A Humbling Experience

Greetings from Bolivia!

I wanted to share with you all an awesome experience I had yesterday. After I found out I would be going to Bolivia this summer I decided to sponsor a child from Bolivia through Compassion International (this is the child advocacy ministry we have been working with here). When a child is financially sponsored, the money is used for things like school supplies, medical care, and they have the opportunity to attend a Compassion project site where they get help with school and learn about the gospel. Also, sponsors and the children can converse through letter writing. Yesterday I had the priviledge of going to my sponsored child's Compassion project site to meet him!

When I arrived at the site Gualberto and his mother were waiting for me. I knew it was him when I walked in because I have his picture. He and his mother were extremely quiet. I gave Gualberto a soccer ball that I bought here in Bolivia and he just looked at me but didn't say a word. There was an English speaker there to translate for me which was helpful. Even though I speak some Spanish, I was glad to have him there. Gualberto's mother speaks Quechua which is a native language in Bolivia. They gave me a tour of his Compassion site which is also a church. I went in to every classroom to say hello to all of the kids. Each room I entered I was greeted with a "buenos dias hermana" in unison from the children.

After getting a tour of the site we walked to Gualberto's house. I tried to ask him some questions as we walked but he was so shy! I would catch him looking at me but once I looked at him he would quickly turn away. His mother didn't say much either. His home was extremely small. It was sort of an open concrete structure with only two very small rooms for 5 people. It was extremely humbling. When we entered the home Gualberto's mother stated, "we don't have much." Gualberto showed me the first letter I ever sent him. It included a picture of me. It was overwhelming for me to actually see him and his family and his home. When I signed up to sponsor him, I understood that he didn't have much and that I could help, but actually seeing it has really inpacted me. I spoke to a woman at the Compassion site who told me to write to Gualberto as much as I can. She also said to tell others who sponsor a child to write often. When letters come, the kids get very excited. Some children don't receive letters and it is very disapointing. After this experience I am motivated to write him more often and pray hard for him and his family. Maybe he will be more talkative in his letters than he was in person!

I have been to 3 different Compassion sites here in Bolivia. It has been wonderful to see the faces of these children and to meet the staff members who work at the sites. They have such big hearts. God is working in and through them and this ministry. And to think that there are sites like this all over the world! Praise God!