Meeting Our Juan
Yesterday, Matthew and I met our Dominican Republic sponsor child, Juan.
Seriously, could you not just eat him up?
World Vision threw a huge child sponsorship party, where we met our sponsor kids and many of yours too! They had the kids singing songs, performing a theatrical performance and had a big cake – the kids favorite.
I was so, so excited to meet Juan. At first I thought he wasn’t going to be there (he got there a little late), and I was so disappointed. But, he made it!
He came to the party with his grandmother, brother and two cousins. His mother worked in the city as a maid at a hotel and she could not make it.
With the help of a translator, we told Juan about our family, that we would pray for him and his family daily, and that he was loved. We told him he was handsome. We told him we would never forget him. We gave him a book bag filled with shirts, a soccer ball, a coloring book and a photo album of our family. He was so excited about it all. He never let go of that book bag.
Here he is saying hola to all of you!
Child sponsorship is not this intangible thing that just takes $35 out of your checking account each month. It really makes a difference in the lives of these children, their families and their communities.
Juan’s grandmother thanked us with tears in her eyes for sponsoring Juan. She said that we and World Vision were an answer to prayer. She said that they would pray for us always and then she prayed for us right there, in the middle of the party. She asked us to spread the word about sponsorship and their people.
We also gave her a faith, hope, amor Lisa Leonard necklace and told her that every time she wore it to remember we were wearing it too and praying for them.
Will you help answer Juan’s grandmother’s prayers and sponsor a child? Your money goes so much further than it does in the US. I promise that as soon as you sponsor a child, World Vision will use that money for good. It is incredible what sponsorship does.
God bless you.