Welcome to the recap
of our child sponsorship letter writing
event! The bulk of this recap is devoted to all the
ideas you and others are doing to let your sponsored child(ren) and his/her family
know they are special…in your eyes and in God’s!
Our trip to Matete, Kenya taught us one important lesson. Our presence (not our presents) matters most. Our letters represent our physical presence to our sponsored kids and their families. That’s why it’s less important what we say and more important what we do. Even if all we say is Happy Easter or Merry Christmas in big block letters, the very fact that they got mail (remember how exciting that was as a kid?) let’s them know that someone cares….that they are special!
My.WorldVision.org
Thanks to Vivian, WOV Austin’s child sponsorship chair,
we learned about creating a World Vision account on www.worldvision.org and then creating a My World Vision account my.worldvision.org. What
does a My World Vision account get you?
You can:
- E-mail letters to your child(ren)
- Send a copy of the e-mail to your own e-mail account in order to save a copy of what your wrote
- Learn about your child’s ADP (WV lingo for the area where you child lives, e.g. Matete, Kenya)
- Make a financial donation to your child that is shared with his/her family but no one else
- Find letter templates to help you get started, although we included World Vision’s letter templates in Exhibit 2 for your convenience!
Letter Writing Tips
- At the very least, use World Vision’s supplied greeting cards…don’t let the optional $5 donation deter you. Contribute the $5 every other time or not at all…just don’t let it be a stumbling block to bringing joy to your sponsored child! Some just use these WV supplied cards to communicate, while others (like Gail & Gayle!) include these colorful and educational cards with their own letters.
- Ask for their family members’ names so you can pray for them by name
- Share with them about your job, what you do and the schooling your rec’d to encourage them to pursue an education (see Cathy’s letter sample in Exhibit 4)
- Praise them for their drawings, attending school, helping out at home, being a good friend/brother/sister, etc
- Set up a binder and photo album to document your communication so you know how to follow up. Sometimes you need to ask a question several times via letters before it gets answered. Gail B and Sherry T brought theirs as examples.
- Share specific prayer requests for how they can pray for you (more rain, healing for a broken bone, back injury, arthritis, children, your church/ministry, etc)
- Per the Matete ADP staff,
hand written letters are actually better than e-mails for younger children. To a 2-5 yr old, hand written letters look
more real. HOWEVER, everyone agrees
that an e-mail is better than no letter at all!! So do whatever you need to do, including...
- Ask a friend for help writing a letter if you have total writer's block. Pray before you start for God's Holy Spirit to speak for you.
- Photos of your family members, garden/plants, pets, sports. It’s very meaningful to put a face to your name. The best rule of thumb…if you’d send it to the Pope, it’s ok to send to your sponsored child!
- Grand/kids’ drawings
- Coloring pages (Dollar General has Bible coloring books for a $1 -- tear out and send a few pages at a time; soccer coloring pages would be popular with the boys if you can get past the annoying pop-up ads on this safe, albeit commercialized, site!)
- Postcards of the place you live
- Pictures of things they don’t usually see as educational tools for their families & schools. Jill S and Fiona M mentioned they use clipart to describe what they talk about in their letters (see Exhibits 1a-1b for an example from Fiona)
- Special gift – call the WOV Helpdesk @ 1-877-968-4968 to send a special financial gift to the family (minimum $100 up to $1000. Used to purchase items for both your child (e.g. clothing) and the family (e.g. goat or cow that provides milk for the whole family). Gifts over $200 will be shared with the community. For more details, visit myworldvision.org or call World Vision at 1-888-511-6548.
- Per Gail B, for younger/smaller sponsored kids, you can often fit a pair of flip flops in a 6x9 envelop. Ask the community volunteer to trace the feet of the child and send the tracing to you with the return letter.
- “Streetwise World Map” - laminated, 4 x 8.5 inches folded, $4-6.95 plus shipping/tax. Use a sharpie to note Austin and Matete on the map like Bruce E and The Hasse’s. [To minimize shipping fees on some of these online items, pool resources with your small group or Sunday School class to buy in bulk.]
9. Friendship
bracelets (one of the rules is no jewelry, but these are fine!) Consider buying Fair Trade bracelets at the TenThousand Villages Store in Austin or online.
10. School
supplies: pencils, small colored pencils & pencil sharper, small notepad (no crayons b/c they will melt)
11. Anything
soccer themed for boys
12. Drawstring
backpacks are easily foldable and Fiona said (barely) fit into a padded 6x9
envelope. Here is an example at
Target but you can find them at Academy & Walmart too: UT drawstring backpack. Texas
and Bethany logo’d items are good ways to tie our communities together!
13. Glow
in the dark crosses like this
one.
14. Small
“Happy Meal” books from Chick-fil-a or Sonic (Chick-fil-a has alternative prizes
for kids 3 and under…ask for them if they are a better fit for the 6x9
envelope). You don’t need to be or have
a kid to order the kids meal!! Chick-fil-a
books should always be appropriate just maybe too big to send. Sonic has some really good Scholastic
learning books about nature or math/reading skills, but their recent World Book
of Guiness Records series, which focused on real pictures of glamorous cars/trucks/food/homes
(e.g. Hummer limo), might not be a good idea!
15. Head
scarf/bandana whether you buy one or knit one like Terry S. Terry also found a TX themed bandana to send! Hair bows and clips are often not functional
because of closely cropped hair but would be proudly clipped to dresses &
school bags.
16. Clothing:
collared shirt for church, socks or
gloves, leggings (lows are in the 50’s.
A lot of kids wear flip flops but socks would keep them warm at night!),
Texas logo’d shirts or cotton shorts. Take a 6x9 envelope with you to test out
whether you can stuff/roll the item. The
bubble padded envelopes would be stronger & necessary in this case.
17. Wash
cloths would always be put to good use and would be greatly appreciated by the moms,
find some with a fun print and your sponsored child will gladly call it his/her
own!
18. World
Visions’ gift suggestions can be found on their Facebook
site or once you've created a my.worldvision.org account.
THANK YOU for being a conduit of God’s love to
these children and families! If you
find a great item, please let us know by e-mailing wovaustin@gmail.com or posting a comment below so we can share it with others!
Exhibit 1
Letter Writing Instructions from
My.WorldVision.org
1. On the front of your
envelope, write World Vision's national country office address. This address
can be found on the left side of this page.
2. Write your name and return address on the back flap of your envelope.
On the lower portion of the back, write your sponsored child's name and ID
number. (Please do not write the child's name and ID number on the front of the
envelope.)
3. On your letter, write the child's name and ID number at the top of
the page. Your child will write back via their local World Vision office; to
avoid confusion and to protect your identity, please do not write your address
on your letter.
Please do not enclose
your monthly sponsorship gift or any cash with your correspondence. In some
countries it is actually against the law to possess American money. If you
would like to send a financial gift, please call 1-800-678-2168.
Helpful Hint: Photos of you and your family will be especially treasured.
Hearing back from your sponsored child
The number of letters
you receive from your sponsored child depends partly on the number of letters
you send.
Your sponsored child
will respond to your letters; however, it’s common for a reply to take up to
three to four months. Remote locations and inadequate postal services can
result in slower communication.
In most cases, a staff
member will need to translate the letter from the local language.
Letter writing is a
new experience for any child, and many children come from oral traditions. Feel
free to write again, even if you’ve yet to receive a reply!
Exhibit 2
My.WorldVision.org Sample
Letters
Introduce
Your Family Sample Letter
Dear Nilson,
Thank you so much for the
letter you sent me! I was excited to get your letter and hear about your life.
Our family is very excited to be sponsoring you. You were born on the same day
as my daughter, Grace. I also have a son, Tim, who is 6 years old, and another
daughter, Sarah, who is 2 years old. I am a first grade teacher, and my husband
works on airplanes. Can you tell us a little bit about your family?
Tim likes to play soccer
and baseball, and Grace plays soccer and softball. This summer they both took
swimming lessons, and are now pretty good. What type of sports do you play?
Our family is very involved
with our church. We go to church every Sunday, and we have several friends from
our church who sponsor other children in your community.
We will send you some
pictures of our family soon, but wanted to get a letter off to you as soon as
we could.
Sincerely,
The Nichols Family, Mary, Tom, Grace, Tim and Sarah
Introduce
Yourself Sample Letter
Dear Sokhin,
My name is Rachel and I am 21 years old. I am from the United States and grew
up with my Mother, Father and younger brother. My brother is 15 years old and
plays soccer (I think you call that football) at the local High School. We have
two dogs, named Maggie and Hershey and I love animals! I am curious to hear
more about your family.
I go to school in Seattle,
Washington and am studying History. I live with my two friends, Stacey and Kinsey.
Summer is almost over and I’m excited for school to start again. I only have 3
years left and then I want to go home and be a history teacher. What did you do
this summer? When does your school start? What are your favorite subjects?
I hope all is well and
that I hear from you soon!
With
Love,
Rachel
Learn
About Their Culture Sample Letter
Dear Komal,
Thank you for your letter!
It was so wonderful to hear from you and learn more about your life.
What is your favorite
holiday? Is there a special way that you celebrate that holiday? My favorite
holiday is Christmas. On the evening before Christmas, my family goes to church
where we light candles and sing songs. It looks and sounds very beautiful inside
the church. Outside, there is usually a lot of snow. The children like to throw
snowballs at each other.
Do you like music? I
really enjoy listening to people sing and play instruments. Do you like to
sing?
I hope to hear from you
soon!
With
much love,
Meg
Thank
you For Your Letter Sample Letter
Dear Nyasha,
I was delighted to get
your recent letter, and I am very happy to hear your family is well! You’re
looking so grown up in your photograph, too! Thank you for taking time to draw
that lovely picture for me; you’re a very good artist!
How is school going? Do
you like your teachers? Do you still go to art class twice a week? Math is one
of my favorite subjects too! I also really like to play games with my family.
My son is your age and my daughter is 10 years old. They both love to read and
hang out with their friends.
Say hello to your
grandmother for me and have a wonderful time at your party!
Yours
truly,
Christine
Exhibit 3a
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Austin, Texas
Dear Lucy:
My name is Fiona. I
am Carly (age 8) and Douglas (age 7)’s Mom.
I was born and raised in Scotland, but my husband, Neal (Carly &
Douglas’s Dad) was born and raised in Louisiana, U.S.A and we now live in Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
We are so excited that we can get to know and your family a
little. We have never been to Africa,
but have seen some pictures of Kenya. I
got to see some photographs of Matete last week. It looks so green! Here in Texas it is the middle of the summer
and all the grass is yellow and brown. It
has been over 100 degrees Fahrenheit most days in July.
I have been growing a vegetable garden at our church and at
home. My vegetable garden at home has
died. But in the church garden we were
able to grow some tomatoes, and lots of okra (a green vegetable common in the
Southern states of America).
We all love music.
Douglas and I like to dance a lot.
Carly plays the piano and likes to sing. We like being outdoors and watching
wildlife. A little family of skunks
moved into our neighborhood this summer.
We also have rabbits in our yard, a family of tarantula spiders, garden
(harmless) snakes and the occasional scorpion. There are lots of bugs in Texas and some of
them are big! Douglas loves to rescue
any that come into our house and take them outside.
Douglas loves to play soccer and to build things. Carly is learning how to sew and she loves
to read and write. We all like to laugh
a lot.
Sending you lots of love and prayers,
Fiona, Neal, Carly & Douglas
Exhibit 3b
Exhibit 4
5/12/12 via e-mail
Dear Linda & family,
Happy 9th birthday Linda!
We hope you and your family are well. We are well now, although our youngest son
broke his collarbone (the bone between his should and neck) while playing with
his older brother. Thankfully, it was
not a complete break but just a crack.
The doctor said the bone would heal by itself in two weeks as long as he
is careful. He likes to climb, jump and
wrestle with his brother so it has slowed him down a little but not all the
way!
Chris is an engineer and his work goes well. He has been with the same company since he
finished school 17 years ago – it’s a
blessing that he likes it so much and that the company is good to him! I worked outside the home for 12 years after
finishing school, but stopped in 2006 to raise Connor and Olivia and have more
time to volunteer at church. In 2007, we
had James and Mary Cathryn so I’ve been very busy with home and church
activities. In 2010, God led me to the
work of World Vision and now I spend much of my time telling others about World
Vision, the Matete ADP, and you!
If you have time, please tell us about your grandparents,
sister and brother and if your family has any specific prayer requests.
May God Bless your whole family,
Chris, Cathy & kids
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