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Last year, I wrote about our experiences with CFCA's Hope for a Family. I wanted to write again about it as we near the end of 2011, encouraging each of my readers to prayerfully consider reaching out to a family in need through CFCA or a similar organization.
For a year, we have been exchanging letters with our sponsored friend and her family in Nicaragua. First Daughter in particular has developed a great love for our friend. She speaks of her often and nearly always insists on including a hand-drawn picture when we send our monthly letter. It is as much a blessing for me to see my daughter caring deeply for someone so far away, someone she has never met, as it is for our friend to be sponsored.
I am deeply impressed with the CFCA staff and volunteers in the Nicaragua project in which our friend participates. We have received letters once a month which include not only a translation, but the original letter in Spanish with illustrations. The sketches are beautiful. Some people may fear being sponsored will cause a person to become jaded, to feel entitled to the money alone, but those drawings remind me each month how the CFCA program is different because it's about more than money. It's about developing a relationship with our sponsored friend who helps to teach us about the life of giving and loving to which Jesus calls us.
There is much pain and poverty in the world. I often feel there's nothing I can do but to pray, but CFCA offers a way to reach one person, one family, to really connect with someone. I cannot encourage others enough to find an organization to support that allows a similar connection. Learn more about sponsoring a child here.
*********** The text below is copied from the CFCA website. ************
We sponsor a child through Christian Foundation for Children and
Aging, an organization that creates
relationships between sponsors in the United States and children, youth
and aging persons in 22 developing countries. Through its Hope for a
Family program, our contributions provide life-changing benefits such as
education, nutrition, clothing and medical care for our sponsored
friend. Through letter writing we are able to learn about our sponsored
friend's life and offer our encouragement and prayers. Grounded in the Gospel call to serve the poor, CFCA works with people of all faith traditions. CFCA is highly rated by Charity Navigator and the American Institute of Philanthropy.
