Making a real difference

Shortly before I left for the Dominican Republic, I received another letter from Uwizera, in Rwanda.  In it, she thanked me for my latest gift--either birthday, a family gift, or the two combined.  After paying a tithe (10%), she and her family used the balance to buy a plot of land for cultivating.  This means that they have the potential, in time, to raise crops to feed their large family, and perhaps enough to sell.

Previous gifts have bought a bed, clothes and shoes, school uniform (required for attendance, in many countries), food for the family, and she always pays a full tithe on each gift.

Actually, the parcel they bought in the last few months was the second that they have purchased with gifts from us.  Granted, I have no idea how large the parcels are; they may be just large enough for a garden.  But they have bought them, and I think that means a lot!

I know that our sponsorship, alone, makes a big difference in the lives of the children and their families.  I have seen children who are going through Compassion's Child Development through Sponsorship Program (CDSP), and I've seen many who have already graduated.  They have had opportunities to learn skills that they would not have had, without the program.  They have had food to eat that they might well never have had, without the help of the projects/student centers.  They have had medical care their parents would not have been able to give them.  They have had an education that their parents quite possibly would not have been able to afford.  Thay have had a safe environment in which to play and develop good social skills.  They have had opportunities to excel in an area of study or a skill; many of the children emerge with real talent in various forms of the arts--music, drama, dance, mime, drawing or painting--and writing.  Such opportunities to develop God-given abilities would have passed them by, without the CDSP.

So I know that sponsorship, alone, makes a difference.  But when I read letters telling me how far my small gifts have gone (maximum for birthdays is $25 US) and that they have been used wisely, I see such potential for an entire family to break the cycle of poverty*.  I wish I could say that I get that kind of information from all of my girls, but I don't.  That's one reason I treasure Uwizera's as I do, which is not to say that I don't treasure each letter from my other "daughters."  I love these kids, and I love watching them grow, as one year passes into another.  I've invested in the life and future of each of them.  And because Compassion works to develop the children spiritually, too, I know I've invested in their eternity.

If you want to know you are really making a difference in the life of a child, please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International.  You can't make a better investment or find a better organization in which to make it.  Use the widget in the left sidebar, or click here.

*Breaking the cycle of poverty does not mean these kids and their families will ever be wealthy.  The opposite of poverty is not wealth; the opposite of poverty is enough.

Comments

[Heather]

Wow what a really great story! How old is this child? Thank God for Compassion Internation! I thank God I found them too..=)

[Vicki Small]

Uwizera is 15 years old. Thanks for visiting my blog and commenting. Feel free to return! :o)

[janegillis]

Vicki, this is a wonderful testimony of how God uses our gifts beyond what we can even imagine. Thanks for sharing Uwizera's story.

[Vicki Small]

I agree, Jane. When thinking how far our little bit goes for these children and their families, I always remember what Jesus did with the few loaves and fish.

You may know a song that I used to hear, a lot, when I was young: "Little is much, when God is in it!" It's so true!