Letters from all 3!

Over the past week I have received letters from all 3 of our sponsored/correspondence kids with Compassion International.  It has been a few months since their last letters and I was getting anxious so it was perfect timing!

Said, our 6 year old from Peru, does more of the form letter question/answer type stuff on the front of the sheet, and then through his tutor, dictates a letter on the back.  I don't have the letter in front of me as I write this, but he mentioned how he likes playing with his friends, the color blue (he called it celeste, which means heavenly, or sky blue), and a few other things.  He thanked us for the 8 letters we had sent (at that time, since then there have been more) and loved receiving pictures.  He enjoys going to school and church.  He drew us some great pictures of an airplane, army tank, and a big picture of a person.  He is a very talented artist for only being six years old!

Priyanga, our 12 year old from India, wrote that she was enjoying school and church as well.  She wants to become a teacher when she finishes school, which is awesome!  I am glad she has future goals, especially for helping others get a good education.

Selemani, our 19 year old from Tanzania wrote that he was a great soccer player.  He also likes school and is getting ready for his Form 4 tests and studying hard.  He enjoys going to the center activities and bible studies as well and told us to read Proverbs 12: 1-4, which is:

1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
    but whoever hates correction is stupid.

² Good people obtain favor from the Lord,
    but he condemns those who devise wicked schemes.

³ No one can be established through wickedness,
    but the righteous cannot be uprooted.

⁴ A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
    but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.

It must be a verse they were learning about during their Bible studies since it is pretty deep!  He is such a thankful young man as well since he said he and his family are doing good and that it was only possible because of God.  Even in a bad situation he is thankful, so I am very blessed to be able to write to this young man!

I am still patiently waiting for a 3rd correspondent child but so far, none have posted to our account.

Please pray for our 3 kids and their continued growth in faith and their continued education.

Kiva

Kiva is a new charity organization that I came across last week on someone's blog.  It seemed like a great charity so I looked into it more.  Kiva gives loans to people/groups around the world who need it for various reasons.  They may need a loan to put in an irrigation system, update their roof, buy more supplies for their business, etc.  The loans need to be repaid, so usually the loans were business related so that they could expand their business to bring in more revenue.  There is a set amount they ask for, and a set repayment schedule.  

As a "lender", you can give as little as $25 towards their loan goal (or more if you choose).  For example, a $500 loan will have 20 lenders, each giving $25 (or less lenders if one gives even more).  Each month when that borrower sends money for repayment, it will be divided up between the lenders and put back into your account.  As you are paid back, you can either use your money to loan to others in need, or if you need the money back yourself, you can cash out.  For example, if you loan someone $25 on a one year repayment schedule, you will get around $2 back per month.  So in reality, it would be another year before you could loan another person the full $25, but you can always add more money (paypal or credit card) to your account to loan more out.

http://www.kiva.org/

Kiva is a site where in order to sign up, you need to get "referred" by someone else (such as me!).  You can use the below link (I hope it works) to sign up:

http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/katie66715160

If that doesn't work, please let me know and I can email a link invitation to you.  

When you join right now, you get $25 free to use for your first loan.  Be advised that when that money is paid back, you do not get to keep or reloan that money, but it is still great to be able to lend someone out there the money and see the process of how it all happens without any risk to you.  You can then add your own money and do more loans of your own.  

You can search through the people requesting loans.  You can search by gender, groups/individuals, type of loan, etc.  You can sort by the loan amount, amount left to be funded, expiring soon, etc.  It is great being able to see their stories about the reason they are requesting the loan.

I hope you take a minute to check out the site and sign up through my link if possible.  Even if you just do the one free loan, it still helps someone else out so you should feel good.

Here is the guy I picked to do my first loan with:

http://s3-1.kiva.org/img/w800/1215780.jpg

Duncan is a 43 year old man with 4 kids in Kenya.  He requested a $250 loan, which will be paid back in 12 months.  He requested the loan in order to buy more old vehicle tires.  He recycles the tires to make sandals, which he then sells to make a profit.  He is hoping to continue to grow his business, since he desires to own his own permanent business location in the future.  I picked him because he only needed one or two more people to sponsor him to complete his goal, and because I think it is awesome that he is trying to grow his business (which is also very environmentally friendly by recycling!).  Since I just signed up last week, I don't know how the repayment will go, but I do pray for him that he has success.


Let me know how your experiences go.

Compassion International: Meet Our 3 Kids

Today I thought I would introduce you to our wonderful kids that we sponsor through Compassion International so you are familiar with why we love being sponsors.

Said

Said was our very first Compassion International child, whom we pay the $38 a month to sponsor.  For us, this is a small sacrifice (one less time eating out), but to him and his family it is a great help with education, wellness, and support.  We learned about Compassion International at a concert in January 2012 and were handed the packet for Said.  We felt drawn to sponsor him, so after the concert we went out to the lobby and filled out the paperwork.  From there I read the Compassion International website, blogs, etc. to learn more about being a sponsor, the items I could mail him, and much more.  Said was registered with the program in September 2011 and we became his first sponsors in January 2012.

A little about Said:  His birthday is September 5, 2006, so he just turned 6 last month.  He lives with his mother and father, but they have never been married.  He is in Preschool and likes cars, drawing (he's sent us some great artwork!), and ball games.  He is from a small village in Peru.

So far we have gotten 2 letters from him.  Since he is so young, they have form letters where there are questions for them to circle the answers to (such as favorite color), or his tutor/teacher writes the answers in for him.  In a few years I'm sure we will start to see his handwriting as he learns how to write.  He has drawn some awesome pictures for us as well, which get more detailed and clear as he ages.

 We have sent him several letters over the past 10 months, along with stickers, coloring pages, blank paper (for drawing), children's books, band-aids, a birthday card, etc. (same with to the other kids).

Priyanga

This is an older picture of Priyanga that they provided us with.

This is the picture we were provided with when we became her correspondence sponsors.

This is her new picture which we were just sent a few weeks ago.

After sponsoring Said, I contacted Compassion International about becoming a Correspondence Sponsor.  This means that the child already has a sponsor who pays their monthly sponsorship fee, but that for whatever reason, their sponsor does not write to them.  That is where I come in!  In February 2012 I became Priyanga's Correspondence Sponsor and have received a couple letters from her so far (in English even!).  I emailed Compassion and was provided with one of her older pictures (the first one above) so over time I can see how she has grown and matured, which is great to see.  I asked them about her current paying sponsor, and found out that Priyanga has been in the Compassion program since 2004, and has only had one sponsor. Priyanga's sponsor has only written one letter to her in the last 8 years, which is sad to me.  Thankfully now that I have become her Correspondence Sponsor she has received at least one letter a month, most of the time more.

A little about Priyanga:  Her birthday is February 21, 2000, so she is now 12 years old.  She is from India and writes to us in English which makes it nice since I can send her more items written in English (since they only translate letters, not each coloring page and such that you send).  She likes playing dolls, house, singing, and other games.  She is in 8th grade and loves school.  She lives with her parents who are married and has a few siblings (still trying to learn how many and their ages).

Selemani

An old picture of Selemani.

Newer picture of Selemani- all smiles :)

I was also able to be the Correspondence Sponsor to Selemani in February 2012.  Selemani was first registered in December 1999, and has been sponsored by the same person since 2000. His sponsors wrote him approximately 15 letters in the past 12 years that they have sponsored him.  Now that I write to him, he has received that many letters in the last year alone, which I am pretty proud of.

A little about Selemani:  His birthday is July 5, 1993.  He is in 11th or 12 grade and writes to us in Swahili (which they translate to English).  He loves soccer!  He lives with his grandma, and his mom tries to help support him when she can.  His dad is not around.  He has written us several letters so far and would love for us to come visit him.  He lives in Tanzania.  As you can see from his pictures, he has definitely grown up over time and became a happy handsome young man!

I hope you can tell how much we love our sponsored kids!  They are each special in their own way.  I am in the process of requesting another correspondence child (your limit in the US is 3), so fingers crossed that one becomes available for me, since I love being able to write to these kids, pray for them, and encourage them.  I hope you feel the pull in your heart to sponsor a child as well.  If so, please click on the link below to be taken to the Compassion International site to search for a child to sponsor.  Thanks!

Child Evangelism

Me....a Travel Agent? Yes, Please!

Anyone that knows me, knows that I absolutely LOVE to travel.  Everything about traveling interests me, from researching hotel deals, creating an itinerary, finding tours or sites to visit, taking pictures, etc.  Ideally I'd love to get paid to just travel, but alas, I have not found someone to pay me to do that yet so here I am (although if there is someone out there with a job like that, please let me know!).

I've always thought being a travel agent would be a fun job.  Getting paid to plan vacations for people sounds like a great way to make a living (although I'd probably be jealous of the cool vacation they would get to go on).  In today's age of the internet though, travel agencies are becoming more rare it seems, since most people would just book their own rooms online on one of the various hotel sites, or directly with a cruise line for example.  Travel agencies do offer good package deals or can sometimes throw in some extras that you can't get on your own, so it is definitely still a good option, especially for those who do not have time (or interest) in planning their own vacations.

Recently I decided to put feelers out there to see if there were any travel agency jobs available.  I emailed the one near my house (even though they didn't have any jobs listed), and heard back that they had just hired someone else, but after emailing back and forth about my travel knowledge, she suggested I become an "independent contractor agent" with them.  What may you ask is that?  Well, I'd be technically working for them by splitting commission with them and have access to the travel agent websites/deals that they have, but I would have to find my own business from friends/family/referrals, and work out of my own home.  I would need to create my own business name, and since I'd be 1099'ed at the end of the year, I'd also need to do my own bookwork and pay my own taxes. 

Now I am trying to decide if it is worth it.  Having to use the agencies websites/vendors might be limiting since I usually piece together my vacations from various recommendations on sites like TripAdvisor, using different hotels, B&B's, apartments, etc. so they might not always be listed on the recommended travel agency sites (so then no commission).  But then again I haven't tried using their sites yet, so it might be beneficial in some cases.  I would just hate having to mark up the price to include commission for friends and family, and then have to turn around and pay the agency a big chunk of that. 

So now I am torn!  I'd love the opportunity to gain the experience and knowledge through an agency and it would be nice to have extra cash.  I am also considering just being a "travel consultant" (my own term) for friends/family by just charging a flat fee (which would vary depending on how much work I'd have to put into it).  I would plan the vacation for them, do research and pick like a top 5 list of hotels/cruises/whatnot to fit their budget, location, amenities wanted, etc. for them to review and pick for themselves and then they could make the reservations themselves on their own CC (since they would probably need to provide the CC upon check-in anyways).  I could make up a day by day itinerary with suggested tours and places to visit, as well as a list of helpful websites or books, and then they could either take my advice, or change it however they would like to fit their needs and interests. 

And since I'm tossing the decision back and forth, I'd love any advice from those of you out there that read this.  Which would you choose?  Be an agent through an agency and split the commission (40% me/60% them), or just work for myself with my own flat rate fee schedule (giving suggestions/advice, but letting them pick the final decision themselves to book). 

My background in travel:
Growing up, my family went on various vacations around the US.  We went snowmobiling in Yellowstone over Christmas break 3 different years, went to Disney World, Las Vegas (Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon at the same time too), road trips, camping, up to Canada, Black Hills, Mt. Rushmore, etc.  I felt blessed to be able to see the country and learn new things.  I made it to FL with both dance and band, and Washington DC with 4-H.  As a senior in HS we went on a Caribbean cruise as a family which was a great time! 

During college I went on another Caribbean cruise with a cousin of mine during spring break my second year.  Then as a senior I student taught over in England.  While there I had a few weekends off where I explored some of the castles and towns, as well as taking a long weekend up to Scotland to visit some friends teaching up there.  I had one week off during student teaching so I flew over to Rome and had a great time exploring on my own.  At the end of my time in England, my mom and aunts flew over to meet me and we explored London, Bath, and went over to Paris as well.  Europe is so unique and different from the US, so I really enjoyed seeing as much as I could.

Then as an adult out on my own, I have continued to travel.  I've taken a few road trips, visited friends/family in FL and MD.  My husband Adam and I have taken several big trips over the past 4 years.  We spent 3 weeks in New Zealand (that was my first really big planning experience....21 different days for activities/hotels/car rentals/ferry/flights, etc.).  Then we spent a week in San Diego.  For our honeymoon we went to Tahiti/Moorea/Bora Bora and had a superb time for 2 weeks.  This past January I planned a big family cruise with my parents, brother/fiance, and several aunts/uncles/cousin.  There were 11 of us and we went on a western Caribbean cruise.  Next month I have a trip to Italy booked.  We will be going to Rome, Assisi, and Florence for 10 days (Adam, myself, and my parents).  It will be great to be back over there and I'll be able to act as a guide to my family, as well as explore a few new cities I wasn't able to make it to before. 

Ideas for those of you who do sponsor through Compassion International....

The children you sponsor love to hear from you!  Letters take on average about 2 months from the time they leave your mailbox until they receive them in their hands.  Because of this, make sure to keep writing letters instead of waiting for a reply (since the reply takes 2 months to get back to you as well).  This will ensure a steady stream of letters both ways if you try to at least write once or twice a month. 

The Process: 
You mail your letters to the main Colorado location, they sort the letters by country, box them up, ship them out once a week (if I remember correctly), and then they make their way through the mail.  Once in the correct country, they divide them up by location/school and then all the letters need to get translated.  Most of the kids we write to do not speak English (although some do), so it is key to get the letters translated so they can understand what we wrote.  Once translated, they get passed out to the children about once every week or two.  When they call the names of the children who received mail to pass them out, they feel so special to receive something, so no matter how short your letter is, they will love it!  In some countries this process is faster, while others it takes longer, so please be patient. 

Because of the high costs of duties and taxes, you may only mail paper items so that it is considered correspondence or low value.  Below I will list some ideas of acceptable items that you may send, that will bring a smile to your child's face.  A letter is always wanted, but when possible, include some of these other items as well.  Although we would all love to send school supplies or clothes, that is just not possible, because of the high taxes, shipping costs, etc.  If you want your child to have some of these items, think about sending them a "family gift" or a "birthday gift" of money in any amount.  You can either specify what you want them to buy with the money or let them use it for something that would most benefit the family.  They are always very grateful, and you would be surprised how far a $20 gift will go in another country.  Make sure to send the money 2 months before the child's birthday so that the money has time to go to that country by wire, and then a representative at their location will take that child shopping to help them pick out some items with it.

We sent $25 to Selemani in Tanzania (19 years old) for his birthday and he bought a pair of boots, a bag of rice, and a soccer jersey.  Amazing :)  They will take a picture of the child and the items they purchased and send it to you, so it is very rewarding to see the smile on their faces.

On to the promised list of ideas....

Ideas of items to send:

*Coloring book pages, or coloring sheets printed off free websites.  I staple a variety of coloring sheets together and send about 5-10 at a time, so that they get new ones each time.
*Book marks
*Band-Aids (I know this isn't paper, but somehow they said these were acceptable....a few at a time of course).
*Pictures- send pictures of yourself, your pets, nature, your kids, etc.  Do NOT send pictures that show off wealth though (your fancy car or big house), since it might make them feel bad.  If you want to take a picture of your garden, that is fine, but just be aware of the background in pictures.  It is better to send a picture of you in a park or with a blank wall behind you, then a picture in front of your intricate fireplace.  I know it might be a good picture, but it is something to consider.  That being said, we send the kids a picture from our wedding (outdoor picture) and they loved it.
*Pictures of your sponsored child.  You can email compassion to request a digital copy of the picture of your child over email.  Print the picture out at Target or whatnot and send them a copy (or make it into a bookmark, picture frame, etc.).  Their family probably does not own a camera so this might be the only copy they will have of a picture of themselves.
*Stickers- there are so many awesome and clearance stickers out there.  Both boys and girls, as well as kids of all ages love stickers!
*Old calendar pictures.  I glue two calendar pictures together back to back (so they don't see that its from November of 2010 or something).  They can then use the pictures as a poster. 
*Postcards.  They can learn about different parts of the world.
*Posters- sports figures/teams (soccer is popular all around the world), nature posters, a world map, etc.
*Mazes, word finds (if they speak English, or if you create them in their language), Sudoku, or other games.
*Loose leaf paper- I staple like 15-20 pages together. They can use it to practice handwriting, math, write letters or stories, or whatever they want.
*Construction paper of different colors- staple these together too so you only have to put a label on one of them.  They can use the paper for crafts, cards, etc.
*Bible verse cards
*Cards for each holiday- these won't be translated, so I try to pick one with the cutest front to it, and then look up the translation for Happy birthday or I love you....that way they know what you wrote.
*Paper dolls.
*Paper airplanes
*Scrapbook paper.
*Lapbooks. These are homemade books/fliers that you create with construction paper for your child that include pictures and/or information on a certain topic (like your family, a certain season, etc.).  It is educational and shows you put time into it.  I haven't personally made one yet, but it is a great idea.
*So much more!

Just remember that the items have to be paper....no tassels on bookmarks, no magnets, or ribbons anywhere.  You may laminate items though, which helps make it more durable.  The maximum size is 8.5 x 11 inches, so if you send an item bigger than that (like a poster), just make sure it is folded down to that size.  Put it all in a manilla envelope (I paperclip all items for each kid together to make it easier for it) and mail to Colorado.  You need to put the child's name, child ID number, sponsor name (you), and sponsor ID number on each letter and item you send so that they do not get lost in the shuffle.  I print labels for each child on address labels so that I can easily stick the label on each item without taking too much time.  The file is saved on my computer so I just print more when I run out.

I stock up on stickers on clearance after holidays, since it helps for the next year when you need to mail Christmas stuff by the end of October for them to receive it in time.  I also go to the dollar section at Target (or any dollar store works too) and buy cute stickers, coloring books, and such.  This makes it more affordable to be able to send stuff each month.

You can also write them letters online through the Compassion International website, which they print off in Colorado and send through the same chain....it just saves you a stamp, and you can do it more often then.  They have lots of cute online stationary for those letters, and you can attach pictures to it as well.

Well, there is so much I could write, but I don't want to make this any longer than it already is.  Please feel free to comment with any questions and I'll try to answer them.  Thanks!

Compassion International:  My New Passion for Volunteering

Last night Adam and I attended our first Compassion International volunteer event, which was in Maple Grove at the Church of the Open Door.  It was for The Struggle Tour concert featuring Rend Collective Experiment, Audrey Assad, and Tenth Avenue North.  We met the other volunteers at 5:30 PM and got instructions from one of the band members of Rend Collective Experiment (Patrick Thompson....really nice guy with a great Irish accent).  We then each took packets for about 20 different kids waiting for sponsorships and got the booth ready.  

First up was Rend Collective Experiment and boy were they awesome!  Their first few songs that I got to watch them perform were so great that later on we decided to get their newest CD:  "Homemade Worship by Handmade People" (so far it is awesome and I'm only about 4 songs into it).  I highly recommend checking them out.

Next up was Audrey Assad whom I had never heard of before but she had a very beautiful voice.  She sang and played the piano.  We also got her CD (since we got a CD trio pack of all 3 artists of the night), but I haven't had time to listen to it yet.

Once the first two acts were done, Mike Donehey of Tenth Avenue North got up on stage to do the plug for Compassion International.  He is so full of love for the kids and this charity that it is very inspiring and made me want to sponsor even more kids.  I was surprised by the show of hands of how many audience members were already sponsors for children in Compassion International, but was touched when a lot of people still raised their hands when asked who wanted a packet to sponsor a child that night.  I quickly passed out my bunch of 20 kids and ran back to the table to get another stack.  There was one really cute 3 year old girl from India that I would have sponsored if no one took her, but I made sure to hand her out in my initial pile of kids and I never saw anyone return her packet to the pile, so that made me excited for the child that someone wanted to sponsor her.  I hope they stick with it and develop a close relationship with her over the years.  All the kids are so sweet and precious.  It was hard walking away without sponsoring any more (yet!). 

Intermission was after Mike's talk and then the audience made the mad dash to the bands merchandise tables, as well as our Compassion table to sign up.  Some people decided to sponsor the exact child we handed them, while others exchanged their child packet for a different child (from a certain country, boy/girl, a certain birthday, or whatnot).  If they signed up and paid that night, we were also able to give them a free CD/DVD from Tenth Avenue North, so that was a good incentive!  By the end of intermission we had about 88 children that were sponsored!  Patrick from Rend Collective Experiment came up to us to check how things were going and was shocked by our numbers.  So far on their tour the maximum they have gotten sponsored in a night was 55, so we were pumped!  Once the crowds died out we went to the merchandise tables and got the CD trio pack that I talked about above, plus an awesome Tenth Avenue North t-shirt for me.....since it has a penguin on it!  How perfect for me, the biggest penguin fanatic around.  I'm even wearing it today already, with a zip up jacket over it since it's cold out!

Next up was Tenth Avenue North, and as always, they were wonderful.  I love so many of their songs.  During the show, a few more people came up to our booth to sign up for a child since it was easier to look through them when the rush of people was gone.  After the show we got another bunch of people to sign up, so by the end of the night we had over 100 children sponsored (don't know the exact count since we just kept shoving the forms into the envelope).  Very inspiring!

It was a late night (got out of there at about 10:30 PM) with an hour drive back home, but all in all it was a very successful night so we were pleased.  It was our first time volunteering for Compassion International, but I know it won't be our last.  We met lots of nice people volunteering and were able to make some nice connections with them.  Today I wrote to our sponsored kids again, since I was inspired to make sure they received more letters to know how much they are loved.

Currently we sponsor the following kids:

Said:  He just turned 6 and he is from Peru.  We sponsored him at a Mercy Me concert back in January from an event similar to the one we helped at.

Priyanga:  She is 12 years old from India.  We are her correspondence sponsor (meaning we write to her because her sponsor who pays the monthly fee does not write to her, and we don't want any child to go without letters!).

Selemani:  He is 19 years old from Tanzania. We are also his correspondence sponsor.  He writes to us in Swahili, so thankfully they translate it to English for us.  He is a great writer and seems to be a very nice young man.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you many have about Compassion International or about how to sign up to sponsor a child of your own.  It is very rewarding!

Compassion International Link

Sponsor a Child