Meet Godfrey Miheso - born and raised in Kibera, Kenya's second largest slum. Kibera is home to 2 million people within a single square mile.
I cannot even imagine that. When I look at the images of Kibera on Google, it just doesn't make sense to me. It doesn't look anything like a neighborhood or a place to live. It looks like a dump and it looks completely uninhabitable. It's no where for a child to walk and play, let alone live.
My heart breaks that anyone would have to call this place home.
And my heart breaks just from looking at it. There is no running water. Prostitution, child abuse, child labor and crime also reside there. And the "flying toilets" are literally flying through the air.
As Godfrey shared his story with us, he kept saying things like....
"I didn't know life could be any different."
"You don't know another type of life."
He was 7 years old when we was registered into Compassion's one and only project in Kibera. (I'm pretty sure there are more than one now, but back then there was only one). Godfrey was one of 5 children in his family. When his father was asked to register one of his children into the program he didn't know which one should get this honor. He submitted three of his children's names and asked Compassion to choose. They chose Godfrey.
Godfrey was sponsored by a young, Canadian girl (teen), who faithfully wrote letters and continued her sponsorship for 15 years - until Godfrey graduated.
Before he was sponsored, Godfrey had never gone to school. Because of Compassion and sposnorship, Godfrey began going to school. He saw many benefits right away...
clothes (school uniform)
education
food
Bible class which helped him grow in his relationship with God
opportunity to play sports (soccer!)
school supplies
textbooks
backpack
shoes
Godfrey knew God was blessing him through this opportunity, and he didn't miss the chance to bless others. He would share his school supplies with his classmates and would let them use his textbook during school. His family no longer had to wonder if there would be dinner that night. He attended the Compassion project two days a week and was always able to eat there. He would also get to take home a bag of food which he would share with his family and sometimes even their neighbors.
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| Godfrey sharing his story in an interview format at Harvest Church in Billings, MT |
As Godfrey shares his story, he has a special message for sponsors....WRITE LETTERS TO YOUR SPONSORED CHILDREN.
Do not miss this opportunity to speak hope into the life of your child. I've said it before, and Godfrey repeated it...to a child living in poverty, sponsorship is NOT about $38 a month. Children waiting for sponsors are already in Compassion's program. To a child, sponsorship means they have a friend.
Can you imagine getting a new friend that never communicated with you? Never said hi or asked how you were doing? Never checked in on you? Never said they cared about you? Never showed any interest in your life?
I'm guessing you wouldn't call them friend for very long. You would move on and find someone else to call friend.
But this happens all too often with sponsors and their sponsored children.
Godfrey said receiving letters from his sponsor was the best part of sponsorship. Each letter he received was read by 30-40 people by the end of the day. Imagine the impact your words can have. You write to your child, but the message is likely being spread to many more people.
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| Godfrey answers questions and talks to new sponsors |
