Project Letter: TZ-665

Here's a letter from Amina's project in Tanzania! The photos are from Compassion's website. 

I greet you in the name of Jesus Christ. My name is Pastor Joseph C of (the church) located in the Dodoma region in Tanzania. Matongolo is a village about 55 km away from the Kongwa district center. Your sponsored child attends (TZ-665.) There are 273 children in the sponsorship program, and in the CSP we have 40 mothers and babies. On behalf of our children, parents, members of our church, and village members of Matongolo, I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for all your support to Amina. We thank you so much.

Through sponsorship, our children know about God. They know that Jesus is the savior. They attend classes to learn about the word of God every week at the center. Through this special day, many of the children have accepted Jesus as their savior and also use their talents (like singing, playing musical instruments, and preaching the Word of God) to minister to their peers. All of these are the result of sponsor support.

Children who are registered at our center are healthier. This is partly from the balanced diet of meals and snacks that they eat while at the center when attending their program day. These children also acquire treatment from the neighboring health center when they fall sick. Entrepreneurship and self reliance skills are part of what they learn here at the center. They learn about carpentry, tailoring, computers, and making clothes. They also participate in different games and sports, like football and netball.

Through different activities done at the center, the community has been changed economically. At the center we have some parents who have organized themselves and formed a group called Bank Mazao. These group members deal with collecting maize from these families during harvest seasons and store them at the center. During drought seasons, they redistribute this maize to themselves- some for food and some for selling. They use the money raised to provide loans to village members, which are later returned with some interest on an agreed-upon period of time. This helps them so much to increase their income and build a good relationship between the community and the center. The CSP mothers have been able to establish the batik center, which deals with making cultural clothes. They buy material and dye it using the special batik method, making cultural clothes. They buy material and dye it using the special batik method, then make clothing, which they later sell to the community. This center has been so successful because the income earned helps in meeting their families' needs.

I think the correspondence relationship is crucial to the survival of the program. It establishes the motivation and confidence between the sponsor and the sponsored. It allows the sponsor to ensure a good return on his investment. When the children receive letters from you, it is a single area where we can see the happiness on their faces. They are joyful when they receive a letter from you. On the contrary, those who do not receive any letter from you for a long time become sad. Please write a letter to Amina.

We thank you very much for your support to Amina. May God bless you so much.


If you are interested in sponsoring a young lady in Tanzania, please consider beautiful Halima! She lives with her mom and dad and she is 19 years old. You can learn more about her here.

Project Letter: TZ-243

Here's a letter from our lovely Teresia's project in Tanzania! All the photos come from Compassion's website.


I am Joshua L., pastor of (TZ-243) in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. We minister to Teresia at (the project.) I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you for your generous support of Teresia. This sponsorship program has touched the lives of many children and parents. In our parish, we serve a mixture of ethnic groups and the majority of people work as livestock keepers and farmers. Through this program, many of them have been brought to Christ and have been able to send their children to school. Currently, there are more than 120 registered children who attend our nearby English medium school. The main challenge faced by our community is illiteracy, as the majority of people in our community did not go to school, and unemployment. This had perpetuated poverty in our society.

Our church's vision is to release children from illiteracy and disease and to enrich them with the Word of God. At the center, we had been able to nurture more than 270 children in the spiritual, physical, socio-emotional and cognitive aspects from the age of 3-14. Our children and youth attend school, church and Sunday school, and are free from malnutrition-associated disorders, unlike the other children in the community. These children are growing healthily as we provide them with medical care and hygiene training.

Our church also ministers to the community by reaching out to the disabled and providing them with meals, the word of God, and prayer. Furthermore, our church has established a saving and credit cooperative society where members can borrow money to start businesses and then return money at fair interest charge. Our church has an English medium school named Nuru where we invite children from poor families to attend school free of school fees.

One of the most important things in the sponsorship program is the correspondence between sponsors and sponsored children. When children receive letters from their sponsors, they feel very special and it helps their relationships with the sponsors improve. They are always happy to hear from their amazing friends in another country. If children do not receive letters from sponsors, they ask the workers at the center why it has been too long since they received a letter. We encourage all sponsors to write to these children because it helps them feel loved and motivated to do their best.

Please pray with us that all sponsored children will reach completion of the program. Secondly, let us pray for them to do well in school. Let us pray for their parents and siblings, and for good health. Please remember to pray or our program so that we may reach our goals. Lastly, thank you once again for the immeasurable love you show Teresia.

If you are interested in sponsoring a young lady in Tanzania, please consider Mariam. She is 9 years old, and her birthday is October 25. She lives with her parents in an area that has a high rate of HIV/AIDS and a lot of child abuse and exploitation. Read more about Mariam here. 

Project Letter: TZ-606

Here's a letter from the facilitator of Elisha's project! All the photos came from Compassion's website. 

Dear Jessi, 

My name is Albert N. I am the center director of (TZ-606.) Our center is located in the Iringa region of Tanzania, and is where your sponsored child attends. Thank you for sponsoring Elisha.

With great joy I take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for the continuing child sponsorship and support in our center. As a result we see quite a significant progress in improving the socio-emotional status of the children under our care. We therefore build confidence towards ultimately relieving children from poverty.

Our children are involved in a wide range of interesting and worthwhile activities. I am proud to reflect that the activities are of holistic composition. These include drawings, gardening, environmental cleanliness, watering flowers, move bricks for classroom building. Further activities, involving particularly grown children, include sewing, cookery, knitting, farming, computer lessons, and baking.

I think the life planning tool is of paramount importance in the life of our children as it provides a sense of preparedness for the children and paves the way for getting to the goals. This therefore instills in our children the kind of discipline needed to be exercised before the student realizes the valuable attainments set before them.

As of now we have received an important gift which has helped us in buying the milling machine and constructing its house. The machine will be an important source of income generating activities for the Child Survival Program caregivers. They will be provided with suitable capital to buy grains and mill them in the machine and thus be able to sell the resulting nutritious flour where the key buyer will be the center itself. This has important implications, one being that of easy and ready market but also the business will enjoy the center's guidance.

I have personally observed a range of important impacts on center children compared to the other children in the community. Education becomes more sustainable than ever and thus they cultivate a sense of reaching their dreams. Through health lessons and seminars both children and caregivers are healthier. Children significantly dominate the social sphere as they are able to interact well with other children by means of sports, debates, and other social events. The spiritual dimension has made and continues to make our children distinguishable from other students as regards to manners.

I thank God profoundly to report that in this year we have witnessed twelve newly converted adolescents. So the center has added to its responsibility for nurturing for their new spiritual lives to ensure that they attain mature Christianity.

Our image as a center is well reflected on the community around in quite a good number of ways. Parents like the way we act as foster parents in taking care of the numerous needs facing their children. The center instills a significant confidence in the community ability to face life challenges through income generating activities.

Our prayer as a center is that God may continue to bless this valuable sponsorship, the sponsors themselves and that we might be able to realize the Compassion and church partner vision for the children under our care. I thank God profoundly for this worthy opportunity to, through sponsorship support, to be able to free children from poverty in the name of Jesus.



If you are interested in sponsoring a little guy in Tanzania, please consider Isaka! He looks like a great guy- super excited to be alive! I kind of love him. Isaka is 14 and lives with his farmer parents near Kihesa. Read more about Isaka here.

Project Letter: TZ-851

Here's a letter from Bonifas' project in Tanzania! All the pictures came from Compassion's website.

Dear Jessi,

I am Martin M., the project director of (TZ-851) attended by your sponsored child. We are part of the International Evangelism Church in northern Tanzania. Thank you for sponsoring Bonifas.

I thank you and our other child sponsors for your precious heart of assisting children in need. Thanks to being sponsored, our 276 children are able to attend school and receive health services. They also receive spiritual guidance which includes Bible studies to help them know the Word of God and become responsible Christians.

Every Saturday, all the children come to the center and meet with the center workers and Bible teachers for different activities. These include Bible lessons, praying, praise, and worship, health education, and socialization activities like sports and games, song singing, and choir training. All these activities bring unity, peace, and love for each other. The children also engage in skill training for income-generating activities like sewing and growing garden flowers, vegetables and fruits. We emphasize knowledge of other activities which help them grow up with the ability to be independent.

Our sponsored children age 3 to 11 demonstrate a good understanding of God's word, his purpose, and the gospel message. Upon knowing Christ as savior, the children also have the opportunity to grow in Christ through practicing spiritual disciplines.

The teens work with the life-planning tool called My Plan for Tomorrow. Most advance successfully in formal education by completing primary school and advancing in secondary school and possibly college or vocational training. Our teens understand basic principles of managing money, small business management, and income-generating activities.

The center has brought a big impact to the children. The community appreciates the big work to make sure they get education, healthcare, and learn the Word of God. This brings a great difference to society as they become good Christians.

Last year we received a Complementary Intervention to build a more efficient and sanitary kitchen. It really helps food preparation in the rainy season and on dusty days.

Children love to get letters from their sponsor. They are eager to hear how their sponsor is doing and to get their prayers, advice, and encouragement. Letters remind the children to put in more effort so their sponsor will see good progress. Communication through exchange of letters is a very important thing. As you can, please write.

I am committed to continue to work at this center as I recognize the importance for each child to be loved, cared for, and helped to grow and reach their God-given potential. I interact with children, pray for them, and deal with obstacles that can keep them from escaping poverty. Without this center the children would not go to school, there would be no health services and treatments, and there would be no life skills training. Also the word of God would not reach them. But with the center our children are healthier, they are doing well at school, and they are good ambassadors of Christ.

Please pray for our center, that it will do better to assist the children in fulfilling their life goals, that they have good health, and that God will use them as agents of change in their community. On behalf of the children, their parents, and the community, receive our gratitude for your significant assistance in your partnership with us. I wish you all the best in life, and may God make a way for you where there seems to be no way.



If you are interested in sponsoring a little boy in Tanzania, please consider tiny Ibrahim! He looks so handsome in his little suit. Read more about him here.

Project Letter: TZ-552

Here's a letter from our dear Said's project in Tanzania!

I am Joshua F., project director of (TZ-552) of the Moravian church in the Morogoro region of Tanzania. We minister to your sponsored child Said. I thank you for your sponsorship and support for Said. I take this opportunity to thank you abundantly.

The support of the sponsorship program has done much to improve the standard of living for children, parents, and the whole community. The center has a positive impact on the children in different matters. Children in this program have improved spiritually, socially, physically, and educationally. I love to see the children's lives improved through formal and informal education. They practice different skills acquired from the center, including batik making and designs, making furniture like stools, making jewelry with beads, and others. They are able to stay in school and do well with educational support.

We thank God that children are growing well spiritually by attending camps, worship, and prayer. The children have learned to pray and encourage others to pray. All these mentioned and others not mentioned are the outcomes of sponsors' love and support. The center has a positive impact on the children in different matters. I love to see the children's lives improved through formal and informal education.

Children and youth practice sports, games, and activities. They play football and netball, run, and learn singing and comedy. They play in and out of the center. Last year they went to Mikumi National Park; they got a chance to see different animals and learned various things in the park.

One of our boys is a youth with talent and an open mind. He is attending batik class, and he is a major producer of batik at our center. He now is able to earn money from the community. Through the skills and knowledge he acquired at the center, he can now generate income to help his parents.

The center supports the children in health matters through a support fund from sponsors. One little boy was born in 2010, and he had a problem of eye pressure since his birth. The center paid the bill for his surgery and all costs for the clinic in each month. We thank God that the child has well improved and continues with clinics. Another child who had an ear problem is also well recovered now.

Children are happier when they receive letters from their sponsors and get a chance to be connected with someone through letters. When replying to the letters, children tend to share their life circumstances by expressing what they are passing through, like health conditions, education matters, and social life.

Please help us pray that the children will pass their subjects in school, have good health, and develop spiritually so they believe every day that Jesus is their savior and they can be born again. We thank you much for your support for Said. May God bless you and supply all your needs according to his riches in glory.


If you are interested in sponsoring a child from Said's project, please consider lovely Dorotea! She is 18 years old, exactly one year and one day older than Said! Her best subject is geography, she likes listening to music, reading, and storytelling! Read more about her here.

Pastor's Letter: Tanzania (TZ813)

Here's another pastor's letter- also from a center I visited in 2014!



My name is Amos M.. I am the pastor of the Kibaoni FPCT Church and the Kibaoni Child Development Center where we minister to Ester.

Thank you for sponsoring Ester and supporting our ministry. You and the other sponsors in the program help us to serve the poorest children here and release them from extreme poverty in Jesus' name.

The service of the center and our ministry is having a large impact on the children here. We develop them holistically in the physical, spiritual, cognitive, and socio-emotional areas of their lives. The children here have their basic needs met in that they receive clothes, food, and shelter, and medical checkups to keep them healthy and strong. We teach them the Bible and the Word of God and they are developing well spiritually. They are learning to appreciate the love of God in their lives. At the center we also help them with their education by providing school fees and uniforms and materials, as well as tutoring and counseling. Not only that but also, we help them in their socio-emotional lives and they are learning to interact and play with others and developing respect and good behaviors.

One of the more important aspects of our program is the relationship that the children establish with their sponsors through letter writing. When the children receive letters, they feel happy and loved and remembered. The letters encourage them to work hard in their lives and help them develop confidence and pride. It is important for Ester to feel this way and for you to write letters. The children who do not hear from their sponsors feel sad and discouraged.

Thank you for sponsoring Ester. May God bless you abundantly physically as well as spiritually.

Pastor's Letter: Tanzania (TZ812)

I recently found some older pastor's letters that we received while corresponding with some of the kids we lost at the end of last summer. I thought I'd go ahead and share them on here! The photos are from my visit to the center in 2014. 

I am Elinathan M., pastor of the free Pentecostal Church of Tanzania and the Kateshi Child Development Center where we minister to Julius. I express my deepest gratitude to you for all your unceasing efforts, sponsorship, and support of Julius. Thank you so much for your kindness, prayers, and communication.

Our church is ministering to the poorest in the community. The people here suffer from unemployment, food shortages, malnutrition and disease, poor housing, lack of education and opportunity, and no knowledge of the word of God. They cannot meet their basic daily needs. The children suffer the most from this, which is why we have the center, to release them from poverty in Jesus' name.

The impact of the center on the children attending compared to other children within the community is very apparent. Those who are attending benefit from physical and spiritual ethics teachings, cleanliness, personal health and hygiene practice trainings, good relationships with each other and participation in various activities. God has touched the lives of many children through our holistic development program. As you can see, we are transforming them in the physical, spiritual, socio-emotional, and cognitive areas of their lives.

There are other ways which the church ministers to the community beyond their implementations of Compassion's program. We conduct various seminars such as entrepreneurship, health and sanitation, etc. for the families of the children and the rest of the community. Also in our church we have a special fund that we use to minister to orphans, widows, and the poor.

The relationship that is established between the children and the sponsors through letter writing is very important to them and to the program. It creates friendship, love and intimate relationships. When children get letters from their sponsors, they feel remembered, and hopeful. They feel loved and encouraged in their lives and to continue at school, in the program and at church. It is important for you to provide this blessing for Julius and write letters often.

Thank you, again, for your work, prayers, and support for Julius. You are a blessing. May God's Love overshadow you always.

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. :)