Tengas cartas and so much more....

For the past two months, I have been trying to write a blog post about sponsorship. I’ve started over more times than I care to say – this being one of those restarts. I’ve given up…only to be drawn back to it again and again. Yesterday, I spent the day at the Santo Domingo School – about 150 kids in a 4-room house in a neighborhood that offers no other school. I know I have to try again.

Sponsorship is the life blood of Kids Alive. The money provided through the sponsorship program enables Kids Alive to educate, clothe, feed, provide medical care and a safe place for many children to live, grow and come to know Jesus. As each child in the program becomes fully sponsored, Kids Alive is able to reach out to additional children and bring them in to offer the same help to them.

Today, I just want to give you some “snapshots” in words and photos of how I see sponsorship at work every day.

Hopeful faces, bright smiles and two words – “Tengas cartas?” – greet me when I come to The Ark. Someone always asks – not always the first person, but someone…or two…or three. And it isn’t only at The Ark. If they see me at ANIJA or at church on Sunday morning, the question comes. For some, it is wishful thinking because even at Christmas, they didn’t receive any mail. For others, it is with great expectation because they regularly receive letters, cards or emails. Whatever the case, those two words, “Tengas cartas?” are on their lips.

 



Grocery day at the Ark-Jarabacoa. What does it take to feed 50+ kids, their house parents and their family? Lots and lots of food! As soon as the van pulls up, the word is spread. Everyone who is available comes to unload and sort the groceries. When it's all out, the director goes through the list, item by item, and  tells each house how much of each item they ordered. Someone from that house gets the item and takes it to their spot to wait until the next item for them is read. Such patient cooperation as the food is distributed!

 

The kids at the Ark eat every day. Some of the students at the care centers and schools aren’t as fortunate. One boy, when asked his favorite day of the week, replied, “Monday, because I get to eat again.”

 

Waiting their turn

 



Parents who fuss over them – helping with homework, doing nails and hair, playing soccer, working on motos or bikes.  Parents who discipline and love and teach the responsibilities of being part of a family.

Cleaning day at the Ark



Shoes that have been washed

 
 

Helping with laundry

Jump rope

Soccer

 

Coloring

 



Santo Domingo School

Teachers who go above and beyond. A common theme that I heard over and over again when enrolling children in the school at Santo Domingo was that the child was doing this on his own. No one at home helped them in any way. At this same school I heard the story of how one teacher helped change a boy’s life. This is his story:

Santo Domingo School

When Jose started coming to school at Miancerg, he was very quiet. He didn’t know how to communicate with the other students and didn’t play with them during recess. He had trouble in his classes and wasn’t advancing academically. The directors at the school spoke to his mother about his behavior in school and the fact that he wasn’t progressing. His mother said that her other children had similar problems. They told his mother that he needed more help and started praying for him. His teacher prayed specifically asking what she could do to help. She put his desk right next to her and began investing in him. With a lot of love, patience, motivation and extra help, he started to change. Now he has a beautiful smile and interacts well with his classmates. He plays with them at recess. When there are questions in the class, he is the first one to raise his hand and ask. He is also one of the first to finish his classwork. God has done an amazing work in him through prayer and a teacher’s willingness to listen to God and follow His direction.

 

Worship at Caraballo

 A chance to learn about God and His love. There are Bible classes and worship time. There is church on Sunday morning. There are the one-on-one conversations between parents, teachers, Kids Alive volunteers and the children in the programs. There is AWANA and vacation Bible schools. There are Bible story books and Bibles in the library. One of the most incorrigible boys at one of the schools was fascinated with a Bible in the library. We may not see the fruit yet, but the Word of God is being planted in their hearts and it will do a good work.

Reading a Bible story

 

 

 

 

Bible class at Santo Domingo School

So why am I telling you this? For most people when they hear the word “sponsorship”, they immediately think about what it will cost them. It’s true. From your side – the side of those reading this blog – sponsorship will cost you something. But may I challenge you to think from the other side – the side of the children here who still need help? For them, it isn’t just about money. For them, sponsorship is about hope – hope for survival….hope for a future….hope for a letter from someone they have never met who cares about them.

As you go through the next several days or weeks, would you pray and consider if God wants you to become a sponsor, to be the person who can offer that hope to a child who needs it? When He says, “Do it,” you can go to the Kids Alive website, www.kidsalive.org, and do a search for the age range, sex and country of a child. I hope you choose the Dominican Republic because these are the kids I know.  You can call the Kids Alive home office (1-800-543-7330) and talk to Traci H., Rachel or Tracy B. in the sponsorship department. They will help you find a child. Or, you can contact me at ksuegreen52@gmail.com . I will be glad to recommend some children who don’t have any sponsors yet and would love to have one.

 

To those of you who already sponsor a child, thank you! You are making a difference in the life of a child!

God bless!

 

Karen