Sweet Greetings from Indonesia, Peru, Uganda, Burkina Faso, and the Philippines

Happy Mail Call Monday!

I was so glad to hear from some of our kids this week! Our first letter is from our sweetie Merlyn in the Philippines!  

Merlyn is such a cutie and I love her to pieces. She puts lots of smiley faces in there. Merlyn said she is glad that I'm sending her so many letters. She also said she was glad that we made Christmas cards for the kids who don't have sponsors! She asked about "friend sister Hannah," and wants to know how many kids she sponsors, and sent her regards to her and the rest of our family and friends! She asked that we pray for her mom to have strength and energy to do her job, and asked that we pray for her because her eyes hurt. I asked in my reply if she needs glasses! She also said that there was a typhoon that hit her country recently, but Jesus protected them! She closed with "please take care always, sister Jessi! I love you! Bye!" 

We also got a surprise letter from Carlos in Peru! 

We have been hearing from Carlos a lot lately! This was a special letter that I had not received before- there was a printed letter from the project saying that they were celebrating Sponsor Appreciation week, and there was supposed to be a photo attached in an envelope (the envelope was empty- hopefully we will be able to get another copy!) Carlos also wrote his own letter, saying that he was thankful for all the things that I was able to send in his little backpack over the summer (he called the candy "snacks" which I thought was really cute, for some reason.) Carlos also mentioned El Nino in his letter, making him the third or fourth kid of ours around the world to talk about it. Carlos also said that he just finished up his first semester of technical college!!!! I am ridiculously proud of him! 

Earlier in the week, we heard from Reine in Burkina Faso! 

I like the BF letter templates- there's a free writing space, and then some prompts on the back! One of the prompts is a "question for my sponsor" and Reine always asks which country I live in. :) I will tell her again that it's the United States! She said that she is enjoying wearing her glasses and she would try to send me a picture of her wearing them (I hope she's able to!) She also sent her congratulations to my friend Jess on her baby, and said that her favorite animal is a dog. She especially enjoyed reading the letter I wrote about the Kentucky Derby, and seeing pictures of the horses! 

This week, we also heard from Caleb in Uganda! 

I knew this letter was from Caleb before I opened it, because I saw the word "crops" written in there. :) Caleb told me that his family only grows enough to eat themselves, which is an answer to a question I'd asked him. It's always nice to get responses! With the small financial gift he received recently, Caleb purchased rice, a new shirt, a hen, a dress shirt, and a soda! He also told me, in response to a letter about Bibles, that his family shares a Bible! Caleb's letter was written in August, three months before my friend Amy traveled to Uganda and dropped off some gifts for him and Amelia! Hopefully in his next letter I will get to hear what Caleb thought of his gifts, which included a Bible of his own. :) 

We also heard from our Indonesian kiddos, Prayer and Tasya this week! 

Prayer wrote that his family is doing really well, and he's always happy to hear from us! He said "I am so thankful to have you who always pray for me and my family." Prayer said that his family celebrated Easter at church, and they took eggs to church and wrote Bible verses on them! He also got to watch an Easter concert on TV at the project! Prayer said that his favorite food is "jagur" porridge, and he's never had pizza. He said his favorite animals are dogs and chickens, because they are really funny! Prayer also shared that he likes playing guitar, and asked that we pray for rain for his region because they are having a water crisis. 

Tasya said that her family is also doing really well. She said "I don't know about your friend, but I do love that baby Lilly. That baby is sooo cute!" How sweet! Tasya said she enjoys babysitting and has even babysat for her neighbor's little kid before. She has also watched her cousin's little baby (who smiled a lot!) but she can't watch it right now because they are away at their grandfather's house! She said she is praying for Lilly and for me and my parents.