Compassion Friday

I'm switching Quick Facts Friday to Compassion Friday and in doing so, want to share the most recent letter we received from Magazi.

"Dear Mike Mauntel, Magazi salutes you "Shikamoo."  He says he is fine and doing well together with his family.  He says he is so grateful for the nice family gift you sent to him.  He says his parents are so grateful for the nice gift, for they were able to buy the following: One iron sheet, clothes for dad and mom, rice, sugar, beans, clothes (suit) for him and his sibling.  He also thanks you a lot for the nice photo, letters and stickers you sent to him.  He says he lives with his father, mother, and his sibling.  He says his past photo he had sent to you he took with his parents.  He says he, likes playing football game.  He says his best subjects are mathematics and handwriting.  Magazi hopes that Michael is born and grows well.  Hey says may you have a look at the photo he has sent to you when with his mother and sibling with all the gifts he bought.  He lastly says may you pray for his mother to know Jesus for he is of different denomination."

He also included this drawing.  Notice the stickers!

I thought Maddie would like to see the stickers on there since she LOVES stickers.  Unfortunately, she threw a fit.  "My tickers!"

I calmed her down, sat her on my lap, and tried to explain how Magazi lives in another country, is less fortunate that we are, etc.

Thinking I was getting through to her, she got up, turned around, looked at me and said, "No talk to me daddy."

Much like getting played, all I could do was laugh.

Please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International today.

Quick Facts Friday

The following is information from Compassion International specific to Tanzania, the country of sponsored child -- Magazi.

 "Although Tanzania is one of the most politically stable countries in Africa, it remains desperately poor.  The country hosts the largest refugee population in Africa because of conflicts in neighboring Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.  Refugee camps, which house thousands of children in Tanzania, have little access to clean water, sanitary conditions or education.

Nearly 90% of Tanzanians struggle to survive on less than $1.25 a day.  The country has few exports, and agriculture is the primary source of income.  Many regions, however, are plagued by drought."

Please consider sponsoring a child through Compassion International today.

How it all started...

I've recently joined Compassion International's Child Advocate Network in an effort to increase awareness. I envision regular postings related to Compassion in the future, but for now I'd like to share how it all started:

I've always been touched by the photos and statistics of children living in poverty, but was never more touched until we had Maddie. There are a multitude of of statistics, but the thought that children just like mine die every 7 seconds from hunger-related causes is unfathomable. Maddie made those statistics tangible -- REAL tangible.

Shortly after Maddie was born, I was reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love. I had mentioned to Emily my desire to sponsor a child. We had talked about it in the past, but never followed through. This time didn't seem any different -- we were trying to figure out whether or not she could quit her job and the goal was to REDUCE spending. I'm pretty sure Dave Ramsey would have suggested holding off.

One day I found myself sitting on the couch reading Francis' chapter on lukewarm people.

"Lukewarm people give money to charity and to the church as long as it doesn't impinge on their standard of living. If they have a little extra and it's safe to give, they do so."

That's when it hit me -- If we give up ESPN, maybe we can use the money we save switching programming packages to sponsor a child! And that's what we did.

It wasn't easy -- I experienced a tightness in my chest as I called Dish to switch. A sports-friendly household without ESPN? I felt so un-American. But I knew every time I was missing Monday Night Football I'd be reminded of WHY I was missing it -- for the sake of a child who has SIGNIFICANTLY less than I do.

Now I'm in no way suggesting sports are the devil. In fact, my Troy Polamalu jersey arrived yesterday! It's just that for us, giving up ESPN was a way we could make it happen.

For more information, Email me or check out Compassion International today!

Magazi Update

It's been almost six months since my last Magazi post, so I wanted to share a recent picture of him and his family. They recently purchased the field in the background and are hoping to build a house (i.e. dirt floor, brick/block/cement walls and tin/corrugated iron roof). He sent his "report card" and appears to be doing fairly well in school. One of our favorite things he sends is his drawings. One even include stickers we sent to him!

Mail from Africa!

We've received our first letter from Magazi! For those of you who missed the post, Emily and I decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. Also included was a drawing (of a cup, orange and flower) and a picture (he's on the right).

Magazi lives with his "mum" and dad, and has a on-year-old sibling named Abdalah. He was thankful for our sponsorship and, among other things, said our sponsorship will allow him to "get treatments once he gets sick." What does that mean? I know he lives in an HIV/AIDS-affected area. Is he sick? Does he assume he'll get sick? I could be reading into things, but with sub-Saharan Africa being home to over 70% of the total world HIV-positive population (more statistics), I may not be.

Regardless of his circumstances, he seems to be a happy - and appreciative - little boy. We look forward to sharing this experience with you!

The least of these...

Emily and I have decided to sponsor a child through Compassion International. As a parent, it breaks my heart to know there are children around the world living in extreme poverty and it only takes a small sacrifice on our part to make a difference.

Magazi is from Tanzania and was waiting over six months for sponsorship. It'll be a week before we receive his information pack; however, we do know today's Magazi's birthday!

We look forward to sharing our experience of sponsoring Magazi with you.

"To me, a faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned with the poor...it's nothing" -Bono, lead singer of U2