Years ago when our children were small, we decided to support a child with Compassion International. We wanted to teach our kids the discipline of tithing by having them help support him/her with 10% of their allowance. I don’t remember whether they complained about sharing their money, but tithing was a discipline they both continued as adults.
About a year ago, I found letters in my keepsake box that I’d saved from that first Compassion child, Macaty Cenat, from Haiti. Considering that we did major downsizing before we went to Japan, I was puzzled as to why I’d saved Macaty’s letters. When I opened one and began to read, I soon had my answer. Here are a few excerpts:
I’m very glad for the help you are giving me…I had success in all the terms this year. I thank God for that and ask Him to keep your life there where you are. Thank you much, ten thousands of thanks from your foster son who loves you much.
Next letter…
…I always pray for you in order that God bless you and help me always change my class. I think of you every day. I hope one day I shall see you face to face. If we don’t meet in the earth, I think we shall meet in the heaven. I send my bless greetings for you. Again I was very sad because I have one of my aunts is already died. I think she is in heaven. Your adopted son who write you.
I had forgotten what sweet letters Macaty had written. We tried to find “Macaty from Haiti,” which is how we sometimes referred to him, long after he had aged out of the Compassion program; but we were never successful. We still pray for him.
During the years when our youngest grandson, Connor, was with us a lot, we decided to look for a Compassion child near his age to teach Connor the discipline of tithing too. The closest we could find in age was Erick, a boy three years younger than Connor.
Erick is such a grateful young man and also expresses his love and gratitude so freely. Here’s an excerpt from his last letter: (he begins by thanking us for the gift we sent him and telling us how he used it) Erik says God bless you for much love you have for him, he says sure he feels happy and peaceful to be part of your family. He says he and his family love you and are praying that God give you everything you need according to his wealth. He says he asked you to pray for him to know God very well.
Perhaps you can understand why I saved these letters from Macaty and Erick!
Christmas before last, when we asked Connor what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “I really don’t need anything. Why don’t you give the money you would have spent on my gifts to that boy I used to help support?”
We were moved by Connor’s generosity but couldn’t bring ourselves to give the full amount of the money we’d have spent on Connor to Erick. Instead we gave Erick a portion of Connor’s money and explained to Erick that Connor had wanted us to give this money to him instead of using it to buy Connor a gift.
Erick is sixteen now. I believe I mentioned a few years ago that he desperately wants us to come visit him and his family. For awhile it looked like the Lord might be making a way for me to do that, and we saved money for that trip for several years. Then Covid hit and Compassion stopped doing in-country tours to visit one’s Compassion child.
They said they would place our names on a list to be called if they started making tours to Tanzania again, but they never contacted us. Then my health challenges came that would have prevented me from going anyway.
Connor’s dad, our son, Robb, passed away in 2021; and in an interesting turn of events, we ended up using the money we’d saved to go to Tanzania to pay for Connor’s first semester at a technical school. It looks like Connor reaped bountifully what he sowed by giving some of his Christmas gift to Erick—and having been willing to give it all!
Regardless of whether or not I ever get to go to Tanzania, we’ve enjoyed the privilege of being part of Erick’s life and are so thankful that, as he said, “He feels happy and peaceful to be part of our family.” Certainly he and Macaty are the least of these, in the opinion of most, but not in God’s eyes!
Father, Thank you for the privilege of having Macaty and Erick in our family. Thank you for providing for us so that we could be generous with them. We pray that your Holy Spirit would prompt many more people to give to the least of these from the abundance many of us have been given. Amen.
* Featured photo: Erick four plus years ago