A letter from Daniela, and our first from Tigran!
Our family has been sponsoring children through World Vision for almost four years now. We started with just one girl from Zimbabwe. She is now a beautiful young adolescent. Then a couple years later we added a young girl from Bolivia. When Elias was born, we gave thanks by sponsoring a little boy from Honduras who was born the exact same day. And now, we have taken on a fourth child. A little boy from Armenia, in thanks for Nathan’s new job.
A letter from Ruramai, and one from Esdras
I could go on and on in support of child sponsorship. Of why I think it is a very good model for helping children around the world. I could go on about how World Vision is trustworthy, and how much each child (and their families/communities) benefit. I wrote a lot about sponsorship here if you are interested.
But beyond knowing that sponsoring children is a good and right thing to do, it has brought me so much joy through the years. Getting a letter in the mail from one of our “children” really brightens my day. I have four notebooks, one for each child, that contain all of the correspondence and pictures we’ve received. They are some of my most treasured possessions. And I want Elias to be a part of this too.
Elias making pictures for our sponsored children.
So today for our advent activity, I had him make pictures to send to our sponsored children. There is not much we can do at his age to get him involved. We pray for our “children” each night. With Elias we especially focus on Esdras from Honduras, who was born the same day, in goodnight prayers. I show him pictures when we receive them. But the concept is just too big for him yet. But he can draw pictures, and I can send them. The two girls we sponsor love hearing about Elias, and ask about him frequently. I’m excited to share his pictures with them.
As far as the Jesse Tree, thank you for the suggestions. I don’t know why I didn’t think of just telling or writing our own stories. Maybe I can blame the pregnancy brain for one more thing….Today’s story was of Noah. We decided to read Elias “Noah’s Ark” illustrated by Jan Brett. It is one of Elias’ favorite stories…he calls it “Grandpa Noah.” Things worked much better.