The Orange Shirt
Yesterday I was looking online at the World Vision Gift Catalog. After selecting a couple of gifts for family members, I clicked on the sponsor a child link out of curiosity. I selected Guatemala and 3 years old. I clicked through the pictures, admiring the beautiful children. I stopped when I saw this little girl.
Isn’t she adorable? The chubby cheeks. And braids sticking out all over. She is the same age as Carmen and she is wearing Lauren’s shirt!
I don’t know for sure if this is Lauren’s actual shirt. We took a bag of clothes to Guatemala and gave them to Carmen’s foster mom when we went to meet Carmen in 2006. I think this shirt was in the bag. I wish I could remember for sure. It is a mass produced Children’s Place shirt but wouldn’t that be something?!
I wasn’t planning to sign up to sponsor a child yesterday. But, I just couldn’t say no. So, I waited until Dave got home from some errands and discussed it with him. He said something to the effect of, “Yeah, sure,” so this little girl is the newest member of our extended family!
This Christmas, will you consider sponsoring a child? There are several good organizations out there. We like World Vision because they are a Christian organization and work in nearly 100 countries. For about $1 per day on your part, World Vision shows God’s unconditional love by providing children with clean water, nutritious food, health care, education, etc. You can write and receive letters and even email your child.
Or, how about ordering a donation gift in honor of someone this year? Most of us have too much stuff and don’t need one more thing in our homes. Donating part of a cow, clean water, or bed nets to protect kids from malaria would be a great Christmas present for those hard-to-buy-for people this year!
At the Catalyst conference this year, Dave and his dad witnessed a sponsor meeting the boy (now man) he had sponsored for 19 years through Compassion, International. Really great story! It’s almost 10 minutes long but if you would like to watch the video, click here.
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Happy Birthday (a few days late) to my dad! We hope you had a wonderful birthday!
So cute! I think she was meant to be your sponsor child!
We sponsor a little boy through World Vision who lives in Uganda. He and Noah share the exact same birthday (by choice, not just a coincidence)! We plan to sponsor him until he is a grown man too. I love the Christmas Gift Donation Catalog. That was a brilliant idea! Last year my kids thought it was awesome to be able to give a family in another country a pair of chickens, ducks, or goats! They were so excited to do it again this year! What a neat experience for my kids to think of how other children around the world need their basic needs met, rather than picking out toys for Christmas.
We love Compassion and have sponsored children through them for more than 20 years now. We have had the privilege of participating in Compassion events and challenging others to sponsor a child.
We have watched several of “our children” grow up and out of the program. Our last sponsored girl ended up in their specialty continuing education program and is getting a college education. We have 2 children now, one in Peru and one in Kenya. Sponsoring is an amazing way to give.
Love the shirt thing…wouldn’t it be something!
I’m a believer – - it’s Lauren’s shirt – she was meant to be in your family – -
Does anybody agree that this darling girl looks like Carmen?? Maybe they are related??
Hi NY Grandma, when (not if!) you go to Guatemala to work at Mi Refugio (the school for kids who live in the city dump), you will see lots of little girls who look like Carmen! The Mayan features are very distinctive.
And we will go with you to Mi Refugio.
Can’t wait!!
Will I have to get a lot of shots?
You don’t HAVE to but we did! I think Hep A & B, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and update your Tetanus. I could be wrong on some of these though. Oh and Rabies if you plan to be around bats!