Just kidding! I'm actually not off to Brazil physically, but my heart is definitely there.
I want to write today about an adventure I will be beginning. (I haven't had a real direction for this blog, so this new beginning with Brazil will also be a new opportunity to scrap "the old blog" and begin again.) A youth group that I attend at university is in contact with a group called Vision Trust International. They're a Christian based organization that helps give opportunities to children in impoverished areas to receive nutritious meals, clean water, school supplies and uniforms - as well as education itself -, and access to learning about God's love.
I'm working on bringing Latte Losers as a small ministry to my campus with a close friend Shelly, but lately God has been pressing me to do more. I've felt convicted about doing more for a long while, but now that I have a small job on campus that will allow me to put money out, I'm letting this conviction become action. You see, Vision Trust offers a sponsorship program. For $35 a month, a child will receive all of the benefits I listed above.
I prayed a lot about it, and have friends who sponsor either through Vision Trust (like my contact for them, Ashley, who is also helping me with LL - she's such a blessing!) or Compassion that I've spoken a lot to. I decided to search the Vision Trust website, at the advice of friends, to see if anyone caught my eye. Your sponsor child isn't random; you get to choose the country and the child. You're given background information on the child as well to help you get an idea of what their life is like. I was told when you see your sponsor child, you just know - and oh my gosh, they were right.
Once I saw little Diogo (and once my heart stopped breaking for his twin brother Maltheus, who I
simply can't afford to also sponsor - fingers crossed that Shelly and her boyfriend Eddy sponsor him!!!!), I knew he was my boy. My boyfriend agreed to sponsor with me, which also took a lot of discussion and prayer - if we ever break up, we didn't want Diogo to suffer - so we'd originally wanted a child from Peru, Guatemala, or the DR - Spanish speaking countries to make contact easier, because Oscar speaks fluent Spanish. But I couldn't help falling in love with this little Brazilean boy, and once I let Oscar search the site, he agreed.
Oscar isn't going to be in my state until June 22nd, so I had to do some contacting with the organization to actually secure Diogo without *actually* signing off on him until that date so Oscar and I could do it together. Luckily, a woman named Ashlee (not to be confused with the other Ashley - LOL) contacted me and told me it was totally doable.
So today has been a very, very exciting day for me. (And Oscar, but let's be honest - I'm stoked.) We will not officially be Diogo's sponsors until June 22, 2013, but today I know that I don't have to stress and pray that nobody comes in and sweeps him away because they can immediately sponsor - my little boy is sticking with me! I actually just went on the website and saw that they took him off. This girl is all smiles.
If you have any questions about Vision Trust or Latte Losers, let me know - I'd love to answer any questions or help you start donating! (Latte Losers is $5 a month - not bad!)
-- E
I'm Off to Brazil!
