Happy Birthday, dear Allan!

Yesterday, October 10th was Allan in Ecuador's seventh birthday.  We were in the car all day driving from Quebec back to Virginia, so while I couldn't write this then, I did think of him often and pray for him too.

This is the photo of Allan we received when we signed up to sponsor him:

2009

Earlier this year we received a new updated photo.  (Ashamed to admit I haven't uploaded here it for months!!!)

2011

Allan is a dear, sweet boy and we have a great letter writing friendship.  Allan does not yet write his own letters, but has a faithful tutor named Monica who writes down what he says.  It is so consistently Monica that writes for him that I always address the letters to "Dear Allan (and Monica, his tutor),"

Allan lives in Ecuador and from the number of letters I've received they must have a reciprocal program (a reply is written when a letter is received).  October 1st marked the first anniversary of our family's sponsorship of Allan and we've received 9 letters from him.  It seems to be the pattern that he will reply to any letters received on the last day of each month.

Allan lives with his mother and 3 brothers in the mountainous area near Quito.  He loves to play soccer, and in his most recent letter Monica described his days to me:

"Allan's days are fun.  The first thing he does when he wakes up is thank God for everything, when he goes to school, he goes happy.  There he learns many things as the vowels, etc.  When he gets home he eats and rests, then he does his homework.  The three days he goes to the [Compassion] project he plays a lot of tag and soccer."

I'd like to share briefly how we chose Allan.  When searching for a child I entered a birth date of October 10, 2004. (Yes, you can specify a birth date, year, gender or country when you are searching for a child).   No, this isn't someone in our family's birthday... well not exactly.  But this was my due date for our first child, whom I lost to a miscarriage.  We know that these due dates are only estimates, but that date resonated with me and I wanted to see if there was a child who was indeed born on that day, that year, that I could sponsor and show love to.  And there was!  This little boy named Allan.  I am so blessed to be his sponsor.

Happy 7th Birthday Allan! 

Is there room in your life for a boy or girl who needs a sponsor?  Click on the link below and it will tell Compassion that you were referred by me.  May God bless you!

http://www.compassion.com/sponsor_a_child/default.htm?referer=121852