One on One

Written at the end of May 2013:

Hello, Sponsors! The best news in the past few weeks is that three more children have sponsors, just in time for the new school term, which starts tomorrow! These children are Trecy, sponsored by Nancy, and Ivan and Olivia, sponsored by Sherry and friends fromAccessories for Hope. Here is a picture of Trecy when she found out she'd be sponsored. Three girls sang a solo at my church this morning, and as I listened to them, I was thinking about the joy and wonder these kids experience when they find out they have been chosen by someone far away: Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth Would care to know my name Would care to feel my hurt Now, I am not saying you guys are God! But in caring to know the names of these children, and in feeling their hurt, you are clearly doing just what God would have you do. Individual child sponsorship gives both the child and the sponsor the very important experience of being special to someone. Tonny and Gerald, who had an eye operation, thanks to the collective medical fund which your sponsorship provides. We can't be actually be there to put our arm around them, most of us. Most of us can't afford it, or wouldn't relish the long trip it takes to get there. Some people just don't like spiders and snakes. But we are enabling the SOVCO staff in Uganda to develop one-on-one relationships with these children in our names. And the children sleep a little easier at night knowing somebody out there cares about them, specifically. This month has been one in which we had no school fees to pay, which gave us a bit of extra money to use for new mosquito nets for the children. Tonny took the trip to Kampala by bus to pick them up, and here you can see volunteers Oscar and Collin organizing the nets for distribution. Also, the staff was able to have a back-to-school party for the children on Saturday, as the term starts Monday. I hope to have pictures and news of that by next week for you.