. She knows who they are and what they do, and she prays for them before bedtime each night.

When Pamela receives a letter, it has gone through a long journey. First the letter is sent from Australia to the Compassion International field office in Guatemala. Each country Compassion works in has its own field office. The letter must then be translated into Spanish for Pamela to understand.

“Translating is such a blessing to me,” says Julia Zepeda, a pastor’s wife and translator who has been working for Compassion International Guatemala for eight years. “I have taken this as a ministry that helps children, and I know is worth it.”

The translators are given one week to complete all the translations once they’re given a group of letters. The average number of letters that must be translated a week in Guatemala is usually around 180 to 200! After translating, the letters are brought to the student centers where they are distributed to the children. Receiving a letter is a special moment for children — they know that someone out there cares about them and is praying about them.

Letter Day
“Letter day” happens every four months. Pamela, along with all the other children at her Guatemala City student center, writes a letter every four months, though her sponsors may not write her that often.

When Pamela writes her letters, she uses a notebook to write a first draft. She does not want to miss anything that her sponsors asked her in their letter. Pamela’s tutor reads her sponsors’ letter to her, and as it is read, Pamela answers all the questions they asked. If they have sent something special, like stickers, she makes sure to thank them. Then once she has decided what her letter will say, she writes out her final draft.

Letter Day is an exciting day. The student center celebrates all the children for their efforts in writing letters on Letter Day. They give prizes to celebrate every child — and sometimes they even have a clown and piñatas!

Once Pamela’s letter is written, she gets to take her letter from her sponsors home, which she gets very excited for.

On Its Way
Once Pamela’s letter and all the other letters are written, they are brought to the Guatemala field office and translated into English. The packages of translated letters are then labeled and sent to be processed at Compassion International’s Global Ministry Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The children’s letters are sent from Guatemala to Colorado once a week.

Each week, child letters arrive in large boxes in Colorado Springs from all over the world to be tracked and sent on their way.

First, the letters are sorted by where the sponsors are from. All the letters going to U.S. sponsors are grouped together, all the letters going to the United Kingdom are grouped together, and so on.

Each letter is then scanned into a database, using the barcode at the top of each child’s letter, so Compassion can track all of the letters that are sent.

Once all the letters have been recorded in the database, they are bound together according to the letter’s destination country, and shipped out every Tuesday.

So the letters that our sponsored children write to us have been through a long process, passing from one hand to another until they arrive in your mailbox in that envelope saying, “A Message From Your Sponsored Child.”

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My name is Boer, James Boer. But you can call me Kees, which is pronounced “case.” My middle name is Jacobus, which translates to James. See, I’m Dutch, which means I grew up in the Netherlands, but doesn’t necessarily explain why I’m a Compassion Advocate, but I am … Dutch and a Compassion Advocate.

As I mentioned, I grew up in the Netherlands, and once in a great while we would have people visit our home from the United States. It was always such an exciting time. I used to love listening to them so I could imitate their English.

When I went to high school, I started learning English myself and was finally able to communicate with our guests. At the end of the visits, I’d be sure to get an address, and I would write letters and then wait and wait and pray that they would send a letter back

Some of them did, and I was always so excited. I wouldn’t receive more than a couple a year but getting one made my whole month. I’d read and reread the letters until I almost had them memorized. And I still have those letters after all of these years.

A few years ago I interviewed Wess Stafford. He shared a story about a huge flood in one of the countries Compassion works in. The local staff was evacuating the children, but one child kept trying to get back into her home. Finally, the worker let the child go. A couple minutes later, the child came back with a little pouch. In it were all the letters her sponsor had written her.

This is a sample of what my sponsored children write to me. Although the words are different, they often have the same message. (more…)

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