Letters from Samuel

Today Eric and I received a sponsorship letter from Samuel, a teenage boy we sponsor in Ngolala, Sierra Leone. Doing sponsorship in Sierra Leone is not my favorite task, and it even received its own motivational song. The reason for this is it is hard to eek out of the younger children meaningful messages in their own words to send back to their sponsors. What was exciting about receiving Samuel's letter is that he was able to write it. And it impacted me deeply.

Last week, Eric and I found out that the girl we had originally sponsored, Janet, is back in Ngolala. This is exciting as we began sponsoring her after my first trip to Sierra Leone. I became close with her family- her mother Margaret, her younger sister Mangela, and at the time her very new baby brother. I received news last April that Janet was no longer in Ngolala and was heartbroken at the thought I would miss seeing her in the summer. However, God was (is) good, and He allowed me the opportunity to see her back in Freetown (SL's capital). Her uncle explained that her mother had been injured from a motorcycle accident and had to leave Ngolala for medical care. He explained that they would be returning home in the fall. When the sponsorship coordinator for COTN let us know, Eric and I were excited to once again be part of Janet's life.

These children, and all the children of COTN in Banta, mean so much to me. God is at work in their lives and on their hearts. My prayer is that He would raise Janet and Samuel and Ami and Musa and Joseph and Sahr Brima and Christiana and, and, and as godly leaders in Sierra Leone.

There are many other children who are in need of sponsors that they too can receive a good education and an opportunity to hear of Christ daily. If interested please go to COTN for more information.