Mail Call Monday: Allan!

It was a hallelujah day at the mailbox today!  3 letters!  And all 3 from Allan in Ecuador!!!

He was scheduled to have surgery in March, but none of these letters mention it.  Partly because two of the letters were written prior to March. 

Letter 1 is from December 31, 2011 (yes, sometimes things get backed up...)  Here's an excerpt:

I write to you in the name of Jesus, with my heart very glad for writing this letter 

to tell you that I am very glad that you did well in your trip visiting your family 

and that beautiful baby whom I send many kisses to, as well I send your 

mother and your family many greetings. 

Letter 2 was written on February 29, 2012  (still a little slower than his usual letters, and shows that my letters don't always get to him in the 2 month period some of the time)

I greet you in the greatest Father God's love.  I didn't receive you letter at Christmas, 

but I got it in a very nice month, which is February, the month of love and friendship.  

I want you to know that I love you very much.  I would like you to send me more photos 

from you for my album.  My favorite subject is Natural Environment and Geometry [...] 

I am praying for your husband to find a good job and you to do well as lawyer 

(uh oh, I think Compassion Advocate got mistranslated).  I thank you very much for 

the letter  and for the postcards, stickers and drawings to paint.  I am also praying 

that you do well in Canada and your dreams come true.  

With much love,  your spiritual son, Allan

Wow!  I teared up over this letter!  So much love... and calling himself my spiritual son.  I love this little guy so much!

Finally, Letter 3 was dated April 30, 2012 (which is the usual timeframe that I had been used to getting his letters in before).  This letter is one of the new templates with a topic for the child to write about and this one was titled "My Family"

I would love to share with you a little bit more about my family. 

 I live with my dad, my mom and my sibs.  I visit my grandparents very often. [...] 

My food is prepared by my mom and my brothers.  My family lives in the urban area.  

I want to thank you for being my sponsor and for helping me to stay at the project.  

Thanks also for praying for me.  Please pray for my country because it rains a lot here, 

the weather is cold and there have been lots of floods.  I also want to say that you are very 

special to me.  I love you very much.  May God bless you and your precious family!  

 Allan

What a blessing to get three letters today. Still praying to hear how his surgery went, but so thankful for these letters. I have felt a bit of a letter drought lately, since Tania moved out of the program area.  She and Allan are both in Ecuador and they have a great reciprocal program already in place so I was used to getting lots of letters from them both.

Life update:  We got another piece of good news today:  there are people who are going to rent our place and we can leave on the day we need to after all!  Papers haven't been signed yet, but we are praying to that end.  One piece of the puzzle may be in place. Trusting for the rest!  And I am THANKFUL!!!  This is how I'm feeling:  

I'll keep you posted on the rest of the puzzle when we know something!

Mail Call Monday - 11/7/11

It's Monday!  I received one letter last week.  One very precious letter from a very precious child.

The letter was from Katherine in Nicaragua!
In the past, Nicaragua has not had a reciprocal letter writing program, so that means that the children write regular letters (3-4 times a year) but don't necessarily immediately (once a month) reply to every letter they receive.  During my advocate training we were told that Compassion is working to implement reciprocal programs in all countries in the future.  I'm so glad!

Here is Katherine's letter (written on Oct. 12 and received by me on Nov. 3... fastest one so far):

Hello dear and esteemed sponsor Jennifer! 

May God shower rich and abundant blessings on you and your whole family.  Thanks to my Lord, I'm in very good health.  I'm very happy because you have sent me letters which I read and really liked!  I've received all your letters.  I'm going to answer your questions.  I have no hens at my house, but some neighbors have hens at their houses.  I'm doing very well at school.  I want to pass my school year and pass to another grade.  I feel that this year is passing by very fast and I feel that I'm growing.  I'm attending the [Compassion] project.  Everyday, we are taught new things and the most important thing is that they don't stop teaching about the word of God.  I want to tell you that we'll celebrate the anniversary of the project.  It has a lot of years of functioning and there are new children who were just admitted.  I'm very happy to write to you and that you'll receive this letter.  I'm always praying for you.  Thank you for always caring about me.  I love you so much and I want that you pray for me.  May my God bless you!  Do you like animals?

Katherine

What a sweet girl she is!  I love receiving her letters.  She drew a lovely picture for us with the caption "I give you my heart"  and then quoted Genesis 1:1... In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth... which just happened to be one of Super-Beautiful's verses at AWANA this past week ;-)  Coincidence?  I think not!