All month I've been sharing about Compassion International and the wonderful ministry that they have around the world. I'm not lying when I tell you that this is the best money that we spend each and every month. It's a non-negotiable line item in our personal budget, and we will sacrifice in other areas if money gets tight. The assignment this week is to blog from the point of view of a sponsored child. Instead of blogging as though I were a sponsored child (which I kind of did last week - here & here), I thought I'd let you hear directly from our sponsored kids. These are excerpts from actual letters that we have received from Bob Gloria since we began sponsoring them. We have a notebook where we keep all of their letters, pictures, and any other correspondence about them that we receive from Compassion, so it was easy to find bits and pieces for this post. I had a great time re-reading their letters and seeing how much they've grown! I greet you in the name of Jesus. How are you? I love you and I hope you are fine. I pray for you and your family often. Please pray for me as a try to study the Bible every day. I want to thank you for the school fees you gave me. In our school, we are studying hard. I like to play dodge ball with my friends. I did well in school and was promoted. Please pray for me as I start a new school term. My family is fine and doing well but my grandmother has now gone back to the village and now I live with my aunt. I am now 13 years old and next year I will be 14. I want to grow up and be a lawyer and also help the needy. I call you my father and mother because you care for me so much. I love you all so much. Thank you for the letter you sent. I love it and it makes me happy as I read it. It also makes me happy that I have loving parents like you. I love you. Love, Gloria I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ who died for our sins. I hope you are doing fine as I am doing in Uganda. I have two brothers and a sister. I am the second born. My father died a long time ago when I was a young kid and our mother raised us a single parent. I was so glad to get your pictures. You looked so beautiful like a queen and as the gentleman who looked so handsome. I want to start a business and be self-employed. I also want to build my own house after school. And even I would like to start a music school where we will teach young people how to play musical instruments. Pray for me that I may get opportunities to study these courses please. Pray for me that God will let me accomplish my dreams. May God's love shine on you all the days of your life. Love, Bob A few years ago at Catalyst, they interviewed Jimmy who was sponsored as a child in Kenya and is now attending Moody Bible Institute so he can become a pastor and serve the people of Kenya. I love this video because it really gets to the heart of why sponsors are so important. It's not just about the $38/month. It's about a relationship! May we be the kind of sponsors to Bob and Gloria that Mark was to Jimmy! (Because we're friends, I'm going to tell you that you may want a tissue handy.) At the beginning of the month, the goal was to find sponsors for 3,108 children. As of today, we still need 534 sponsors. We only have a few days left. Will you become a sponsor?