Compassion International

Oh, this makes for a happy day at our house: we got a letter from Stanley Mwangi today. He is the 8 year old boy whom we sponsor through Compassion Int'l. Stanley lives in Kenya, and we have sponsored him since he was 5 years old. We LOVE getting letters from him...especially the ones we got early on with drawings of dogs and cars, and his printed English below the pictures. Just warms my heart and makes me smile to think back on them:) Today's letter was especially exciting because it included a picture of his Mom at her OWN business! In addition to monthly support, and an extra monetary gift at Christmas and his birthday, Compassion allows one additional monetary gift per year to benefit the child's family. The maximum is $100.00. Stanley's mother used the money to open her own beauty salon. How cool is THAT?!? The money was the equivalent of 22,ooo of their currency. Amazing. Now she is better able to support herself, and Stanley's 2 siblings. We also received a very heart felt thank you from his mother. I have often wondered what she thinks of us. Total strangers who help to financially support her child, and write him letters and occasionally send a picture of our family. I wonder if she knows just how MUCH we love and care for Stanley. That we think of him as our own son. Honestly, nothing would make me more happy than for Stanley to come to Iowa to go to school some day. I think about it so often that I have even wondered if he would prefer to have a bedroom downstairs where he could have more privacy, or if he would rather be upstairs and closer to all of us. When Mark had this idea to sponsor a child several years ago, I thought it was a nice idea, but it was Mark who chose the organization, and who picked Stanley, too. I had no idea how this little boy would affect my life. We pray for him, and for his family, every day. Stanley has asked us to pray for water in his village. It is his job to carry water for his family, but sometimes there is just not enough. These are things that I just cannot imagine.
I encourage you to reap the blessings of sponsoring a child. We have enjoyed being a part of Compassion Int'l, and have even visited the headquarters in Colorado Springs. You can learn more at www.compassion.com.