Pasaka Njema (Happy Easter)

As we close Good Friday and approach Resurrection Sunday we make a point to stop and reflect on the cross, the ultimate sacrifice. For some, this is the only time a year they stop and reflect on His love for us. Have you stopped to think about who you can bless though this message? Or, is it really just about the egg hunt?

Take a moment and pray about how you can help just one child today. To share this message with not only that child, but his/her entire family.

One of our sponsor children is only 3 yrs old, so of course she is unable to write back to us. With this, we get the pleasure of communicating with her mother. We also learn she has an older brother and sister so when we send packages we send gifts for all of them. It's only normal to think beyond just the one child. If it was Christmas, you won't want to have someone send only one gift when you have 3 children, right? I wanted to picture 3 smiling faces, not just one.

I have one picture folder on hand, his name is Chiku. He is 7 yrs old and from India. He lives with his parents and has 2 brothers. So this is YOUR opportunity to make a small sacrifice that will last a lifetime. It will not only bless him but his entire family! It will provide him hope for his future. Use this as an open door to share Jesus' ultimate sacrifice with someone who may otherwise NEVER know. Let me know if you'd like to sponsor Chiku today.

Wishing everyone blessed Resurrection Sunday!

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him." 1 John 3:1

When we love the least of these...

Can we imagine? I would like to start by sharing part of a song with you, if you haven't heard it yet or seen the video (which makes the song even more special), then you should go check it out. The link is below.

"Little hands, shoeless feet, lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run when their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won’t let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved"

Video link: http://youtu.be/U64bongHqYU



All I could say was "wow!" when I watched that video. It was such a refreshing picture of true happiness. You did watch it right? Did you catch the symbolism? I just wanted to go running on the beach with them.

I remember I used to watch those sad commercials on TV or the World Vision/Compassion International videos and think "Are those pictures true? Or do they only just show the sad pictures and the poorest areas for those videos?" Sure, I knew there were people in places who did need help, but just thought it was over dramatized. All of those thoughts changed once I saw it in real life. Sad right? With the world today we don't know who or what to believe. Now it's too hard to even watch those commercials or videos because I know how real they are.

Is it real? Absolutely!! Can you help? Absolutely!!

You hear people say "We can't help everyone." Sure, maybe you can't but together we can, with Christ we can!

While I was writing this I received by daily devotional via email from Pastor Rick Warren. How well his message fit.

     “I will bless you … and you will be a blessing.” (Genesis 12:2 NIV)

He then shares The Four Laws  of God's Blessings:

1) Our blessings should flow to others.

2) When we bless others , God takes  care of our needs.

3) Our blessings to others will come back on us.

4) The more we're blessed by God, the more He expects us to help others.

 

You can be a blessing just by choosing to sponsor a child through World Vision. The relationship you build with that child and their family will bring blessings for a lifetime!

You can go to http://tiny.cc/rebeccawillyard and pick out a child that fits with your family.

 

Stay tuned for some exciting news in my next post!

Meet Manoj!

My third picture card is of a sweet 6 year-old boy named Manoj from India. His birthday is February 3rd, 2006.

He lives with his parents and has one brother. His father and mother are both farm laborers. Manoj is growing up in a poor rural community 60 miles west of the Bay of Bengal.

 Typical homes are made of mud, straw, reeds and bamboo. Rice, vegetables, meat, fish and prawns are staples of the local diet.

Manoj is not in school at this time. He likes to play ball. He helps at home by working with his mother doing household tasks. He is in satisfactory health.

There are 10 days left before his picture card goes back to World Vision. If you are interested in sponsoring Manoj for only $35 a month please let me know quickly and I will help get his card to you.

As some of you know, our family has a sponsored child in Tanzania. This week we received a letter from the World Vision Program Manager based there and I wanted to share some of it with you. Reminding you that your sponsorship not only goes to the child you choose, but to the community he/she lives in as well.

In FY 12 Program implementation, the program supported several disabled children with tricycles. Karimu Kilongola Rashid, a 14 yr old child from Mangae village was among the children supported with tricycles. What is interesting about Karimu is the fact that he was unable to go to school for the past 6 years due to difficult in walking from his home to school. With this disability, Karimu had no hope of going to school because his family could not afford to buy him a tricycle though he had a great desire of going to school. In an interview with the Program staff, this is what Karimu had to say,"I thank God for World Vision for supporting me as my fellow children but due to difficult in walking I had no option but stay at home. With this tricycle, I will be able to go to school next year. Thank you so much." - Shared by Vincent L. Mallya, World Vision Program Manager.

What a blessing for him to share this story with our family. There are times that your sponsorship may just seem like another bill to pay that month, but it is SO much more!

YOU would be an answer to prayer, helping children and families gain access to basic needs and learn about God's unconditional love.

To protect his privacy I cannot share his picture here, however if you are interested in reading his picture card and see his precious face, let me know. I will only have his card until Jan 23rd. If he is not sponsored by this day I will need to send her card back to World Vision.

Maybe you have a different child in mind, feel free to log on to http://tiny.cc/rebeccawillyard and search for a child that fits your family.

"But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." Psalm 86:15

Meet Cynthia!

Today I'd like to share Cynthia with you. She is a gorgeous 7-yr old girl from Kenya. Her birthday is Jan. 14th 2005 so she is about to turn 8 years old. I love how some of these children they send me hit close to my heart even more when they are the same age as one of my children.

Cynthia lives with her grandmother and has no brothers or sisters. There is no mention of either parent, this leads me to believe they are not around. Her grandmother struggles to provide for the family.

She lives in a community severely affected by the HIV and AIDs crisis. This situation is similar to Oumer who was introduced in my previous post. She is currently not in school. She likes to play ball. She helps at home by carrying water. Cynthia is in satisfactory health.

Wow a sponsorship for this precious girl could possible mean she would be able to attend school. What a blessing that would be!

Thank you for letting me share Cynthia with you. I also wanted to share some updates from World Vision below. Take a moment and see how sponsorships are used. Then pray about how you can help.
http://www.worldvisionmagazine.org/stories/photos-12-moments-2012

YOU would be an answer to prayer, helping children and families gain access to basic needs and learn about God's unconditional love.

To protect his privacy I cannot share her picture here, however if you are interested in reading her picture card and see her precious face, let me know. I will only have her card until Jan 23rd. If she is not sponsored by this day I will need to send her card back to World Vision.

Maybe you have a different child in mind, feel free to log on to http://tiny.cc/rebeccawillyard and search for a child that fits your family.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:1

Meet Oumer!

So it's Jan 3rd, some of you have just started your new years resolution and some have already started over right? I'm not a big fan of the whole new years resolution, I get the concept, and some people need that official start. However, I'm one of those crazy people who are constantly setting goals. Right now one of my goals is to find sponsors for three more children by Jan 23rd.

Let me introduce to you Oumer. He's a precious 7 year old boy from Ethiopia. He lives with his father and has no brothers or sisters. His card doesn't mention his mother so it leads me to guess she is not around. His father is a farmer and struggles to provide for the family. As you may know, this area is severely affected by the HIV and AIDS crisis.

Oumer is in primary school and enjoys studying the native language. He helps at home by running errands. He likes to play outside and he is in satisfactory health.

A sponsorship commitment of only $35 per month will help provide Oumer and his community with the assistance they need to save a generation from the HIV and AIDs crisis. World Vision will faithfully use the sponsorship support of Oumer to meet his needs and minimize the impact of AIDs in his community through tangible prevention and care programs.

YOU would be an answer to prayer, helping children and families gain access to basic needs and learn about God's unconditional love.

To protect his privacy I cannot share his picture here, however if you are interested in reading his picture card and see his cute face, let me know. I will only have his card until Jan 23rd. If he is not sponsored by this day I will need to send his card back to World Vision.

Maybe you have a different child in mind, feel free to log on to  http://tiny.cc/rebeccawillyard and search for a child that fits your family.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Thank you for letting me share Oumer with you! I pray he finds the perfect family and I pray for a great start to 2013!

Give differently this year!

   We have all heard that phrase "Jesus is the reason for the season" and He absolutely is! How does that change the way you go through the season? Our Christmas season starts off with the Black Friday, now squeezing in on our Thanksgiving time with family. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy shopping with my family too, but I think some people have it all wrong when pain is involved, especially when it's over some material item. I better stop here because I could go on and on. Our culture is so fast past we don't slow down long enough to enjoy those precious moments with our families.

So what your reason for the season? Have you thought about how you can give differently this year? I challenge you to give a gift that can help change a child's life through a gift of sponsorship. Imagine you can be the hands of feet of Jesus from the comfort of your own home.

   We received our first letter from one of our sponsor children in Tanzania last week. It was so great to see that she received our package we sent to her over the summer with a a family picture of us, a drawing pic from Taylor, hair bands, paper, pens, and toys. She even drew a picture of her small family hut. Our girls enjoy connecting with her in that way as well. It helps remind them why we give too.

Let me know how I can help you get started today and bring that blessing into your home with World Vision.

Have you change jars ready to go? It only takes $35 a month to sponsor a child. Feel free to contact me directly at willyard40@aol.com.

              I currently have 3 children packets available.

Oumer- 7-year old little boy from Ethiopia
Cynthia-7-year old little girl from Kenya
Manoj- 6-year old little boy from India

Or you can go to http://tiny.cc/rebeccawillyard and select a child together with your family.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

He will provide!!

Everyone has a jar for loose change, right? We made some special jars for each of our sponsored children to collect and use for the extra gifts we want to send them. We place the jars in our living rooms to help remind us to contribute, as well to continually pray for them. It's also just a good reminder that they are part of our family too. Our girls just love being a part of the contribution as well as picking out what we will be sending once we have collected enough money. You never know, you may have guests who want to help support them as well and may contribute. Well, that hasn't happened to us only because it's rare we have guests.
 Over the weekend we took all of the change we had collected down to our local Coin Star (for those who don't know this little machine saves time from rolling the change) and came out with just over $25. For just a few dollars more we just purchased a Bible to send to our sponsor child Yanini in Tanzania. She is turning 8 in January and if she's like Taylor she is eager to be learning to read. So we sent the most important book for her to start reading. We know she may not actually be able to ready, but we pray maybe her mom or dad can read it to her. Just another way God can work in their lives.

These are just a few ideas for you to remind you that He will provide. I know how hard it is to feel limited to our finances. So this is just a simple idea to help you see how you can do this!

Still wondering how World Vision works? Check out this short explanation that may help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz8mnrGEvRc&list=UUtxKQOd8elJbs7wn9b7gevg&index=18&feature=plcp