Paul the Apostle spent quite a lot of time talking about the “seen” reality versus the “unseen” reality in the world, and how it’s important for Christians to focus on the unseen things that God is doing instead of on how things appear to be going.
There are many examples I could draw from to illustrate the difference, but for now I am just going to mention the biggest one there is: Jesus!
Having the benefit of hindsight (and what a benefit it is!) we know that Jesus was the Son of God and that His death on the cross allowed Him to take our punishment upon Himself so we can be reconciled to God, inherit eternal life and be saved from the judgment and death that we rightly deserve.
However, at the time of Jesus’ death it did not look like the awe-inspiring and glorious victory of mercy and justice and triumph over evil that it was. Instead it looked like all the hopes and aspirations of Jesus’ followers were destroyed, that the Messiah still hadn’t come and that an innocent and good man had been condemned to a pointless death!
In the crucifixion of Jesus there is a considerable difference between the seen (the end of all hope) and the unseen (the fulfillment of all hope).
When it comes to Child Sponsorship and letter writing, there are seen and unseen elements at work on several levels.
In the seen reality, letters are just a novelty, something fun to give and receive if you’re into that type of thing; letter writing is like cross-stitch or model-airplane making — something some people like doing and others aren’t so interested in.
However, in the unseen reality letters can change lives. They can bring hope into a sponsored child’s life. They can bring the knowledge that someone loves and cares for them. They can bring together two people from vastly different places and cultures and forge a friendship that is deep and personal. And they provide another channel to proclaim the wonderful news of Jesus’ love and what He did for us!
Letters are no longer something that certain “types” of people are into but something we should all be able to do to love and serve another person.
This does not mean it is easy to write letters, or that you have to be as involved in the ministry of letter writing as a person who is really gifted in that regard. But it does mean that we can all do something.
- If you are naturally gifted at writing, you can show love by writing to your sponsored child(ren) and also perhaps take on some “Correspondent Children” to write to as well.
- If you don’t necessarily enjoy writing but can do it easily enough, I encourage you to lovingly serve your sponsored child(ren) by writing regularly. If you are at a loss for what to write about, consider these letter writing ideas.
- If you prefer not to write at all, you can ask Compassion to find a sponsor to correspond with your child so your child can experience the wonderful relationship that can develop through letter writing.
Writing a letter may seem unimportant, but it is a labor of love that can make all the difference to a child in poverty — for poverty is not simply a lack of money, but also a lack of hope.
About the Author: Jessica McPherson lives with her husband, Eoin, and family of rescue animals in Christchurch, New Zealand. She loves reading, writing, baking and crafts but most of all sharing God’s love with a hurting world. She blogs at Truest Riches.