Today I was so
excited to receive my first letter from 18-year-old Mbula, who lives in
Kenya. Mbula was assigned to me when I requested a correspondence child aged 14
or up from either Africa or Asia. He was assigned to me on May 31st.
Four months and one week later, I received his first letter. I was excited to
see that he responds to several things I mentioned in my first letter. It was
also my first letter in English, which I was thrilled about; no worries about translation
errors! Although a translator did look at the letter to check for errors, of
which there were none. Mbula writes English very well!
Here’s the
letter:
“Dear Hannah,
Hallo my friend! It’s my hope that you are fine
with your family members. On my side, I’m fine too. I thank you for being my
sponsor. I thank you for the letter you send to me.
In our family, we have three brother and one
sister. I would not mind anymore if you would like to be my second sister in
our family. (in my first letter, I told
him I had no brothers or sisters and asked if I could call him my brother. I’m
glad he said yes!)
In our school, I am doing well in my studies. I
would request you to pray for me in order to go on well in my studies. In my
school activities, I like participating in volleyball as well as football. (the translator added, “soccer.”)
In our church, I like participating in singing and
dancing. (me too!) I would like also
to share the same verse from Joshua 1:9. It says, “Be strong and of good
courage, don’t be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go.” (This is the same
verse I sent him in my first letter. I’m glad he liked it enough to share it
again!) I would also request for you to pray for our Kenyan athletes who
are participating in athletic competition in Moscow. (I asked him to tell me more about Kenya, so this is interesting! I’ll
have to look it up online and see what else I can find out.) May God bless
you and honour you.
This letter was
really exciting in so many ways: my first letter from Kenya, my first letter in
English, and the first letter that responds to questions I’ve asked in the first letter. I’m glad to see how much
room is on the Kenyan stationery for writing… Mbula sounds like he will be a
chatty and interesting young man to get to know!
I love my Kenyan
brother!
I love my correspondence kids in Kenya! They are sweet, friendly, chatty and informative. And they write in English so I can send them extra stuff in English, like devotional books! : )
ReplyDeleteIt's so great that there are a couple of countries that write in English! I found a journal with different Bible verses on each page, so I may take it apart and send it in sections with a paper cover. Maybe that would be a good idea for Christmas!
DeleteWow! What a great 1st letter!!! Mbula sounds like such a neat young man...I love how he asked you to be his sister!!! It sounds like you're going to have fun corresponding with Mbula!
ReplyDelete