Please meet MAVIS

One of the first things I knew I wanted to do with this blog is support a Compassion child. My sister and parents have been faithfully supporting two children for the last couple years and every time I see their letters from their kids, it always pulls at my heart strings.

Compassion is a great organization that I have actually had the opportunity to tour in my home state of CO. Right before graduating college, I even thought that God may be leading me to work in their financial department. So, one January morning in 2008, I interviewed, toured, and applied at Compassion. While God obviously had different plans for my future, I’ll never forget that day and the amazement I had for the heart of Compassion. I fell in love with their mission, the children’s faces on every wall throughout the campus, and the letter-writing room where the letters are received from donors and children. We were even told that Compassion employees are able to visit their sponsored children every 2 years… and that alone made me want to work for such a great organization!

One of the best parts of sponsoring a Compassion child is the letter writing. When my grandparents were missionaries in Madagascar years ago, my Grandma found a pen pal for me there. (Gosh, I know I have those letters somewhere - makes me want to fly to CO and search for them!) I was ten years old and loved the thought of a girl my age across the world sharing her life with me! We wrote for months and thinking back, it was a really wonderful experience and maybe even influenced my heart for Africa. How amazing would it be to finally meet her face to face one day?

Back to Compassion- I went to their website today and clicked on “sponsor a child”. With a few searches, I found the sweetest looking little 5 year old girl who lives in Ghana. Of course, having visited Ghana myself, this just makes it so much more personal to have stepped on the same ground she calls home. I found out that she lives in a large costal town and it brought back memories of the costal town we visited when we toured the Cape Coast Castle. That story is for another day, but here are some pictures of the costal town we visited outside the castle:

Mavis was born October 31, 2005, (I wonder if they celebrate Halloween there?) and lives with her parents and two siblings. Here are some other pieces of information Compassion provided:

Personal and Family Information:

Mavis lives with her father and her mother. She is responsible for running errands. Her father is sometimes employed and her mother is sometimes employed. There are 3 children in the family.

Playing with dolls and playing group games are Mavis's favorite activities. In kindergarten her performance is average and she also regularly attends church activities and Bible class.

Mavis, 5 years old

I can’t wait to get to know this little girl better! Within 15 days I’ll receive a packet in the mail with more information about Mavis and all the details I need to start communicating with her. For only $38 a month, I hope that this relationship will make a lasting impact on this little girl’s life and will change my heart and perspectives at the same time. Every month, I’ll post an update on Mavis and hopefully get to post our letters as well. I’d love for this little girl to change your heart too! What a blessing to have the financial resources to contribute like this. I can’t wait to get started!

If you would like to sponsor a child, please visit Compassion’s website.

“When you sponsor a child, you are linked with one particular child who will know your name, write to you, and treasure the thought that you care. He or she will pray for you often and write to you.”