Ten years ago I was blessed to begin sharing life through letters with a seven-year old Indonesian boy named Reymond, a child in Compassion International’s sponsorship program. A friend started me on the sponsorship, through which I have enjoyed getting to know Reymond ever since.
I have saved every letter and photo Reymond has sent me. It’s amazing how much he has grown in the last decade. He’s always excelled in school, but more than that he has excelled in knowing Christ. I’ve had the joy of celebrating with him upon reading that his parents had become Christians. I’ve also delighted in his new life in Christ and cherished each word of encouragement God has shared with me through sweet Reymond.
I remember getting a letter from Reymond a couple years ago asking me how my family was doing and wondering if I had any children yet (our letters were usually delivered 3-5 months after they’d been written so some of what we shared was rather outdated by the time the other read the letter). He then prayed in the letter that God would bless me with children. I never told Reymond that desire of my heart, but God shared it with him and burdened his heart to intercede for me in this regard.
What Reymond didn’t know at the time he wrote his letter, was that I was transitioning out of my first marriage after being abandoned, and my hope of having children was something I’d abandoned. When I read Reymond’s prayer for me to have children, it rekindled that desire. God was strengthened my faith and reminded me that his purposes cannot be thwarted. The Spirit was still interceding for me, and if God desired for me to have children, then I would have them.
And God has answered Reymond’s prayer. In the last year and a half, God has given me a new husband who loves Christ more than he loves me. And with my husband came his three sons, now my stepsons. These children were gifted to me from the Lord, just as if I had born them myself. And even though I still sometimes struggle in the unnatural motherhood I’ve been bestowed, God’s Gracious Spirit never fails to remind me that my new family is an answered prayer and granted desire of my heart.
Reymond’s prayer made me realize more how big God is and how big our family in Christ is. Even though he’s 13 years younger than me (he turned 17 in November), Reymond is my brother in Christ, a fellow soldier, foreigner and sojourner here in this broken world. We share the same never-disappointing hope in Christ Jesus. We may be world’s apart in space and time, but we are bonded in Christ and both look forward to freedom from this fallen world and eternity in our promised Home of Righteousness. Our prayers rise to the same Faithful Father and Sovereign Lord over all.
Why am I sharing this story with you?
Child sponsorship programs like Compassion International don’t just benefit families in third-world nations. Not only do these programs meet critical needs in children and families suffering in horrible circumstances worldwide, but these programs also serve as a bridge between sponsors and beneficiaries by providing an opportunity for sponsors to know and see God through the eyes of a child learning to walk with Jesus.
It’s an extraordinary opportunity to love and be loved by another image-bearer of God. It’s a privilege to pray for their salvation and growth in Christ too, even as they pray for you and your family to grow in grace and truth in Christ.
And as generous as you think you’re being by giving monthly to your Compassion child, our generous, ever-gracious God will teach you (as He has continually taught me) that everything you have already belongs to Him and that, although you should always follow His way of generosity, you will never be able to out-give him.
That reality should compel us all to always give generously, as we’re able, in response to the generous grace we’ve been given in Christ Jesus.
If you’d like to meet and sponsor a Compassion International child, you can learn more here. You’ll also find opportunities to:
- Give new Bibles to children who have none
- sponsor an expecting mother and her unborn child.
- Help launch small businesses for single mothers in the developing world
- help fund computer labs for children’s education
- fund many more projects: clean water, sanitary bathrooms, sports and art programs, etc.
We are thankful for God’s generous grace shown to us through our Compassion Child, Reymond Alfred Prasetia Patty.