Guest Posting at Mommy Maleta!

Hi everyone!

I recently did an interview about child sponsorship with Laura from Mommy Maleta. Yesterday, it was published on her blog! I'd like to invite you to hop on over and check it out by clicking this link:

Compassion Sundays: Hannah & Mbula

Make sure you take time to check out he rest of the Mommy Maleta blog... it's got so much awesome stuff on it!

February Flashbacks

February was an exciting month for the simple fact that I got another letter from Ada! I think this is the first time I’ve heard from any of my kids two months in a row.

Ada begins her letter by greeting me in the name of Jesus Christ, and wishing me peace from God

and a Merry Christmas. She shares that she was 10^th in her class with a score of 53% (a great improvement!) She then said, “I thank God who connected us.” She said that in her family, there is no one sick, which I was glad to hear. She then asked me to continue having a Merry Christmas. She also sent me her first request “I wish that you show me your father and mother and I wish them a Merry Christmas.” (I have a letter all ready to go now with photos of my parents!) Then she told me, “I wish to be a doctor and I wish to see you.” Then she wished me Merry Christmas. She thanked me for the letter I sent her with good words, and ended by wishing me (you guessed it) Merry Christmas! (Do you think she wanted me to have a Merry Christmas?!)

I also received the most wonderful treat from Compassion… a photo of Ada with the tiny stuffed dog I sent her almost two years ago with a traveling sponsor. Compassion said that she sadly lost the necklace, but had kept the little dog all this time! I’m thrilled to death with a brand-new photo of my precious girl. She’s grown so much taller! What a sweet little sad face she has.

Then, I heard from Mbula! He’s definitely my most consistent writer. He greeted me by saying, “Hallo my sister?” Which thrills me because I love being “adopted” into my kids’ families. He says, “I am fine with my family members, and they have actually greeted you very much.” Mbula shares his happiness that I managed to sponsor him, and prayed for the Almighty God to bless me as I keep sponsoring him. He also shared a prayer for his previous sponsor, which I thought was so sweet of him. It’s the first I’ve heard of a child doing that. Mbula thanked me for the Christmas card I sent him, he appreciated it so much. He told me that it is the rainy season there now, and that they have already prepared the gardens and planted crops. He then said, “I would be very happy if you wish to visit us here in Kenya and enjoy good and attractive places with beautiful natural features.” He then told me that he is doing very well in his studies and hopes that I keep praying for him. Then he wished me a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year and ended by saying, “Be blessed!”

All-in-all, another fantastic letter/picture month!

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!)