Marvelous Light: Sponsor a Child

You've likely heard about Tom's House – actually, you probably helped us build it.

Through generous donations from friends of Tom Robinson, we built a house in Dad's memory, called Tom's House, in the capital of Zambia, through Family Legacy Missions, a company based here in Texas.

We traveled as a family with the Carrigans to Africa this summer, and we set up the interior of the house and met the boys as they moved in to this amazing “Tom's House.” For the rest of our trip, we worked at a weeklong “day camp” for orphans. Did you know there are more than 1 million orphans living in Zambia?

We now have the option to get each of these kids who we spent a week with a "sponsor." That's where you Americans come in.

As you keep reading, we want to put a bug in your ear - each of our Tom's House boys need sponsors, too. But it's quite a price jump - $250 per month, but it means A LOT for the child: three meals a day (2700 calories actually! these boys need to bulk up!), covers the cost of full day school, pays the two house mothers that live with them, etc. If you are interested, let us know, because this is DIFFERENT from sponsoring the kids we were with at camp. Below is information about how to sponsor a child who is NOT living in Tom's House for $44/month.

For now, we'll cut to the chase:

It costs $44 per month to sponsor a child in Zambia through Family Legacy missions. (There's also a one time $95 fee that covers lots of things - the Americans that work for Family Legacy in Zambia and make all of this a reality have to eat, too, I guess. :)

I work at a non-profit. I know that $44 is not "chump change" if you're on a budget. I know that people our age don't have $44 lying in their couch cushions each month and it's easy to say "I don't have that kind of money to spare."

But I've also met these kids. I've smelled their stench and looked at their giant, contagious smiles. I've seen them weep because they have NEVER set foot inside a school. I've seen them jump for joy and tackle each other in excitement just to sing songs with a rich white girl and talk about Jesus for a day. I've seen them shriek with delight when we gave them a wool blanket. Can you imagine a 10-year-old American running in circles with delight over a wool blanket?

Many children in Zambia are a burden to their guardians. Many are told they would be better off dead. Can you imagine? Let's say your parents are dead or gone, you don't even know your grandparents, and a neighbor in your slum is taking care of you. You sleep on her dirt floor, she yells at you when she's drunk, she beats you... you wander around aimlessly during the day because the government school is full. You eat one meal a day, and even then, it's not the kind of meal Americans are used to.

But then, an organization finds you. They take you to a "Vacation Bible School-like" camp for a week. You use a port-o-potty for the first time! You sing songs about God. You feel loved, and you eat a good lunch each day. For the first time, someone asks you questions about yourself, like "what do you want to be when you grow up."

Then, that organization gets word back to America, a rich, blessed country, where families throw away more food than what you eat.

When a child is "sponsored" they are no longer a burden to their guardians. Your sponsorship includes a monthly food drop. It also means they'll start going to a government school in their community, and soon a school will be built that is run by Family Legacy. You'll start meeting with a discipleship leader, a Christian Zambian, similar to a youth minister. Your life will seriously change because of the sponsor.

Instead of a burden, when a child is sponsored, they are seen as a blessing. They are getting food, but they're also getting an education, which means a better future, and that they might someday take care of their guardian.

When I went to Africa, I really felt like there was plenty of need in America, that it was silly to travel so far when we have great needs so close. But I've never seen such great need as I saw walking through the compounds in Zambia.

This summer I learned that we are children of God, not children of one country or another. We belong to His kingdom. And just like children living in poverty in America need help, children in Africa need our help, too.

Will you consider sponsoring a child through Family Legacy? The deadline is October 1st - so act fast!!
Click the names for link to the website.

Drew’s Guys

-Most urgent needs, have no living relatives: Justin, Robson
-Others who really need help: Eliot, Laza, Michael, Raban

Cathy’s Group
-Most urgent needs: Precious, Loveness, Alice