New Happenings and New Opportunities!

    This past weekend I got the amazing opportunity to go to Acquire the Fire (a Teen Mania Event). And while that was super incredible and I got a lot out of it and had a blast, I want to talk about something else-

One of the speakers talked about an organization called Compassion International. He said that it was an opportunity to support a child living in poverty. Then, a man came up on the stage and shared how this opportunity changed his life.
   

     When he was a child (living in El Salvador I think?) his family did not have the money to acquire basic needs. They were living in poverty and did not have the food that they needed or the money to send him to school. One day, an American girl became his sponsor and wrote him letters. Because of what she did, he gained faith in Christ and got out of living in poverty and his family benefited from it as well!

   

 So naturally, when they asked if anyone would like to sponsor a child, I raised my hand. I was hoping to get a little kid from Africa (cause that is where my heart is) but when I received the packet, I saw that it was a little girl from Guatemala. Suddenly, I felt so compelled to help her. It didn't matter who she was or where she was from- she had a need. I wanted so badly to see her needs met and as the day went on I began to think of her not as another child, but my child that I was resposible for. The only problem- I had to convince my parents of that too. So I held off telling them about her for a while....

But today, while I was fixing my hair, my mom came into the bathroom telling me to be ready in 10 minutes. All of the sudden I blurted out "I want us to sponsor a child for $30 a month!" 

Now you have to understand, I have asked her to do something like this before... and although my parents are loving and generous people, they usually decline do to our financial circumstance. But this time, it was different. She said she would think about it! And she meant it! A minute or so later, I walked into the other room and saw her with a different kind of look on her face. She began crying and said that we would sponsor this little girl. I handed her the packet and told her all about our potential sponsor child. My mom was so enthusiastic about this... and you have no idea how happy that makes me!

So on the way to school, my mom always prays. And this morning she included "Our little Guatemalan baby"

Soon, little 4 year old Yeimy Julisa Garcia Lobos will officially be "our child" even though my mom and I already consider her to be in our hearts!

 I am so excited to write that first letter and begin see the difference being made in her and her family's life! And hopefully one day, I will get to see her for myself if I ever find myself in the country of Guatemala.

 And if not in Guatemala- than in heavan!

Blessed to bless others,

Olivia (Thabisa) Cartwright