Sweet Greetings from Bolivia, Colombia, and India

Happy Mail Call Monday!

We had another good letter week, with five letters coming in from the kiddos! The first was from Julian in Colombia. 

Julian shared that his favorite Bible story is the story of Jonah, and his best skill is playing! He also likes soccer, and said his favorite shows are Animal Planet and Grimm's Fairy Tales. Julian said he has enjoyed my letters, as they are "so lovely" and he's glad that I am happy at work. He also said he has never met a missionary, but he would like to go on a mission trip to Portugal! 

We also received a letter from Michel in Colombia! 

Michel's helper at the project wrote in big letters at the top of her letter that she greets me with love! She said her favorite Bible story is "Jesus' birthday," and she likes watching Peppa Pig and Discovery Kids! Her favorite month is May because that's when Mother's Day is. She added that she is really happy to write to me, her family is doing fine, and it's been raining a lot in Colombia and she really likes that. She asked that we pray that her family is able to be together every day. She also said "I have never heard that an elephant never forgets. What nice thing!" This was in response to the letter I wrote about the Compassion graduate who works for the elephant sanctuary in Kenya, which you can find here on Hannah's blog! She added again that she really liked my letters, and her favorite part was the pictures. She said goodbye with "lots of fondness."

We also got a letter from Juan in Bolivia! 

Juan said that his family is doing great, and he liked all the cards and pictures I've been sending. He also said that his family sends me a huge hug, and that he's glad I work at a library and he loves books. He also got the little book about the three little pigs that I sent him. He said to tell Jess congratulations on her beautiful daughter, and he really liked reading about my trip to Africa and seeing the picture of the elephant. He got to visit Santa Cruz recently, and his dad bought him a little crocodile! 

I was also really happy to get our first letter from Rayza in Bolivia! 

I have really been looking forward to Rayza's first letter! Her letter was written to her financial sponsors, but it was really warm and informative. I think this is a great sign- if she writes such loving letters into the void (since she was not receiving letters for a few years before we got her as a correspondent) I can't wait to see what her response letters are like! Rayza said that on her school break, her family and her uncles went to Cliza province, where her dad is from. It was really rainy and a little chilly when they got there. She saw factories and "train ruts" and finally went to see her grandparents. She also said that they ate and played soccer. Now her school has started again, and the first two weeks were spent getting to know each other. She said "I thank you very much for being my sponsors! I thank so much God for the support you offer me! I pray for you a lot that you are always well of health! Don't go away out of God's way! Now I say goodbye with many hugs and kisses. May God bless and look after you a lot!" So sweet! 

Finally, we got our first letter from our new sponsored child Vandana in India! 

Vandana's letter was pre-written to send out when she got a sponsor, and it was really informative! It said that her mom's name is Dulazi and her dad's name is Natayan. She has two older sisters named Divya and Rinky, and two younger sisters named Kajal and Manisha! Her favorite color is red, she likes running, and her favorite foods are rice, dal, beans and curry (which I would like to eat right now.) Her best friend's name is Dhanashree, and her house is made of mud. On the back of the letter, the project worker wrote a little about the community and her family. They said that Vandana attends the project regularly, and that she is "sincere and hard-working." They said that the community is an "illiterate tribal community" and that Vandana lives in the slum area, which makes me sad. They said that most of the adults in the community are daily workers (they don't have regular jobs) and they usually work as rickshaw pullers, vegetable sellers, or manual laborers. Vandana's dad is a laborer and her mom is a housewife. At the end, the project worker expressed gratitude to Vandana's new sponsor because of the needs of the kids in the community, including getting regular meals, school supplies, and clean water. I already knew a little about the area where Vandana lives, because my mom's sponsor girl Amisha goes there. But I didn't realize just how severe some of the problems were. It's good to know how to pray for Vandana and her family, and the other kids in the community.