Encouraging Your Sponsored Child with Letters
If you’ve spent anytime around our boys you’ve heard about our Compassion sponsor child, Jamali. He shares their birthday, and they share a love for him that is truly spectacular. He’s mentioned in every prayer around our table, and their kindergarten class knows him by name.
Sponsoring a child with Compassion International has come without regrets. Actually, perhaps one…not committing to changing a life earlier.
We try to write Jamali monthly with just little tidbits of our lives, and asking about his life in Tanzania. It makes our world a tad smaller, and impacts us all for the better.
Sometimes it’s overwhelming to know what to write to a young boy a world away who lives a life that looks so much different than our own. However, you have to remember that kids are kids around the world. They have favorite things, they love and desire to be loved, they like to laugh, they are unique.
I loved using the Daysping U-NEEKS to encourage our sponsored child this month. Not only are they adorable and funny, they celebrate that God has made us fearfully and wonderfully.
We used the Encouragement Notes for Kids (which I’ll also use for future lunchbox notes) and embellished them with the U-NEEKS stickers, along with a simple question and answer.
What’s your favorite sport? What’s your favorite animal? What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite food? (Along with their own answer.) Hopefully we’ll find out some answers with our next letter from Tanzania.
You can also include things like a verse or a favorite scripture verse. It certainly doesn’t have to be complex or wordy to bring a smile to a child who is in desperate need of encouragement and hope.
My dear in-real-life and bloggy friend, Amanda, is encouraging so many to be mission-minded with their families by highlighting an organization/ministry with an opportunity to serve each month. This month is writing letters to your sponsored child, and I can’t wait to challenge she comes up with next! You’ll want to check it out, along with this month’s link-up to win a U-Neeks gift pack !
Thanks, Amanda, I’m so thankful for your heart and the way you inspire us all. Thanks also to Dayspring for sharing these great U-Neeks goodies – if you’re looking for more of their great products, you can find them on the Dayspring website, at local Christian bookstores, and coming soon to a Hobby Lobby near you!
Also if you have not yet sponsored a child, I would highly recommend spending some time on the Compassion website learning more, and clicking through the pictures of children in need both physically and spiritually around the world.
This was perfect. I have three children I sponsor and I am terrible at writing letters. The idea of doing it once a month is a good one. I have a hard time thinking of what to enclose. I went to dollar store and stocked up on stickers, etc, but I find it hard to think of things to send. My kids are 4th, 5th, and grade 10. At age 80 my life isn’t too exciting to relate to them–the grandies are all older and their lives are so busy and full, that I seldom see them any more to write of our escapades.
I’ll definitely check out Dayspring (love that place). I am soooo glad you wrote about this today. It was a real shot in the arm to do something to brighten those kids’ days, more often than I have been doing.
As always, your boys are wonderful! I surely wish I lived closer and could know you guys. I would love to read to them–my favorite thing to do with all kids who visit at my house. I’m still loaded with kids books and use them every chance I get!!
Thanks again for this very timely blog.
Blessings,
Oh how we love our Compassion kids! Jack and Barbie share the same birthday (just 6 years apart, but we couldn’t wait until he was older to find one with the same year, haha) and as soon as Jude hits 3 we’ll get him a birthday buddy, too. In the meantime, we also sponsor Kris and write to Rosa, Rodgers and Viona! We love love love Compassion!
Guess what? I just helped my mom (yesterday!) with writing a letter and sending it to her sponsored child. I myself sponsor a village, and while I think that is right for me at the moment, I love that my mom (and my kids’ grandma) sponsores one child. It makes it easier for the kids to relate to, they have her picture, her name, her interests… “My village” seems to make less sense to them yet. They know I send money to kids who don’t have parents, to help them have a house and food and such, but it is not very concrete for 5 year olds.
I think it’s lovely that you sponsor someone in a way that your boys understand and relate to on a daily basis!
It has been fun catching up with you. I tried to comment on your 1/3 post, but it is showing an error. What you said was inspiring, and I especially liked the part about not lamenting about past mistakes, but learning from them and letting them make me a better mom. Lately, I’ve been having a hard time with the fact that my kids are growing up sooo quickly, and there’s nothing I can do to slow things down. I continue to strive to allow Jesus to guide my steps and be the best mom possible for my children.