World Vision

It's hard to figure out where to start with this. This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer with World Vision at Soul Fest up in northern NH.

There were so many things that were fun about Soul Fest... camping with Amy, seeing so many great bands (Third Day, Kutless, Newsboys, Barlow Girl, DecembeRadio... and my favorite, Stellar Kart), being on the beautiful skiing mountains in NH, meeting new people, etc, etc, etc!

And the many, many hours spent volunteering in the World Vision tents. There were two... one that was just set up for people to sponsor a child... and then there was a tent called "The Africa Experience." Listening to the story of a child (boy 13, girl 7, girl 17), people could walk through to get a minute taste of what life is like over in Africa.

Amy & I spent most of our time in the first tent, manning tables laden with packets about 500 children from Mozambique who are in desperate need of someone to sponsor them. This tent was less than 100 feet from the main stage, so we could pop out and be part of the concerts from time to time.

It was very thought provoking. Not so much there, because it was so loud a lot of the time, but as I've been home, I've found myself reliving many of the moments from being in the tent:

• Two teenage boys who agreed to sponsor a child together, and every time they'd see me or Amy in the crowd, would scream out their sponsored child's name and wave his picture at us with huge smiles
• Those who would walk away clutching their child's info as if they had a new family member
• A couple who picked a a little boy who's birthday would have been their miscarried child's birthdate
• One woman who refused to sponsor a child because she couldn't find one with the name "Nemo"
• Those who would walk away almost in tears, because they could only afford to sponsor one
• The little girl who already sponsored two, whose Mom had emphatically told her that morning, "Don't come home with another child," frantically calling her mom from her cell asking for "just one more"
• A grandmother, two daughters and two granddaughters going in together to sponsor a child, because none of them could afford to do it on their own
• Being chastised by one man because "why doesn't anyone care about the kids in the US?"
• Being thanked by countless for continuing the work in Africa
• Hearing multiple times "This one has my birthday, but this one is just so cute... which one?"

I sponsored my first child this weekend. Amy got there the day before I did, and as she was putting out the packets of children, she took a picture of little Rudis and sent him to me. And as soon as his precious face popped up on my phone, I knew he was mine.

And the more I think about it, the more passionate I become about this. These children have so much stacked against them, and I have so much going for me. So many of us do... and for the cost difference of making coffee at home as opposed to buying it each day, you can give a child food, clothes and the start of an education.

Will you pray about sponsoring a child?