This past April, we had several sponsors come to Kenya and meet their students face-to-face for the first time. Becca and her husband, Dave, have been sponsoring Bon for four years now, and she was able to meet him, along with her other sponsored students, after years of exchanging letters. Here are Becca’s and Bon’s thoughts after getting to meet each other!
“Joy. Sheer joy, mixed with some pretty serious pride.
That’s how I felt meeting the Ndoto students that my family sponsors. Being able to hug these children (and adults!) and see the smiles on their faces was a true blessing. There was just so much happening. It’s hard to sum up in words. It was like Christmas morning. Maybe even meeting a famous person on Christmas morning! Double the excitement! It was like meeting new family members. I was getting to meet my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The feeling of pride came as a surprise to me. These kids are the ones who have done all the HARD work. However, I am connected to these students and therefore able to share in the excitement of their successes. To witness the life they live at home, and then try to imagine going to school and focusing on anything else, is nothing short of amazing to me. These kids are smart, dedicated, and talented. I got to witness that first-hand and talk to them about their dreams. Meeting the students at the primary and secondary retreats made me want to sponsor more. It made me want to sponsor them all! I kept thinking about my own dreams and career plans and wondering what would I do if I were in their shoes. Would I give up or persevere? It’s actually a question a few of them asked me, “Should I give up?” I wanted to make sure that that wasn’t even an option for any of them!
I pray that my son grows up to be as fine a young man as Bon. I pray he knows and loves the Lord and shares that with others. I pray that I do as good a job raising Garrett as Mama Bon did raising her two boys. I was truly blessed to meet these children. To see them worship the Lord so unfailingly and wholeheartedly was a blessing to me.
I went to Africa to share God’s love with others, and they all shared it with me.” – Becca
Bon and Becca, Student and Sponsor, finally meeting!
“I never imagined I would actually get to meet my sponsor, but I was always hopeful that I would. We have been sharing letters and sending photographs for the last four years and so it was amazing to finally meet her in person. And this was her first time in Kenya.
It was particularly a humbling experience. She walked over to me and gave me a tight hug like we had known each other all along.
We shared a lot of time together for the next couple of days: taking her to see my family, taking her through a tour of Obunga estate & lunch prepared by my mum. I am extremely grateful for the blessing of being able to spend time together with Becca sharing life. It was quite interesting to observe the parallels and differences in our lives.
Her visit was a huge hope and encouragement to me. She taught me more about hope, compassion, humility and trusting in God. She challenged me to make it a priority to help however I can.
And to the sponsors who are yet to come…please do! Though I understand that it is sometimes impossible, nobody can truly understand the intimacy and implications of sponsoring a child until he/she stands face-to-face with their sponsored child. Until you come to see what the life of your sponsored child is, it is hard to wrap your head around what your sponsorship means.
I am so very grateful that she got time to come visit. She is indeed my God sent Angel. It is just a few weeks since she left for the U.S. and the memories from those moments we shared together continue to linger in my mind. I cannot wait to see her again.” – Bon, Ndoto sponsored college student
