Don’t forget your sticker!
If you’ve read the most recent Sacred Ground (our bi-annual magazine for all friends of CFCA), or looked around the Walk2gether website, you’ve heard about Sticker Sundays. But, just in case you haven’t, let’s re-cap:
On the second Sunday of each month, we encourage our sponsors to wear their Walk2gether sticker, found in the Fall 2009 edition of Sacred Ground. When people ask what the sticker represents, tell them about your sponsored friend and how you are “walking” with your friend through your sponsorship.
This is a great way that we can support the Walk2gether team, and find sponsors for the 789 children, youth and elderly waiting for sponsorship in El Salvador (where Bob is walking this week).
So, this Sunday, put on your sticker and watch for other CFCA supporters wherever you go. You may be able to make a new CFCA friend, and find a sponsor for a waiting child, all at the same time!
Your friends can sponsor through CFCA on our website, or by calling Sponsor Services at (800) 875-6564.
If you would like Walk2gether stickers, please call Sponsor Services at (800) 875-6564.
Upcoming Sticker Sundays
March 13, 2010
April 10, 2010
1 comment January 8, 2010
The abundant life of Easter
Lenten reflection week 4
When you hear the word, prodigal, what is the first thing that comes to mind? The answer is probably the parable we hear this week (Luke 15:1-3, 11-32), commonly known as “The Prodigal Son.” In fact, the word is so well-associated with that story that you might have a hard time coming up with another context in which it is used.
For the record, prodigal means wasteful, excessive or lavish. In reference to the Gospel story, it describes an ungrateful child who leaves home, squanders his inheritance on extravagant living and learns the hard way that life back home wasn’t so bad after all.
The story, as we all know, ends with the son repenting and being welcomed back into the family by his joyful father. But there is irony in this ending, for the father celebrates his son’s homecoming with some extravagance of his own. He kills the fatted calf and throws one heck of a homecoming party.
So, is the sin of prodigality (yes, it is a word) really the point here? After all, in the scriptures, extravagance is a quality often associated with God himself. Perhaps the real failure of the prodigal son wasn’t so much his lifestyle as his lack of appreciation. He didn’t appreciate his good fortune because he hadn’t earned it, and that is why he made such poor choices in how he spent it.
When sponsors visit CFCA projects, they often comment upon the deep gratitude of sponsored persons. Although these hard-working families have little in terms of material possessions – or, perhaps, because of that fact – they are filled with genuine appreciation for what sponsors contribute to their lives. As a result they, like the prodigal son’s father, have the wisdom to recognize a true occasion for joy when they see it.
May this season of Lent bring each of us to a sacred place where we can truly enjoy the abundant life of Easter – that life which our extravagant God is just aching to share with us.
2 comments March 10, 2010
A prayer for International Women’s Day
Today is International Women’s Day. We celebrate the accomplishments of all women and look with hope toward a future of equality and empowerment. On this occasion, it is fitting to share the story of Veronica Telar, a special woman, mother and leader in CFCA.
Veron is the CFCA project coordinator in Manila, Philippines. Her son was born with cerebral palsy. She said that on the day of his birth she became a working mother, a nurse, a therapist and a dietician. Three years ago, Veron’s husband left her and their son. Fortunately, her family is a source of support as she raises him alone.
“In this most challenging and difficult life, I keep my faith to the Lord, and I keep my son in my heart to cover my pain and distress,” Veron said. “At age 6, my son is not walking and talking yet, but he is absolutely giving joy and inspiration to me, to my family and, hopefully, to everyone who knows him well.”
Veron’s family is caring for her son while she walks with Bob and Walk2gether through Central America. Her reason for wanting to participate is simple: “I am walking for my son, and for every child and person who cannot walk yet.”
Please pray:
Lord, bless women everywhere. We pray especially for all those mothers, grandmothers and sisters who work to care for family members in need while forging their own paths in life. May their loving hearts and nurturing spirits be blessed with strength and joy. We ask this in your holy name. Amen.
Blessings,
CFCA Prayer Team
This is from our weekly ePrayer. Sign up to receive Prayer Partners in your inbox.
Add comment March 8, 2010
Kenya mothers group makes shoes
By Janet Tinsley, project director, Africa region
On a sunny day in the informal settlement of Kibera in Nairobi, the Vision Mothers group members file into a small courtyard in front of one of their member’s homes for their monthly meeting. The 30 women and one man, all wearing the same cloth wrapped around their waists, heads or shoulders, find seats on benches in the shady areas of the courtyard and open the meeting.
About two years ago, the Nairobi project team introduced the idea of mothers groups to the mothers of the Kibera subproject and asked them to begin forming groups and register with the local government. The project staff intentionally left these responsibilities in the hands of the mothers, insisting that they choose for themselves which group they would join, raise the funds for registration (around $20), and complete the registration process before asking the project for further support.
At the Nairobi project, the mothers group model operates from the basic belief that mothers are capable, resourceful people.
“We realized that whenever we called a parent meeting, it was the mothers who showed up,” Peter Ndungo, Nairobi project coordinator, said. “In our culture, the mothers are the ones [who are] most concerned with the well-being of children, so it made the most sense to work with them.”
At today’s meeting, the topic for discussion was finding a space to rent for their shoemaking business. Earlier this year, the group started learning to make and sell shoes as a way to add to their group loan fund.
The Vision Mothers came up with the unique idea for the shoemaking business through trial and error. Their original idea was to start a trash removal service in their community, but they soon realized that there were already many other groups doing this.
“We didn’t want conflict with the other groups, so we decided to change our business idea,” the group chairperson explains.
Shoemaking, a craft that is typically dominated by men in Kenya, is a nontraditional endeavor for the women. Nonetheless, the Vision Mothers saw shoemaking as an opportunity to make good profits and provide a much needed commodity for their community, but CFCA families are only some of the many customers they hope to serve in Kibera.
Some tools of the shoemaking trade
With the sale of their first batch of shoes, the group made a profit of about $130, and in the future, they hope to use the profits to start a resource and training center that would include a meeting hall and computer training for the members and the community.
Today is International Women’s Day! Read (and watch!) more inspiring stories about the women of CFCA:
Strength and power
An opportunity for women(Part 1)
Support in a time of need (Part 2)
Mothers share their talents to improve their community (Part 3)
Creating role models close to home (Part 4)
Add comment March 8, 2010
Sharing the water
Lenten reflection week 3
The fact that she was coming to the well in the noonday sun was a tipoff. The “respectable” women of the village all came out in the cool of the morning to draw their water and gossip. So, being one of the more popular subjects of their gossip, this Samaritan woman preferred to come at noon when nobody else was supposed to be around.
Except that day, somebody else was around – Jesus. He was sitting right there by the well where she couldn’t avoid him. And just when she had decided to quickly get her water and get out of there before anybody saw her alone with this Jewish man (the last thing she needed with her reputation), he had the nerve to ask her for a drink of water!
She could have ignored him. She could have waited for him to leave. She could have turned around and gone home. But there was something about this stranger that compelled her to engage with him in conversation. That choice made all the difference.
What follows in this marvelous story from John’s Gospel (John 4:5-42) is a tale of living water, of death to the mistakes of the past, and a community transformed through the leadership of its least likely member. And all because one man asked one woman for a drink – and because that woman had the courage to push her comfort zone and make a graced connection.
At CFCA, we like to say we see potential instead of poverty. We learned that from Jesus, who always managed to see through the trappings and the labels into the true heart of a person. It really doesn’t take any special ability to do that, but it does take faith.
So, who’s asking you for a drink of water today?
3 comments March 3, 2010
Early report indicates no CFCA fatalities
An early report from staff members in Chile indicates that there have been no fatalities among sponsored members. Our staff will continue to assess the situation of families impacted by the quake and send a more detailed report at a later date.
The report also said that a day center where aging members ate breakfast and lunch and took handicraft and art workshops is uninhabitable. As a result, the sponsored elderly will receive their nutritional benefits at another location and all workshops have been postponed until a new location is identified.
And finally, Sara Leiva, the Valparaiso project coordinator, said that sponsors with friends in Chile should keep in mind that letters both in and out of the country will be delayed. Some letters may arrive late or coated with earthquake dust. For now, the staff’s top priority is to assess and respond to the current needs of the families.
For more information, read the full news story on our website.
2 comments March 3, 2010
CFCA staff are fine
The following is an email sent Saturday evening by Sara Leiva, CFCA coordinator in CFCA Project Valparaiso, Chile, to Henry Flores, director of Communications Center in El Salvador, about her first impressions of the 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile early Saturday morning.
Dear Henry,
Good afternoon. Thank you very much for sharing the worries and concerns of the CFCA community. We have power in some areas of Valparaiso, Chile, and I was able to send this email from my sister’s house.
It was 3:35 a.m., when the earthquake started. We are kind of used to this because Chile is an area with high possibilities of earthquakes; however, this earthquake kept going longer than usual. It was then when my husband, Luis, our son and I tried to secure ourselves in the safest section of our apartment.
The noise was terrible. In spite of having the lights off, they began turning on and off by themselves. Shortly after that, the power went off. From my home, you can usually see all of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar, but when I looked outside, everything was dark. The water was off, too. Everything was full of dust, and phones lines had collapsed.
Some time later, some of my CFCA colleagues started to phone me, because we could not call out. Praise God, they were fine. At this moment, I can say that my family is well, too. Praise God, the construction in Chile is strong and can withstand the full force of the earthquakes.
As soon as we had daylight, I went to the CFCA office. On my way to there, I saw some areas of Valparaiso. They are very affected because they are historical constructions and not as strong as present-day buildings. I saw houses collapsed and many destroyed walls. The CFCA office looks OK. When I entered, I saw everything on the floor, the walls have cracks and the place is full of dust.
One of the walls on the first floor have collapsed, and there was water coming out from somewhere. I contacted some firemen who were working in the area, and they helped me close it. The firemen told me that I needed to report the damages because some of the walls are loose and dangerous. They suggested that we evacuate the office building.
We immediately took the files and other important things to the houses of some of the staff members to keep them safe. We knew that in situations like this there is always a high risk of robbery. After that, I visited the house of some of the staff members: Luis Olivares, Olga and Mauricio. We need to contact a friend of ours who is an engineer to have him assess the damages we have in the office.
The most affected area is located south from Valparaiso, and at this moment, we are in alert of tsunamis. The islands in front of Valparaiso are being affected by the high waves.
Henry, we strongly believe that our CFCA families are very scared, without running water, power or communications, but we are hopeful that they are well. As soon as we receive more news, we will notify you. We hope to have a steadier channel of communication, because we won’t be able to go back to our office for some time.
Thank you for your concern. I will be in touch.
Sara
15 comments March 1, 2010
Walk2gether team aware of tsunami warnings
We received the following report this morning from Karen Allemang, the lead Walk2gether coordinator, about how Bob and the Walk2gether team are impacted by the tsunami warnings resulting from the 8.8 Chilean earthquake.
I called down to Nicaragua and spoke with Adolfo, who is with the walkers. He’s driving one of the vehicles and is the technical expert. The tsunami warning covers an extensive area including Central America. Aldolfo said that they had heard the news earlier this morning when they started walking. They are only 15 or 20 kilometers from the coast so they are keeping an ear to the news stations. They aren’t overly concerned for their safety, but are aware of the warning. I let him know that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center shows that a tsunami has been generated but doesn’t specify where in the Pacific. He sends greetings to all.
Add comment February 27, 2010
Earthquake in Chile
Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the earthquake in Chile. We have contacted our Chilean staff, and will update you as we receive information from our project located in Valparaiso, Chile.
The Valparaiso project, the only CFCA project in Chile, is approximately 220 miles north of the epicenter. CFCA serves more than 5,000 sponsored children, youth and aging members through this project.
We ask that you join us in keeping all those affected by the earthquake in your prayers.
For more information about the earthquake in Chile, read this article from NPR.
3 comments February 27, 2010
The best birthday gift
By Shirley Foley, CFCA sponsor
On Aug. 30, I went on a mission awareness trip to Bolivia to meet my sponsored child, Kevin, and to visit the different CFCA projects. The mission awareness trip coincided with my birthday, Sept. 1, and this trip was the best gift that I have ever received.
I couldn’t wait to meet my godson, Kevin, who will be 8 years old next month. Kevin and I have been writing to each other regularly for nearly three years now, and have become close through our letters. Meeting Kevin personally for the first time was truly a moving experience. As we hugged, I was in tears — tears of joy and gratitude for the gift of sponsorship of this beautiful child. Kevin is delightful: he loves to play football, loves to draw, was the best student in his class last year, is an excellent reader and is very precious to me. Kevin and I were able to spend three days together visiting homes and projects with our group
As I am writing this, I am filling up with tears, not tears of sadness, but tears of joy as I remember the outpouring of love by our Bolivian friends. We visited homes and projects each day. In every project and in every home, we were received with such warmth and love as one could not imagine. During these visits, we, the group of sponsors, experienced a whole range of emotions — love, joy, kindness, heartbreak, laughter, friendship, faith, goodness, generosity, sadness, elation, the love of God, solidarity and the oneness of us all.
It was obvious that our Bolivian friends had spent months preparing for our visit. Everything was perfect. No detail was overlooked. Everywhere we visited, we were met with welcoming banners, with music and dances, delicious home-cooked meals, handmade gifts, necklaces, flowers and their wonderful warmth and love. And we danced!!!!! Joyfully!!!
The sponsors that I met in this group are loving, caring people who filled my heart with happiness and appreciation to have the pleasure of sharing this visit with them. I think that we really didn’t know what to expect on our visit. We knew that we would see poverty, but what we found was a deep and abiding love — a love showered on us at every step of our journey. Yes, we saw poverty, heart-wrenching poverty, but through and overall was the ever-present love and hope and faith of our beautiful Bolivian friends — men, women and children, old and young. They thanked us for our help and called us God’s angels. But they are God’s angels. We could never give these wonderful, kind and generous friends what they have given to us.
We were honored to walk with them, honored to stand in solidarity with them, honored to be united with them and honored to be family.
1 comment February 26, 2010
When life gives you lemons
Lenten reflection week 2
By Kelly Demo, CFCA preacher
“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” This may be a simplistic and even Pollyannaish way of looking at hardships. But the fact , I think, is that God may have inspired that saying because of all of the wonderful, miraculous things that he does.
Making lemonade out of the lemons we call our lives is what God does best. No matter how badly we mess things up, or try to, in the end, God can turn our hardships into something positive.
We see it time and again in scripture. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and taken to Egypt. Did God really want that to happen? I doubt it. But, God used that chain of events to save his people from starvation, to bring them into Egypt, and ultimately, to claim them as his own. God’s will would not be thwarted.
In the Gospel of Luke (13:31-35), we see Jesus being pretty clear that he has a plan, and no one is going to derail it. Herod is turning up the heat on Jesus, and Jesus tells him, in no uncertain terms, that he will finish his ministry on his own terms. God gave him a job to do, and he intends to do it.
Lent is a great time to reflect on God’s will for us in our lives. How do we try to thwart God’s plans for us? How has God pursued us to make his plans come to fruition? What is God’s plan for our lives?
Add comment February 24, 2010
