If you sponsor a child through Manna 4 Lempira, the deadline to send an Easter card to your sponsored child is March 5. For this mailing, you may send an envelope containing a card or letter, and flat gifts such as stickers or flat jewelry less than 1/4 inch thick. Here is what I am sending. Click on photos to enlarge.
Last year, I wrote to my sponsored children about what it means to follow Jesus. This year, I decided to check another important topic off of my writing list for the older girls and share my testimony with them. I started by handwriting a card with a short greeting inside, along with the verse 1 John 4:16.
The younger girls will receive just this handwritten card and the flat gifts which you’ll see later in this post. For the older girls, I included a typed page sharing my testimony and a photo of me at the cabin where I first surrendered to Jesus. Here is the typed letter:
I am writing this letter around the time of Easter 2023. Last year for Easter, I wrote to you about following Jesus. This year, I want to share a story with you about how I became a Christian when I was 16 years old. In the bible, Revelation 12:11 tells us that we will overcome by the blood of Christ and the word of our testimony. This means that the story of how Jesus saved you and what God has done in your life will encourage you to overcome in difficult times. What has God done in your life?
When I was a child, I believed that God existed, but I didn’t know who He really was or how to become His child. When I was 16, a friend at my school invited me to the youth group at her church. The people there were very nice and loving, so I continued to attend. One day, the youth group invited me to go on a camping trip with them to a cabin where we would learn about God and have fun playing outside and sledding in the snow. Even the fact that God brought me to a camp to get my attention was evidence of His love, because as a child I always dreamed of going to camp. In the middle of the night while we were in our cabin, some of the girls wanted to read the bible. I didn’t know much about the bible yet, so I just listened to what the other girls were saying. As they were reading, I kept thinking about the story of Abraham and Isaac from Genesis 22. In the story, God told a man named Abraham to give his son Isaac back to God. But it was only a test of Abraham’s faith, and God let Abraham keep his son. This story made me realize that I was imperfect, because I knew I couldn’t sacrifice something I loved so much to put God first. That night, I cried and told God that I didn’t know who He was or what I was supposed to do about it and I asked Him to show me.
Over the next few weeks, as I continued to attend youth group, I learned that God created humans to love and be loved by Himself and other people. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Instead, we turned away and sinned. I learned that our sin would separate us from the perfect God and Heaven when our lives are over. BUT, God loved us so much He still wanted us back. Jesus came, died, and rose again to pay the penalty for our sins so we could be free to be His children and live with Him forever instead. So our Spirits can be reborn into His family. It’s not something we can earn or deserve, because we’re all imperfect on our own. We just have to turn to Him in repentance and receive it.
Since then, God has done so many amazing things in my life, one step of faith at a time. Including leading me on adventures to places like Honduras and allowing me to be your sponsor. My favorite bible verse is Romans 8:30, “...and these whom He justified, He also glorified.” The word glorified means fills with great beauty. God didn’t just save me, He filled my life with His beauty. This doesn’t mean we won’t ever have struggles or make mistakes. But it means God will be our solid rock, something that never changes or leaves, when things become difficult. We are His children forever!
Along with this letter, each girl will receive a few gifts. The youngest 3 who haven't yet gotten a special necklace from me will get a cross necklace with a pink gem (shown here in the little plastic bag attached to the cardstock). The older girls will each get a couple of gifts including cross stickers, a bookmark with Romans 8:38-39 on it, or a pretty pink beaded bracelet.
Older girl 
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