For children in Togo and around the world, a letter from a sponsor is a source of great joy. Most children see letters as gifts from the hearts of their sponsors.
Sadly, other children feel forgotten or unloved because they have not received a single letter.
Like Godwin.
Godwin is in the fifth grade. He is clever, dynamic and very sociable, and he has a good relationship with his friends at the child development center he attends in Togo. He lost his father and currently lives with his mother, a cashier in a small company.
Godwin was sponsored a few years ago but he has never received any communication from his sponsor.
This makes him unhappy and uncomfortable, especially when his friends at the development center receive letters from their sponsors.
Godwin thinks his sponsor does not love him.
When he wants to talk about this situation, he pauses for a long time, bows his head and bursts into tears.
“I don’t know why my sponsor can’t write to me while other children always receive letters. They are happy every Saturday when it is time to answer letters. Me, I am forgotten.
“I don’t think that my sponsor really loves me. When I write, I receive no answer. During Christmas and Easter, I always hope that they will send me a letter, but I have been disappointed.”
Benedicte would also like to receive a letter from her sponsor. Her mother shares with us,
“On Easter, Christmas and my daughter’s birthday, I have to encourage her, because her friends at the child development center tell her that their sponsors have written to them.
“We live in the same house with another sponsored girl from the same church. I remember a day when that girl received a letter from her sponsor. Benedicte asked her desperately, ‘When will my sponsor write to me?’
“We have written many letters to the sponsor, but they never reply and our questions go unanswered. How can you keep on asking the same questions to the same person who gives you no information? We just want them to tell us how they are doing.”
Letters from sponsors have a great impact, not only on the children but also on their family members.
Germain, who serves as director of the center that Godwin and Benedicte attend, tells us,
“It is really true that when a child regularly receives letters from his sponsor, his joy overflows.
“Even days following the reception of a letter are filled with happiness and delight. You can feel that joy in his life during the following weeks. The child’s attitude changes, especially when it is their first time to receive a letter from their sponsor.”
Davi and Dagan, twins with the same sponsor, are a great example of this. They receive letters almost every week.
Dagan shares,
“I love the way our sponsor writes to us. She calls us princes, as if our father were a king.
“Our parents never call us by that name and we feel really loved. On our birthday, we always expect good words from our sponsor and she always writes to us. She is also a source of empowerment to our family.
“When my sister and I pass our exams, she writes to encourage and congratulate us. Sometimes, our parents forget to do it, but they have started doing it because our sponsor does it.
“Our sponsor is someone we will never forget. Truly, she loves us. We don’t know how to express our thanksgiving toward her and her family. The only thing we hope is that she will visit us and we are sure God will bless her so that she can do it.”
To maintain good relationships with sponsored children, it is important that you write to them.
Your letters give them the joy of having somebody abroad thinking about them. The letters also give encouragement, empowerment and hope to the boys and girls we serve.