Compassion in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic. It’s a little country in the Caribbean Sea that shares an island home with Haiti. It’s a land of contrasts, of fancy vacation resorts and abject poverty. It’s a land of hard-working people and bright-eyed children.

This week, from February 16-20, several notable bloggers have traveled with Compassion International to experience the DR for themselves. They are keeping a daily record of all that they do and see; the good, the painful, and the hopeful. I’d like to invite you to hop over to the Compassion Blog and check out what they’ve been up to!

http://www.lisaleonardonline.com/blog/adventures/a-mothers-heart

If you’re fascinated by what you read, and you’d like to take the step of sponsoring your own child from the Dominican Republic, please click on the link below:

Sponsor a Child in the Dominican Republic

Sponsorship is only $40 a month ($38 if you live in the States) and for that small amount, you can provide a child with food, education, medical help, Christian teaching, and hope for the future! (The good news is, if you sponsor a child through this link, I earn a family gift for one of my kids! So everyone benefits!)

Music Monday: Kings and Queens

Today's Music Monday features one of my favorite songs ever. I get chills whenever I watch the music video, featuring the band Audio Adrenaline and Haitian children from the Hands and Feet Project. This to me is the quintessential missions songs. Please enjoy and share!

January Joys

January of 2015 was a great month letter-wise! I started out by getting a letter from Ada, which was wonderful since I usually hear from her the least of all my kids.

                                             

She began by greeting me and wishing me peace from God. Then she thanked me for my monthly support and telling her my news. She told me she studies in Primary 4 and got good marks, and she will be entering Primary 5 this year! She also let me know that her family is doing fine. She added, “I pray for you to be with God all the time.” She wished me a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, and thanked me for the photos I always send her and the “good letter” I sent her.  I had sent a letter about names and their meanings to all my kids, and asked them what each of their names meant. Ada told me the meaning of her Rwandan name: “Basomingera means to go deep in water.” She also told me that she prays “on seventh day.” Leave it to Ada to give me some interesting tidbits of information!

On January 19, Shakira celebrated her sixteenth birthday! Her sisters and friends planned a surprise birthday party for her, and I was blessed with several pictures of the event!

Then, I got a letter from Isimbi!

She began by greeting me in the name of Jesus Christ. Then she asked me how I and my family are doing, and told me that she and her family are all doing well. She says, “My brother and grandmother love you so much, and so do I.” She then shared some exciting news: She sat for her National Exams that end the Primary classes, and asked me to pray that she would pass them so she can continue on to high school! Wow, my girl is growing up so fast and I am so proud of her! She also said that they have grown beans. She also wished me a Merry Christmas and a “happy prosperous New Year.” And she thanked me for the letter and photos I sent her.

Overall, it was a great month for letters and news from my kids!

Music Monday: Faz Um Milagre Em Mim

Looking back over my blog, I can’t believe how long it’s been since I shared a Music Monday with you all! I intend to change that in the new year.

The song that I want to share with you today is a special one. It’s a Portuguese song written by Regise Danese. Because you may not understand the lyrics, here is the translation of them.  (Note that this is Google Translate, so it may not be entirely accurate.)

Like Zacchaeus

I want to climb,

The highest I can

Just to see You

Looking for You

And call your attention to me.

I need You, Lord

I need you, Oh Father!

I'm too small

Give me Thy Peace

Leave everything to follow you.

Come into my house

Come into my life

Move in my structure

Heal all wounds

Teach me to have Holiness

I only want to love you,

Because the Lord is my highest good,

Make a miracle in me.

The song is sung by Gospel singer Milena, who is quite famous in spite of her young age. She excitedly announces the name of the song she will be singing. I love her bubbly and precocious spirit! As the song builds, she is joined on stage by Regise Danese, the song’s author himself. Together, they sing an incredible duet. Despite the fact that I don’t speak the language, I adore this worship song and couldn’t help the tears that came to my eyes when I first heard it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

A New Compassion Blogger!

After months and months of hemming and hawing, I did it. I took the plunge. I am now a registered Compassion blogger! Look on the right side of my blog and scroll up a bit. See that nifty little blue widget that says, “I blog for Compassion”? Yup, I get to use that little badge to let everyone know that I blog for Compassion!

“So… what?” You might be asking. “How is this different than what you did before?”

Well, it is true that I blog about my Compassion kids a lot. After all, they’re the center of my universe!  The main difference is that now, I’ll be doing a fair bit of blogging about Compassion itself, not just about my kids. (Although you’ll continue to hear all about them too!)

I talk about my kids a lot… how they’re doing, what they’ve been saying in their letters, how proud I am of them, and of course, sharing new photos of them! I know that because of Compassion, they are growing into wonderful young ladies and men (well, man, in Mbula’s case).  Without Compassion, my kids wouldn’t be my kids… they’d be growing up in poverty, with no hope. No one to tell them that they are loved. That they matter. That God has a future for them. Isimbi’s grandmother wouldn’t have anyone to help her look after her grandchildren. Ada’s mother wouldn’t have had medical help when she had her heart attack last year.  Mbula wouldn’t be playing soccer and dreaming of university. And Miriam might not even be alive… three is such a vulnerable age for children in poverty.

But because of Compassion, there is somebody. There are loving project workers who watch over the kids, teach them, love them, and pray for them. And because of Compassion, I am able to be a part of their lives.

You all have heard me talk a lot about different organizations since I started this blog. Operation Christmas Child, Metro Ministries, and Shelter Them, among others. I don’t believe in being exclusive; God has His people everywhere, in many different organizations. I’ll continue to talk about all these ministries, don’t worry. I’ll just be taking more time to focus on Compassion’s work around the globe.

Over the past little while, I’ve felt God really speaking to my heart about becoming a Compassion Blogger. He’s been speaking to me about other things as well, but I can’t give away too many secrets yet! ;) It’s a new year, a fresh start, a chance to get out of my comfort zone and start doing more for God and for His people. It’s a curve in the road along the path trodden by the Carpenter of Nazareth, and I can’t wait to see what lies around the next bend! I hope you’ll all join me as we continue walking together… see you on the Path!

(And hey, while you’re here… check out this awesome video about how one child’s struggle opened his mom’s eyes to kids in need all over the world… you’ll fall in love with this kid, I promise!)

Welcome to the Family

As of a month ago, I was blessed to have four precious children to call my own. The four quarters of my heart… the four corners of my life. Handsome Mbula, shining Shakira, precious Isimbi and beautiful Ada.

So many times I shake my head at the goodness of God. You’ve heard me tell stories before of how I was blessed with my Isimbi, but my heart longed for another little Rwandan girl… until Ada joined my family. I was so happy with my two girls, until the Lord spoke to me; “You have room for one more.” And seventeen days later, Mbula became my brother. I told God after that, “That’s it; my family is complete.”

I’m sure He chuckled. A few months later, Shakira pulled on my heartstrings and wouldn’t let me go… shortly after that, she became the fourth member of my family.

By this time, I threw up my hands and said, “Lord, I give up saying my family is complete. Next time, I will just be quiet and let You do the adding!”

For over a year now, I have been content to nurture and mentor my “fabulous four” through letters. Then a few weeks ago, I noticed a Facebook post from Compassion International, the organization that Isimbi, Ada, and Mbula are through. A large company had decided to sponsor 1,000 children (yes, one thousand) in Kenya, and the call had been put out for correspondents for these precious kids.

My initial reaction was, “Oh, wow, somebody is going to have fun getting assigned new kids!” I didn’t even think about applying for one myself. Four was definitely enough. But then, I started thinking, “Kenya is fabulous with letters. The kids there right every two months, and in English! Mbula is from there and we have such a close relationship. I wonder what it would be like to add a very young child to my family? I could send so many cute items that my girls are a bit too old for now. I’d like to have a child to “grow up with” so to speak. One who’ll be with me for her entire time in Compassion.”

Unlike the others, it wasn’t an easy decision to make. I talked myself into… and out of… applying many times. I tried to figure out where I could fit a fifth into my writing schedule. Finally, a friend of mine told me in mock frustration… “I think you already know what the answer is going to be… you wouldn’t be talking about it this much if you hadn’t already made your mind up.”

Of course, they were right… and so I put in a very specific request. I wanted a three-year-old girl.

Then came the waiting.

I nearly drove myself batty, checking my account multiple times a day. I hoped to have her by Christmas… and then held out hope for New Year’s. Patience is a virtue I didn’t have at all, at least not for the past couple of weeks. Every night my prayer was… “Jesus, you see the little sweetheart who’s coming my way. Be with her and her family and keep her safe. Help me to show her your love…” I was more than ready for “Angel #5” to arrive.

And then, on January the 2^nd, 2015… I opened my account, and there she was. She was everything I’d hoped for, longed for, prayed for, and dreamed of; the most precious gift I could have asked for.

So I’d like you all to officially meet Miriam, who is three years old and lives in Kenya with her mother and father. She’s too young to attend school, but she helps around the house by taking care of the animals and she loves playing ball games!

Welcome to the family Miriam… you are so loved! 

Looking Back: 2014

Whew, what a year this has been! I would definitely have to say this this been my craziest year ever, with ups and downs and twists and turns. There have been some pretty rough times, but there have been some good ones too and I’m thankful for that.

Blogging:

I haven’t devoted as much time to blogging as I did last year, mainly because my life has been so insane! Still, I managed to crank out 24 posts. I’m hoping that number will be a little higher in 2015!

My Children:

My four children are doing absolutely great, and I am so thankful! I have been blessed so much by their letters.

I was excited to hear that Mbula, my oldest, is aiming for a university-level education; I am so proud of him! He is up to his ears in soccer stuff, as always… he’s really been enjoying playing an attacking mid-fielder position. I also got an updated photo of him this year.

Shakira is also excelling academically… she’s #1 in every class! I got to send her a package of stuff last month and she loved it. She also wrote her first letter to me in English this year, and did so well at it! I have lots of photos of her from the Shelter Them Mission trip.

I was a little concerned about Isimbi this year, as she’s not been as chatty as she usually is. So I was really happy to hear that her favorite memory is when my friends visited her back in 2012. She calls me her best friend and always wants to know when I will visit her again! I also received a lovely updated photo of her this year

Ada has also been a little quiet this year, and she’s been struggling a lot in school… she’s a little trooper though, and tries so very hard! Her last letter said that she was happy to know that she was part my family. She also said that my “accepting to sponsor” her reminds me of how Jesus loves her and “accepted to sponsor” her. What a beautiful metaphor!

This year, I have sent a total of 40 letters to my children.

This year, I have received a total of 22 letters from my children. Here is the breakdown on that:

Isimbi: 4 letters

Ada: 3 letters

Mbula: 6 letters

Shakira: 9 letters

We also celebrated Shakira’s 16^th birthday, Mbula’s 19^th birthday, and Isimbi’s and Ada’s 11^th birthdays (born a month apart)!

Shane Claiborne

I got a chance to meet Shane Claiborne, founder of The Simple Way and author of The Irresistible Revolution and Jesus, Bombs, and Ice Cream (among others) when he spoke at MUN in St. John’s.  It was pretty exciting to hear his stories of ministering alongside Mother Teresa in the leper colonies of India, advocating for the homeless in Philadelphia, and with a peacekeeping team in Iraq right after 9/11. And it was such an honor to get a picture with this humble brother.

Driftwood Cross:

This stands out as the year that we released our first album! Titled “I Wanna Be Free”, it features 8 songs including originals and covers. We sold out of our first run of 100 copies and are waiting on our second run.

Life:

This has been a strange year for me… I got a job, moved communities and got an apartment, left that apartment and moved to another one, left that job, got another one, and ended up having to leave that one; meaning it’s been a bit of a stressful year, to say the least!

We also got the news in early December that my dear grandmother, or as we say in French, Mémère, passed away. It was quite sudden, but thankfully my father was able to be with her up until a few hours before she passed. She slipped away to Heaven shortly after he left to fly home. I believe it’s better that way… his last memories of her will be of her alive and awake, and she will live on in all our hearts.

I had several “firsts” this year… my first time attending the symphony, my first time signing an autograph, my first 1,000 km solo road trip, and my first time packing a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child.

The past year or so has been a difficult one for me, I’ll admit. I’ve struggled with depression a lot in the past year, although this hasn’t been my worst year for that, thank God. I’ve gone through some rather extreme personal attacks in the past month as well and at times it has been a struggle just to keep my head above water. It’s hard to keep a smile on your face when you don’t know who’s falsely accusing you behind your back. I’ve had to hold on to Jesus tighter than ever before; and when I slipped, I’m thankful for precious people who carried me to Him.

Although I lost much of my joy in 2014, I’m still in the fight. I’m battered, bruised, and bleeding… but I’m not broken. I have much to be thankful for and I believe 2015 will be a different and hopefully better year!