For the last year, as some of you know, my life has been kind of "ups-by-down", as my son used to say. Before that time, I was involved in MOPS, had started a homeschool co-op and had taken over leadership of a homeschool support group. I also watched different friends kids every week, giving them a chance for a breath of quiet air, or the ability to go to a doctors appointment without raising their blood pressure. Life was busy, but good, as I fed into my passions by ministering to moms and their kids.
Then it all started to change. I graduated from MOPS, had a year long bout of back pain and then back surgery, then we decided to move and along came all the chaos of getting the house showing ready. Because we were leaving, I passed on the homeschool group into capable hands, and our co-op decided to disband, as the kids were all getting older and getting school done with everyone was getting tougher.
This left me in a weird place. I was still doing the core thing that I believe God made me to do. Be the mom to these three delight(-fully crazy) kiddos, and the wife to my amazing hubby. I am still right where I want to be, schooling them at home, cooking,
And yet, I still have this passion for children 'not my own' that will not go away. I found it again, or maybe just uncovered it from the midst of all the day-to-day junk that gets piled on it, when we were in Guatemala this summer on our sponsor tour with Compassion International.
I had known for years that Compassion had an advocacy program, but at the time it was not a good fit for me. However I learned on the trip to Guatemala that the parameters of the program had changed. Now the program is more fluid and an advocate is asked to use their time, talents and influence to make a greater impact for needy children.
From an online dictionary:
ad·vo·cate/ˈadvəkit/
Noun: A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.
From our 1950 Webster's Dictionary:
ad'vo-cate, n. from the latin advocatus, one called to another.
one who defends, vindicates, or espouses a cause by argument; one who is friendly to; an upholder; a defender.
I can do that!! I can talk to people about the children I met on our trip, how their lives have been changed by the child development programs that Compassion offers. I can tell them about the smiling faces, the singing voices and the happy hearts that I personally experienced. I can tell people about the homes I visited and the abject poverty that the children live in - but also about the overwhelming love of Christ that I experienced in these homes.
And so, I became an Advocate. I love this "job" because I can do it anywhere! At the grocery store standing in line. At a park on a play date. At a 5K race where we are raising money to help girls leave the sex trade...to loosely quote the great Dr Seuss..."I can do it here. I can do it there. I can do it anywhere!"
So today I want to tell you about two children who need sponsors. They need a one-on-one connection with someone who will believe in them and encourage them to be all that God created them to be. They need a listening ear and a heart that will lift them up in prayer for their safety in the tough places where they live. They need you.
First, meet Britney. This kid has spunk - just look at her picture!
Britney lives in the Dominican Republic with her Mom and Dad. She makes beds and runs errands for her Mom. She has two siblings and her Dad is sometimes employed as a laborer. Most of the adults in her neighborhood are unemployed, but some work as domestics and earn about $88 per month. Britney loves to play dolls and play house - sound like any little girls you might know?
Britney needs a sponsor. Would you be that blessing in her life?
Now meet Julio.
Julio lives in Peru where the typical houses in his area are constructed of dirt floors, cement walls and tin roofs. He lives with his Mom and Dad and and helps out around the house by running errands. He has two siblings and his Dad is sometimes employed. He is in Kindergarten and loves to play cars, play ball and create art. Julio needs a sponsor. He is praying that he will get the letter that tells him "Julio! You have SPONSOR!" How do I know that? Because our new sponsor child was praying the same prayers as Julio, over her breakfast, the very same morning we met her!
Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy post. These kids pictures are on my kitchen table, so I see them all day long, and I have been praying that God will bring forward a sponsor for each of them. Let me tell you, once you have sponsored a child, YOUR life will never be the same!
