Project Letter: DR-385

Here's a letter from Yarianny's project in the Dominican Republic! All the photos came from Compassion's website.

Hello! I hope you are doing well. May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus reign in your home. My name is Ramon P., and I am a pastor of (the church) in the northern region of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. Here we minister to Yarianny, your sponsored child, in (the project.)

I want to thank you for your great effort and determination you have shown in seeing to Yarianny's well-being. Thanks to that, we have been able to provide for several needs. Through you, we have been able to reach our children in a more complete way, with all the benefits of a Dominican childhood.

We belong to a community whose growth and development is a little scarce. Due to that, we see ourselves as having the responsibility to contribute to such growth. It is a challenge for us to work for the growth of this community, since we see so much delinquency and corruption in it, and the youths are oftentimes involved in such acts.But in Jesus' name, we will take our children away from the enemy!

Our vision for our church and center is to reach both children and their parents and closest family members, and therefore, create healthy families. Where there are healthy families and communities, as well as a growing and healthy church, God is glorified.

Currently 11 of the center's children's families attend our church. We also have 7 youths who have completed the program, and some of them are part of our youth ministry.

I want to highlight that it is really important for children to receive their letters, since they get really happy when they receive them. They also get very sad when they see other children get letters and they don't. I want to motivate you to write to your child. If you already do, I encourage you to continue in this good action.

Without further ado, hoping the Lord provides for your needs and compensates you for your good actions, I say farewell.




If you're interested in sponsoring a child from Yarianny's project, check out sweet Juan! He's so happy! Juan is 5 years old and has been waiting over 9 months for a sponsor.

Project Letter: DR-381

Sorry it's been a while, but here's another pastor's letter- this time, from the Dominican Republic! 

May God bless you richly!

I am Ramon Del Carmon Alfonso, and by God's grace, I am a pastor in Iglesia Evangelica Misionera (Missionary Evangelical School) located in Dajabon City, Dominican Republic. We minister to Carlos Daniel at the Child Development Center.

In our church's name, and on behalf of the community, I want to express our gratitude for all of your support to Carlos and to our ministry.

Our church is located near the border of the Republic of Haiti. In this community, we have multiple needs, such as: education, lack of industries, low agricultural production, and low work sources, which causes our youth to immigrate to other towns, looking for improvements in their lives.

Our church is focused in accomplishing the commandment given by our Lord in the Great Commission. For around forty years, we have remained continuously working with Compassion International's programs to help the poorest children and teenagers of our community, with the goal of making them into responsible young people and role models.

We have had the great blessing of baptizing and making disciples of a great amount of our youth and some of their parents, who are serving actively in the different ministries of our church. We can quote the case of two sisters, who came to our church via the programs at the center and today serve as teachers in the center. Moreover, many of our youth are professional, responsible leaders and remain true to the principles they have learned while they serve in important positions at different public and private enterprises across the country.

As a pastor, I long for establishing God's Kingdom in the lives of the people who are under our covering. Through quality, systematic work, we want to guarantee their integral development. I believe firmly that this is possible with the support of the church, Compassion, and the Lord.

As a church, we have the challenge of continuing to spread our ministry and contributing to the development of these families. Our church has many ministries, such as home visits, evangelism programs, discipleship, teenager and youth's society, Sunday school, worship and praise, and dance. Through these activities, we want to see our community converted to a model city, which glorifies our God.

I want to ask you to join us in prayer so the Lord gives us the provision of work sources, such as agricultural industries, in this area. That would give stability and would keep our youths to being forced to immigrate to the city. We also ask you to help us pray for new sponsors, so we can widen the number of sponsored children.

I want to tell you that the active communication between sponsors and these children through letters is very significant, since they enjoy receiving news form the person who helps them and they feel informed. It is a great joy and satisfaction to know that someone, somewhere in the world is thinking of them, and every word of love and encouragement is cherished.

Finally, I want to express to you our gratitude for your contribution in favor of Carlos. Your support has been really meaningful in his development. We pray constantly for you and your family so that God keeps blessing you in everything.

Sweet Greetings from India, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic

Happy hot-as-heck Mail Call Monday!

A few more letters came in this week, including two first letters! The first one we received was from Jayid in India. 

Jayid's letter was so sweet. His letters are always written by a staff member, and they usually just share what he's been up to and a few prayer requests. This letter was full of "he loves you" and "he misses you and wants to see you." It was so cute! He responded to my letter about missionaries, saying that he has met one who came to the project, and he had the opportunity to go on a "spiritual retreat!" 

Next, we got our first letter from Laura in the Dominican Republic! 

Laura's letter was so cute! She seemed really excited to finally get some letters! She said "I am so glad to receive your letter. I look forward to continue writing to you. Whenever you want to write to me, please do it!"  Laura shared that she was finishing high school this spring, and she is heading to university! Wow! She responded to my letter about new baby traditions, and said that in her country, people also have baby showers for expectant mothers. She asked if we have recovered from the snow, and said that she loved the "American style" photo. I don't know what that means, but I'm glad she liked whatever it was! :) 

Then we got our first letter from Carlos Daniel, also in the Dominican Republic!

Carlos Daniel's letter was written for his financial sponsor, but it was interesting to see how friendly and kind he was in the letter, even though he never heard from this person. I think that's a sign that he's going to be a good correspondent. He asked questions about his financial sponsor's family, and said he was praying for her. He said he wasn't going to church right then (but would go in the summer) and even though he couldn't go to church, he was still reading his Bible at home. He also said "Thank you a thousand times for sponsoring me. Please pray for my family so that God will guide them in a good way. I send you my regards with much love."

Later in the week, we also heard from Merlyn in the Philippines! 

Merlyn's letters are so cute and sweet. She's very responsive and always sounds excited. She said "you're so generous in writing to me" and she was glad to learn about my grandparents. She also responded to my letter about names, saying that my full name is "long and had a beautiful meaning." Merlyn also said that she really enjoyed learning about Edwin, the head elephant keeper at the sanctuary in Kenya. She was happy to learn that he was a Compassion graduate, and said that she has never seen an elephant. She also asked if it was still cold where I live, and said it is really, really hot where she lives! She also asked about Brandon, checking in to see if his back is still hurting. She calls him Kuya Brandon, which means "big brother" (and she calls me "Ate", or big sister!) She also wrote some sweet prayers for us, and asked that we pray she and her mom don't get sick. 

Thanks to a heads up from some very kind Compassion staffers, I know I have a bunch more letters on the way, including more first letters! I'm excited to see what this week has in store! 

Blogging from the Dominican Republic

Every once in a while, Compassion takes a trip that's just made up of the regular helpful staff and a group of Bloggers. It's a great outreach tool, for lack of a better term, because for the duration of the trip, popular bloggers dedicate all of their posts to what's going on in whatever country they're visiting! So many different types of people have gone on these trips- bloggers who post about organization, homeschooling, small businesses, faith....one time I even learned that the author of a cookbook I like was a Compassion sponsor and would be going on one of these trips!

This week, the Compassion Bloggers are in the Dominican Republic. You can follow along with their posts on Compassion's website. You can also check out the posts by individual bloggers. Here are some sneak peeks at their recent posts! 

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.” Henri Nouwen I thought I was safe. I exhaled a breath of laughter with two little girls who stuck to me, the moment we stepped out of the Compassion van, like two graham crackers melted into a marshmallow s’more. The girls drew a circle of beautiful children to follow me, children who make a home among shacks of tin-rusted roofs and walls made out of metal sheets, huddled along the polluted waters of “The River”. This is not a river you go stand in to go fly-fishing, but rather used as sewage and garbage that runs through the neighborhood’s backyard. 

I knew in my head Compassion would never take bloggers anywhere that risks our safety.  But, as our van moved into the “City Belt” — the most dangerous strip of land in the Dominican Republic — I noticed we stopped.  A policeman who holstered a metal pistol climbed on, to sit alongside me. - See more at Faith Barista by Bonnie Gray

"I’m not quite sure what I was expecting today, but I know it wasn’t what I found. As we made our way through the snarled traffic of Santo Domingo, and the neighborhoods slowly devolved from the upscale business district to the down-and-out neighborhoods closer to our destination, my heart slowly sank.  

I took it all in, sheltered behind the tasseled teal blue curtains of our mini bus–in the barred windows, the graffiti, the litter. The vacant stares on the faces that we passed. The dirty river, the razor wire on top of cement block walls, the unattended children running through the streets in nothing but their underwear.

And I wondered how my heart would bear the despair I was about to encounter."

See more at Living Well Spending Less by Ruth Soukup

"Today in the Dominican Republic, Our Compassion team leaders took us to visit a CDSP {Child Development Sponsorship Program}. This is the flagship program for Compassion and probably what they are best known for. You probably already know that you can sponsor a child for $38 month. Steve and I sponsor Joeli and we can’t wait to meet her later this week. I expected the kids to be friendly and affectionate–and they were. So fun! I didn’t expect to be so moved by one mama I met. I didn’t expect to see Compassion so directly changing individual lives."

See more at Lisa Leonard Designs by Lisa Leonard

"I met a God-sized dreamer in the most unlikely of places today. Her name is Carla and she lives in a tin roof house with curtains for doors in the Dominican Republic. At the end of our time together, she apologized for not having a grander place to share with us. Through the Compassion International translator I told her, “This is a house of love. And that is worth more than anything else.”"

See more at Holley Gerth's website

This is just a sampling of the amazing writing by the wonderful people who are on this trip! And the really neat thing about Compassion Bloggers trips is that many kids get sponsored during this time. At least one of my mom's sponsor kiddos got picked up during a Compassion Bloggers week (that would be Jessika in Ecuador!) This week, we have a goal of getting 300 children sponsored. They don't all have to be in the Dominican Republic. If you feel like you've been tugged in the direction of sponsorship, I encourage you to read the blogs above first, and see what God is trying to tell you between the lines of these websites. You don't need me telling you to sponsor a child, or tell you how awesome Compassion is, or what these kids' lives are like before and after Compassion is a part of them. I do that all the time! Let someone else, who is visiting the front lines this week, tell you what Compassion is doing and show you the precious faces of the children whose lives are being transformed by these centers.

And just in case you feel like you're being called to sponsor, here are some sweet kids who are waiting. Are they waiting for you?

Eudis is 3 years old, and his birthday is March 7. He lives with his mom and dad, and he likes playing with cars. 

Damarisell is 3 years old, and her birthday is September 5. She has epilepsy and is receiving treatment for her condition with Compassion's help! She loves playing games like rolling a hoop and playing with dolls! 

Bleikin is 3 years old, and his birthday is July 26. He lives with his mom and dad in an area where many adults, if they can find work, are employed as subsistence farmers or plantation workers.

Esteisy is 3 years old, and her birthday is October 10. She likes playing house and playing with dolls. I don't know about you, but I think Esteisy is super cute and I'm a little obsessed with her. 

News of the World

Here's your weekly update on what's going on in some of the countries where Compassion works!

Colombia- This is a news story about one specific family, but it brings to light two issues: what happens when families are faced with such abject poverty that it leads to desperation, and the kind of trafficking and exploitation kids around the world face every day. A Colombian woman was arrested this week after it was found out that she sold the virginity of her daughters- 12 of them- for about $200 a piece, to make ends meet. Girls are trafficked and abused all around the world, and I think that often it can be traced right back to poverty- girls being sold because their family needs the money, kids born into brothels and raised to grow up to be prostitutes because their moms can't buy food any other way. It's so sad. Pray for this family, but really, this could happen anywhere. It does happen everywhere.

India- Recent rains in eastern India have caused quite a bit of flooding, which has killed 16 people so far. My mother in law is currently in eastern India and told me yesterday in an email that it has been raining a lot there- she is safe, though. Pray for the people affected by this flooding, that they will be able to rebuild quickly and will be able to avoid some of the problems that come with flooding, which includes the rapid spread of disease. Pray for the Compassion centers in the area as they work to meet the needs of the people there, both physical and spiritual.

Dominican Republic- For a while now, the Domican Republic has been struggling with the influx of people from Haiti. Both countries share the same island, but economically, the DR is having an easier time of things than Haiti. Therefore, a lot of people from Haiti try to find work in the DR or even move there. This has led the Dominican government to crack down on immigration in recent years, just trying to keep things steady and regulated. It's understandable. Anyway, at the moment, many Dominicans of Haitian descent are about to be stripped of their citizenship, because when they were born, their parents were in the country illegally. They will lose their citizenship even if they have never been to Haiti or left the DR. It's causing a lot of political unrest in the region. Pray for the governments of both Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that they won't become hostile. Pray for the people who are facing losing their citizenship and identity. Pray for both nations, that their economies will improve, because they are really struggling.

Kenya- Again, this is another story that happened in one country but illuminates issues in all countries. In this case, we're talking about violence against women, gender inequality, and the mishandling of justice. A few weeks ago, a 16 year old girl was raped while she was on her way home from a relative's funeral. The attack was more violent than just sexual assault, however- she has been left permanently disabled as a result of the violence. There are fundraisers to raise money for her medical bills. The girl, who has been nicknamed Liz, was able to identify some of her attackers. Neighbors took the attackers to the police station. The police's response? Have the attackers mow the grass around the station, then set them free. Obviously people are outraged. Pray that justice will be served against the people who attacked this girl. Pray that girls around the world would stop being attacked like this, and pray that governments would realize it's in the best interest of everyone to protect ALL their citizens and give fair punishments for crimes.