Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Father's Heart take 2


Explaining who gets a visit: 

First, the boys that were added to my group this year live very near the boys we/friends/family sponsor, so they will be there when I deliver food and gifts. Awkward...

Second, since two of my boys from last year denied the program, I have shifted their sponsorship to two new boys, so the three in the Camp group who are not sponsored are going to wonder why they are not getting blessings. It was tricky, there was confusion and I am praying they understand. 

Let me explain how the shifting of sponsorship worked out. 10 boys in my camp group, 3 sponsored by us/my parents (Kennedy, Issaiac, Chola), 2 sponsored by Americans I don't know (Sailas, Richard), 5 unsponsored boys (Haggai, Harrison, Richard, Steven, Rodrick). Let me explain the 5 unsponsored: 
Rodrick, the eldest and surprisingly well spoken/read in English- talented and gifted
Haggai, least educated, but living in (by Zambian standards) a decent home. 
Richard: attending a private school, lives in a decent home, wore different clothes everyday (this is not be judging- it is a sign of wealth in Zambia)
Steven: educated, very faithful, safe and living in a decent home.
Harrison: well- read his story in a blog coming your way soon. What I will say here is that at the time I had to shift the sponsorships, I thought his situation was the worst of the worst and I was going to have to find a new sponsor for him to be moved into the Tree if Life program, which is expensive and I was going to have some serious explaining to do in asking for this level of sponsorship (250/month).

So my thought process was something like this. Rodrick is the oldest and his chances of getting sponsored are less and less as time goes on. He is incredibly smart, but his family can not afford to complete his education. So I shifted him to a sponsor who's original child from last year has decided he wont be going to school.Thank you Kim! 

Haggai can not write his name, he needs a chance to learn, to be educated. He needs some confidence and I am hoping that an education will encourage him to come out his shell. I shifted him to a sponsor who's original child denied our program. Thank you Cindi and Pat!

The thing is, this decision didn't come easy, however, I had peace in knowing Richard is going to school, I will find Steven a sponsor, and at this point was not sure what Harrison's sponsorship level would be, so i was going to take some extra time with his situation. 

This is by far one of my favorite days of this trip, it is also going to be the hardest day of my trip- I will not see my boys again, this is goodbye, this is going to hurt and I have to walk away. 



1 comment:

  1. My heart aches with every post. I don't know how you do it.

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