Our Lives Were Forever Changed That Day

I remember the phone call like it was yesterday.  It was just a few days into my first trip to Uganda and I dialed Breanna’s cell phone number on an old Nokia.  When she picked up I blurted out my confession as fast as I could. “I have fallen in love and I don’t think I’m going to be able to leave”.  Without missing a beat she chuckled and asked what their names were.

I met Gloria and Rita in 2010 when they were just 6 and 4 years old. Their smiles and laughs were contagious.  They were shy but curious about the mazungu (white person) sitting with them.  They touched my hair, looked up my nose, pulled at my ears and pointed out all of the freckles and moles laughing and and saying “you’re turning our color!”

That day I started on a journey that would forever change my life and my families life.  We decided to sponsor those two little girls.

When most people think about sponsorship they often believe that sponsoring a child is a one sided relationship.  I give $40 a month so the child's life that I sponsor will be changed.  They are confident that this child will receive an education, medical care, spiritual development, mentorship and support.  This is, in fact, a beautiful reality of sponsorship but on its own is incomplete. Sponsorship has the power to change the life of the sponsor just as much as the child receiving aid. 

Our family grew that day.  Our hearts grew in love that day.  Our care and concern for two more human beings grew that day.  Our prayer life grew that day.  Our generosity grew that day.  Our desire to see these two little girls grow up to be healthy, educated, Jesus loving young women grew that day.  When Breanna and I welcomed our biological daughters into the world we did so with the understanding that they were not the first children God gave us to love.  It’s hard to say who has been more blessed in this relationship.  Being a sponsor through AICM has taught us to look beyond our community and raised an awareness of how life is in another part of the world.  Being a sponsor has turned us into advocates for other children who don’t have the opportunities so readily available to us in the U.S.  

Since then, we have added two more sponsor children to our family.  We thank God for the opportunity to play a small part in the lives of these four incredible children.  

Will you pray about sponsoring a child today?  I guarantee it won’t just change a child’s life, it will change yours too!

To see children who are waiting for a sponsor click here!