MY GIFT MULTIPLIED

My gift is writing.  I am able to express myself through written words.  Poetry, stories, journaling, I have done it all.  For about a year, maybe more, I have been writing devotionals.  At first, I wasn't sure if I would like it.  But it is getting to be a ministry.  I send them to a list of friends and family, and I have added a couple more people.  I also post them  on OurCompassion, an online community of fellow sponsors.  The Lord is using my gift of writing to encourage and help others, just as I have been praying for years.  My goal is not to get published, but to help others in their walk with Jesus.  At least one person will tell me that my devotional is just what they needed at that time.  I am constantly humbled and in awe of the Lord.  Never did I imagine that it would benefit so many people.

Not only do I write devotionals and stories and the occasional poem, but I also write faithfully to my children.  Okay, so I'm not as good at writing to Eugene.  The online writing tool that Compassion recently set up has really helped me to maintain my monthly letters.  Child Fund doesn't have an email option.  And, to be honest, it takes a lot of postage to mail a letter to the Philippines.

How important is letter writing to these kids?  Here are some of what they have said over the years:

"If you have time, I want you to write me often."
"I love to get your letter every month.  You write so nice.  I want to thank you for your beautiful letter.  I can listen to beautiful words through your letter."
"You are also my inspiration and my family.  That's why I enjoy going to school until I graduate in college and to make my dreams come true."  His aunt wrote, "We always thank you for all the encouraging words you always have to him that made him always strong.  You are more than a mother to him in your words of comfort (his father had recently died).  He also wrote, "I am very happy because through your letter it give me more inspiration to go to school and to do my homework."
"Thank you so much for always encouraging me."
"The letters you have sent me are really pretty and also the drawings."
"I have just received all your letters.  I learned a lot when reading the letters.  I like so much the photo."
"He says thank you for being his friend, and adds that a lot has changed in his and their family life because of you.  He says thank you for the letters."
"I'm always grateful to you for what you've been doing for me."  I am the correspondent, so the only things I do for her are writing to her and praying for her.
"I am extremely glad to write you today in order to hear from you and your activities."


Just my letters are in itself a ministry.  The Lord is using me to comfort those who lose a parents (there are three of my eleven children who have lost a parent), to encourage them to stay in school, to uplift them, and maybe even to bring them hope.  

When you sponsor a child, please write to them!  Letters are so important.  You may be the only one to help them finish school, to tell them you love them, to remind them they are special and unique.  You can help a child succeed in life.  

Please visit the Compassion website by going to http://www.compassion.com.  If you do choose to sponsor a child (whether a child, a teen, orphan, boy, girl, etc), please let me know, even if it's, "I sponsored a child!"  You can choose a child from a certain country, a certain age, a birthday, orphan, living in a vulnerable area, an older child.  The possibilities are endless because the need is so great.  And when you do choose a child, please write to them regularly.  It doesn't have to be as often as I do, and it doesn't have to be long.  If you need ideas as what to write, please let me know.  I will help in whatever way I can.