So little to some means so much to others

As some of you know we are sponsoring a child through Compassion International. This is some thing that is very important to Curry; he talked about it for several weeks. I decided to join him in this adventure. Instead of adding some thing else to our budget; we are using some of our own personal money. For those of you that don't know this about us... we have a family budget and we both receive money that we can do whatever we want with.

I will tell you that in the beginning I thought that I would maybe miss the money....but I didn't. But it's really not about the money..... it's about a little 6 year old boy that lives in Colombia. In a world that is so different than mine that I can not begin to imagine what his life is like.

This is Dylber's story.....
He lives with his stepfather and his mother. His stepfather is employed and his mom maintains the home. Dylber works at home making beds and cleaning. There are 6 children in this family.

Because of Compassion International ministry, Dylber participates in church activities. He attends kindergarten where his performance is average. Soccer, running and playing group games are his favorite activities.

This is the information that we received in Dylber's packet. Included in the packet was a form to write a letter to Dylber. Writing the letter to introduce ourselves was on my "to do" list, but some how.... the form was thrown in a stack with some other mail on top of my desk.... and so on and so on.

Several weeks later, I open the mailbox to find not one but two letters from Dylber. I can not tell you the love that is in the letters.....not wanting anything other than to know us. The letters have to be translated and they are written by a teacher since Dylber is too young and is still learning to write.

Here is what Dylber had to say:
Hi sponsors, I thank you for choosing me as your sponsored child. May God bless you so much. Sponsors, I am in preschool; my school is so beautiful and I have many friends there. I have a younger sister named Daniela. I live with my mom, my step dad and three more siblings. My dad lives very far away. Sponsors, I would like to get to know you; send me pictures of you and the place where you live. I like to ride my bicycle but it broke down and I am now playing soccer and I like it very much. Sponsors, pray alot for me and my family; we need it. Sponsors, may God bless you and keep you. Dylber says goodbye.

The second letter says:
Hello sponsors. I hope you and your family are doing well. Sponsors, thank God I'm doing well, but my little siblings have been a little ill. I ask God to heal them. Sponsor, I'm not doing well because I do not like to attend; but promised my tutor to go everyday. Sponsors, I like to go to CDI(Compassion project) because they teach me many beautiful things about God. Also, they give me a nice snack. Well sponsors, I love you so much. God bless you. I look forward to your letters and photos to know you well. I say goodbye.

I am sure he has help writing these letters. I think back to when Logan was 6 and had to write something like a thank you note.... that could take some time.

I will tell you that I couldn't wait to write back to Dylber. We sent a picture of our family and some Diego stickers. We can only send "flat" things and the envelope can only be 1/8" thick. Logan and I bought a Bible coloring book, band aids with animals, and more stickers. In each letter we will send a little some thing for Dylber. My goal is to write at least twice a month. I don't think I will loose a letter on my desk again. (Logan wanted to send him a new bike). I thought that was very sweet. She also wanted to bring Dylber and his family to the USA to live with us. I had to explain to her that wouldn't be possible. Of course, that wasn't the end of that conversation.

I ask you all to think about sponsoring a child. For $32.00 a month you can change the life of a child. I won't tell you to give up a cup of coffee or eating out... I will simply ask you to pray about it. Visit the Compassion website and just take a look around. http://www.compassion.com/default_a.htm

So little to some means so much to others.... can you make a difference?????