Shaun Groves
Dear Sweety,
My name is Penelope Groves. I am five.
My favorite song is Lullaby. What is your favorite song?
How old are you? My mom and dad visited you and they think you are nine.
My favorite movie is Hannah Montana. Have you heard of Hannah Montana?
I learned that Jesus died on the cross for us so that we don’t have to die. Do you believe that Jesus died on the cross for you?
Do you know how to roller skate? I like roller skating. I like to play dolls too.
What do you want me to pray for you?
Love,
Penelope
12 comments on “Dear Sweety”
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Shaun Groves says:
We’ve been sponsoring Sweety for a while now, but we’ve just recently put her sponsorship in Penelope’s name instead of mine. Penelope’s written her in the past but, for some reason, she wrote this letter as if she’s never introduced herself to Sweety before.
It’s like a whole new relationship now that she’s in charge of our end of it.
I’m not sure who’s more proud, me or her.
jen says:
Love the way kids think and the things they say!
Kelly @ Love Well says:
So Shaun. I have a question. I’d love to hand off our Compassion girl in El Salvador to my oldest daughter. They are the same age, 9, which was intentional as we wanted Natalie to form a friendship herself someday (we started our sponsorship when she was 5) and not just have a third-party connection.
But. The letters we get from Karla are never that personal. She doesn’t answer our questions or really tell us about herself. She always just says, “Thank you for being my sponsor. Thank you for praying.” And they are always addressed to my husband, since he’s the primary account holder, even though we’ve said Natalie is the person writing.
Are we missing something in translation? (Maybe literally.) It feels like we’re having a one-sided conversation, so naturally, our daughter isn’t as engaged as I think she could be.
Tips? Thoughts?
Shaun Groves says:
Great questions.
As you may know, I sponsor a chid in El Salvador as well. Her letters are the best of all the letters we’ve received over the years. BUT, they weren’t always that personal.
I forget sometimes that a nine year old there is not likely to be at the same level cognitively as a nine year old here. So, my daughters letters to her sponsored child in El Salvador have always seemed a bit more…mature than the letters she receives back.
All that to say, it’s possible that your child is delayed relative to your own kids at home and that he/she is writing letters with a great deal of assistance from a teacher or other project worker. As your child grows up, the letters should grow up as well. That’s been my experience.
As far as your chid writing to your husband…the project worker makes sure the letter is addressed to the sponsor. If your husband is the sponsor and your want your daughter to be written to instead, you need to let Compassion know that.
Warning: This may confuse your child because, more than likely, he/she will be asked to write an introduction letter to his/her “new” sponsor…which of course your daughter isn’t. This is a flaw in the system my family has been burned by as well. When the sponsor name is changed the system in place treats you like a new sponsor, BUT this is easy to fix on your end: Just write your child and let them know that your daughter is the same girl who’s been writing all these years. Include a picture, etc.
We’ve had to do this recently because we changed all our sponsorships (but one) over into our kids’ names. I’ve let Compassion know about the confusion and I hope the system gets fixed…but really, it’s a minor hiccup that can be explained to a kid easily enough right?
Does that help?
Sorry for being longwinded…I haven’t any adult time today ; ) I may be a little starved for adult conversation: Field trip all day with the kids. ; )
Kelly @ Love Well says:
That totally helped. Thanks for your patience. We just got a letter from Karla today — so when it timed with your post, I couldn’t help but ask.
And don’t worry about the long-winded. Have you met me? My husband throws a party when I get bronchitis. More is always better in my world.
Kit says:
I have wondered about Kelly’s exact question too. Thanks for answering it!
Kat @ Inspired To Action says:
Precious…
Ruth says:
Awww… That sounds so similar to the letters my children send to “their” sponsered children too. It just touches my heart, and the little boy my son writes to always asks him about school and sports. I pray these lives are touched in profound ways.
laura@lifeoverseas says:
Thanks for posting this. And thanks for the reminder and encouragement to engage our kids in loving other kids globally. It is such a gift to them to “own” their own faith-leading-to-action.
We are here in Thailand, where my husband is directing an orphanage for girls. My three kids get to play several times a week out there with 43 girls. And I won’t lie, its been a lot harder than I thought. I thought my own would naturally have hearts for the girls, but I am finding that teaching little people to serve is a gritty process.
Much like God teaching me to to do it, too.
Thanks for this post, and for your heart for kids–both at your house and globally.
Laura
Ruth Abel says:
So wonderful. Thank you for your thoughts on the other end of the letter writing process Shaun! My husband and I sponsor two children (because we found out about Compassion at one of your concerts several years back) and have never gotten anything really personal.
BUT last month my little girl in Ethiopia signed off her letter with “I love you.” for the very first time in three years. It made everything worthwhile, and was an encouragement to keep writing! They may not share a lot, but everything we send makes a difference!
David says:
Shaun,
Penelope’s letter is precious. A childs heart is so free….sadly most of us lose that freedom as we age. That’s how God would have are hearts be and if their not he wishes us to remember, and return to that state of being.
Bless you for all that you do.
Wish I could sponser a child or two….sadly that’s not possible at this time. I do pray for more people like you to be touched and moved to act…God bless the children and all those you touch whose needs are much greater than mine.
…What do you want me to pray for you?…
God bless you,
David
John says:
I wish my daughters had pen pals that wrote nice letters like this.