Meet Tesfaye!

I finally got a photo of Tesfaye uploaded! Tesfaye is the other young man we sponsor in Ethiopia, through Compassion International. Isn't he cool!!?? We LOVE sponsoring an older child because, through him, we get so much information about the country and what life is really like in Ethiopia. It's more of an adult perspective. I highly recommend sponsoring one older child and one younger child. There are such advantages to having kids from both ends of the age spectrum. So if you're going to sponsor, go ahead and sponsor two at once! :)

Tesfaye is 18 years old and lives in a medium-sized city with his mother and siblings. His mother sells onions in the market. According to Tesfaye, his father died when he was little. Tesfaye is in school and there was a note in his paperwork saying that he is approved to be in the program until 2011, so I believe that is when he graduates. His interests revolve around nature and natural wonders. He would particularly like to see an iceberg. (Me, too!)

There are so many things I have yet to ask Tesfaye. I'm especially curious to know what his plans are for after school. We are only about a year into our sponsorship, so we are just starting to really build that relationship and flow of letters.

By the way, we sponsor Tesfaye through Compassion's correspondence program. Here's how that works:

Some Compassion kids are sponsored by corporations or through trusts and there isn't anyone to actually write. So these kids are available for you to do the correspondence part. The corporation pays the monthly fee and you write letters and send birthday, Christmas and family gifts. You basically ARE the child's sponsor -- and the child will know you as his or her sponsor.

If the corporation decides to stop funding the child, you are given the opportunity to take on the full sponsorship. At that point you would begin paying the monthly fee in addition to corresponding.

If you are interested in corresponding with a child through this program, call Compassion International -- 800-336-7676. I made the call and within about 2-3 months we received the child packet. We're so glad we did. WE LOVE TESFAYE! :)

Drum Roll Please

I would like to introduce my sponsored child and his brother -- the coolest kids in all of Ethiopia -- Israel and Ebenezer:
Israel and Ebenezer live in a medium-sized town. Their mother passed away and they do not live with their father. Israel attends school and is in the 2nd grade. He wants to be an artist. He is learning English. He has a lot of friends and a beautiful smile -- although I don't get to see it too often -- he's a pretty serious kid. He's a natty dresser -- I love his little suits. And he always puts together the best packages for us -- a great letter, the coolest pictures, and a demonstration of his latest English achievements.

So how did I pick Israel out of the hundreds of kids on the website? I went into the process with no preconceived notion of what country or even what gender I wanted. I simply browsed, and when I saw Israel's picture I just knew. As I clicked on his photo, the only way I can describe it is that I felt the hand of God at work. It was as though He were saying, "You're going to change this child's life today."

In short, God smiled on me that day. This area of my life has borne so much fruit -- I am so thankful for being called to child sponsorship and for being able to serve in this way. I've read stories from other sponsors about how they've chosen their kids. It's amazing how many are similar to mine. You often hear, "Something just moved me when I saw this child's picture." I believe that the "something" is the hand of God that never fails us.

As I always do at the end of my posts, I encourage my readers to check out the Compassion website -- http://www.compassion.com/. Perhaps child sponsorship isn't in God's plan for your life -- but if it is, I am confident that when you see your child, "something" will let you know. :)