More on Christmas with Compassion

It's still looking like Christmas around here ;-)

We sent out our cards with stickers and such on Saturday so that we get them to the Compassion offices before October 31st.

Here's a photo of one of the packets we sent:

- the cute puppy Christmas card
-some rub on Christmas puppy dog transfers, popsicle stick to apply the transfers, instructions for the transfers (in English, French & Spanish!)
-a coloring page of Mary & the baby Jesus in the manger, with verse in Spanish (lessons and coloring pages in English and Spanish available from Calvary Curriculum)
-red envelope for all of the items for the child
-white envelope to send it all in to the Compassion Correspondence Dept.
-snowflake stickers
-santa stickers
-painting sheet of train (just need to use water and a brush or q-tip to paint)

I've printed off labels with each child's full name and identification number, so I affix one of those to everything that I send.  If you look closely you'll see the sticker on the popsicle stick and on the red envelope, everywhere else they are on the back of the item.  This has saved me lots of time, rather than writing it out on each item each mailing.

I got the pad of paint sheets (contained 12), the snowflake stickers & the rub on transfers at Michael's.  The transfers came in a package of 6 different designs.  The card came from the dollar store.  Other items I had on hand from previous years (like the big white envelopes were from my "print your own" wedding invitation sets... glad they are finally getting used!).

I used to be a person who scoffed that the Christmas stuff was out before Halloween, but now that I have to think 2 months in advance for holidays...  I do appreciate it!

If you hurry, you still have time to get a card to your sponsored child for Christmas!  You can do it!!!

Mail Call Monday!

Hey everyone,

I'm joining in with Michelle over at Blogging from the Boonies and Mail Call Monday.




I had been becoming desperate as the last letter I'd received from any of the children had been on September 12th.  But this Saturday a letter came from sweet Allan in Ecuador.  I posted about him here.

What caught my attention was the date that Allan's letter was written:  April 30, 2011!!!  I've received other letters that he's written since then, but this one somehow got lost somewhere.  I'm so thankful it has arrived.

Here's an excerpt:

I greet you in our Heavenly Jesus Christ's love.  [...] He tells you about his eldest brother, his name is Anderson, he likes athletics, soccer.  The youngest brother is called Marcelo, he also likes soccer, he dreams to be a famous soccer player.  Allan dreams to be a policeman, so God and his family feel proud of him.  He thanks you for the photo, card, bookmark and postcard.  He would like to know: What dreams do you and your children have?  He says goodbye with a strong hug and many blessings.  May God always bless you.

Then today, when Super-Beautiful brought in the mail, there was another cream envelope!  And it was another from Allan.  Only this one was written on August 31.  This was a more accustomed amount of time for transit, translation and delivery:

I send you greetings in our Lord Jesus Christ's name asking God to bless you abundantly and keep you in good health.  this is Allan's tutor.  He says he enjoyed vacation in the project since he went on a vacation camp (VBS) from church.  They did some beautiful manual labor.  Besides he went on a trip to the city of Banos where he had a lot of fun.  He got into the pools and played a lot.  Then we ate some delicious food.  What do you and your family do for fun?

This was really neat to hear about his trip!  Super-Awesome and I were able to visit Banos when we were in Ecuador in 2003.  It is a city located near a volcano and has natural hot pools.  It would probably be about 2 hours away from where Allan lives by car or bus.

Praise God for these letters.  I'll be praying that more arrive in the mail box soon!

It's Friday!  And here we join up with Lisa-Jo from The Gypsy Mama:  Here is the blurb from her page this morning:

Five Minute Friday: Beyond

October 21, 2011

in Five Minute Friday, family

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.
We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Won’t you join us?

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Beyond…

Go:

Beyond...  what is beyond those trees in my back yard?  The beautiful, glorious, sun.

What is beyond that pile of dishes right now?  A clean, sparkling kitchen.

What is beyond that child in Nicaragua living in poverty? To have enough.

What was beyond the cross, for the Lord Jesus Christ?  Joy. (Hb. 12:2)

What is beyond my safe, warm, home?   People who need.  Need love, need encouragement, need food, need the Lord.

What is beyond my self-centeredness?  Others whom I should esteem more than myself. My husband, children, family, brothers & sisters in Christ, everyone out there. (Phil. 2:3-4)

What will it take me to see, move, feel "beyond"?  God's Spirit working through me, letting me see with His eyes what needs to be moved beyond.

Stop. 

It's beginning to look a lot like ... Christmas... yes!

No, I haven't lost my mind...  well, not at least in this respect :-)

Yes, I do realize that we're still over two months away from December 25th...

but in the world of child sponsorship it takes around 2 months (sometimes more) for a letter or card to get to our sponsored children so, it's time to get into the Christmas season!

Compassion has a great online letter writing tool that they rolled out just over a month ago.   Yes, you've been able to e-mail a letter before, but now you can select a colorful template and upload photos.  As with the e-mail option available before your e-mail is received by Compassion, sent to the country office, then translated, then sent to your child.  Here's an example of one of the templates:


They put your photos in the bottom right section.  You can upload 3 photos per letter.   Another great feature is that you can copy the text and photos to send to another child with the ability to edit the letter so that it is specific to the child you are writing to.  You can choose a different template and Compassion will suggest templates according to the age and gender of your child.

What a great tool!

You can access this Compassion tool by signing into your account at www.compassion.com

Author's Note:

This morning (October 19) I received an e-mail from Compassion about this very feature.  Check out what they have to say here:

New photo!

Earlier this week I received an envelope from Compassion with new photos of Denisse! 

She's grown from a toddler to a little girl!  So excited to get this update. The new updated photo comes in a packet of bookmarks and wallet sized photos and one bigger 4x6 photo.  You can separate these and share them with your family members, there are spaces for prayer requests on the bookmarks.   Here is the old photo and the new one:

Blessings to you today, sweet Denisse!  I hope to find a letter from you in my mailbox soon!!!

Five-Minute Friday: Catch...

It's Friday, and it's been ages since I've joined in with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama for Five-minute Friday.  Both kids are sleeping, the sun is shining and hey, I've got Five Minutes!

1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 2. Link back here and invite others to join in. 3. Most importantly: leave a comment for the person who linked up before you – encouraging them in their writing!

OK, are you ready? Give me your best five minutes on:

Catch…

The first thing that comes to mind right now for the word CATCH, is this:  Catch the vision!

I'm learning all about Compassion International as I train to become a volunteer Advocate with them.  I'm learning more and more about these children suffering poverty and what Compassion can do and IS doing to help them.  

Compassion is a Christ Centered, Child Focused, Church Based organization that is Committed to Integrity.  

They work holistically with these children in a 1:1 sponsorship program that addresses their spiritual needs, physical needs, social needs and economic needs.  Each child has 1 sponsor and this relationship is the most important factor in releasing that child from poverty in Jesus' name.  Sponsorship through Compassion while of course having a financial component, is so much more.  The letter writing is what really lets the child know that they matter.  I love my sponsor children and the best way to let them know about my love and even more importantly, Jesus' love is by writing letters to them!   Won't you CATCH the vision too?  Visit www.compassion.com to find out more!

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