I was thrilled to receive the child packet of Dominic Muchangi from Kenya. What pleased me most was his name. You see, I was married by this time, but still didn't have children of my own. I had been saying that if I ever had a little baby boy, I would name him Domnick Paul - my mom's maiden name was Domnick and my mother in law's maiden name was Paul.
So even though it was spelled differently, my first Compassion son was named Dominic. And it turns out I never did get that baby boy, but instead God blessed us with two daughters!
We sponsored Dominic all the way through....for 12 years (late 2000 - Oct 2012). Over those 12 years we received approximately 36 letters. Dominic was 22 when he completed Compassion's program.
Miscellaneous info from letters:
- family had a big garden/farm
- used money we sent to buy hens, food, bed and mattress
- curious about how we knew the gender of our babies before they were born
- was the oldest of 2 children when we first sponsored, but eventually was the oldest of 5 boys
- called his new baby brother a "visitor"
"I want to live for God and depart Satan's ways....I want to live for God forever."
"I am saved and I love Jesus Christ and I attend church."
"I always attend the church and God is continuing to transform my life and showing me the direction to my destiny."
- called our children by their middle names "Grace" and "Alexa"
- every letter talked about the family's garden, health and school progress
- most letters mentioned that he was waiting for me to fulfill my promise to visit him - I think my message of hoping to visit him someday was mistranslated to a promise that I was coming.
- wanted to join college and study nursing, but instead studied information technology
- August 2010 - joined medical college and specialized in medical laboratory sciences - the same field my husband is in!
- youth chairman at church
- at one point the family got a new cat and he wrote us to ask his "sisters" (my daughters) to suggest a name
from a letter dated November 10, 2008
I would like to take this chance to thank and honor you very much because of your sponsorship, you have made dreams and expectations to come true. I have been hoping to complete my form tour course with a good grade and with your support that has succeeded . The Almighty Father will give you enough strength and power in whatever you hope in life. He will open doors and create paths where there is no path for you and your family as the scripture says from the book of Psalms 128:1 "blessed are all who fear the Lord who walk in his ways."
Dominic with his parents and four brothers, in front of their home
from a letter dated April 20, 2009
I would like to thank you very much for your support, you have made me to be a responsible person in my life. You have made my life to have a very strong foundation. This is because your support made me to complete my both primary and secondary school, and still with your support I will be able to join a nursing college. You have made me to grow healthy spiritually, economically and socially while in the project. You are more than a friend in my life.
from a letter dated September 8, 2011
You had requested I share what Compassion has done in our family. It has supported alot in my education and various other ways. Through the gifts that you send to me we are able to buy food stuff, clothes for my younger brothers and parents. We are also able to buy domestic animals like goats which helps us meet our needs.
Although I never got to travel to Kenya and meet Dominic, I was able to send gifts to him through a fellow advocate who traveled to his project. His mother made this basket, which he gave to Julie to bring back to the US for me. Here is a pic of him with the basket in Kenya, and a pic of me with the basket in Oregon.
and now the final letter....dated October 5, 2012
Receive much greetings from child Dominic. It is my hope and prayer that you are also fine in Jesus name. I would like to take this opportunity to give my special thanks to you for the years we have known each other. Your sponsorship has really made me be exposed to things that I would have never seen or achieved in my life. Indeed through Compassion and your support, I was able to successfully complete my primary and secondary education and joined my computer course. And I was able to go up to diploma level. Through your support I later joined Kings Medical college for a course in medical laboratory sciences. I have done my certificate examinations and am now waiting for the results.
For real you are a special friend to me that I will never forget your impact in my life. Through sponsorship I got to know who God is and who he is in my life. Our dearly loving teacher taught us how to pray and read Bible, and I even gained courage to teach other younger children like Jackson (the other boy we sponsored from the same project).
We also traveled to other projects for games and seminars. I will never forget your special letters you have been writing to me, the special photos and maps from you. I wish it would be possible to have photos of my sisters because they will ever be in my heart.
Life has been smooth with your sponsorship. I pray that it will still be the same without your encouraging letters and photos. My heart is really grateful that we were able to meet and socialize in such a special way. I promise that I will ever keep you in my prayers. My relationship with you transformed my whole life and in all ways. You have created and formed my foundation because next year I would like to go back to school for my diploma course. Please pray for me to complete it successfully. May God make you successful in your plans.
