We heard what you think about visiting your sponsored children. And some of you shared some great experiences with us too, which got us wanting more.
Want! Want! Want! That’s us. 🙂
So, if you didn’t comment, haven’t ever commented or still have more to say, finish this sentence:
On my sponsor trip . . .
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Is anyone going to visit children in Peru? I would love to send a doll to my sponsored child.
I was amazed by the encouragement and enthusiasm of my fellow sponsors on our trip to Guatemala. We learned how important our sponsorship was to each child’s family. We also learned how important it was for the children to receive our letters. I still remember the tears of a girl who had never heard from her sponsor. Don’t forget to write your kids.
I went to Uganda and saw the most beautiful people inside and out that I have ever met. My child was awestruck that I even came there to see her. I wanted to spend more than just a day with her. In Uganda on my sponsor tour we saw some horrible poverty conditions and realized how much we have here that we take for granted. It was one of the greatest trips of my life — I’ll never forget it.
I met a boy in Perdenales, Dominican Republic. He had a photo of his sponsor family. The photo was tattered, and bent. He asked me to take a picture of him holding the photo. After I did then he asked me to contact his sponsor family and give them the photo I had just taken. He wanted them to know he carries their photo everywhere he goes.
On my sponsor tour…I ran into several children at various projects that just “happened” to have their sponsor letters and photos in their pockets. They were very pleased to show them to us! Usually they asked me if I knew their sponsor so I could tell them “Thank you!”
On my sponsor tour, … I saw Christlike servanthood in action when a local pastor washed the feet of an elderly sponsor who had slipped and fallen in the mud. I saw eager, cheerful little brown faces singing their hearts out to Jesus, feeling self-conscious and very important as they presented skits to us. I saw starving and ill dogs wandering the neighborhoods. I met moms and grandmas in local churches who kept hugging us and saying, “God bless you.”
I met Yesica, my then-12-year-old sponsored child, and spent the day in a park with her. I taught her how to use a swing (she had never been on one), and I got the distinct impression that she is never the focus of so much attention. After a while she wandered over to a bench to lay and look up in the sky, and I knew in her pre-teen way she was trying to memorize the day forever, with the beautiful green grass, the cool food and drink, the loving attention, the bus ride through La Paz, and the fact that her sponsor came so far just to see her.
On my sponsor tour…
I want to hug my child and swing her around and never let go. I want to tell her how much I love her and and meet her family.
I want to take tons of photos and video. I want to give her the gifts I am making for her and her family. I want to see the area where she lives and the project. ( I do know that I willnot necessaraly get to see my child’s home and church, but I am praying)
I am saving up but I don’t know when I can go.
I had the chance to stay at a partner church in Kenya this summer and got to help out one day at the project. Because it was not a sponsor tour we did not get as much info about the workings of the project.
On my first sponsor tour…I finally appreciated the importance of wring to my child (children now…). I also apologized to my child and his mother for not writing and promised that I would be faithful in writing regularly.
Yes – I was one of “those” sponsors that never wrote…I just didn’t get it until I went on a tour. Now I write to all four of my kids at last every other month – and it has made the whole sponsorship experience better!
On my sponsor tour . . .
I want to hug my child and play with her and hold her close. I want her to know how privileged we feel to be able to pray for her and to help her in a little but significant way. I want to know how I can help Compassion more and to see firsthand how the centers and programs are run. I want to thank those who work with these kids and encourage them. And I want to share that we serve an awesome God.
I know I will feel overwhelmed and will need to draw close to God for his help to understand things. And I want to be able to go on a sponsor tour soon :))
This story is not unique, but when we visited a child and her family in their modest home, someone asked her if we could see the letters her sponsor had written her. By the girl’s reaction we suddenly knew that her sponsor did not write.
It broke our hearts to see her broken heart.
I came away with a renewed appreciation for writing letters and what they actually mean to a child. The bottom line: write your child. These children love these mementos more then we can imagine. My own children own nothing that they cherish as much as these kids love their letters.
Another Story
I was able to meet Allison Juan before I actually became his sponsor and visited him in his home, met his mom and family, and visited his church and school. Lord willing I will see him again in October 2008.
that one day I will take, I want to soak up as much time with my sponsored child as I can. I want her to know how much we care, and pray for her every day.
I want to come back with an entirely new perspective. And a ton of pictures 🙂
I found out about an open position at Compassion that I eventually got hired for and which led to me being involved with this blog and leaving for Mexico today.
On my sponsor tour….that I have yet to go on, I hope to take my children with me so they can have a different perspective for the rest of their lives…
Sorry, it’s the only way I could participate today!
I saw such poverty of spirit that even I wondered whether God would ever be able to bring transformation to the community.
I’ve just tried three times to describe what I mean, and I haven’t figured out how to convey it. Even now, my heart is heavy with the sense of hopelessness and resulting helplessness that seemed to pervade the place and the people.
We not only got to see the beautiful country of Ecuador, but we got to see several projects and interact with so many children. I got the privilege of serving lunch to the kids one of the days. But, of course, getting to spend a day with our kids was a day that dreams are made of. We count it as one of the most special days of our lives. While we felt connected to them before, this visit cemented our relationship. At one point, when the children were opening the gifts we brought, one of the mothers began crying. She said, “It’s not the gifts, it’s that you are here!” To get to see “our” kids run and play and laugh; to get to hold their hands and talk to them – made it all so real. My little guy loves airplanes and says he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. At the amusement park we were at, one of the rides was on little planes. When he got off, he ran over to us and said, “I landed my plane! I landed my plane!” Our trip was an incredible blessing to us – but we are sure it was not our last Compassion trip!