Sunday, January 18, 2009

Joel...3 Years Later

so in the spring of 2006, i made a huge decision. i went to this children's choir thing in auburn one night with my friend courtney. we were both just learning about invisible children and the situation that faces uganda (especially children) - then and now. this children's choir wasn't just any children's choir. it was a choir made up of ugandan children who had been put together by africa renewal ministries to travel america and raise awareness for their children sponsorship program.

i walked in expecting to see some really cute kids, thinking "i really want to adopt some day..." and i walked out having made the decision to sponsor joel...sweet, precious joel. so i immediately call david and say "i may have just committed us to something for a while." (we weren't married quite yet). he was fine with it. excited about it, in fact. 

over the years we have gotten to read his letters...mostly pictures that he has drawn accompanied by a roughly dictated and translated letter. but recently he has started to write a little english and he has been writing short phrases. the letter we got from him after i got my tattoo said "i pray God gives you hope." it brought me to tears. august 29th he turned 8. we sent him a little money for his birthday...not much but something. we just got a letter in the mail profusely thanking us for his birthday money and showing us what he got...new clothes. once again: tears. 
anyway...in almost three years, this is only my second blog post about him. mostly because its something we do because we want to do it...not because we want to talk about it. but i was just reminded that so many times i convince myself that we don't have that much money. i feel like we are constantly fighting to make ends meet without going into debt. and God has blessed us by always providing for our needs. He will never fail His children...He will always make sure we have what we need. 

4 comments:

Greta said...

What a wonderful thing you get to be part of. I'm sure you feel like you're more blessed because of it than Joel is.

Thanks for sharing ;).

Tina Ogden said...

hey bekaleelee,
cool post. i was all into this invisible children movement during college, just trying to get the word out. that is cool what yall are doing and all. i totally get where you are coming from with the trying to make ends meet but living such comfortable lives compared to so many people and wanting to give... ahh the joys of life.

Unknown said...

do you sponsor him through invisible children? i would really love to do this with my husband...

rebekah said...

actually we support him through africa renewal missions. they work exclusively in uganda. but compassion international is also a great way to sponsor a child.

invisible children doesn't have a child sponsorship program as far as providing for their everyday needs. their focus is on education. so they have the schools for schools project where they have schools in america raise money for schools in uganda. and then they have their child scholarship program to help send children to school.

i know africa renewal the sponsorship amount includes school uniform, a pair of shoes, food, and school tuition. and sometimes housing. sorry, i know that is a lot of information!