My Monday Mail Call

It's been a few weeks since we've gotten any letters from our Compassion children, but today we received a letter from Lordylien, who likes to be called LJ.

LJ writes that she performed in her school and in a local shopping mall. I'm assuming she was dancing, because I know she is on the school dance team. She says that she is happy at the student center because she has two new friends. At the center they are learning "to become helpful, respectful, and many more." She writes that her family is happy and that they never fight. She also says that the rain is heavy there. This letter was written in August when a typhoon came through the Philippines. The last thing that she writes is, "My prayer request, I hope that I will get you more that's all." I have no idea what this means, and none of the online translation tools make any more sense than this translation. I know that there are several other Filipino languages and dialects that are slightly different than the official language, so I am wondering if that is why I can't make any sense out of it online. The translator there probably had a better idea of what she intended to say, but I still don't know what it means. My favorite part was the little picture she drew at the top. She's never used that space in her other letters.

My Mailbox Dance Today

Today we received two Compassion letters, both from correspondence children. One was from Lordylien in the Philippines, and the other was from Nigusse in Ethiopia.

Lordylien (age 11) writes in her 3rd letter:
How are you? I hope your in good condition. I am now in Grade VI. I have a  new friend  named Erika and Uruna. My favorite subject is Math. I learned new things in the CCFC Lifestream Student Center to be a good child and to read the Bible. Thank you so much for the uniform and the school supplies you gave me. Me and family are always happy. We are together & no fighting or whatever. We eat together, and pray as a family. I have a question. How old are you?My prayer request is that we could see each other soon. Thank you so much. God bless you!

Love, 
Lordylien

I'm assuming that her financial sponsor sent a gift that purchased the school supplies and uniforms. However, I don't know for sure because I was told that she had not received a birthday gift "in years". Either way, I'm glad she has the things she needs and that she seems to be the happy girl she appears to be in her photograph. As for the prayer request, I didn't expect that one so soon, but maybe I should be praying for that opportunity. Her student center was one of the ones visited during the recent Compassion bloggers visit, so I'm sure she's now well acquainted with the idea of a sponsor visit.

Nigusse (age 13) writes in his second letter:
How are you doing? I am very fine, praise be to God. God bless you. I lost my father and mother. I feel bad about this case. We celebrated our new year holiday nicely. We called our new year holiday "Enkutatash". Pray about my education to be active student. I pray about you. God bless you.

Also enclosed was his report card, which indicates that his will be repeating a grade. From the information that is available on the website, and Compassion is looking into this further, it sounds like the loss of his father is new. I'm wondering if this is what has caused his difficulties in his schooling or if he always struggles. All of my children are fairly new, but he is the newest. Please pray with me about Nigusse's education. I really do consider it to be of vital importance in breaking the cycle of poverty.  I never wrote about Nigusse's first letter. It really is one of my favorites that we've received. There was a section where he listed his favorite things. Under best pet, he wrote, "Ox".

So here they are, two children close to the same age who are receiving services from the same organization, but oh so different.