Post from Michelle

Michele Elstone says:

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know a little about my experiences in El Saman so far. One of my goals for this trip was to find out a little more about the family of the baby I'm holding in my facebook profile picture. His name is Jason. He is now 2 yrs old and and absolutely adorable. He loves to have his picture taken and poses with a huge smile when you ask him to. I don't know how he is such a happy little boy though, because yesterday I was able to find out his families story through a neighbor who is a young university student who speaks 4 languages, one of them being Creole which is the language of Jason's family. Jason has a brother named Moses and a sister named Luna living at home and 2 others who have moved on. Jason's mother's name is Lude. She is a Christian woman and attends the babtist church in the area. This is what she told me;

“I have 5 children, 2 are older. We live here but I don't really know how. I used to have some things I could sell to get food but I have sold them all and have nothing left to sell. If it were not for others who give us some food we would not eat. We are hungry most of the time. My house is very small and the roof leaks. When it rains it is very bad for us. At one time I had a husband but he left us some time ago and we are alone now.”

Its raining this morning. Hard. I can't help but sit and worry about my new friends. Maybe they are in bed wearing the rain jackets I gave them yesterday. They are probably hungry. I just don't know what to do about this but write to you and cry. But it forces me to ask myself why am I the blessed one? Why do I get to live in a big house with all I need and they don't. It forces me to again see the connection between God's blessings and God's purpose. God may have given it TO me but its not all FOR me. I am meant to be one who distributes God's blessing. I am one who has more than enough and therefore if I am to honour God with what He has given me I have to recognize that its not all mine. Lude is a Christian woman and I wonder what her prayers are like. Quite often mine are so trivial. Maybe she has prayed to God for rescue. Maybe God has sent me.

Lude's son Moses is one of the new kids who has just been enrolled into Compassion and he is available for sponsorship. I'm going to ask my brother and sister-inlaw if they will take him so that I can stay connected with this family. I know that once Compassion is involved, things will improve for this family. In the mean time I will pray. I'll pray for Jason's family and for all of the kids from this little slum, many of whom have similar stories. There are 100 new kids in this area available for sponsorship. 60 are coming to me as an advocate at Compassion. If you are interested in sponsoring one of the least of these little brothers or sisters, let me know in some way. I am on facebook, my e-mail is micheleelstone@hotmail.com

Stay tuned for pictures of Lude and her family.

Alex, Mallory, Damian and Paul, I miss you guys a lot and I hope you are doing really well. I know that when I plan these trips and I'm away, its a sacrifice for you too. I hope you are proud of the sacrifice you are making so that others can be helped and loved. Hasta pronto, M.