Sweet Greetings from Brazil, Tanzania and India

Happy Mail Call Monday! Letters have been kind of slow lately, so I'm really happy to have something to share this week!

This week we received three letters! The first one came from Patricia in Brazil. 

As I've said before, I imagine that Patricia is a little social butterfly who cares about letters but may not feel the need to sit still long enough to write a long one! : ) Her letters are always friendly and cheerful, but I hope some day that she sends a few that have a little more info in them about her life and her feelings. In this letter, Patricia mentioned that she was glad I recently had a birthday, and wished me "many happinesses!" She mentioned my recent requests as to how I should pray for her, and she asked that I pray for her family. She also said that many foreign language classes are offered at the project, including English, French, and Russian! I was pretty surprised by that one! I think Patricia's project has a little more access to technology, being in a big city, and it's neat how many educational opportunities that opens up for her! As always, she signed her letter "Kisses! Patricia."

The next letter came from Elisha in Tanzania !

Elisha's letter was about his typical week. He says that he gets up at 6 in the morning and makes his bed. He goes to school Monday through Friday, and goes to the project on Saturdays. In the afternoons he plays football with his friends, and in the evenings he eats ugali with fish! He also says he goes to bed at 7 in the evening, which I have a hard time believing based on the sheer amount of energy contained in this little boy. : ) Elisha says that his favorite day of the week is Wednesday, because he gets to go home early! He also shared that "shikamoo" is a greeting from "a junior to a senior" and that I should say "marahaba" in response. Said actually told me this in his first letter three long years ago! He was so excited when I wrote "marahaba" in my response letter, so I was sure to do the same for Elisha! 

Lastly, we heard from Jayid in India!

Jayid said thanks for the goodies we have been able to send him lately, including activity books and stickers! He said that it is the rainy season where he lives, and they have been having monsoons in India. Jayid also responded to my recent push for prayer requests, and asked that we pray for his dad, who has TB. He said that his dad has not been able to work as well as he normally does because he is frequently sick. I will definitely be praying for his dad! If my information is correct, his dad's name is Sikkander (that was what was written in his first letter, long ago!) Jayid also talked about food in his letter, saying that he likes eating biryani and "sweets potatoes!" And as a side note, that little headshot up there is a new picture of our boy! I realized the copy I had saved in my computer was not the same dimensions as the others I've been posting, so I looked it up on a special webpage- I almost didn't catch that it was a new one since he's wearing the same shirt! But this photo has a different background and a hint of a smile- and in the full photo he's wearing new pants and shoes, and looks to be about two feet taller! : )