A few of you asked the outcome of my recent post. What happened next?
Well, we bought our t-shirts. That was a no-brainer. My kids look so cute in theirs, and they love telling their friends what the shirts mean. They are very excited to share what Wiphan is up to on the other side of the world.
But more importantly, we welcomed a daughter into what I call our “God Family.” After I wrote my middle-of-the-night blog post that day, I went upstairs to wake my husband. I couldn’t wait to discuss this churning in my heart. My daughter was just waking up, so she jumped onto our bed where I was showing the Wiphan site to my husband. Then I clicked on the Sponsorship page. We have been sponsoring a little boy in Kenya named Makoka for about a year. We exchange letters with him, and we have his picture hanging in our kitchen. We pray for him every day and pray for God to provide for him, beyond the small check we send each month. My son says it best, with a simple prayer of “Please help Makoka have a good life.” Don’t all children deserve something that simple?
Have you ever imagine what God might say in a conversation with you? I have. “Lord, please help this child have a good life,” I pray. And I imagine his response to me … “Shannon, I want YOU to help this child have a good life.”
I told Chris that I wanted to sponsor another child. He agreed instantly. So we looked through the faces of those precious boys and girls on the website, and I invited my daughter to choose. She chose Fostina (whose bright yet soulful eyes had already reached me through her photograph), and that was that. Fostina is 11 years old, she likes cows and the color orange, and she wants to be a teacher. She is beautiful.
As I type this, there is a Wiphan team in Africa serving the women and children. One of the team members has an envelope tucked in his suitcase full of photographs and pictures drawn by my children, along with a letter we wrote to Fostina, which he will hand deliver to her this week. How awesome is that? How great is our God! My kids are already planning their next package of gifts for Fostina, to be carried by this summer’s Wiphan team. I’m very hopeful we might receive a letter back from her soon. I’m so anxious to know her better.
Now our nightly prayers include two “God-children”. Lord, please take good care of Makoka and Fostina. Provide their daily needs. Let them know we love them. Let them feel every day how much You love them.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then just feed one.” – Mother Theresa
I’d love to hear if you’ve bought a t-shirt! And even more, I’d love to hear that your heart found a child to sponsor. It’s only $39 per month. That’s less than our family of 5 spends on a trip to the movies! There are 20 more children waiting on a sponsor through Wiphan. Can you help that number go down? Even if you don’t feel led to sponsor a child yourself, do you know someone who might? Please pass this link along to them! Share it on your blogs and Facebook pages.
You know what is amazing about things like this, when God leads us to an organization, a cause, or even just a single child that needs our help? It’s that our heart keeps growing, wanting to do more. At first I just clicked on Wiphan to buy a t-shirt. But my heart ached to go a step further, and Fostina’s eyes looked into mine, and my young daughter felt a connection with a little girl on the other side of the world, and that gave me the next answer I needed.
And now my heart is still yearning to do more … and it’s contemplating possibilities (one very far out of my comfort zone, I might add!!), waiting for God’s will for me to be unveiled. Waiting to see what he will lead me to next. Waiting anxiously.
Much love,
Shannon
