Sweet Greetings from Tanzania

Happy Mail Call Monday, everyone!

We didn't get many letters this week, but I did get confirmation that a ton of good ones are on the way!! I can't wait until they get here, as some will be first letters, some will be first *real* letters (not the form letters we received after sponsoring or receiving a new correspondent) and at least one will hopefully have some extra photos with it! Woohoo!

The first letter we received last week was from our precious Said in Tanzania!

I was so glad to get a letter from Said! He has been on my mind a lot lately. He shared that he's doing well in school and he's hoping to finish secondary education this next year. He really loved the Christmas card we sent to him, and said that I am a good artist- I believe that this was in reference to the Christmas angel ornaments we made for each of the kids!! :) He said that he is praying for me to do my work well, and that he hopes we have a wonderful Christmas. Said also said that he would like for me to come visit his center and meet all his "fellow children!" Oh, I would love to do that someday!! I adore Said and would love to travel back to Tanzania, the home of my heart, and spend some more time with him!

The only other letter we received this week was also from Tanzania- from our pretty girl Zalifina!

Zalifina's letter was a bit short- hopefully she will be able to write more next time! She told us that the weather is lovely and the trees are growing where she lives, which is great! She is doing well in her studies and with her work at the center, and she said that her family gets food from a farm (I think I asked her if she and her family grow their own food or if they also grow enough to sell.) She also said that she has not been baptized yet, but she would like to be, and she shared the names of her friends- she has a TON of them!! I couldn't even read all the names, but I can make out Fatuma, Khadija, Salome, Jackline, and Anna! Our girl is so popular!

I would like to close this post out with some prayer requests- happy and sad news. Let's get the sad news out of the way first. This afternoon, I read a prayer request update mentioning an incident that happened in Thailand recently. A bus carrying several children from center number 811 was struggling to make it up a hill when it fell off a cliff and rolled. Two children from the center were killed, and almost a dozen were injured. As of a few days ago, all of the children who had been hospitalized due to their injuries have been released, which is good news. Please pray for the children and staff of this center as the mourn the loss of their friends, the families of the children who were killed, the continuing medical care of the children injured, and the sponsors of the kids who lost their lives. Also, I would appreciate your prayers for little Warakorn. She was our correspondent from this project who was returned to the letter-writing care of her financial sponsor at the end of last summer. We still love her, pray for her and think of her every day, as we do all the kids we have lost, and I have sent an email asking if I am able to at least know if Warakorn was affected by this tragedy, even though she is no longer our correspondence child.

Warakorn

And now the good news- my precious friend Shelley will be traveling to India at the end of this week! I am so excited for her as India became a second home for her heart after her visit a couple of years ago. She will be volunteering at an orphanage full of adorable children that she visited on her previous visit, as well as spending her first full day in the country with her sweet sponsor girl Riya. And she will be dropping off gifts for our lovely Indian girls as well! Please pray for safe travels for Shelley, and that her day with Riya will be blessed. I think that she is a little concerned about being exhausted from the trip on that day! Maybe when she gets back from her trip, she'll write up a guest post for me about her individual visit with Riya. :)