A. Whether through a current gift, will, trust, retirement fund or life insurance policy, you can support the ongoing work of CFCA and also provide for the continuation of sponsorship benefits, emergency assistance or higher education for your sponsored friend.

Planning today using our estate planning tools can make a lasting impact for years to come.

We are here to help with any questions you or your advisers might have regarding estate gifts to CFCA. Contact Michael Calabria at (800) 875-6564 or giftplanning@cfcausa.org, or visit hopeforafamily.org/estate for suggested language and beneficiary information for your attorney to include in your estate documents.

We assign the highest reasonable amount of available resources to directly benefit sponsored friends. See our financials and the consistently high ratings we receive from independent charity evaluators.

As a longtime CFCA sponsor, I had often read the invitations to join a trip to visit my sponsored child.

CFCA sponsor Laura Seyfang and her sponsored friend, Sophia.

While I felt committed to the CFCA mission and loved sharing letters with my two sponsored children, one in the Philippines and one in Kenya, I never felt able to justify the time and expense of such a trip.

This past December I was able to make it happen when I combined a Habitat for Humanity Global Village Trip with a visit to my CFCA sponsored child in Kenya.

I wasn’t sure CFCA would embrace my visit since it wasn’t one of their trips, but was very happy to receive overwhelming support to make this personal connection happen.

Habitat for Humanity is a non-denominational Christian organization whose goal is to provide decent affordable housing for all. This organization provides opportunities for volunteers to help build houses in nearly 50 countries around the globe.

During my trip to Kenya with 20 other volunteers, we were able to work on constructing four houses for families in an internal displaced persons camp, where they had been living in tents for almost four years.

It was a lot of hard work, but the results were extremely rewarding.

At the conclusion of the Habitat Build, I hired a driver who took me to Meru in northeastern Kenya, where my sponsored child, Sophia, lived.

It was a long drive into very rural countryside. The last 12 miles (20 kilometers) or so, I saw no other vehicles but lots of people walking along the roads, laden with baskets, goats across their shoulders or dead chickens swinging from their belts.

The driver told me it was market day and everyone was bringing their goods to buy and sell.

We drove to the CFCA office where a local staff person welcomed me and spent an hour showing me how they manage the 713 children who are sponsored in that region.

I was truly impressed with the thoroughness of their files: a copy of every letter Sophia ever wrote to me or that I wrote to her was in her file.

There was a budget sheet for each month she had been in the program.

The staff person explained that Sophia, 17, and her mother come each month to the office to review her progress and plan how my contribution will be spent.

CFCA sponsor Laura Seyfang with her sponsored child, Sophia, and Sophia's family.

First priority always goes to her boarding school fees, but Sophia has input in deciding how any leftover money is spent.

One month she bought new shoes, another month a dress. In November, the extra money went to her family to buy needed food and supplies.

I liked seeing Sophia’s involvement in the budgeting process, as it will be a useful life skill for her.

Then we headed out to Sophia’s home. The last mile or so was on foot since there really was no road, just a mountain path through corn and bean fields.

Every 100 yards or so was a cluster of three mud and grass huts, and after a 20-minute walk, we came to the cluster of huts that housed Sophia’s extended family.

It was such a moving experience when Sophia came running down the path and flew into my arms. We both were smiling through our tears as we stared into each other’s eyes and saw a person we already knew.

Sophia proudly introduced me to her whole family. My CFCA escort took lots of pictures and helped us when there were communication challenges, but mostly we were able to communicate just fine by ourselves.

Sophie had never touched blond hair before, so she spent a lot of time touching mine and holding my hand.

I had brought many small presents for Sophia’s family that they all graciously accepted but set aside to look at later.

While showing me their two goats, Sophia’s older sister asked me, “Can you carry a chicken?”

I really wasn’t sure what she meant by that, so I hesitantly said, “Well where I live, only farmers tend to have chickens, and I live in a city, so I never have carried a chicken.”

One look at the sister’s face made me realize I had not given an answer that made sense.

Then out of the blue (or from the Holy Spirit?), it came to me as I remembered all those people I had seen walking along the road carrying dead chickens.

I realized she was offering me to take one of their chickens as a gift (they only owned two).

I was so overwhelmed by the generous offer from this family who had next to nothing.

Not wanting to offend, I said, “I would be honored to carry a chicken from you, but unfortunately when I leave here I am going straight to the airport in Nairobi to catch a plane home, and they won’t let me carry a chicken on the plane.”

I could tell from her nod and smile that this was a good answer. Sophia then ran into her hut and came out with two lovely baskets woven by her aunt, which she presented to me as a parting gift.

Connecting like this with Sophia and her family was what being human is all about.

Some of the damage after Cyclone Thane in India.

Cyclone Thane hit southern India last December, damaging houses and uprooting trees and electricity poles. Forty families in the CFCA project in Chennai were affected by the damage.

Sreekanth Gundoji, CFCA communications liaison in India, recently traveled with CFCA staff members from the Chennai project to see how CFCA is helping these families rebuild after the cyclone. This is his report.

When I visited families in the CFCA sponsorship program who were affected by the cyclone, I observed that most of the families don’t have concrete houses.

Their houses are in the urban slums of Pondicherry.

Due to the cyclone’s severe winds, the houses of 23 sponsored friends in the Pondicherry area suffered damage to the roof and walls.

John Pierre, CFCA sponsored youth in India, whose house was destroyed after Cyclone Thane hit.

The homes of two sponsored youth, John Pierre and Jackline, are completely damaged. The whole roof is collapsed.

John Pierre’s story

John Pierre, 17, said the heavy winds came around 3 a.m. on Dec. 30. “We were afraid and went to our grandmother’s house,” he said.

The family left all their belongings in the house and wondered whether they would be able to recover them. Early the next day they went back to the house and saw the roof had collapsed.

All their belongings were soaked, but John Pierre found one piece of good news.

“Luckily my school books are in the cupboard, so they did not become wet,” he said.

John Pierre said his father is a day laborer at the nearby railway station and his mother is a housemaid.

The family’s limited income makes it difficult to bear the expenses of renovating the house.

Jackline’s story

Jackline, left, and her mother, Kasthuri, are clearing out the remains of their house after Cyclone Thane.

Kasthuri, Jackline’s mother, said her family also woke up on Dec. 30 because of the noise of the heavy winds.

“When we heard the cracking sounds from the roof, we started rushing towards the gate,” she said. “The minute when we came out of the house, the whole roof felt down.”

Jackline, 17, and her family returned to find many of their belongings damaged, including their clothing.

“Every day we are washing the cloths and clearing the things little by little,” Kasthuri said. “Right now neighbors are giving us shelter, and each one of us is staying in different houses at night. We have to manage like this until our house is repaired.”

Sarita Mendanha, the CFCA project coordinator in Chennai, said staff members are working with families to provide emergency assistance. They helped the families find temporary shelter after the cyclone and will also provide money for roof and wall repairs.

The families of John Pierre and Jackline will receive financial assistance for rebuilding their homes.

Jackelin

Jackelin, 11

“I would like it if they told me about their family, friends and their cat. Also I would like them to tell me about where they live, how the city and country are.

“I would like to personally know and thank them for all the things they have given me. I would also like them to send me lots of pictures.”

Kevin

David, 7

“I want to know what my sponsor eats, and if they eat what they like. I would also like him to tell me where he lives and to send a photo.”

Kevin, 7

“… if there are robbers where my sponsor lives and if his work is going well.”

Jennifer, 9

“I would like to know how my sponsor’s family and children are doing and whether he has all he needs. I would like for my sponsor always to support me in everything I do, and am grateful that he gives me much love. I work very hard and send him lots of hugs and kisses.”

Wendy

Wendy, 7

“I would like them to tell me how they are doing, if they live with the family and for them to send me a photo.”

Katherine, 16

“I would like to know how their whole family is doing, and how he is doing since I last heard from him, how it’s been going in the [U.S.] Air Force, what has happened in his life since he last wrote.

“Also, what food he likes, if he is sick or well, his birthday so I can send a card and a happy birthday greeting, how old he is, if he lives with his children, if his wife is still alive, if he is a grandfather, if he still has his dogs.

“I’d like to know if he has received the letters I sent with thanks for his support and help. But the most important for me is to know how he is.”

Related links:

5 great letter-writing ideas for your sponsored friend

Ticucos from Honduras.

CFCA serves more than 17,000 sponsored children and elderly in Honduras. Our staff members there sent us this beautiful recipe for ticucos!

This recipe serves approximately 6 people.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. corn flour or “masa”*
• 1 lb. cooked, small white or red beans (frijoles*)
• 1/2 lb. cooked kidney beans (habichuelas*)
• About 2 cups vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• Dry bouillon or seasoning to taste
• Dry leaves to wrap the corn dough (corn leaves or “hojas de tuzas”), or aluminum foil
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped chipilin* leaves or cilantro
• A large cooking pot

*These items are available in a Hispanic grocery store.

In a bowl, combine the oil, salt, bouillon or seasoning and flour until the dough is soft and uniform in texture. Then add the beans and dried chipilin or cilantro and mix together well.

Have the leaves ready. Drop a small quantity of the dough in a leaf, leaving enough room to be able to wrap the leaf around it. Then, fold over the leaf and tie the ends together with string or another piece of leaf. Or wrap the balls of dough in aluminum foil.

Cook ticucos in boiling water over low heat for one hour.

Serve ticucos with homemade tomato sauce or, if you prefer, with cream or butter.

Related links:

• Honduran eco-stoves help CFCA improve the environment

Edwin and Natali pray together in El Salvador. Both are sponsored through CFCA.

Sponsored children and aging friends around the world pray for their sponsors. At CFCA offices we pray for you, too.

Every day, in the morning and just before lunch, a bell rings at our CFCA headquarters in Kansas City.

The bell signals a call to pray, and a group of staff members puts aside work for a few minutes to gather in prayer for CFCA sponsors, sponsored friends and others in our community.

If you have an intention you’d like us to pray for, we’d be honored to include it in our prayers.

Simply enter your request at www.hopeforafamily.org/pray. Note: These prayers are offered in our chapel and are not shared publicly.

Thank you for being a part of our worldwide community of compassion and hope.

P.S. We have a weekly Prayer Partners email that features prayer requests for the CFCA community around the world. If you’re interested in praying with us, please go to this page to sign up: http://www.cfcausa.org/GetInvolved/StayConnected.aspx

We recently learned that “Rise and Dream” is an official selection in the 2012 Thin Line Film Fest, an international documentary film festival, which will run from Feb. 10 to Feb. 20 in Denton, Texas.

This will be our world premiere – the first time the film will be shown to the public!

If you live in or near the Denton or Dallas/Fort Worth areas or are in the mood for a road trip, please come and see the movie! We know you’ll love the film, and we’re hoping for a packed house to show support for the film and for CFCA.

Rise and Dream will be showing at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11, in the Campus Theatre, located one block west of the downtown square: 214 West Hickory St., Denton, Texas 76201. Seating is limited, so we encourage you to get tickets soon.

Do you know anyone in or near Denton or the Dallas/Fort Worth area? If so, please forward this information to them and encourage them to attend as well. This is our first film festival, and we really need your help in getting the word out.

A little context about “Rise and Dream”

“Rise and Dream” follows the story of 13 teenagers living with the challenges of poverty in a volatile region of the Philippines. The teens volunteer to learn the music traditions of their culture for a once-in-a-lifetime concert.

The film, produced by CFCA, is intended to give viewers a new understanding of the potential that exists within people living in poverty. We hope it will raise awareness about the heroic struggles of families trying to break the cycle of extreme poverty seen in developing countries — where many struggle to live on just a few dollars each day.

Please visit the “Rise and Dream” page on the Thin Line Film Fest website to purchase tickets and get more information.

Thanks so much!

Related links:

Rise and Dream website

More than 8,000 children have been sponsored through the “8,000 miles for 8,000 kids” effort inspired by Walk2gether, the 8,000-mile solidarity walk through Latin America led by CFCA President and Co-founder Bob Hentzen.

Related news report: ’8,000 miles for 8,000 kids’ meet goal

We cannot thank everyone enough for all the help we received in making this possible. This was a labor of love for so many people, and we deeply appreciate your support.

As Bob says, “For each of you who walked with us in fact or in prayer, this continues to be an exciting and humbling journey into the lives of our sponsored friends, their families and our CFCA colleagues.”

Thank you, CFCA community!

Clockwise, from top left, are eucalyptus leaves, orange leaves, anise seeds and ginger root. Maria, grandmother of three CFCA sponsored children in Honduras, uses all these items for her natural home remedies.

In our ongoing series about natural home remedies used by sponsored friends and their families, we look to Honduras.

Maria is caretaker of three CFCA sponsored children in Honduras. She has a vast knowledge of herbal remedies intended to alleviate discomfort from common ailments such as coughs, colds, fever and nausea.

Her practice does not discourage her neighbors from visiting doctors or hospitals. However, because of her vast knowledge in herbal remedies, neighbors prefer going to her first for a quick diagnosis and affordable treatment.

(Read more about how she uses herbal remedies to help her community.)

Here are some herbal remedies Maria recommends during the winter and flu season.

Note: This blog post is provided purely for informational purposes to shed light on the lives of CFCA sponsored children and elderly. CFCA does not endorse these remedies or encourage readers to try them.

If you do decide to try a natural home remedy, please check with your doctor first. Certain home remedies, particularly herbal ones, can interact with prescription medications.

Coughs

1. Anise tea – Anise contains many anti-inflammatory properties and works as a good cough suppressant. Half a teaspoon of dried anise is added to a cup of hot water, and the patient takes 2-3 cups a day after meals.
2. Verbena tea – Verbena can be effective in treating bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses. One teaspoonful of dried verbena leaves is added to a cup of water for 10 minutes, and the patient drinks 2-3 cups a day.
3. Thyme tea – Thyme is a potent antiseptic, eliminating germs and reducing symptoms caused by fever. It can alleviate throat pain when the palate, tonsils or pharynx is inflamed. A tablespoon of thyme is combined with two tablespoons chamomile in about 33 fluid ounces (a liter) of water, then boiled until about a third remains. Once it’s sweetened, the patient takes 3 teaspoonfuls a day.

Colds

1. Eucalyptus tea – Eucalyptus can help reduce inflammation of the nasal passages and allow for better respiration. For making tea, a pinch (3 grams) of dry leaves are boiled for every cup of water. Cold patients take 2 cups of eucalyptus tea, sweetened with honey.
2. Ginger tea – Ginger is useful for alleviating nasal congestion and joint pains resulting from toxins produced by flu microorganisms. A teaspoonful of dried ginger root is added to a cup of water, then boiled and drunk as a tea. Maria recommends taking a couple of cups a day, adding the juice of half a lime to strengthen it.
3. Mint tea – Mint is rich in menthol, which increases sweat production and decongests the respiratory passages. These properties are used in treating flu and colds since helps lower fevers by evaporation and opening the respiratory passages. To make mint tea, infuse a tablespoon of dried mint leaves for 10 minutes. A couple of cups a day is recommended.
4. Verbena tea – see above “Coughs” section.

Fever

1. Elderberry tea – Elderberry flowers can help produce sweat, which contributes to healing. It is very useful against respiratory problems, especially to alleviate coughing or reduce fever. Approximately 0.7 ounce of leaves is infused for 10 minutes in about 33 fluid ounces (a liter) of water. The tea can be taken all day long.
2. Orange tree tea – The orange tree has medicinal properties that can help reduce fever. For making this tea, a whole orange is crushed with its skin and softened with sugar in a glass of boiling water. Nine leaves from the sour orange tree, with the veins removed, are infused for every cup of water. About 4-6 cups of tea are recommended per day.

Related links:

• Natural home remedies used in Guatemala
• Natural home remedies used in India

What’s your favorite natural home remedy? Feel free to share in the comments!

By Shanxi Omoniyi, CFCA web editor and writer

If you sponsor a child, have you ever wondered what kinds of games sponsored children play?

Despite the challenges of poverty, kids in developing countries often find joy in playing with whatever they have available. Many of these games don’t require a lot of items, but they keep children entertained for hours!

On a recent mission awareness trip to Chile, sponsors got to observe – and participate in – games popular among sponsored children. I was honored to be part of the trip.

We hope you enjoy learning and watching these games as much as we enjoyed playing them!

1) Balloon game

Before the game begins, all participants have a balloon tied to one of their ankles.

As a contestant, your objective is to stamp on all the other players’ balloons while protecting your own. Speed and agility are definite advantages here!

2) Catch the tail (atrapar la cola) game

Here’s the best way I can describe this game, which makes for one of my all-time favorite videos.

Contestants form two teams. Each team then makes up a chain, linked by one player’s hands on the hip of the player in front.

The goal is to keep your chain from falling apart while trying to link up to the opposing chain, before it links up to you!

3) Ball catching, stacking game

Participants get a stack of plastic cups, along with a handful of golf-sized balls.

The objective of the game is to bounce and catch one ball in every cup. It starts off easy, but gets progressively harder as the cups stack up.

4) Spinning top (trompo) game

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get footage of this not working, which you’d think happens more often than when it works.

Instead of just a normal spinning top, participants wind the top around a string.

These aren’t just ordinary tops, either. They come in solid wood adorned with a metal tip.

With a quick jerk of the hand, contestants release the string in such a way as to release the top so that it spins and travels along the ground.

5) Game of eggs on spoons

You may have played a version of this. Contestants balance hard-boiled eggs on spoons while walking as fast as they can to the finish line!

6) Emboque game

The Spanish word for these contraptions is emboques.

The objective of this game is to toss the top end of your emboque (a small wooden stick) into the air, then catch it in a hole inside the bottom end of your emboque (a wooden bell shape).

Sounds complicated? It is!

7) Target practice

You don’t need a lot of tools to make children play for hours! We saw many kids wait to practice their aim with a ball and hit objects invitingly displayed on a table.

8) Traditional dancing

Of course, no stay in Chile would be complete without some traditional dancing. This isn’t quite a game, but it was too sweet not to include.

Thanks to all the fellow sponsors and brave adventurers featured in these videos!

“Bob’s notes” are reports from CFCA President Bob Hentzen, who regularly accompanies mission awareness trip participants. You can see Bob’s full update on his Facebook page.

What a joy for Cristina and me to share this sacred time with 36 sponsors, their sponsored friends and families, and a great group of CFCA co-workers.

This New Year’s group of sponsors includes a good number of children and young people. They found a Guatemala in great need, but in the happy time of coffee harvest.

Students in Guatemala will be out of school until mid-January; coffee harvest involves the entire family.

[Related link: Read our story about families harvesting coffee in Guatemala.]

A new president, new congressional representatives and new mayors will take office on Jan. 15.

This is also the time of the “safra” – the burning, cutting and hauling of sugar cane. The air is filled with the distinct odor and falling ash of the cane. It is impressive to think that every stalk must be hand-cut by campesinos, darkened by the coastal sun and carbon, and cut and stacked. They are paid for by the ton.

I thank our communications team in Guatemala (Ricardo, Luis, Gerver) for their fine pictures and technical help.

Expressions I’ve heard this week:

• “I found out that there are two special children in Guatemala – one named after me, and the other named after my son Kevin.” ~Barbara, CFCA sponsor
• “Guatemala is a beautiful country, especially in the people.”
• “The music of the choral group (moms, dads, grandmothers, children, staff) from Patzun brought tears to my eyes. Such harmony amidst all their challenges.”
• “On this trip, we were able to experience the tierra sagrada (sacred ground) of the Quiche martyrs.”
• “In each of the CFCA projects we visited, we have been treated to great performances of what I would call true folklore.”
• Quote from Katie, one of the children on the mission awareness trip: “Mr. Bob is Grandpa to the world and his wife Cristina is Grandma to the world.”
• “What a way to start the New Year. I have learned so much about my sponsored family and about proyectos productivos [CFCA livelihood programs]. Sponsored [friends and their] families are learning to produce vegetables for their own family and for market sales.”
• From Alex, a youth on the mission awareness trip: “We hope to continue burning that candle of hope at home, and to continue walking with God’s people.”

Here’s wishing each of you every blessing in the exciting year just beginning.

Cristina and I ask for your prayers as we accompany our dear sponsors to India, Philippines, the Dominican Republic and many other parts of the CFCA world.

Please know of our thanks and love.

Bob H.
CFCA-Guatemala
Jan. 10, 2012

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 82,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 4 days for that many people to see it.

In 2011, there were 237 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 639 posts. There were 580 pictures uploaded. That’s about 2 pictures per day.

We appreciate all our blog visitors and subscribers for giving us such great readership in 2011!

Now imagine going to school with a badly worn, patched-over uniform because your parents couldn’t afford a new one for you.

Gladness, a sponsored youth from Tanzania, faced this situation every day. But no longer, thanks to some help from a CFCA social worker, her mother’s diligent budgeting and a tailor’s magic touch.

Read the rest of Gladness’ story.

We would like to give you an opportunity to receive one of these calendars by sharing your sponsorship story with others. You can:

• Write a blog post on your own blog about your personal sponsorship experience with CFCA and send us a link.
• Write a guest blog post for us to post on the CFCA blog, then submit your post to us.
• Leave a comment on a CFCA blog post of your choice to have your name entered in a daily drawing. A name will be randomly selected as the winner of a CFCA calendar.

We have only a limited number of calendars left, so please submit your entries to socialmedia@cfcausa.org with the subject line, “Submission for 2012 desk calendar,” as soon as possible.

Note: These calendars will be sent only to U.S. residents.

Thank you!

Mothers of sponsored children give sponsored elderly friends massage therapy in a CFCA livelihood program in the Philippines.

Yesterday we conducted a Twitter chat about livelihood programs and different ways that people make a living around the world.

Read the highlights: “How people make a living worldwide” on Storify

We’re grateful for all the participation and engagement during this hour-long chat. If you haven’t had a chance yet to join our Twitter chats, we’d love to see you next time!

Here’s a look at some of the amazing work that CFCA and its supporters have accomplished.

We also thought this is a great time to share a few of our New Year’s resolutions (though we might as well just call them goals) for 2012:

1. Sponsorships through Facebook

While our goal for the year was 50, we managed to exceed it and find 52 sponsors for children and elderly who have been featured on our Facebook wall. They have been given great opportunities for future success through sponsorship.

Next year, our goal is to find 75 sponsors.

2. Facebook “likes”

We think our organization is great. And apparently 4,334 (and counting) of you do, too. We’d love to see our Facebook audience grow.

Our goal was to reach 5,000 supporters and CFCA supporters on Facebook for 2011, and we’re excited to continue and expand our online/social media reach to 10,000 for 2012.

3. eLetters

Our eLetter feature (a message sent to your friend through your CFCA online account) on our website launched in August 2011. This is something all of us here at CFCA are extremely excited about.

Since August, 5,857 eLetters were sent between sponsors and sponsored friends. In December alone, 2,590 eLetters were sent and received. We’d love to see that number increase in 2012.

If you have friends who sponsor through CFCA and don’t yet know about eLetters, please spread the word!

4. Reaching our audience

We are working on raising awareness of CFCA to anyone interested in sponsorship, which is why we have multiple ways online to spread the word about our work.

We would love to see more traffic on our YouTube, Vimeo and Twitter accounts.

Now that we’ve shared a few of our resolutions, we’d love to know some of yours. Post ‘em here. What’s a goal of yours in 2012?

Daniel Nguyen took this picture at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in December 2011. "Watching the sun rise from below the clouds, which are below the top of Kilimanjaro at my feet, was an emotional experience," he writes. "The rich golden sunshine casts a dramatic contrast with the deep blue sky above."

A longtime CFCA sponsor, Daniel Nguyen, is climbing the highest mountain in the Americas – Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina!

“At 22,841 feet, it is the second highest of the Seven Summits of the World, only after Mount Everest,” Daniel said. “Outside the Himalayas, it is the highest mountain in the world.”

His mountain-climbing expedition starts in February 2012. He’ll be carrying a flag with the CFCA logo and plans to plant it at the summit as a way to raise awareness of our work.

Daniel has sponsored through CFCA since 1997. He also traveled on a mission awareness trip to Guatemala in 2003.

“I’m very proud of the work CFCA has been doing,” he said “I’ve been part of the organization for so long, and if anything, this [mountain climbing] is my way of overcoming my own challenges. I would like to share how I can make a difference, the joy and delight [of sponsorship] with the people I care about.”

This expedition won’t be the first time he’s climbed a mountain. He reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in December 2010.

“I’m not a professional by any means,” he said, “but mountain climbing is one of those things I have always wanted to do.”

Daniel at Uhuru Peak, the one and only top of Mount Kilimanjaro. The peak is at 19,341 feet.

He says he will always remember climbing the last hill to the top of Kilimanjaro, which seemed impossibly steep at the time. The air was so thin that he had to stop about every 10 steps – a feeling of utter helplessness, he said.

But the magic of the climb was like everything else in life, he said.

“If you look too far ahead or let your mind ramble, you’ll be inundated with fear,” he said. “But if you take one step at a time, then everything becomes so much easier and doable.”

Daniel sees a lot of parallels between climbing mountains and overcoming challenges such as those presented by poverty.

“It’s a matter of hope, of perseverance,” he said. “Mountain climbing, especially to the summit of the world, is 70 percent mental. …

“With the challenges of the world and poverty, if we think we can overcome a problem, then that’s already 70 percent of the battle.”

Godspeed, Daniel, from all of us here at CFCA!

If you would like to donate to CFCA in honor of Daniel Nguyen, please go to the following page on our website: http://www.cfcausa.org/danielnguyen and type “Daniel Nguyen” into the name field when submitting your donation.

Guatemala’s two CFCA projects, Hermano Pedro and Atitlan, are based in San Lucas Toliman.

The Hermano Pedro project, CFCA’s largest, serves sponsored friends in eight geographic regions of the country. The Atitlan project serves members primarily in and around Lake Atitlan.

Serving a community this large is only possible with the dedicated and talented CFCA staff led by Jorge Armas. Jorge is the coordinator for CFCA’s Guatemala office in San Lucas Toliman.

In this video, he talks about his dedication to the families he and the CFCA staff serve.

“And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them, until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.” (Matthew 2:9)

It is interesting to observe how differently families and faith communities deal with the “Three Kings” in their Nativity scenes.

Some place the figurines right there at the manger, along with the baby Jesus, as soon as Advent begins, while others keep them hidden away until the Feast of the Epiphany and only then allow their crèches to be complete.

These varying customs reflect the differing attitudes people have about Christmas, a point that came home to me on Dec. 26 this year when I was at a gathering and wished somebody a Merry Christmas only to be told I was too late!

I don’t mind these responses because they give me the opportunity to remind people that Christmas is a season and not just a day. And, unlike the secular “holiday” season that seems to be starting earlier each year, the true Christmas season only begins Dec. 25.

Picture taken on a 2011 mission awareness trip to meet CFCA sponsored children in Kenya and Uganda.

The Magi are good symbols for the fact that Christmas is a journey. Their legend has them traveling from an unknown foreign land to seek the Christ-child, a pilgrimage that would have likely taken months if not years.

And they followed a star, which to our GPS-enabled sensibilities might not seem like the most reliable way to find a particular home. But there is meaning in that star, for these people trusted in God enough to set out on the journey without understanding their destination.

Each of us is engaged in the same journey as the Magi. We too are beckoned by God and given no detailed road map, and the only thing we know for sure is that our task is to seek the Christ.

The Magi succeeded not so much because they found him (for he will always be found!), but rather because they had the good sense to recognize him when they did.

As we come to the close of another Christmas season, my prayer for each of us is that we, like the Magi, will be blessed with the good sense to recognize Christ when we find him. Within the CFCA community this blessing is realized on a daily basis, and for that we are so thankful.

May God bless you and the star you follow during the coming year. May it lead you away from the comfortable and predictable and deeper into your own heart. And, along the way, may you find joyful companionship in God and others.

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not anxious [3rd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]

You can help! All it takes is less than a minute of your time to share this short CFCA video about who we are and what we do:

It takes place nine days, from Dec. 16 to Dec. 24.

CFCA’s project in Santa Ana held this year’s posada celebration for sponsored friends and their families at its new center, which was inaugurated in early December. Read more about the center here.

A posada consists of two groups of people. One group sings the posada song, which asks permission for a place to stay after their travels. This is to represent Mary and Joseph asking for shelter.

The other group represents the neighbors responding, either denying shelter or (finally) offering a place to stay for the night.

Sponsored aging friends also did a dramatization of Jesus’ birth this year.

When the doors finally open, everyone enters and starts to pray the rosary.

At the end of the rosary, all celebrate that Mary and Joseph have a place to sleep. They celebrate with food, piñatas and candies for the kids.

Related links

• Las Posadas in Guatemala

From left are Iveth, a sponsored child from Nicaragua, and Hannah, who chose Iveth for her family to sponsor after a priest visited the family’s church in Iowa on behalf of CFCA.

Hannah’s family has sponsored Iveth since 2005, and Hannah finally met Iveth on a 2011 mission awareness trip!

Want to submit your photo for the next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture?

To submit, simply email a .jpg photo file (the higher the resolution, the better) to cfcacommunications@cfcausa.org.

Include your name and your preferred form of contact (phone, email, etc.) in case we have any questions about your submission.

Thanks, and Happy New Year! We wish you all the best in 2012.

Your gift changes the future of a generation, one life at a time: providing access to higher education and unlocking the door to a successful future, free from the binds of poverty.

Scholarship students like Lucy from Tanzania send their most heartfelt thanks.

Donate today. Support students struggling to build a better future for themselves, their families and their communities.

Donations for 2011 must be received online by 11:59 p.m. Central time, Dec. 31.

Note: We value your trust and are committed to financial stewardship. At CFCA 94 percent of our expenses go toward program support.

Recently we invited our readers to vote on which was our best blog post of 2011.

The voting was fast and furious – more than twice as many votes as last year! We’re thrilled with the response.

All of the posts were wonderful, but as always, there had to be a winner…

Organic vegetable gardening takes root in CFCA Filipino community came in first place.

A close second (with only five votes making the difference) was sponsor Cheri Duchrow’s ‘God story’ behind her latest sponsorship.

In third place was Kristi Sands with her reflection on 12 years of child sponsorship.

Thanks, again, to everyone who responded to our survey.

Happy New Year, and we hope 2012 brings more and even better stories to the CFCA community!

Mothers of sponsored children in Merida, Mexico, prepare a delicious meal to thank local CFCA staff members.

The mothers of sponsored children in Merida, Mexico, helped us realize the importance of a voice tuned in to the needs of the people.

There are 363 sponsored friends (344 sponsored children and 19 sponsored elderly) in this Yucatan community of CFCA’s Merida project.

On weekends, people from different neighborhoods gather at the downtown CFCA office.

On Dec. 5, 2011, a CFCA mothers group invited the Merida project staff members to a meal to thank them for all the attention and work done for sponsored friends and their families.

“With my hard work and with the help I was given, my dream to have a small diner became a reality,” said Bercy, one of the mothers. “When I received my sponsorship benefit, I put aside some products that don’t spoil, such as oil and beans. This happened for two years. Today, I have my diner named ‘Noy’ after my son.”

The local CFCA coordinator, Elvia Valladares, is a perfect example of commitment and dedication to work.

On one occasion, the children of one of the mothers contacted her and told her their mother did not want to continue living. Her family situation made her think that there was no other solution.

The following day, a trip was scheduled to a recreational park in which Elvia was at this mother’s side. Elvia spent time that day and over many months talking to her and giving advice until the mother had renewed her will to live.

The CFCA mothers group and local CFCA staff members in Merida, Mexico.

Today, that mother opened the doors of her home to thank all those who work in this great family called CFCA.

“The sponsors are part of every family in the CFCA program because they are supporting the families to get ahead, and the sponsors feel proud of the families,” said Mariela, a sponsored child. “Thanks to CFCA, sponsored children can study. Every sponsor has one sponsored friend and every sponsored friend has one sponsor with the responsibility to use the benefits wisely.

“There are children who want to study and they don’t have the support that we have. I thank you with all my heart for what you are doing for us. I especially thank my sponsor and CFCA. I thank God for putting you in my life. I will do my best to get ahead. I won’t let you down. I will make you proud of me.”

CFCA staff members are always grateful for the love shown by families in the sponsorship program.

“Many things have happened this year, but with these words, we feel energized to continue our work,” said Gaspar Gongora, CFCA project coordinator in Merida. “We don’t want recognition. We work because we like what we do, but seeing you … is beautiful. I know you are a united group. Thanks to Elvia and you for this moment.”

*Note: The CFCA community featured in this report put together an extra contribution from families of sponsored friends to give to a lady who is not in the Hope for a Family sponsorship program, but whom they knew and wanted to help.

“And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.” (Luke 2:19)

Raising children is always an adventure, but perhaps even more so for adoptive parents.

Often I am completely clueless about the whys and wherefores of my son’s personality because, unlike some, I can’t look at him and see myself at his age.

And I learned pretty early on in my parenthood that it is a mistake to try.

Sure, this can be frustrating at times, but it can also be a delight. I can’t count the number of times I have been bowled over by the creative insights Ben has or by his left-field sense of humor.

He sees things just a little differently from me, and I have come to cherish that difference as a surprise bonus of him being my son.

My experience with Ben gives me, I think, a little insight into what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph as they raised Jesus.

Even before his birth they knew that this child would be different and that they would have to get used to sharing him with the world.

Natalia, left, CFCA sponsored child in Chile, and her mother.

We tend to think of Mary and Joseph as the calm center in the amazing series of events that surrounded the birth of their son, but that is only part of the picture.

They weren’t the passive figures in the crèche, silent witnesses to God’s work. Through their courage, faith and deep love for their child, they helped shape salvation history.

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, it is good to reflect on her role in particular.

Mary was asked by God to do something incredible in becoming the mother of Jesus.

In saying “yes” she knew that she was putting her reputation and even her life in danger, yet she trusted God so completely that she was willing to take the risk.

But more amazing even than Mary’s faith in God was God’s faith in her. To this poor Jewish girl, practically still a child herself, was entrusted the care and nurturing of the one who carried with him the hopes of humankind.

Into her hands, literally, was placed God’s promise to the world.

Mary’s story is a good reminder of how God chooses to partner with us in order to serve the needs of others.

We are God’s hands and feet and voice in the world. Realizing this should both humble and affirm us, for we are the bearers of both divine responsibility and divine trust.

So let us say a prayer for all the mothers and fathers in our world who, like Mary and Joseph, cradle God’s promise in their arms.

And let us remember especially those parents in our CFCA projects throughout the world who struggle heroically to give their children better lives than they themselves have known.

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not anxious [3rd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

Warm milk with pepper or pepper powder is used in India to relieve sore throats and coughs.

The winter season is from November to March in almost all Indian states. The days are cold with average temperature ranging from 50-64 degrees Fahrenheit (10-18 degrees Celsius), but it can drop down to below 32 degrees (0 degrees Celsius) in some higher ranges of northern India.

Here are three common Indian home remedies used during the winter and flu seasons.

Note: This blog post is provided purely for informational purposes to shed light on the lives of CFCA sponsored children and elderly. CFCA does not endorse these remedies or encourage readers to try them.

If you do decide to try a natural home remedy, please check with your doctor first. Certain home remedies, particularly herbal ones, can interact with prescription medications.

Stuffy noses, colds

This remedy reminded us of Vicks! A common vapor therapy used in India is to add a teaspoon of turmeric powder to a bowl of hot water. The patient’s head is covered with a towel or blanket. The patient then inhales the vapor to get relief within 5-10 minutes.

Sore throats, coughing

A glass of warm milk with pepper or pepper powder is drunk before going to bed. Ginger tea is another common option.

Here’s a recipe for ginger tea: Mix 1 cup milk, ½ cup water, 1 spoon of powdered tea leaves, 1 spoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of fresh ginger juice. Boil the tea, strain it, and drink.

Skin care

Skin can get dry and itchy during cold weather. People in India often apply plain butter or cream on the exposed skin and let it absorb for half an hour. Then they wash it off with warm water.

Another method is to apply coconut oil before a bath, using a scrub made of gram flour (cereal flour made from ground chickpeas) and a pinch of turmeric. It is said to improve the complexion, too!

Related links:

• Natural home remedies used in Guatemala
• Natural home remedies used in Honduras

What’s your favorite natural home remedy? Feel free to share in the comments!

Their sponsorship started out like most. They sponsored Marisela after a CFCA preacher visited their parish.

“Things weren’t financially great at that time,” Ed Bartolomeo said. “It was tough paying our bills. We were getting by. But we thought if we don’t go to dinner once a month, we could easily support this little girl.”

They sent their monthly contribution, wrote occasionally and sometimes sent small gifts to Marisela.

Their sponsorship experience was transformed, however, when they met Marisela and her family in 2011 on their first CFCA mission awareness trip.

Read all about it on our website: Sponsors meet friend after 14 years of sponsorship

Recently CFCA’s Hermano Pedro project in Guatemala organized its first public market called “Hope for a family market.”

CFCA scholar Edgar, right, and his mother sell cheese at the market day in the Guatemalan community of Santo Domingo.

More than 200 mothers of sponsored children showed up to sell their goods, and more than 400 people in the community of Santo Domingo came to purchase and taste a wide variety of products and services.

Local CFCA staff members in Santo Domingo organized the market to showcase the products that mothers of sponsored children have grown from CFCA’s sustainable sponsorship benefits, such as seeds, trees, animals, fertilizer, fabrics, livelihood programs, etc.

In this way mothers sold items such as corn, beans, bananas, plantains, herbs, chili peppers, tangerines, papaya, oranges, watermelon, yucca, chocolate, coffee, cheese, sausages, tamales, fruit drinks, baskets, hens, chickens, turkeys, napkins, clothing and much more.

“We no longer give a bag of food, but sustainable sponsorship benefits,” said Josefina Poz, coordinator of the CFCA community in Santo Domingo. “That is what we are seeing today, the results of those benefits. We have seen families convinced that they can work this way. They are not satisfied just with receiving things; now they are motivated to work and produce, and that motivates us.”

This activity has also allowed these mothers to meet and learn from one another as well as create income for their families. Another important benefit was their gathering to have fun, share common experiences and feel part of a community.

Edgar, 17, is sponsored through CFCA and is in the CFCA Scholarship Program.

“My mother and I have come to sell cheese,” he said. “This market helps us because in our village it is hard to sell the cheese and today we have already sold 6 pounds. I am happy because we learned many things, and this motivates me to continue my studies, help my mother and have fun.”

Paulina, center, is the mother of two CFCA sponsored children: Maria, pictured right, and Paulina.

Paulina has two sponsored children: Maria, 15, and Paulina, 8.

Paulina learned to produce chocolate and “café de maíz,” a coffee-like drink made from a mixture of cereals including corn. She now sells these items in the market.

“I feel happy because this shows that women are able to provide for our children,” Paulina said. “We are able to have a business and not be completely dependent on our husbands’ income. We can contribute to the economy of our home.”

The CFCA staff in Santo Domingo was satisfied with this market and hopes to repeat the activity in six months.

Through these events, CFCA is working to strengthen the self-esteem and confidence of the families in the sponsorship program. As families find resources for self-sufficiency, this empowers them and gives them hope for the future.

Rob Grant

Rob has participated in marathons in Miami, the Twin Cities and Cleveland. He’s planning to run in the Fort Lauderdale Marathon on Feb. 19, 2012. He hopes to offer any medals he receives to his friend, Jursha.

Thank you, Rob, for all your efforts on behalf of children, youth and the aging waiting for a sponsor. And thanks to all of you who share your enthusiasm about CFCA’s Hope for a Family sponsorship program.

If you’re interested in seeing how you can spread the word about sponsorship through activities you’re passionate about, we’d love to hear from you. Email cfcaoutreach@cfcausa.org for more information.

[This reflection is based on the Scripture readings for Christmas Mass during the day.]

Communication is a tricky business. First you have to come up with the right words to say, then you hope the listener hears what you intend. Between your original thought and the listener’s final interpretation there is plenty of room for misunderstanding.

So you can imagine God’s frustration in wanting to communicate to a wounded humanity just how sacred and deeply loved we are, only to have some hear only judgment and condemnation, while others hear nothing at all.

This happens because people tend to hear what they want to hear, and the temptation to form a worldview based on the negative runs deep within the human race.

The world God has made shouts out on a daily basis of our Creator’s goodness, yet many are deaf to the message. Sadder still, they discourage others from hearing it.

Natali, CFCA sponsored child in El Salvador, during CFCA Christmas celebrations.

So it has been throughout human history. The lens through which many have chosen to view life, the universe, and God has been warped by fear and suffering. This is the legacy of sin in our world.

What’s a loving God to do?

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth.” (John 1: 1, 14)

Christmas is the feast of the Incarnation, the inexpressibly joyful celebration of God’s love for humankind. Our God is with us, within us, one of us.

In Jesus we have the very model of a human life well lived, not dictated by fear, liberated from the slavery of sin. In him we see personified God’s love for the poor and God’s solidarity with those who suffer.

As expressed by St. Paul, the Son of God emptied himself of his divinity to become one of us. In Jesus we do not have a super-being who played the God card whenever the going got rough.

Jesus succeeded not in spite of his humanity, but because he refused to ever be less than fully human.

And that is what God asks of us. Just as the birds of the air and the fish of the sea give glory to God by being true to their natures, so do we glorify our Creator by living fully human lives.

Therein lies the good news that God had so ached to share with us and does, magnificently, in the person of Jesus: It is so very good to be human!

This Christmas may you be blessed with the joys of humanity found in home and family, faith and friendship.

May you discover anew the unique gift to the world that is you, and may you be filled with fresh resolve to share that gift with others.

Merry Christmas.

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not anxious [3rd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

CFCA staff member Lillian Naka, standing, conducts training with a mothers group in Nairobi, Kenya.

Implemented more than 10 years ago in India and the Philippines, the small-group model gives parents and guardians of sponsored children more ability to shape the CFCA Hope for a Family program in their areas.

“We are finding it’s easier for the families to have a voice when they are organized in small groups,” said Dan Pearson, director of international programs. “It’s hard for us to listen to 300,000 families, but with small groups, the families take the lead, the project can follow them and we can follow the project.”

The small-group model (also called community-based groups, self-help groups and mothers groups) empowers individual group members and encourages interaction and mutual support among families.

“It’s important for sponsors to know that when a child becomes sponsored, in addition to the supportive distance relationship with the sponsor, the child and family are drawn into a real community that impacts them on a daily basis,” Pearson said.

The decentralized structure also allows CFCA headquarters in Kansas and the project to respond to families’ needs more efficiently.

“The world is changing too fast for an organization of our size to wait for the direction to come from one place in Kansas,” Pearson said. “This structure allows CFCA to experiment and adapt all over the world. That’s the only way we’re going to be resilient and to keep up with the changes in our world.”

The following stories illustrate how the small-group model has been adapted to the needs of three communities:

Stage 1 – Building trust in Bogota, Colombia

In this stage of small-group development, group formation begins. Members build trust and self-esteem, learn roles and responsibilities, elect officials, assume responsibility for birthday and Christmas parties, letter writing, photos and other aspects of the CFCA sponsorship program.

Stage 2 – Mutual support in Nairobi, Kenya

In this stage of small-group development, group members open bank accounts, complete documentation and begin individual savings accounts. CFCA then matches their individual contributions. The Nairobi project has gone well beyond this stage and is now well into stage 3.

Stage 3 – Community life in Antipolo, Philippines

In this stage of small-group development, there is full integration of Hope for a Family values with sponsored friends and their families. Loan application training, entrepreneurship and skills training, individual loan program, annual reports, disbursement of dividends and larger loans for extended terms are implemented. In addition, experienced families train and mentor new groups.

Margarita, left, is sponsored by David, right, and Jen Pumphrey. The Pumphreys visited Margarita during a 2011 mission awareness trip to Chile.

Many of our sponsors have been calling us to ask whether they can gift a sponsorship to their nieces, grandchildren or other relatives.

Longtime CFCA sponsors Tom and Gerri Hiestand recently set up a new sponsorship for their 14-year-old granddaughter Ally.

With this process, Ally will receive correspondence from their sponsored friend, Sendy from Honduras, while Tom and Gerri pay the monthly sponsorship contributions.

“One of the nicest things, I think, will be the correspondence between the kids,” Gerri said. “We have another granddaughter, and we’ve mentioned both of our granddaughters in some of the letters to our older sponsored children. The adopted children always seem quite interested in knowing more about their lives. In this way, it can be a really direct communication between all our children.”

Tom said growing up today in the U.S. can be a very materialistic process. He said that he and Gerri hope this gift will encourage their granddaughter to know that other people may not have enough for their daily needs, and that she can help.

Sponsorship is a practical way to reach out and meet the needs of those living in poverty around the world, he said.

“We can all easily get wrapped up in our own little world, and this is a good way for our youth to realize there are a lot of folks in need out there,” he said.

If you’d like to give someone a sponsorship, please call us at (800) 875.6564 or email info@cfcausa.org.

In another of our tributes to Walk2gether and our “8,000 miles for 8,000 kids” campaign, this video features Israel Itzol, a CFCA-Guatemala staff member.

During Walk2gether, he drove the support vehicle from Guatemala to Chile. (Walk2gether was a nearly 8,000-mile solidarity walk through 12 countries led by CFCA President Bob Hentzen.)

Israel served the walk team, not only as a driver and mechanic, but as a trusted friend.

Thanks to the help of our CFCA community, we’ve found sponsors for 6,630 kids. Please consider telling a friend or someone you know who might be interested in sponsoring one of these children in need.

Thanks so much, Israel, for your labor of love!

Related links

• We honor some of Walk2gether’s heroes
• Walking with sponsored children

Second from right is Estrella, CFCA sponsored child in Peru, with her family.

Estrella was sponsored one year ago through CFCA.

She has been singing Peruvian Huaynos music since she was 4, and she is 11 now.

She is in sixth grade and lives with her father, Maximo, who works as a taxi driver, and her mother, Domitila, in Santa Rosa.

Estrella sings in school activities and in the community, and she wants to take her art to a professional level.

She practices at home and wears a special costume, which is very important to her because it is a way to identify herself.

In September 2011, all her costumes were stolen and she was not able to perform any more, but thanks to the sponsorship program, her family saved enough money through their sponsorship benefits to buy the costumes she wears now.

Estrella is happy and very thankful to CFCA, for this makes her dream of being a singer come true.

Every Thursday the Like Mother, Like Daughter blog invites bloggers to post four pictures – pretty, happy, funny and real – and give a little context for each picture. We thought it was a great idea!

So here’s {phfr} at the CFCA blog:

{Pretty}

These flowers are from Colombia’s annual “Fair of the Flowers,” or feria de las flores. It takes place in Medellin.

The city decorates itself with flowers for approximately 10 days and features a diverse number of recreational and cultural activities.

Sponsored children have participated in the festival’s competitions and won several awards.

{Happy}

These kids are happy and patriotic! CFCA sponsored children in the Dominican Republic proudly display their country’s flag.

{Funny}

You’re never too old to have fun! In this picture, aging friends sponsored through CFCA in Chile take turns on the swings.

{Real}

CFCA seeks to offer hope and restore dignity to people in real need. By sponsoring a child or aging friend, our sponsors are making a difference in the lives of people in poverty around the world.

“…for nothing will be impossible for God.” (Luke 1:37)

An unopened Christmas present is a wondrous thing. When I was a child, many times I would park myself under the Christmas tree and gaze at a brightly wrapped package with my name on it, trying to guess what was inside.

My imagination would always kick into high gear on such occasions. This was possible because of the simplicity of a child’s mind, which knows nothing of recessions, budgets or the laws of physics.

As far as I was concerned those presents could be anything, and believing that gave me the freedom to dream big.

Sadly, that sense of infinite possibility tends to fade away as we grow older, especially where God is concerned.

Instead of embracing the glory and wonder of our Creator, in our limited imaginations we try to rein God in.

The Scripture readings for the Fourth Sunday of Advent include two stories of people struggling to understand the limitlessness of God. In each situation, God lovingly reminds the person in the story of who he or she is dealing with.

Maria, right, a CFCA sponsored child in El Salvador, goes to the Museo Tin Marin, a children's museum, in San Salvador on a July 2011 mission awareness trip.

In the first reading King David wants to build a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant – in other words, a house for God. While his intentions are good, what David proposes would essentially put God in a box.

The king is reminded that all he has achieved and would achieve in the future is due to God’s power. How could such a wondrous God be contained in any structure, however grand?

David’s failure here is one of vision. He wants to do right by God, but his limited imagination bogs him down in conventional thinking.

It was the same struggle Mary would have centuries later when approached by the Angel Gabriel to become the mother of Jesus.

Mary wants to surrender completely to God’s will but has an understandably hard time wrapping her mind around the notion that she could remain a virgin and give birth to the Savior.

The angel’s simple response: “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary accepts the angel’s word even without understanding it, and we know how that turned out.

David and Mary are two of the great heroes of salvation history, yet even they struggled with the idea that God can transcend any and all boundaries.

What each learned, ultimately and to their credit, is that the more humble the circumstances, the more profoundly God’s glory is revealed.

CFCA sponsors are blessed to know that God has been revealed to them in the lives of their sponsored friends and others who live in great poverty.

The leap of faith they took in saying yes to sponsorship may not have been as courageous as the yes of Mary in becoming the mother of Jesus, but that doesn’t matter.

In each case – as in every life-affirming decision – the love of God is made manifest.

So as we move toward Christmas, let us ponder the God of the possible – the God of David, the God of Mary, and the God who dares us to dream big.

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not anxious [3rd Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

Bhavani was a child when she was sponsored by Barbara and Mary Rousis. For more than 10 years they have encouraged her with her education and practice of classical Indian dance.

Bhavani’s mother, Shanti, belongs to a CFCA mothers group. She received a loan through the group to open a small tailoring shop.

The shop was a success, and Shanti has now opened a small retail garment store next to her first shop. Guess what she called it?

Rousis Readymade – named in gratitude after Bhavani’s sponsors.

Read the rest of this amazing story.

We want to hear from you! Out of these top blog posts for 2011, which would you consider the No. 1 post?

The nominations are:

1) Sponsor describes ‘God story’ behind latest sponsorship

“My latest child sponsorship has its own God story. I had read about others’ experiences in many countries where people make a living in city dumps and live in the slums. These break into the silence of my soul, and I cannot shut out the images.”

2) Organic vegetable gardening takes root in CFCA Filipino community

Rapid urbanization has brought many problems, including garbage, malnutrition, poverty and food insecurity. CFCA helps secure food for sponsored friends and their families while encouraging them to develop creative, sustainable solutions. For example, parents of sponsored children in the Philippines are cultivating vegetable gardens.

3) Preacher witnesses the miracle of sponsorship

“But having seen Juana’s broad smile and abundant tears, I made a mental note to myself: I must share with everyone how their gifts to CFCA can be an answer to prayer – how a few dollars invested in the right project can seem like ‘un milagro (miracle).’”

4) 5 ways to ‘visit’ your sponsored friend

We explore ways to ‘visit’ your sponsored friend without leaving home!

5) A former sponsored child in El Salvador looks back

Juan Carlos was sponsored through CFCA’s Santa Ana, El Salvador, office for 10 years, from 8 to 18. He is now 28 and lives outside Santa Ana with his wife and their 2-year-old son. Juan Carlos works in the maintenance department of a local hospital. Nimia works at a textile factory.

6) Joy of the journey: Reflection on 12 years of child sponsorship

“In the Nicaraguan airport, I decided to swallow my lack of confidence in trying to communicate, paste on a wide smile, and try to use the language of love and my little Spanish to the best of my ability. As my spiritual director would remind me, I know how to smile in Spanish!”

7) Washing laundry by hand in Guatemala

Think doing laundry is a tedious job? Most women in San Antonio Palopo, Guatemala, do their laundry by hand … in a lake!

The No. 1 post that the majority of our readers choose will be given a place of honor on our blog, and it may be repurposed for our promotional and marketing materials.

Have you made your choice? If so, click here to take the survey.

Voting closes Dec. 20, so be sure to vote before then!

Please share the survey with your family and friends, particularly those who don’t yet know about CFCA. We’d enjoy hearing what they think of these posts, too.

Thanks, and we appreciate your help!

A. CFCA was founded in 1981 to work in developing countries because two of the founders, Bob Hentzen and Jerry Tolle, had worked in Latin America and witnessed conditions of extreme poverty in which the most basic life needs went unmet.

Social assistance programs similar to those in the U.S. are often not available in communities where CFCA is present.

Education may not be free. Parents must often pay enrollment fees, or buy books, uniforms and supplies they cannot afford. Many children don’t visit doctors because of the cost of care.

CFCA’s Hope for a Family program provides benefits tailored to the needs of sponsored friends, such as nutritious food, education, health care and livelihood programs for families to help them build a path out of poverty.

In developing countries, the contributions of CFCA sponsors go a long way toward providing these vital services.

CFCA does strive to serve the local community at its headquarters in Kansas City, Kan., through participation in several programs, including an internship program for underprivileged high school students and collecting personal-care items for a homeless shelter.

What is your role as director of global strategy and how is this different from your previous role?

Half of my role is connected to international programs and the other half concerns our outreach to sponsors.

I will help the new international programs director (Dan Pearson) with major directional changes in the program, such as the structure of our legal entities overseas.

I’m more of a guide instead of directly managing the program. The other half of my time will be spent focusing on our mission with sponsors.

We would like to focus on differentiating CFCA from the 2 million other nonprofits in this country.

What is your long-term vision for the organization?

On the international side, the vision for CFCA is to continue putting the families we serve at the center of our decision-making.

On the sponsor side, we want to continue to nurture a dynamic interfaith community of sponsors that reflects the interfaith communities we serve overseas, a community that is united in the call for social justice.

We believe this call for social justice is a tremendous unifying force. CFCA can be a place where people from various faith backgrounds can participate together in empowering marginalized people around the world.

How do you plan to accomplish this?

We treasure our roots and relationship with the Catholic faith and with the Catholic Church, and that will continue to be a strength as we reach out to other denominations and invite them to participate.

Through our volunteer outreach program, we will explore how we can better serve their congregations. Also, we hope to reach audiences with new communication tools, such as the recently completed documentary, Rise and Dream.

Anything else you would like to add about your role and the impact you hope to make on the organization?

The other aspect of the role is to help the leadership — the CEO, president and the board of directors — maintain the beauty and wisdom of CFCA’s founding principles and values, to use what we have learned over these 30 years to fortify CFCA for many years to come.

“Bob’s notes” are reports from CFCA President Bob Hentzen, who regularly accompanies mission awareness trip participants. You can see Bob’s full update on his Facebook page.

This account was split into two parts. Read the first part with Annamary’s testimony here.

Inspiring testimonies from sponsored Indian youth:

Minu: “Tears come into my eyes today when I recall how my parents left me with relatives as they searched for work in the northern part of India. It is no less than a divine intervention that sponsorship came. I fear my father may have abandoned us. However, my sponsorship continues, and this has been my greatest consoler and mentor. If I say sponsorship has been my rock, my parent, it won’t be an exaggeration. I am filled with gratitude and awe. I wish to give back to my society as a mark of appreciation for this CFCA program.”

Pinky: “We live in a remote area where there is no good education facility. Before sponsorship, I was like a frog in a well, knowing nothing of the outside world. The CFCA help became a light which removed the darkness of ignorance within me and filled my life with the brightness of knowledge. I have been studying in a well-developed educational institution of the Bhagalpur Diocese for 12 years. On behalf of all sponsored children, I promise you we will fulfill our dreams to be successful and help other children.”

Sanju: “Sponsorship became the beginning of a brighter life for us, driving away all sorts of darkness, evil, misery and worry in our life. It led me to a world of education and awareness. What CFCA has offered me is something unthinkable: courage, love, hope. I wish to become a doctor, so that I too can help the poor. What we receive has meaning and fruit only if it is shared with others.

“Today, my family is no longer what it used to be. They sweated a lot; they were cheated; they were put into hardship for lack of opportunities and awareness. For these and many more blessings, I thank God, my sponsors and CFCA.”

Journey begins

The Railroad Station at Howrah has a tremendous pulsating life 24/7. Its basic humanity brings back fond memories of the first trip I made here with Jerry Tolle in the early days of CFCA.

Jerry and I arrived by rail and lugged our things across the impressive Howrah Bridge on foot in search of a place to stay. The next morning we had the privilege of visiting with Mother Teresa and her Sisters.

We attended Holy Mass in the chapel where Mother Teresa is buried. This experience and the visit to the Orphanage and the Home for the Dying are of high impact on our sponsors.

The night train to Bhagalpur was a good experience. Jake, my son, and I took the top bunks and deferred to sponsors for lower and more accessible quarters. Observing the pushing and chaos in the “chair cars” made me grateful for our four-person cabin next to the hole-in-the-floor toilet.

We stepped down from the train at Bhagalpur Station about 6:30 a.m. Sponsored children, religious Sisters of the Holy Family and CFCA staff members welcomed us.

A hearty breakfast followed at the chancery office. With spicy chicken and fish, it seemed more like lunch, but all the same nutritious and welcome.

A short ride to cross the impressive Ganges River prepared us for the 2.5-hour trip through a CFCA community serving rural villages.

Roads are quite narrow and rough. Even more challenging is the “thread-the-needle-style” driving and constant leaning on the horns.

We met a large gathering of sponsored friends and their families after lunch, and then visits to individual homes. We then had a “supper and night halt” in another village. Sponsors are traveling in groups of two or three to visit the maximum number of CFCA communities and homes.

We headed back well after dark to our convent basecamp in the Indian countryside. We traveled over broken roads, but under a friendly full moon.

The next day in two villages, both native Sandali, we had the privilege of visiting more than 20 homes of sponsored friends and their families. In each home, the sponsored child or youth spoke of sponsors by name.

The sponsors’ visit called for major celebrations, prayer dances, welcome songs and personal testimonies. Some families walked over 15 km (more than 9 miles) to spend this time with us.

As I’m invited to participate, I find music and song can play an important part in communicating with people all over the world.

Our CFCA mothers and youth sang and chanted slogans as we trekked over dirt roads, broken asphalt and the narrow principal road to our destination at the Holy Family High School grounds.

The priest had personally decorated the large, colorful stage. Giant posters of Walk2gether scenes helped set the tone. The weather even in the afternoon stayed around 75 degrees Fahrenheit.

The attentive presence of many religious leaders for the Diocese of Bhagalpur speaks well of our official relationships and current processes. The CFCA identity is clear and respected.

An estimated 3,500 people gathered for our walk and mothers group conference — and this in a very rural area.

All performers had practiced long and hard for this major show of the year. We heard dramatic personal testimonies, vocal and classical numbers. The keynote address about the right to education and the situation of girls and women highlighted the show.

To round things off nicely, everyone was offered a nutritious meal prepared by local mothers.

Hearty congratulations to Coordinator Selvaraj for vision, detailed logistics and sharp translations from Sandali to English.

Warangal

It’s hard to believe what we can pack into a single day. We spent over eight hours on the road.

We visited six sponsored friends and their families in their homes, met with three mothers groups, visited the tomb of Fr. Francis Thumma and shared cultural numbers with parents, children, co-workers and the parish priest.

I was thrilled to visit our sponsored child Archana in her village and home. Hers is a Hindu community in the Andra Pradesh countryside.

Our visit started with a gathering of sponsored friends and their families in an outdoor setting. We celebrated regional dances, some of them featuring tribal traditions. Children, scholars and mothers took part in a fine program.

We were honored to visit Archana’s home. We were treated to a homemade lunch, shared with grandparents, mom and dad, immediate family and neighborhood children.

I feel truly honored to be invited into this family.

Please know of our thanks and love for each of you.

Bob Hentzen
India
Nov. 22, 2011

As a token of our appreciation for all your support, we’d like to show you a special photo slideshow of the Juan Ana coffee process (thanks to Julio Morales, manager of the Juan Ana Coffee Program):

A little more context

In San Lucas, Guatemala, coffee is harvested from December to March, with most coffee ripening in January and February.

The San Lucas Mission’s Juan Ana Coffee Program buys coffee from 650 small producers in and around San Lucas Toliman.

About 40 percent of these producers are families in the CFCA Hope for a Family program. The program uses no middleman and guarantees a fair price to families.

Coffee is a labor-intensive crop. It takes 500 pounds of ripe coffee cherries to produce 75 pounds of roasted or ground coffee.

A coffee tree will continue producing for about seven years before it is replaced. After the coffee harvest, producers spend the rest of the year tending their trees.

Coffee trees are very particular about their environment. They like nutrient-rich soil with just enough shade.

Related links

1. Read our story about sponsorship support helping coffee-growing families.
2. Order Juan Ana coffee online.

“Brothers and sisters: Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:16-18)

I confess that I get a little irritated by some common ways that people misuse words.

For example, it bugs me when I hear notoriety used as a synonym for fame, or when people say less when fewer would be more appropriate. (And don’t even get me started on very unique!)

I recognize this as my own little persnickety hang-up, and my purpose here is not to lecture about the decline of the English language.

I really just want to set the table for a reflection on one common misusage that seems especially pertinent during Advent.

People often say they are anxious when they are looking forward to something. For example: “It has been two weeks since Joe left on his trip and I am anxious for him to come home.”

But anxious is a form of anxiety, which means a state of worry or apprehension – hardly the sentiment Joe would want to be greeted with upon his return!

What people really mean to communicate in such situations is that they are eager, and eagerness is a quality worthy of proper recognition.

Being eager is about anticipation, confidence and hopefulness. It is one of the most Christian of emotions and not one to let slip away from our collective vocabulary.

The Scriptures for the Third Sunday of Advent fairly crackle with eagerness.

In the first reading the Prophet Isaiah eagerly announces an era of justice and favor following the long suffering of the Babylonian captivity. In the second reading, Paul advises the Christian community to be ever eager for opportunities to live in God’s grace.

Wilkister, left, a CFCA sponsored child in Kenya, and her mother fold clothes.

Even the Gospel echoes this spirit as John the Baptist continues to divert the spotlight away from himself and onto Jesus, the one whose coming he so eagerly announces.

For all his talk of straightening desert paths and loosening sandal-straps, John might as well be shouting, “Get ready, folks! You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Choosing between anxious and eager isn’t just a technicality or a linguistic exercise. The two words communicate very different perspectives.

While it is possible to be eager and anxious at the same time, one feeling or the other will almost always dominate a person’s outlook.

CFCA works with people in great poverty, more often than not in systems that make it very hard for them to improve their situations.

It is easy for those living in such conditions to become anxious, and there is constant temptation to allow that anxiety to morph into despair.

Yet our blessed experience is that when CFCA sponsorship is introduced into a child’s life, eagerness takes hold – eagerness to embrace opportunity, eagerness to express gratitude, and eagerness to give back to family and community.

Such eagerness comes from the liberation to dream and spills over into infectious joy.

So, this Advent, where are you on the continuum between anxiety and eagerness? Is your default mode one of dread about the future or hope in all it promises?

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

This article was written by Sreekanth Gundoji, CFCA communications liaison in Hyderabad. Note: The names of the women mentioned in the article have been changed to protect their identity.

I noticed a common problem faced by women in India is countering age-old customs and traditions that restrict them from leading a good, happy life.

Hence, there is a need for these women to find a forum, a platform, to come out of the cocoon created by such traditions and live a life of freedom.

Here CFCA mothers groups play a vital role in uplifting women’s dignity and empowering them.

Sofia is a mother of three girls, one of whom is sponsored by CFCA. Her husband is an alcoholic. He suffers bad health and is unable to work.

CFCA mothers group meeting in India. Sukshmana Thakur, standing in the center, is a CFCA social worker.

When Sofia’s husband was in good health, he would harass her just because she gave birth to girls. He wanted a boy who could carry on the family name.

When he saw that the third child, too, was a girl, he deserted Sofia. When his health started to deteriorate, he returned.

Although Sofia was happy that her husband came back, her burdens increased. She not only had to meet her day-to-day expenses and take care of the children, but she also had to take care of his medical expenses.

At times it became difficult for her to meet emergency expenses. That’s when Justina, a social worker in CFCA’s Chaderghat community, put forth the problems faced by Sofia in one of the mothers group meetings.

Immediately, other mothers in the group came forward and pooled some money to help Sofia.

Gousia, a mothers group member from the same community, has two daughters. Her elder daughter, Chandini, is sponsored by CFCA.

Gousia’s husband left her and married another woman. Gousia is now the sole breadwinner.

Like other mothers, Gousia attends and participates in all mothers group activities. This has helped her to gain confidence and has made her strong.

When her ration card was taken away by her husband, the regular meetings in the community gave Gousia the strength to get back her ration card.

(A ration card is issued by the government to purchase provisions at subsidized rates. It is also used as an identity card and proof of citizenship.)

Lakshmi, mother of a CFCA sponsored child, attends a CFCA mothers group meeting.

Later her husband gave her permission to continue her education. This took a lot of her time, which always clashed with her domestic chores. Yet her determination saw her through.

Now Kamala advises other members to allow their daughters to study, and tells them the importance of education.

With the help of this group and CFCA representatives, Kamala helped to prevent two marriages of sponsored children in their community and encouraged the children to continue their education.

Problems of domestic life are not only faced by Sofia or Gousia or by others. Such problems are faced by all people, regardless of religion or caste.

CFCA understands that to help and educate a child, the best way is to empower and establish the life of the mother. A mother cares for the future of her child.

CFCA works without regard to religion, caste or creed, giving dignity to the deprived and under privileged. It works toward the betterment of society, bringing harmony in a community of diversity.

Because of CFCA’s sponsorship program and group activities — a CFCA Hope for a Family initiative — during my visits to the CFCA projects, I observed the transformation in the lives of diverse people marching toward a better future and quality of life.

A gift package to a CFCA sponsored friend in El Salvador. The estimated value of the items was $10, but it would have cost $75 for staff members to claim the package.

Here’s a real-life example why:

Santa Ana, El Salvador

The import office in Santa Ana recently notified Henry Flores, director of our communications center in El Salvador, that a package had arrived addressed to CFCA.

Normally the CFCA staff does not retrieve packages from the import office because the fees are too costly.

But Henry went this time because he was anticipating some camera equipment sent by our staff in our Kansas City headquarters.

When the package was opened, Henry was surprised to see it contained a fishing tackle box and fishing supplies.

The importing office gave Henry a receipt and told him it would cost CFCA-Santa Ana $75 in fees to claim the package, $50 for the importing office and $25 estimated taxes.

(Taxes are based on the total of the value of the contents, plus the U.S. postage amount and the customs cost stamped on the package. The sponsors also sent a fishing pole, but for some mysterious reason, it arrived at the project’s post office box and bypassed customs.)

The receipt shows the estimated value of the items at $10. The senders paid $40 in U.S. postage.

Add the cost of claiming the package, and you end up with $125 for $10 worth of fishing gear that will never reach the sponsored child.

Henry left the package at the customs office. It will eventually be auctioned off by customs along with other unclaimed items.

If you’d like to make Christmas special for your sponsored friend, you can always write a personalized eLetter or donate to our Christmas fund.

This report from the November 2011 mission awareness trip to India will come in two parts: Annamary’s story and the rest of the trip.

Annamary

Bob: Let me start with the inspiring story of Annamary, 11, a sponsored girl from a remote village in CFCA’s project in Bhalgalpur. What a joy for our sponsors to meet this young woman. What follows are Annamary’s own words.

Annamary: In the village where I live, there are about 100 families.

No electricity, no running water, no cooking gas and no toilets.

When the villagers have no work, women go to the forest to collect firewood.

Men get drunk and fight, and the children are always in their natural dress playing in the village lanes. I know this, because I was born in this village.

Like the other villagers, we live in a mud hut. There is my Papa, Sushil. He is always out looking for a job.

Every morning, my Mummy left us in her best dress. I did not know where she went. When I was 4, I had the job of babysitting my younger sister, Dolly, 6 months.

One day, I asked Mummy, “Where do you go every morning?”

“To the school,” she answered. She added she takes care of nursery children, which pays for our daily food.

“Mummy, please take me to your school,” I said.

“No, my child. Mummy does not earn enough for a school dress, for your shoes and socks, for your books and bag. When Daddy gets a job, I will take you to school.”

Crowds gather to greet CFCA sponsors during the mission awareness trip.

The following morning Mummy was ready for school. I hid behind a bush and slowly followed her unnoticed.

When she reached school, only then she noticed me. She yelled at me, “Get back home, Annamary.”

I ran into the playground, and all the children came around me.

They had uniforms. They had ties. They had shoes. Black shoes. White socks. And I was in the school without one piece of clothing on me.

A religious Sister came to my rescue. She gave me an old dress from someone, and I sat in the class that day … and from then on every day.

The parish priest gave a form to Mummy. “Fill it out and send to CFCA,” he told Mummy. Mummy started filling it out. It was a request for someone to find a sponsor for me.

God was very kind and heard our prayers. We received the good news from Kansas City: “I am sponsored.”

In our family prayers, we added the names of my sponsor friends, Susan and David, Jennifer and Nicholas.

Papa got a job as a peon (office assistant), and Mummy at a public school in the same district.

All of us moved to Jamui and rented a room. This one room is our study room, dining room, bedroom and kitchen.

The school bus comes at our door at 7 a.m. When my younger sister Dolly joined school, Mummy said: “Girls, we cannot afford to send you both by bus. Both of you start walking to school.”

Two kilometers (about 1.2 miles) up and two kilometers down.

I had a bicycle given to me by my sponsors. One day, Mummy asked me, “Annamary, can you both ride on the same bicycle to school?”

“Yes, Mummy,” I said. I was excited.

A remote road in India.

Everything went well until a street dog chased us in the middle of the market. We fell down. I was flat on the road, the bicycle flat on me, and Dolly flat on the bicycle.

Our bags, books and lunch were scattered on the street, and the street dogs were enjoying our lunch.

Today, I am a student in elementary school. I am sorry for my friends in my home village. They have not been to school at all. I am the only one from my village to study in an English school.

Mummy is an active member of a CFCA mothers group. Recently she bought a scooter with a loan from her mothers group.

Their meetings are in our village. They talk about the village, their family and the local CFCA children.

One day, a teacher in my class asked us, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Dolly answered, “A policewoman.”

Papa said, “You are too young to think about that.”

Mummy said to me, “When you finish your studies, you can become a nurse.”

“A nurse?” I thought. “Why can’t I become a doctor?”

Yes, I want to become a doctor. I will be a doctor.

I want to serve the poor, suffering and needy. May God bless me to achieve this goal.

Related links

• ‘Invited into Archana’s family’ in India

The rules for entering are simple:

1) Share our Facebook page with two (or more) friends who haven’t yet liked our page, and invite them to like our page.

2) Email cfcacommunications@cfcausa.org with the names of your friends who just liked our Facebook page through your invitation. (A subject line such as “Coffee giveaway” also helps.)

Please include your name and CFCA ID (number beginning with the letters ASC) as well as your preferred method of contact if you win the coffee.

That’s it! Your name will be entered into a drawing, which ends Wednesday, Dec. 7. We’ll pick the winner on Thursday, Dec. 8.

The Juan Ana coffee and CFCA connection:

For coffee growers, harvest is the time of the year when most of a family’s household income is generated. Of the 22 countries where CFCA works, all but Chile are major coffee producers.

An estimated 60 percent of the 88,000 families served by CFCA in Guatemala, for example, depend on coffee for their livelihood. (Here’s a related story about coffee-growing families in our sponsorship program.)

The Juan Ana coffee is cultivated, roasted and packaged by members of the San Lucas Mission in Guatemala.

Many of the members of the mission and most of the coffee workers have children in the CFCA sponsorship program. (You can also order Juan Ana coffee online. Note: The coffee program is not affiliated with CFCA, and proceeds benefit the San Lucas Mission.)

We’re looking forward to giving a bag of this exceptional coffee to our drawing winner. Good luck!

Faces of CFCA for December

In other news, the next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture is up on our Facebook page!

From left are Maria; Becky Keels, Maria’s sponsor; and Candelaria, Maria’s grandmother. Becky lives in Texas and sponsored Maria after a 2009 mission awareness trip to Guatemala, where they met.

If you want your photo to be considered for the next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture, simply email a .jpg photo file (the higher the resolution, the better) to cfcacommunications@cfcausa.org.

Include your name and your preferred form of contact (phone, email, etc.) in case we have any questions about your submission.

Thanks so much!

“…Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you; he will prepare your way.”
(Mark 1:2)

There is an urgency in the Gospel of Mark that contrasts with the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Where those writers start with events surrounding Jesus’ birth, Mark begins his account with John the Baptist setting the stage for Jesus’ public ministry. John is one of the most vivid characters in Scripture.

As if his garb of camel skin and his penchant for eating locusts weren’t memorable enough, his single-minded devotion to calling people to repentance in preparation for the coming of the Messiah sears him into our collective imagination.

This rough intensity makes John an interesting symbol for Advent.

While society likes to pretty-up this time of year with bright colors, warm thoughts and overindulgence on sentimentality, John reminds us that preparation for Christmas isn’t just a feel-good exercise.

Repentance — that is, ordering that which is disordered in our lives — is also part of the equation.

John brings us back to the sobering reality that God’s entrance into the human family came at a price. We celebrate not so much because Jesus was born, but because that birth made possible all that would follow, including his redemptive suffering and death.

Yojana, CFCA sponsored child in Guatemala, and her brother Yunior. Jim Thomas, CFCA sponsor, took this picture on a mission awareness trip.

It behooves us, then, to pause a little before we dig into the merriment of the holidays, for that merriment has just a bit of falseness about it.

Suffering remains a part of the human condition, as does sin and death. And the peace and goodwill we like to sing about are distant dreams for many in the world.

But the news is truly good despite those realities. Our God dwells among us and walks beside us in the midst of our pain.

Our God shares in all that it means to be human, and shows us that we need not be enslaved by sin or paralyzed by fear. Our God has skin on.

Faith in that God with skin on is part of the fabric of CFCA. Following the example of Jesus, we strive to dwell in solidarity with the human family, and to help create space for others to join us.

In everything we do, the sacredness of human relationships keeps us grounded and gives us direction.

At CFCA, we live Advent the year round. Like John the Baptist, we want to help pave the way for the coming of Jesus.

Our particular way of doing that is to gently invite people to come to know the Christ who lives, and continues to suffer, in the poor and marginalized of the world.

As we continue to move toward Christmas — that marvelous celebration of the God with skin on — may each of us seek to follow the example of John the Baptist.

May we, like him, always point others toward Jesus and the Good News. May we have John’s single-mindedness. May we have his courage.

The camel skin and locusts are optional.

Related links

• Seeing the face of Christ through sponsorship [1st Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not ‘anxious’ [3rd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

Our “8,000 miles for 8,000 kids” campaign inspired by Walk2gether is close to completion!

However, the ripple effects throughout the communities that CFCA President Bob Hentzen visited along the walk will be continuing for quite some time.

We’re thrilled to share the reflections of three CFCA project coordinators in some of the countries that Walk2gether passed through.

Please feel free to share this video with other people who might be interested in sponsoring children in need.

As of today, we’ve found sponsors for 6,459 children. We’re working hard to reach our original goal of getting 8,000 kids sponsored and asking for your help in meeting it. Who knows, you could help us find a sponsor for the 6,460th child!

#8000kids update: We have the best Twitter followers in the world! Thanks so much to everyone who used the hashtag #8000kids to raise awareness of this campaign and bring hope to people living in poverty.

We actually exceeded our goal of 200 tweets (see our previous blog post about sharing CFCA on Twitter) for the year. Last time we checked, it was 231 tweets and counting!

As a result, at least $231 from generous donors will be given to the CFCA Scholarship Program.

Any more tweets with the #8000kids hashtag from now until the end of the year is just additional icing on the cake!

In communities struggling with poverty, people often can’t afford doctor visits but rely on natural home remedies made with plants and herbs from their environment.

Cypress seeds used for natural home remedies in Guatemala.

Here are two common Guatemalan home remedies used during the winter and flu seasons.

Note: This blog post is provided purely for informational purposes to shed light on the lives of CFCA sponsored children and elderly. CFCA does not endorse these remedies or encourage readers to try them.

If you do decide to try a natural home remedy, please check with your doctor first. Certain home remedies, particularly herbal ones, can interact with prescription medications.

Cypress seeds (submitted by Gerver Churunel)

Seeds from the Cypress tree are used for natural home remedies in Guatemala.

Knowledge of medicinal plants is of great importance for rural Guatemalan communities. Often families have these inexpensive plants in or near their homes.

A common recipe calls for Cypress seeds, used for throat infections and swollen tonsils. It’s a simple recipe intended for people of all ages.

Five Cypress seeds are collected in half a glass of purified water and boiled for eight minutes. After it’s cooled, the seeds are strained from the water.

Two tablespoons of white honey (different from amber honey) are added, and people then gargle with the water three times a day for four consecutive days.

Tomatillo husks (submitted by Luis Cocón)

The tomatillo husk is commonly used for treating sore throats and coughs. This home remedy is used by all ages. Some common synonyms for this plant are tomate, tomatito and miltomate.

Seven tomatillo husks are boiled in one cup of water for approximately eight minutes. After it’s cooled, the husks are strained from the water.

People then gargle with the water three times a day for five consecutive days.

Related links:

• Natural home remedies used in India
• Natural home remedies used in Honduras

What’s your favorite natural home remedy? Feel free to share in the comments!

We’ve collected and organized these tips in the following order:

1) Keep visual reminders of your sponsored friend.

Joy, a CFCA sponsored child in Kenya, displays photos received from her sponsors.

Jen Paquin Higgins: “We make a little photo collage every time we send a letter with photos of the animals where we live [in] that time of season or any activities we’ve been doing so they really feel a part of what’s going on in our lives. Sometimes we take photos of us with the letters or drawings they send us [so] they can see we got them and that we are proud to show them off at our work or on our refrigerator.”

Maria L. Conti: “like to put [drawings from my sponsored child] on my fridge.”

Harrison Garcia Ruiz: “I think pictures are very important to share [with] each other because your sponsored child and sponsor could feel closer [despite] the distance.”

Paula Kiger: “I keep a map near my desk with the geographic locations of our family’s two sponsored children in Guatemala marked. It has helped me be a lot more aware of how things may impact them (like weather, tropical storms, etc.) and just helps me have a more literal “grip” on the truth of their existence.”

2) Get creative with your letters.

Rosi, a CFCA sponsored child in India, and her parents sort through letters received from her sponsor.

Pauline Gakii: “A letter in your handwriting, your family’s pictures, works miracles. 10 years later I still have my sponsor’s letters, pictures n poetry books that they sent often. I always received a letter every holiday, presents for my birthday, Christmas greeting cards. This made me feel like a daughter to them. It’s the most memorable experience that can never be erased from my heart.”

Kristina Vance: “All of the children I’ve sponsored have loved photographs… I like to send postcards of my area, which helps them see what my life is like, both the mundane and the interesting. Even though I live alone, my child likes to read updates on how my family is doing. Depending on the age of your child and if you know their language, my child is learning English and wanted me to write some English for her, so now I write two versions of each letter – one in English and one in Spanish.”

Ann Trombly: “I volunteer teaching English to adults, which has given me a huge awareness of just what a difficult language English is. And what an enormous challenge it must be to translators! Keep your letters simple and concrete. It is more likely that your true sentiments will come through. (I was lucky to be given a child who speaks Spanish, which I had taken in school 20 years earlier. But I found I was able to translate her letters myself – and with quite a bit of practice – could write to her myself in Spanish. Not a challenge everyone can take on – but how nice to come up with a line or two – especially a blessing – in your sponsored friend’s native language.”

3) Keep your friend in your prayers.

Kim Moore: “Pray for your child and let God’s grace bless you and your family through your sponsored child…and oh how the blessings abound!”

Kristina Vance: “I make sure my child knows I think of her and pray for her every day, even when I can’t write.”

4) If possible, meet your friend in person.

Briana and Linda Utrie visit their sponsored child, Carlos, and his family in Honduras.

Judith Brown Meyer: “I would agree strongly with the MAT suggestion. There is such an amazing bond that one cannot explain. The hosts and the families are so wonderful. You feel like a rock star and are treated like one. To know that you mean so much and people of such small means do all these things to make you welcome is an absolute blessing. It’s almost like entering the gates of heaven, or that’s what it was like for me. You receive so much love from all the people at the projects. When I met my amiga Sayra we had such a strong bond.”

Theresa Hasken: “If at all possible attending an MAT is a life changing experience …not just for the sponsored children but also the sponsors. Meeting them face to face is an awesome experience…..the kids really do become a part of your family and you part of their family.”

Suzanna Vermeul-Wilson: “Attending a MAT trip would be at the top of the list. It is so important to meet your family where they are at and this just isn’t possible without that experience. Attending a MAT trip also puts life into perspective and helps us to know what is truly important in life.”

Paula Kiger: “I agree – an MAT if it is all possible is incredible – mine and my teenager’s totally transformed my understanding of the sponsorship experience.”

It’s not too late to leave your own tips! Add a comment below or go to the Facebook post:
http://www.facebook.com/sponsorachild/posts/287369261295040

2008 CFCA archives photo from a mission awareness trip to Guatemala.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the United States (and CFCA’s 30th anniversary, which was Nov. 20), may we be especially thankful – for the gift of gratitude!

It’s not unusual for CFCA sponsors who visit the communities where we work to feel overwhelmed by the gratitude of those who live there.

Many travelers are deeply touched and even humbled by this experience.

What sponsors come to learn at such times is the importance of allowing people to be thankful.

They learn that gratitude is a blessing not only for those who receive it, but also for those who express it.

Thankfulness is healing. It lifts us out of ourselves and forms bonds of solidarity that beg to be celebrated with fervent joy.

Happy Thanksgiving to our CFCA community!

“…for you have hidden your face from us and have delivered us up to our guilt. Yet, O Lord, you are our father; we are the clay and you the potter: we are all the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64: 6b-7)

We begin our Advent journey with a beautiful and plaintive reading from the Prophet Isaiah.

In a time of exile, the prophet yearns for Israel to know once again the intimacy of her historic relationship with God, even while acknowledging the sinfulness that has injured that relationship.

In a reading filled with powerful images, one of the most haunting is that of the face of God being hidden from the people. It is an image worth some reflection.

For the people of ancient Israel, the “face of God” was a metaphor for how they understood their place in the universe. They were the chosen people and God had revealed himself to them.

His face (his loving and revealing gaze) was expressed in the covenant, which gave Israel its sense of identity as a nation.

But now in exile, God’s face had faded from the Israelites’ collective memory, and with it their sense of who they were.

The struggle to return to God and reclaim their identity as the chosen people is one of the fundamental themes of the Hebrew Scriptures.

Ana, CFCA sponsored child in the Dominican Republic.

We too sometimes distance ourselves from God through our poor choices in a world filled with distractions.

In these times it is all too easy for the face of God to become, like that of a long-absent loved one, unclear to us.

Thankfully, Advent reminds us that God is not so distant after all.

For Christians, the face of God is revealed most profoundly in the person of Jesus. In him we know God not from a distance, but up close and intimately.

Jesus is the Word made flesh, the one who models for us the freedom of living in loving communion with our Creator.

Jesus also reveals to us, through his life and teachings, the sacredness of the human person. He showed a love for humanity that was so deep and enduring that it ultimately expressed itself in complete sacrifice.

The life and death of Jesus communicate to us, simply and powerfully, that God is so deeply enmeshed in the human family that love of God is inseparable from love of our fellow human beings.

That truth is at the heart of CFCA. For 30 years we have helped people to express their love for God through the loving service of others.

Our greatest joy comes when sponsors recognize the face of Christ in the beautiful faces of their sponsored friends.

We hope this Advent provides you with many opportunities to see the face of Christ in those you encounter.

What better way to prepare yourself to truly celebrate Christmas, the incredible feast of a God so in love with humankind as to want to become one of us!

Related links

• God shares in our humanity [2nd Advent reflection]
• Choosing to be ‘eager,’ not ‘anxious’ [3rd Advent reflection]
• God dares us to dream big [4th Advent reflection]
• Glorifying God with fully human lives [Christmas reflection]
• We are God’s partners in serving others [2nd Christmas reflection]
• Recognizing Christ when we find him [3rd Christmas reflection]

Susan Colton hugs her sponsored child, Ritah, in Uganda.

Each mission awareness trip stands out from the rest. The recently concluded trip was no exception.

The 12-day trip around CFCA projects in Kenya and Uganda started on a high note with 18 trip participants in good spirits and excitement as they touched ground in Africa.

The orientation day set the pace for the six days that the sponsors would be in Kenya. Here they met and interacted with staff members and learned more about the Nairobi project.

A visit to the Nairobi coordinating office and the Kangemi outreach program gave them a chance to see how CFCA works.

It was exciting to see their eyes light up as they experienced a deeper understanding of the program.

A day was set aside for sponsors to have fun with their sponsored friends at one of Nairobi’s parks, well known for its serenity.

Everyone participated in the games, and the sponsors had an opportunity to teach us a new dance game called the “Hokey Pokey.” Everyone joined in and echoes of laughter filled the air.

The shade of the leafy green trees, the gentle breeze blowing softly, the birds whistling, even nature seemed to be enjoying this day filled with so much joy and love.

As I looked around, I could see a sparkle in the sponsored friends’ eyes as they unwrapped the gifts given to them by the sponsors and shared “thank-you” hugs.

It was evident that the bond they all share is deep and goes beyond the many miles between them. In my eyes, they are a family.

A big, beautiful family

During the cultural day, the sponsors were adorned with beautiful fabric to initiate them into our African culture.

Cheri Duchrow, right, dances with women from the CFCA mothers groups in Nairobi, Kenya.

It was a colorful day with traditional tunes. Everybody put their best foot forward.

The cutting of the cake marked the end of a beautiful day. With every bite we were reminded of the beautiful, big family that CFCA is.

In Kenya, my highlight was during one of the reflections.

Former sponsored friends joined us and gave testimonies of their lives and how CFCA has impacted them.

I have had the honor of interacting with many sponsored friends, but their stories are always different. They always leave a lasting impact on my heart.

Jacinta, a young lady working with CFCA who has been a beneficiary for seven years, narrated her story to us. Everyone in the room was moved to tears.

“I don’t know what would have become of my life,” she said. “I would not have come this far had my sponsor, my second mother, not believed in me. I had lost all hope in life.”

Cecilia Spearing meets her sponsored child, Levis, in Kenya.

These words reminded me of CFCA, not as a sponsorship program but as a family, always there to lend a helping hand in times of need; a family that believes in you when you hardly have faith in yourself.

After six days in Nairobi, we headed to Uganda, the Pearl of Africa.

From zero to hero

I was overwhelmed with the warm reception we received everywhere we went. The happy faces, songs and dance made me feel at home.

Meeting with CFCA sponsored friends and talking to them was an enlightening experience. Looking at those I met and seeing their joy filled my heart with so much gladness.

I remember one young man saying, “I have been transformed from zero to hero.”

One experience that will forever remain with me is when one sponsor, Kathy, met with her sponsored child, Proscovia.

The moment we walked into the home, the family was waiting for us with open arms.

Proscovia’s mother broke down in tears, and as she knelt at Kathy’s feet, she constantly thanked her for everything she had done for her daughter and the family.

Kathy and Proscovia's mother embrace.

I tried to hold back my tears, but not for long. In the two years that I have been part of the CFCA family, I have never witnessed such a moving encounter.

Kathy was speechless. It was all very overwhelming.

She later told me, “Regina, I dreamt of this day, but I never expected this. I am very humbled.”

Proscovia was excited to meet Kathy. She held on tightly to her hand and showed her around her home.

As they walked together hand in hand, Bob’s words came into my mind: “By walking with them, we are saying you are not alone.”

Indeed, Proscovia and the rest of our sponsored friends are not alone. As the trip ended, I had a new understanding of the CFCA Hope for a Family program.

The spirit of love in the CFCA family during this trip will remain in my heart for years to come.

A glass of delicious passion fruit juice from Uganda!

CFCA serves more than 2,600 sponsored children and elderly in Uganda. This recipe comes from a group of mothers of sponsored children. The mothers grow passion fruit as part of a CFCA livelihood program. Not only does it make money to support their families, but it also gives them a way to actively engage in their community.

The number of passion fruits for the recipe depends on how much juice you want to make. One glass of juice requires three passion fruits. If you are making four glasses of juice, for example, you can use 12 passion fruits.

Ingredients:

• Passion fruits
• Sugar to taste
• Water as needed
• Jar to hold the juice
• Utensils: sieve, sharp knife, spoon

Harvest ripe passion fruits.

Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before you start preparing the passion fruit juice. Wash the fruits thoroughly.

After washing the fruits, cut them into half using a sharp knife.

Scoop the seedlings from the fruit with a clean spoon.

Place the sieve on top of the juice jar, and put the seeds in the sieve.

Add sugar to the seeds in the sieve. Stir the mixture until the jelly flows into the jar and the seeds are left dry.

You can now add water to the mixture to dilute it (others don’t add water to the mixture; they prefer their drink strong).

Add more sugar if needed.

Related links:

• Man joins CFCA mothers group in Uganda

CFCA sponsor Autumn Domingue with her sponsored child, Jacinto, during a 2011 mission awareness trip to Guatemala.

Advent is coming soon!

Larry Livingston, CFCA director of church relations, has created a way to help young people enter into Advent reflection with a simple daily exercise.

For each of the 28 days of Advent, we offer a single word for reflection.

Some come from the Scriptures of the season, some from Catholic tradition, and some are just intended to stimulate creative thinking.

Download our Youth eLesson.

Wishing you and your family a blessed Advent season!

Related links

• 2010 CFCA Advent reflection series
• Sign up for our quarterly Youth eLessons 

The Homolkas (Rosa, second from left; William, center; and Christine) visit their sponsored child, Sofia, left, in Chile on a 2011 mission awareness trip.

This Sunday, Nov. 20, CFCA turns 30 years old!

There’s something powerful about reaching the third decade of one’s life. You might say we’re in our early adulthood.

We’re more seasoned than we were 15 or even 10 years ago.

We have some life experience regarding what works and what doesn’t, but we’re still young enough to have a sense of adventure about our future.

As we look back to gain a better sense of what lies ahead, some things have definitely changed.

Our “Hope for a Family” model of sponsorship, introduced during the last several years, has placed more emphasis and responsibility on the families in our sponsorship program.

They’re our partners, not merely passive beneficiaries. (See Dan Pearson’s blog post, “From beneficiaries to partners,” for more context.)

Mothers groups are a key component of this model.

Here mothers of sponsored children form active communities to decide how to best use sponsorship benefits and build a path out of poverty.

Christine and Sofia.

“I see the growth of CFCA as a very harmonic crescendo of people discovering one another, and then deciding to walk together and work together — within an exciting, loving plan of the Almighty,” CFCA President and Co-founder Bob Hentzen said. “Far from kicking back and putting our feet up, we love the sense of just beginning.”

More important than what has changed, though, is what has stayed constant.

Our role as protectors of the bond between sponsors and sponsored friends will never change.

We’re responsible for helping people on both ends of this friendship recognize their dreams – whether it’s overcoming the challenges of poverty to a better life, or living out our faith and helping create a better world.

Bob has a list of the “saints” among us:

• “Parents of sponsored children who heroically take on the real issues of our day.
• “Hundreds of thousands of children, youth and aging persons who maintain hope.
• “Sponsors/members of our CFCA family who remain faithful year after year.
• “Co-workers of CFCA who persevere and inspire us.

“To each of you I say: Please know of our love and admiration.”

International perspectives

We interviewed three longtime CFCA staff members in different countries for their perspectives on our 30th anniversary. Here are excerpts from their reflections.

• Malou Navio, CFCA project coordinator in Antipolo, Philippines. She has worked 19 years with CFCA.

“My work with the sponsored children, aging and families in attaining their hopes and dreams based on their total well-being is a very fulfilling work for me as a community health nurse by profession.

“At present, the project works with almost 8,000 sponsored friends and their families organized into 521 small caring groups of 15 neighboring families called Kapitbahayan (neighbors). This structure animates the families with responsibilities, creative thinking and decision making. There are lots of ongoing developments with Kapitbahayan groups on family, community life and environmental responsibility that are far reaching and long lasting.”

• Peter Ndungo, CFCA project coordinator in Nairobi, Kenya. He has worked more than seven years with CFCA.

“[In the Hope for a Family sponsorship program,] mothers of sponsored children together with CFCA staff members evaluate those most in need of sponsorship. The mothers and sponsored friends decide how best to use the sponsorship funds.

“This has increased the understanding of CFCA identity within families in the sponsorship program, and they now have clear goals and plans.”

• Tránsito Hernández, CFCA project coordinator in Colombia. She has worked 30 years with CFCA.

“When I met Bob [Hentzen] in Cartagena, more than 30 years ago, he invited me to be part of the start of an NGO that they were founding, whose mission and vision coincided with the services that we provided. …

“In the CFCA Hope for a Family program in Medellin, one can tell the participants and their families know they belong to a worldwide movement that is on the same path and is building a future, step by step, each day. They practice a commitment to nonviolence. They are also aware of the role that their sponsors play in their lives, and they know they have gone from less humane to more humane conditions.”

Thank you for an incredible 30 years of walking with us!

Related links:

• CFCA celebrating 30-year anniversary [news report]
• See a photo of the first child sponsored through CFCA

By Judy-Anne Goldman, CFCA multimedia manager/producer

Sometimes someone says “Thank you” and you know that they’re speaking from their soul. Those two words carry a profound meaning.

You know the person saying it has been deeply touched. You can see it in their eyes.

This video carries that kind of a message. Many of them!

CFCA communications correspondents in El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Kenya and the Philippines visited sponsored friends to capture their special messages to their sponsors, and to all sponsors who support people living in poverty.

The footage was taped in the past three months and then sent to CFCA’s Kansas City headquarters to be edited.

It’s really exciting that so many people worked together from so many different parts of the world to send such a short but powerful message in so many different languages!

I couldn’t end this post without a HUGE thanks to our amazing video team: Henry and Ana Cristina in El Salvador; Luis, Gerver and Ricardo in Guatemala, Sreekanth in India, Regina in Kenya, to the team in Quezon City, Philippines; and to Michele in Kansas City for her fantastic editing skills.

And thank you for your continued support of CFCA and of families living in poverty around the world!

CFCA sponsor Catherine Donahue gets a hug from her sponsored child, Betty, during a May 2011 mission awareness trip to Colombia.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to reflect on the many blessings we are grateful for. Why not take a moment to give thanks for the sponsored child or elderly friend in your life?

Here are four ideas for remembering your sponsored friend during this special day.

1. Add a new dining tradition to your Thanksgiving meal. Research a recipe from your sponsored friend’s country and serve it with all your other favorites. Family and friends will have many questions, and you can share with them about CFCA.

2. Give thanks for your sponsored friend by keeping a photo nearby. Share with your guests why sponsorship is important to you.

3. Contact CFCA to receive a profile of a child or aging friend awaiting sponsorship. This Thanksgiving, inspire someone else to make a difference.

4. Say one thing you appreciate about the person sitting next to you at the Thanksgiving table, and go around the room until everyone has had a chance to participate. Include your sponsored friend as one of the people you’re thankful for.

If you have other ideas of how you and your family can incorporate CFCA into your own holiday traditions, we’d love to hear them.

In just one example, the Hubbards creatively made Christmas tree ornaments of children awaiting sponsorship last year.

Perhaps you have another idea you’d like to share with us. Let us know in the comments below!

Marta

How did you get involved with CFCA?

I met CFCA about eight years ago when I became part of its scholarship program in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

I was a high school freshman and my mother could not fully afford my education.

She used to work selling fried finger food in the streets. My younger brother was in school, too, and unfortunately, we never met our father.

How did CFCA support you?

As part of my responsibilities in CFCA, I did monthly community service. I offered my service at the CFCA headquarters in Santa Ana, El Salvador.

I started meeting people who treated me professionally and with respect. Many things changed inside me, spiritually and intellectually. I felt motivated to dream about my future.

At the same time it helped me cover part of my educational expenses such as transportation, tuition, etc., and my mother would help me with anything else I needed.

You graduated from high school. Did you go to university?

Yes, and my grades in university continued to be good, but my mother burned her arm while frying one day.

She had to quit working for some time and could no longer help with my college expenses. The funds provided by my scholarship weren’t enough.

During that time I was asked to speak to travelers in a CFCA mission awareness trip visiting the project.

I offered my testimony and afterward, I was approached by one of the group members, a CFCA preacher, Father James O’Toole.

He told me that he wanted to sponsor me because he thought I could reach my dream of becoming a professional.

I recently graduated as an administrative computer programmer. The path was hard. I had to overcome so many obstacles along the way.

Many times I felt like giving up, but there is always someone who encourages you to go on, to fight for what one desires, to reach a goal, and I did it.

Marta and her family.

What are you currently doing?

Praise God, I was blessed by finding a job at the local drivers license processing office. I have only been working there for two weeks.

I am already planning on studying some more, but now I can afford my own education. This is thanks to the CFCA scholarship and my sponsor.

Would you like to say something to your sponsor?

I want to offer him my deepest gratitude for believing in me, for sponsoring me for four years when I needed it most. May God bless you.

Please continue to help others who, like me, have a very clear goal in life.

Thank you, CFCA, for letting me grow to be the person I am now. You have been by me for so many years. Thank you from deep inside my heart.

Related links:

• Father James O’Toole: CFCA presenter sets example through sponsorship

The Anna Theresa mothers group in India wins the best group entrepreneurship award at a CFCA conference.

Did you know Nov. 14-20 is Global Entrepreneurship Week?

During this time when entrepreneurs are honored worldwide for their achievements, we’d like to highlight the entrepreneurs in our CFCA community, particularly mothers of sponsored children.

In just one example, the CFCA project in Chennai, India, organized a mothers group conference Sept. 24 called Sangamam (from a Tamil word that means a get-together or conference).

The conference is a daylong event of fun and learning, including an awards session for recognizing groups and individuals who have started entrepreneurship programs and projects for coming out of poverty.

These enterprises started with the help of loans from CFCA mothers groups. As the businesses grew, mothers then repaid the loans to the groups.

The Anna Theresa mothers group won the best group entrepreneurship award. Its members run two businesses – a hotel business and an orchid business.

For the orchid business, group members made arrangements with a farm, planted orchids and then sold the flowers in retail outlets.

Sakunthala receives her entrepreneurship award from Janet Tinsley, CFCA project director for India.

“This award is encouraging us to take our business to a higher level,” said Lourdu Marry, leader of the mothers group.

The best individual entrepreneurship award went to two mothers, Nazeera and Sakunthala.

Nazeera’s husband works as a steel worker, but his job didn’t provide enough income for their family of two daughters.

Financial worries were a source of constant anxiety for the family until Nazeera started a clothing business through a mothers group loan.

She now employs six workers from her community to run her business, which now helps support her family.

Now, Nazeera says, she can concentrate on her children’s education and their future as the situation in her home has improved.

The other award-winner, Sakunthala, now works in the construction industry, purchasing building materials with her mothers group loan and then leasing the materials to her clients.

“The Sangamam helped us learn how other groups are running and maintaining their records,” Sakunthala said. “As I received the best entrepreneurship award for the individual category, I felt very proud to receive this.”

By helping mothers of sponsored children become self-sufficient, the CFCA project in Chennai is directly helping the sponsored child and also the entire family.

“For many parents of sponsored children in India, most particularly mothers, finding a job and a steady wage can be elusive,” said Janet Tinsley, CFCA project director for India.

“An important aspect of the CFCA program in Chennai is the support to mothers who have the motivation to start their own businesses.

“Through income-generating activities, many mothers have succeeded in providing a more stable source of income for their families, which is one of the first steps in breaking the cycle of poverty.”

Congratulations to all these female entrepreneurs. We wish them and their families all the best!

Young people are a crucial part of our community, both as sponsors and as sponsored friends.

In developing countries, we help youth continue their education through sponsorship and the scholarship program.

In the U.S., we encourage and support youth ministers in their work to raise awareness about global poverty and how everyone – no matter their age – can help make a difference.

This year the conference is Nov. 17-19 in Indianapolis.

CFCA representatives will be at booth No. 143 with free resources and information on Raise Funds Raise Hope, a program for church youth groups to raise money while helping find sponsors for people in poverty.

Oh, and did we also mention a giveaway for a Kindle Fire?

If you’re headed to NCYC, feel free to stop by our booth and see how you can enter!

Doris, CFCA sponsored child in Peru, and her family.

Henry Perez, CFCA project coordinator in Lima, Peru, sent us this short update about Doris and her family and how they are being empowered through sponsorship benefits.

Doris was sponsored through CFCA when she was 4. She is 12 now and in first year at junior high at Virgin del Rosario School, in Manchay, Peru.

She is so thankful to CFCA for giving her the opportunity to continue with her studies.

Her mother belongs to a CFCA mothers group, which meets twice a month.

Her father’s name is Dionisio, and he suffered from polio when he was young. The disease left him partially paralyzed in the legs and left arm.

In spite of this disability, he works as a tailor. He works at home and supports his family.

He sews in a small machine that has a small engine; he uses his right hand because he can’t use his legs. His neighbors say he is a good tailor.

Doris’ mother sells small jellies and tamales in the streets. In this way, she helps contribute to the family’s income.

Both of Doris’ parents are responsible for helping sponsored children and their families write letters to sponsors in the mothers group.

They are grateful to CFCA for supporting their daughter’s education and are happy to participate in the mothers group.

Sponsored friends and their families are our priority. They own the sponsorship program.

Therefore, they must decide on how sponsorship benefits are distributed and their involvement in the CFCA project, both in its planning and its implementation and evaluation.

In this sense, families are empowered and with CFCA’s help and facilitation, they become protagonists in managing the sponsorship program.

The Lima project, along with all the CFCA projects, understands that dignity is the fundamental value of families. Being treated with dignity is having the freedom to decide about their futures, their families and their communities.

A group of 134 mothers are helping CFCA sponsored children in the Guatemalan community of San Lorenzo, San Marcos, write letters to their sponsors.

Ilcia helps CFCA sponsored children Manolo, center, and Auner, right, with letters to their sponsors.

“I only studied up to fourth grade where I learned to read and write, and now I am putting that into practice,” said Ilcia, one mother. “Although I cannot write very well, I want to help.”

Mothers have used this as an opportunity to feel significant and involved with their community.

After CFCA staff members explained more about how to write a good letter, moms now meet in advance to plan all activities on the day of writing letters to sponsors.

Each sponsored child has two notebooks. One is for writing the letter draft, and here the mothers can make observations and corrections.

The other notebook is for writing the corrected letter. This second booklet also keeps records of all the letters that the sponsored child has written.

In addition to notebooks, the children come prepared with pencils, pens, pencil sharpeners, crayons, etc.

Every child comes to a mother’s home according to previously arranged schedules.

Mothers welcome the children to a place already set up with wooden chairs and tables so they can sit and write their letters.

Every mother provides personal attention to every child, answering questions, comments, corrections, etc. Each sponsored child receives a tasty snack at the end of the activity.

Each mother attends to a group of 10, 15, or 25 children; all the children live close to the chosen mother’s home.

Before the mothers’ help, staff would stay two and a half days in a community addressing a group of sponsored children with their letters.

Now letter writing is done in a single day or a few hours.

Artwork by a child sponsored in Guatemala to @biggreenpen's daughter.

Yesterday we conducted a Twitter chat all about giving thanks (just in time for Thanksgiving)!

It was a great topic, and we enjoyed your ideas. Submissions ranged from access to clean water to family health and washing machines.

Read the highlights: “What are you thankful for but often take for granted?” on Storify

We’re grateful for all the participation and engagement during this hour-long chat. If you haven’t had a chance yet to join our Twitter chats, we’d love to see you next time!

Some of the most common questions are: “How many sponsors go on these trips?” and “How many sponsored children and aging friends have actually met their sponsor?”

To answer these and other questions, we’ve created the following infographic for you. Enjoy!

1) Jose Miguel ~ Sponsorship & Prayers ~ ANSWERED!

Less than a week after Tina Fisher posted a picture of Jose Miguel to her blog, seeking a sponsor for him, he was sponsored!

Here’s his story:

“Jose Miguel was born on April 28, 2010 to a mother who is 20 years old and a father who is 25. He likes to play with cars and is learning Spanish.  He is said to be so sweet and has special needs regarding his health, he has Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

“His mother and father both work, yet they have so many problems as their income is too low to cover all the needs for little Jose Miguel.  He lives in a home with mud walls, a zinc roof, and a dirt floor.  He sleeps on a wooden bed, cooking is done by firewood and lastly, six people live in this home.  The family income is about $15 USD per month.

“My prayers, if it’s God’s will, are for me to use my blog & tweeting to help this family gain sponsorship.  Sponsorship is $30 USD per month. ”

Read the full blog post: Jose Miguel

2) CFCA: Our first letter from Abigal

Bobbi posted an absolutely must-read story about receiving her first letter from Abigal, a child her family sponsors in Mexico. She also features pictures of other children awaiting sponsorship. Here’s an excerpt:

“This little girl living in poverty is praying for me, that I will be blessed. It’s amazing. I am trying to help out by giving to someone else and instead I am the one who receives the blessings. God is so good. …

“There are many, many more kids looking for sponsors, as well as teens and elderly. Advent will be here before you know it. As you prepare to welcome the Christ Child in your heart, prayerfully consider welcoming one of these children into your heart as well.”

Read the full blog post: Our first letter from Abigal

Here’s one from Marisol, who has dedicated her achievements to her parents in gratitude for all they’ve done for her.

When I started studying, my father decided to work as a wood carver in a faraway place to earn enough to sustain our needs.

He rarely had a vacation in a year, only once or twice.

My mother was left to look after us. In spite of all of my parents’ hard work, life was not easy for us. That’s why it was a big help when I was sponsored through CFCA.

For six years in grade school, I gained honors for which I’ve worked hard. I dedicated it all to my parents because I respect their efforts.

It was an achievement for me as well to show that we can still surpass all the struggles that poverty brought to us.

I was 13 and our youngest was 9 when my father died. It was really painful to lose someone you loved so dearly, but it hurt that we could do nothing about it.

He was suffering from colon cancer but refused to take medication because he worried about the cost of treatment. He suffered all the pain of his illness and kept it to himself all the time.

That particular experience is one of the biggest reasons why I decided to work to give my family a better living so we would not ever have that hurtful experience again.

I finished high school in 2006. I spent another five years in college for a bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering. I gave all I can with the help of my family, the CFCA community and above all, our Father Almighty.

The years I’ve spent studying had many uphill struggles. Every day, I walked approximately 30 minutes before I was able to get a ride to school.

I wasn’t able to participate in some school activities that required registration fees since my mother could not afford it.

Many times, I’ve seen my mother owe money from our relatives just to provide needs in times when we really need it, and I don’t want to see my mother in that situation all the time..

Sometimes she could hardly send us all to school. My siblings had to stop schooling just to let me finish college, and I do appreciate their sacrifice.

CFCA had given my family much help since the day I was sponsored in the first grade of elementary school.

Since then, CFCA helped me modify my life’s direction. Sponsorship benefits helped develop me to be a good individual and citizen of my community.

Medical care and spiritual formation also strengthened our faith to believe that we could pass whatever adversities we face. The recreational activities also boosted our self-confidence.

I want to thank CFCA for its educational assistance and the opportunity to benefit from the scholarship program, which helped me realize better things for my family’s future.

I’ve finished college and can start reaching my dreams. And because I finished my education in spite of all the problems that hindered me, I already can consider myself successful.

I thank God most of all, my loving family and of course my CFCA family, especially my sponsor for almost 14 years, Ma’am Karen Domey and her family for having a heart good enough to let me experience this kind of joy and happiness.

Note: We called Marisol’s sponsor, Karen, to let her know of this letter. “She’s been such a wonderful, polite girl,” Karen said. “She studies so hard; I can tell by all the grades she gets.”

Henry's mother, Maria Teresa, and Henry at the cemetery during Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Latin America is a land full of beauty, hard-working people and a great diversity of customs and traditions.

One of those traditions is the celebration of El Día de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

This has nothing to do with cults to the dead, but a day to remember family and friends and the moments we spent together while they were alive.

Cemeteries are usually lonely and cold places; however, this day they become alive and cheerful.

Families get together to visit them, bringing colorful ornaments and flowers to place on the graves of their relatives and loved ones.

Besides the beauty of people praying, singing and placing flowers, this celebration generates good business not only for those who make ornaments or sell flowers, but also for men and women who clean graves with water and detergent, paint them with nice colors and retouch the names of the deceased carved in wood or cement crosses.

My family and I usually visit the grave of my brother Julio, who is buried with my grandma Tona and grandpa Francisco. We like to arrive there early, around 6:30 a.m., to avoid the stress of many people and heavy traffic.

In my family we all have a traditional responsibility during our visit.

• My brother Julio Ernesto is in charge of praying the rosary.
• My wife, Roxana, helps clean the grave.
• Children play, jumping all over the graves.
• My mother, Maria Teresa, brings the flowers, and
• I bring tools and wire to place the flowers in the cross.

Besides the beauty of being together as a family, this tradition gives us the chance to share stories and pass along the story of our family to our children.

After laughs, tears and moments of silence, we all left the cemetery with the sun coming up and the cheerful noise of people coming to visit their dead.

Even though my brother, grandma and grandpa are no longer with us, their spirit, love and blessings remain among us.

We had a nice family moment and the best of all, as every year, my mother bought us breakfast…

Main entrance to the cemetery during the Day of the Dead.

Linda Baker in California started sponsoring in May 2010 during a CFCA weekend presentation. Her daughter, Celeste, selected Deepika from India as the family’s sponsored friend.

Deepika was the same age as Celeste, so it was only natural that Linda’s two older children, Celeste, 9, and Nigel, 6, would identify with her, Linda said.

Linda said sponsorship is a great way to introduce her children to people from another culture, especially those who are living in poverty.

“Deepika sends us totally sweet letters,” Linda said. “She’s an excellent writer in English. It’s incredible. She’s writing us letters that are pages long and it’s her second language!”

Deepika

Celeste especially was intrigued by the different clothes Deepika wore. Both Deepika and Celeste like art, and Deepika draws beautiful pictures on her letters to the family in California.

Although the children have never met Deepika in person, she’s like another member of the family. They talk about her a lot, Linda said.

Recently Linda introduced an allowance for Celeste and Nigel. Each child receives $3 a week – a dollar for savings, a dollar for a charity of their choice, and another dollar for spending.

The children asked Linda how they should spend their money for charity, and Linda said they could donate it to anybody they chose.

“I told them I was going to send my money to Deepika,” Linda said. “And they said, ‘We want to do that, too!’”

So the children saved a dollar a week for 17 weeks. Together they saved $32, and Linda provided the rest for a $100 contribution to CFCA’s family need fund.

“I’m very blessed, and the only way I can justify it is to pay it forward,” Linda said. “We are so fortunate that I just want to be able to help other people so they can have an easier life.”

For our sponsors who have children, what are some ways you’re teaching your children to pay it forward? Feel free to share in the comments below.

The next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture is up on our Facebook page!

Pictured from left are Catarina, sponsored in Guatemala, and her sponsor, Bruce Fontenot from Louisiana. The Fontenot family has sponsored Catarina since 2007.

Want to submit your photo for the next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture?

We’re hoping for something Christmas-related for December, so if you have any photos with a Christmas or holiday theme, we’d love to see them!

To submit, simply email a .jpg photo file (the higher the resolution, the better) to cfcacommunications@cfcausa.org.

Include your name and your preferred form of contact (phone, email, etc.) in case we have any questions about your submission.

Twitter chat

In other social media news, CFCA is having another Twitter chat at noon Central time on Nov. 7.

This month’s topic will have a Thanksgiving-related theme about things we’re grateful for but can sometimes take for granted.

Updated Nov. 8 - Read the highlights: “What are you thankful for but often take for granted?” on Storify

Thanks again for your support!

Rosario, CFCA sponsored aging friend from Guatemala.

At 91, Rosario from Guatemala has outlived two husbands and three children. Rosario lives in a shelter for the elderly called “My Sweet Refuge” and appreciates visits from Manuel, her CFCA social worker.

“I no longer have anyone in my family and I like his company. He makes me feel safe and loved,” she said.

What is your secret to long life?

I would say the biggest secret to long life is to give your life to God, because he is the owner of our lives and he decides when it starts and when it ends. …

I have always liked dancing, and I believe that this is another of my secrets to good health.

What advice would you give to today’s youth?

Take care of your life. Do not mistreat your body with vices like alcohol and drugs. Be happy with your life and youth. …

I want to also tell young people to study, because I never learned to read. My father could not give me the opportunity to attend school.

If you could visit any place in the world, where and why would you go there?

I would probably go anywhere in the world. The place does not matter much, but the important thing is to visit people. I like meeting people and would be happy by visiting a place where I can meet many people. For me the interesting thing about any place is its people.

What things have changed since you were younger?

Today everything is artificial, mainly the food. Everything comes ready to heat and eat. Meals were healthier before and had better taste; a tomato was richer and tastier.

When I was little we all lived in a ranchito (very small home) with a tin roof, and it was normal to have many animals running in the yard. All of us went out to bathe in the river.

Now all that has changed; houses are made with blocks and cement, people have improved their lifestyle through education and don’t work in the fields anymore but in offices, and now they all have a shower at home and nobody is going to the river to bathe.

I have met many people. I have seen many births and deaths, but I am still here. God has given me the opportunity to share my life with many people, and when I die we will meet again.

What has remained the same?

What remains the same are many good people in the world, for example all the people who helped me with their good heart. I’ve been able to survive with charity from many people and with God’s blessing.

Both these blog posts feature Walk2gether and the campaign to find sponsors for 8,000 kids. With the support of people like Suzanne and Tina, we’re making progress toward that goal!

1) 8000 for 8000

Suzanne, a CFCA sponsor, highlighted her personal sponsorship experience on her blog and also pointed to our consistently high evaluations by independent charity evaluators.

Here’s an excerpt …

“The president of CFCA walked 8000 miles between December 2009 and June 2011 to bring attention to families in poverty. He would like to have 8000 children sponsored, one for each mile he walked. …

“I can attest to how wonderful the sponsorship experience is. We’ve been sponsoring Ivan from Colombia since 2009. It’s one of the best things we’ve ever done. We just received his Christmas card last week, complete with a recent picture. He’s just adorable and it’s been great to see how he’s grown throughout the last two years.”

Read the full blog post: 8000 for 8000

2) Jose Miguel ~ Sponsorship & Prayers

Tina Fisher posted a beautiful picture of Jose Miguel to her blog. Here’s his story:

Jose Miguel was born on April 28, 2010 to a mother who is 20 years old and a father who is 25.   He likes to play with cars and is learning Spanish.  He is said to be so sweet and has special needs regarding his health, he has Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus.

“His mother and father both work, yet they have so many problems as their income is too low to cover all the needs for little Jose Miguel.  He lives in a home with mud walls, a zinc roof, and a dirt floor.  He sleeps on a wooden bed, cooking is done by firewood and lastly, six people live in this home.  The family income is about $15 USD per month.

“My prayers, if it’s God’s will, are for me to use my blog & tweeting to help this family gain sponsorship.  Sponsorship is $30 USD per month. ”

Read the full blog post: Jose Miguel

Here’s one from Jessica, a young woman who struggled to empower herself and her family.

I am blessed with loving and ever supportive parents and siblings. We live in a semi-concrete type of house, with chicken, ducks and a vegetable garden in our backyard.

Even though we encounter hardships, we do not lose hope. God is always there to guide, help, protect and bless us.

I also believe CFCA is a blessing showered by God to us…I became eligible for sponsorship in 1997.

After a month, I was fortunate to become a sponsored child. My family and I felt so much happiness and excitement because a kindhearted couple supported me in my studies and also my family. We felt we were really blessed by God.

Elementary school

When I was in elementary grade, CFCA paid all my school fees and provided my educational needs. It lessened the burden for my parents in sending my siblings and me to school.

In return, I concentrated on my studies. I joined math and science quizzes, essay and feature writing contests. I also participated during the dish gardening contest and through the help of God, I earned first place.

When I graduated elementary, I was class valedictorian and received many academic awards.

I was thankful to enter a high-quality public high school. I maintained grades of 85 percent and above.

I was an elected class officer and joined school events like pep squad, dance troop and other activities. Besides academic activities, I also joined extracurricular gatherings.

Through these experiences, I developed confidence, sportsmanship and harmonious relationships with those around me. I also enhanced my talents and skills.

I was active in school because God, my family and CFCA were my inspirations. CFCA also provided for my educational needs and tuition fees. I graduated secondary level full of hopes and dreams.

Super typhoon

CFCA was such a great blessing from God. When I was in my fourth year of high school, a super typhoon struck our region. Many properties were destroyed, and many people died.

Half our house, especially our roof, was damaged beyond repair. Only the two bedrooms and our dirty kitchen were left.

Though we experienced such damage, we were still calm and thankful because God saved us. We helped each other clean up the mess.

My father picked up some of the remains to build a shelter. He fixed our dirty kitchen, and it became our temporary dwelling.

There we slept, ate and did our daily routine uncomfortably. The space was too little for all of us.

In spite of our condition, we never complained. We knew that God would not let us continue living in that very hard way.

Thank God, because CFCA answered our prayers. They provided housing materials for us to build our new house.

College

Another stage and challenge came into my life — college.

Fortunately, I passed an entrance examination to a quality public university. I was so glad and thankful to God for giving me this opportunity.

My family was so proud of me, but I was wondering whether my parents could support my studies, as my siblings were also studying at the same time.

I felt a little sad, but I did not lose hope. I knew there would be a way for me to go to school.

God was really good. One day, my mother and I were having a conversation regarding finances. We received a letter from CFCA telling that we should be at its office right away.

We were shocked and felt worried about it. We didn’t have any idea why we were asked to come.

The next day, we went. How glad and thankful we were upon knowing that my dearest sponsors sent money for my tuition fees!

We couldn’t explain the feeling of surprise and happiness. We really didn’t expect the blessing.

I took a bachelor’s degree in social work at the same university. When I was in my first year, I was elected as business manager for the National Service Training Program (NSTP).

I was also elected as the first-year class vice president and representative for Human Welfare Advocates Club (HWAC).

From my first to fourth college years, I became an active social work student in our school. I also became a contestant for Mr. & Ms. Intramurals. Even though I did not win the title, it was an experience to cherish.

I was also active in our community. I was elected as chairman in the Youth Council in our barangay (village).

My colleagues and I promoted the welfare of children and youth. To be a Youth Council chairman was a big help to me, especially in my studies.

At times I faced so many struggles with regards to my schooling, especially when my two siblings started college.

We experienced lots of difficulties in terms of financial matters. I felt sadness whenever I saw my parents looking so worried about the situation.

But as I was saying, God is really good all the time. He never brought us down. He guided and provided help for us. That was through CFCA – the foundation that never left us in times of need.

CFCA provided all our needs and necessities. CFCA also became my parents’ partner in supporting my studies.

In my 14 years in CFCA, I was very much thankful that I became a part of the foundation. I will truly treasure all the experiences I gained here.

I would not be who I am now if not for the help of my beloved sponsors and CFCA. I pray this generous foundation will last a thousand years so that it could also help lots of children and families who are less fortunate like us.

Thank you very much and more power! May God bless us all!

Yesterday (Oct. 26) marked the major Hindu festival, Diwali. It is also celebrated today (Oct. 27) this year.

Diwali is the festival of lights. We decorate the home with lights and burn firecrackers.

Children celebrate the festival with joy and happiness. We also distribute candies to wish one another greetings and share happiness.

When we decorate the home with lights, the darkness will go away and we can see our surroundings. And burning the firecrackers and distributing the candies is a form of expressing the joy of victory over evil.

I like the festival very much. Since my childhood, I eagerly wait for the festival because on that day, we get new clothes, burn firecrackers, and get many candies to eat.

Todd Bachamp, CFCA sponsor and volunteer.

You can make a difference in the life of a child just by telling family, friends and your community what your sponsored friend means to you.

The CFCA Outreach Volunteer Team is here to assist you along the way. We have materials that can help you spread awareness at work, school, church or elsewhere in your community.

Across the United States, more than 4,000 CFCA sponsors volunteer their time to support CFCA events or create their own ideas to raise awareness and invite others to sponsor.

Here are three easy ways you can learn about volunteer opportunities.

1. Subscribe to our blog to hear volunteer stories and experiences.
2. Sign up for our volunteer eNewsletter to get quick tips.
3. Contact cfcaoutreach@cfcausa.org, and we’ll let you know whenever a CFCA event or weekend presentation is in your area.

“I enjoy volunteering for CFCA because I realize the blessings that I have received, and that God calls me every day to share his gifts with others,” says Joy from Walnut Creek, Calif.

Check the blog often for more ways to talk about our Hope for a Family sponsorship program with others and have an impact on our world today!

We loved this photo from CFCA sponsor Jim Thomas during a recent mission awareness trip!

As this sign attests, English can present difficulties for people who haven’t grown up with all its idioms and idiosyncrasies. Yet it’s increasingly the international language of business.

If you write to your sponsored friend in English, you’re helping your friend learn a language that will almost certainly help in a future career.

We’ve blogged before about foreign phrases that don’t compute in English. Here are some more we’ve overheard in the last few weeks:

• Cow play

Staff members from one of our projects in Africa wrote that one of the children awaiting sponsorship liked to play “like a cow with friends.”

Further research clarified that he liked to play “cowboys with friends.”

• “Yearly stroll”

On a recent mission awareness trip to one of our countries in South America, travelers were invited in a booklet to take a “yearly stroll” through our project.

After seeing one sponsor staring at the booklet without comprehension, a CFCA translator asked, “What does ‘yearly stroll’ mean?”

The sponsor had no idea either.

• Sun blockader

In the U.S. it’s called sunscreen; in Europe, it’s called sunblock.

We’d never heard it called “sun blockader,” though, until an email from one of our projects showed up at our headquarters in Kansas City!

A few months ago we began a conversation with this after-school theater arts training program to see how our organizations could work together to support each other in our different missions.

CFCA has always focused on helping people in developing countries build a path out of poverty. However, many of us in the Kansas City headquarters are active in supporting local community organizations right here in the U.S.

Christian Youth Theater’s mission is to develop character in children and adults through training in the arts and by producing wholesome family entertainment.

We’re supporting that initiative by sponsoring its school production of “Aida,” described on CYT’s website as “a modern crowd pleaser that embraces multicultural casting and exuberant dancing, staging and singing.” Music includes songs by Elton John and Tim Rice.

During the event we’ll highlight our Hope for a Family sponsorship program, making this a great opportunity to bring someone who may be interested in learning more about child sponsorship.

The show dates and times are:

• Thursday, Oct. 27, at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
• Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 29, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 30, at 2 p.m.

If you’d like to attend this event, you can RSVP on Facebook here.

CFCA sponsors visit community Manuel in El Salvador after heavy rains.

After seven days of intense rain all throughout El Salvador, we finally saw the sun Tuesday, Oct. 18.

It brought hope, smiles and lots of birds flying in the blue sky. However, today (Oct. 19) we woke up with a much more intense rain that has led to blocked roads, flooded rivers and major mudslides in cities, towns and roads.

It is a sign of hope for us to face this emergency with the presence of nine sponsors who are participating in a CFCA mission awareness trip in El Salvador.

In spite of this emergency, they have been extremely open to the inconveniences of visiting our communities under heavy rain, extremely muddy conditions and difficult walking access.

During our visits, we have witnessed the reality of those living in fragile economic and housing conditions. It is an eye-opening experience that makes us all appreciate the comfort and safety of our homes, but is a dramatic call to do something for those less fortunate.

Yesenia, mother of sponsored child Sandra Vanessa, and her family are currently sleeping at the communal house in their community, “Manuel,” because their house is at risk of collapsing or being buried by potential mudslides.

Yesenia's house in El Salvador. Yesenia's child, Sandra Vanessa, is sponsored through CFCA.

“Water is flowing from the dirt floor of my house,” said Yesenia. “There is so much mud behind my house, I am afraid it will collapse over us. This is why I left with my children. Unfortunately, the rain does not stop.”

Besides the heavy rains, the local authorities are announcing a potential cold front to enter tonight, which will bring a much worse situation to those affected.

We continue our effort of covering emergency needs of our sponsored and their families. Once the emergency is over, they will need further assistance and support to rebuild their lives.

We deeply appreciate all your prayers; they have been warming our footsteps in each of the communities we have visited.

We have shared them with our CFCA family and are certain that soon the beauty of the sun will shine upon us again as a message from our Lord, telling us that better things are to come.

Related links
Central American rains endanger CFCA families

“Bob’s notes” are reports from CFCA President Bob Hentzen, who regularly accompanies mission awareness trip participants. You can see Bob’s full update on his Facebook page.

Our entire team in Guatemala is delighted to receive this fine group of sponsors and friends.

During the mission awareness trip, sponsors experienced the buildup to a presidential run-off election, scheduled for Nov. 6.

This promised to be an exciting trip, considering election frenzy, heavy rains, swollen rivers, damaged roads and major landslides. We often adjusted our itinerary according to weather and road conditions.

Naturally, we thanked our CFCA family for prayers along the way.

Due to abundant rains, Guatemala welcomed us with a green countryside and pleasant temperatures.

We took sponsors to the CFCA office that serves more than 6,000 families in Guatemala City.

Children, teens and staff had prepared a nice orientation to the CFCA presence in their areas.

Participating were Miguel Dario Tzarax, project coordinator; Maria del Carmen Santos, social worker; Mario, sponsored for 15 years; two groups of sponsored children and mothers groups (Mezquital and El Gallito); moving testimony of Monica Catalan, mother leader from El Gallito; and me (Bob) with a group of children and mothers.

All this week, we had to adjust our itinerary as the 72 highways of Guatemala were blocked from landslides and flooding.

We did make it out to San Lucas Toliman on Sunday. We felt rewarded by the welcome of our sponsored friends and families.

What a beautiful and harmonious coming together of sponsors and sponsored. All sponsors were able to see their sponsored friends during this trip.

Eight additional children and elderly were sponsored and visited this week.

Ever, 12, sponsored by Joanne Thompson, expressed his feelings beautifully in his original poem:

No elegiste que yo naciera,
No sabias que en tu vida yo iba a estar
Pero abriste tus brazos de par en par
Para ser mi segunda Mama.

Segunda Mama, que crees en mi,
En mi valor, en mis suenos, en mis metas
Que siempre te muestra discreta
Que tienes toda mi confianza.

(Bob’s translation)
You did not choose that I be born
You did not know that I would come into your life
But you opened wide your arms
To become my second mother.

Second Mother, you who have believed in me,
In my value, in my dreams, in my goals,
You who have always been wise,
Know that you have all of my confidence.

Quotes from sponsors after our day with sponsored friends and their families:

“Our dance with the elderly…What a wonderful prayer.”

“I could feel God’s love shining through my family.”

“We made new friends that we’ll never forget.”

“So moving…I’m living on love.”

On Tuesday after an all-night rain, we crossed Lake Atitlan in early-morning fog en route to Acatenango. With all the rain, many docks around Lake Atitlan are now under water.

A large and high-energy group was awaiting us in the city square of Acatenango.

Staff calculated roughly 1,000 of our sponsored friends and their families walked through the rain to be there.

Staff and families teamed up to offer us a warm welcome with music, dance and a truckload of fruit and other gifts.

Sponsored child Rocicela delighted everyone with her Selena-like rendition of “Roberto, no te detengas” (“Don’t stop”). Her father composed this as an encouragement to Bob and all the walkers on Walk2gether.

After a nice lunch prepared by the mothers, a group of 10 young mothers from the rural area of El Socorro gave us a touching presentation about the jellies and other foods they are producing. They have formed an active group, in spite of living two hours on foot from Acatenango.

Viviana, mother of four children, is a widow at 38. Her husband died recently of a head injury. Viviana’s work has been to clean a government school. She fears that with the upcoming change in municipal government, she will likely lose her job.

The gathering this afternoon was to inaugurate a new home, constructed and offered to this humble family by the sponsors and CFCA. Three of the children are currently sponsored. The fourth (Juan Pablo, 11) was sponsored today.

Because of the rains and the condition of the roads, we arrived back in San Lucas at about 8 p.m. On the mountain roads in the fog, it was impressive to see the sponsors on the bus spontaneously join in prayer.

In spite of the long day, we were all up for the Mayan prayer service-brought indoors by our strong storms. Many of the sponsors were touched by this ceremony, simple yet packed with symbolism and spirituality.

We also visited the community of Quixaya. Neither strong winds nor quantities of rain could deter Fr. John Goggin and sponsored friends from attending and the “artistas” from performing.

It was great to see mothers like Delfina, Gladys and Antonia, together with co-workers Sonia, Efrain, Mauricio, Florentin and Pedro.

I called the mothers and elderly to participate in one of my songs:

“The Shout of Your Silence”

My prayer so fervent
Is to walk by your side
Your fire of shared struggle
Will light up my life
And the depth of your friendship
Like nothing on earth
Communion of martyrs
To life will give birth.

In spite of the storm, we were able to divide into groups and visit four families. My group visited two families, both inspiring.

Dona Maria and Don Victor have five children, two of whom are sponsored. The grandfather, Don Benito, is also sponsored and usually accompanies us when the sponsors visit.

The second family we visited in the San Felipe area of Quixaya has mother (Rosa Maria), father (Jose Angel) and six children living at home.

Jose Angel, the eldest named after his father, is a good student and aspires to study medicine.

The daughters, Paulina and Julie, and the grandmother, Seferina, are also sponsored.

Please know of our love and the love of your CFCA family in Guatemala.

Heartfelt thanks to Ricardo, Luis and Gerver from the communications center in Guatemala for the fine pictures and technical help.

Bob H.
San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala
Oct. 15, 2011

I recently had the privilege of traveling to Chile on a CFCA mission awareness trip, and while there I met a woman who put my idea of “a hard day’s work” to shame.

Luisa, mother of a CFCA sponsored child, is a seasonal vineyard worker in Chile.

Her name is Luisa, and she’s the mother of Javier, a child sponsored through CFCA.

She’s a seasonal vineyard worker, needed only in times of pruning and harvesting.

She started work Oct. 10 and will finish in mid-April, leaving home at 7 a.m. and returning around 6 p.m.

It can take her 20-30 minutes to walk from one side of the vineyard to the other.

Payment for her pains depends on how many boxes she can pick during harvest time or the hours she works when pruning.

If she picks about 100 boxes (each box weighing about 25 pounds), she can make approximately 17,000 pesos ($30 US) a day.

Many of the workers have back problems from picking such heavy loads, she told me.

This is not counting the constant exposure to sun (the workers must wear sunscreen and protective clothing provided by the vineyard) and agrochemicals such as pesticides, fungicides and chemical fertilizers.

Wine harvesting also requires fine motor skills, flexing the fingers to pick the grapes, and the harvesters often suffer from carpal tunnel syndrome.

She’s one of them. The pain travels from her fingers up to her armpits, she said.

“Can you get medical help?” I asked through a CFCA translator, Marcela.

She explained that like many others living in poverty, she’s in the public health care system. This means she won’t have to pay for surgery that could alleviate the pain, but if she applies for it, she’ll be added to a lengthy waiting list.

She doesn’t want surgery, though. A friend of hers had surgery, but it went horribly wrong and permanently disfigured her hands.

“Can you rest from work to give your hands time to heal?” I asked, again through Marcela.

She could, but that would mean no wages. She needs money, so she must keep working.

I asked her about her dreams and goals for the future, and she started to cry … just a little. I wondered whether anyone else had ever asked her that question.

Luisa outside her house.

“I want my kids to have an education,” she said, and Marcela translated this. “I am working so hard because I don’t want my children to work in the vineyards.”

CFCA sponsorship helps her buy clothes and school supplies for her children. She said sponsorship is a blessing because a person who doesn’t even know her is willing to help her.

She was also able to buy a government-subsidized house with support from the CFCA office in Valparaiso.

The house and her family are her greatest triumphs, she said.

“I don’t just have a house, but I have a home,” she tells me in Spanish. “Because my family is here.”

Our CFCA community abounds with other people just like Luisa. This blog is one way we can tell their stories – highlighting not only the hardship of living in poverty, but also the beauty of the families struggling to overcome it.

Thanks for helping us stand in solidarity with them, every step of the way.

Here’s one from Leoncio Jr., a sponsored youth who graduated this year in consumer electronics.

I am Leoncio Jr., 2011 graduate of a two-year degree in consumer electronics and sponsored for almost 12 years now.

During my younger years, my father earned a living as a construction worker, while my mother stayed at home taking care of the children.

Now since my father is too old to engage in construction work, he drives a three-wheel bicycle (a pedicab, a public-utility vehicle) in the neighborhood just to be able to support our family’s daily basic needs.

I am the youngest child and the only boy. Among the four children, only I was able to reach and finish college.

It was difficult for my father’s minimal income to provide for our needs and my school needs. So my mother worked hard to help my father.

My mother has difficulties with her eyesight and hearing, but despite this she works everyday in the local market, selling small items such as candies until 10 p.m.

My mother’s work also had many challenges. She has been through heat and rain at times, but these don’t matter to her. She earns about 100 pesos (about $2.30 US) a day.

She uses this for my school expenses, including my enrollment fee.

I also help my parents in earning extra income through the vegetable garden which my mother had planted.

The lot belongs to my mother’s other siblings, but since it was vacant she decided to plant it with sweet potatoes (locally called camote), a variety of vegetables and some herbal plants.

My mother and I usually start our day by waking up early to clean and work in the garden. We always hope to get a good harvest.

Other than CFCA, our family doesn’t have any relatives or friends we can turn to in terms of financial assistance.

In fact, my mother suffered somewhat disheartening treatment from her other siblings. She was once told that with our living conditions, she could not have a child who could ever graduate.

My family did not mind the humiliation of others. But we pursued our dreams and strongly faced the challenges, for we share a powerful faith in God.

April 9, 2011, was my graduation day. I am continuing my on-the-job training and acquiring a small salary.

Although I am working far from my family, I never forget them and never fail to remember their situation.

Indeed, before my graduation day came, I sent money to my mother; I wanted her to have dental work to have a more beautiful smile.

According to the Blog Action Day website, this is “an opportunity to open the conversation about how food impacts all of us – individually and globally.”

We’ll start with the global overview on food and then focus on something you can do individually to connect with your sponsored friend through eating (always a fun activity!).

Globally – putting food on the table

To improve long-term food security, CFCA has a food assistance fund to support the nutritional and food security needs for families in our sponsorship program.

See this video from our archives about how sponsorship benefits and CFCA food grants can help families put food on the table for years, even after sponsorship has ended.

Individually

A powerful way to connect with people from different cultures is to prepare and taste food from their own countries.

We’ve collected a wealth of recipes from the countries in which CFCA works. Perhaps for Blog Action Day, you could try one or two of these!

How does this topic affect you and your family? We welcome your comments!

Juana, left, a mother of a CFCA sponsored child, takes her laundry for a long journey home. See a slideshow of washing laundry by hand in Guatemala.

Have you ever thought about how long it would take to travel places without a car?

Here are some examples of travel – and the time it takes – in many developing countries where CFCA works:

• Some sponsored children in El Salvador walk 45 minutes to get to school.
• Joachim, a CFCA staff member in Bhagalpur, India, recounts his journey to visit the farthest communities where CFCA works. The farthest community is around 164 miles (264 kilometers) away, and the time to reach it is six hours.
• Walk2gether, the nearly 8,000-mile CFCA solidarity walk through 12 Latin American countries, took 17 months and 10 days to complete.
• Letters to sponsored friends often take weeks to arrive. This slideshow explains the laborious travel time and process in the journey of a letter.

We’d love to hear from you! How would your life change if you had limited transportation options? What would you use to get to the grocery store, schools, work, home, social gatherings, etc.?

Porotos con riendas, or white beans with spaghetti - a CFCA recipe from Chile!

CFCA serves more than 4,000 sponsored children and elderly in Chile. Our staff members in Valparaiso sent us this recipe for porotos con riendas, or white beans with spaghetti.

The poroto (white bean) dates back to the migrants who came to South America, crossing the Bering Strait, who brought the seed, planting it mostly in Mexico and Peru. This has been one of the greatest sources of protein for the Latin American people. Varieties include black, white, yellow, etc.

This recipe makes 4-5 plates; white beans need to soak overnight.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of white beans (let the white beans rest in water for one night, so the seed can absorb some water and get puffy)
• 2 liters of water
• 2 pounds of Hubbard or butternut squash, cut in small pieces
• 200 grams (about 7 ounces) of Tagliatelle spaghetti, cooked (long, flat strips of pasta like fettucine)
• 300 grams (about 10.5 ounces) of chopped Swiss chard
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Half a small onion
• Half a teaspoon of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of fine chopped red pepper
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 teaspoon of paprika

After soaking the beans, boil them in two liters of water for about two hours.

Add the chopped Hubbard squash, spaghetti and Swiss chard.

In a separate pan, warm the oil and fry the onion. Add the oregano, red pepper, butter and paprika and cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Combine all ingredients, mix and let it cook for another 15 minutes.

Let it rest a few minutes before serving.

Related links:

See Walk2gether’s final steps in Chile

Beth, a mother of CFCA sponsored children in Kenya, started beekeeping to generate more income for her family and rely less on sponsorship benefits. This becomes even more important during unstable economic times.

Inflation is a daily reality for many of the families CFCA serves. Despite these and other economic challenges, we remain committed to helping families find long-term, sustainable solutions to poverty.

The following post has been adapted from an article written by Janet Tinsley, CFCA project director.

By now, we are all familiar with the nearly constant news about economic crises around the world:

• a stock market crash sends economic shock waves across the globe
• a civil war impedes the distribution of oil and drives up transportation costs
• severe drought conditions cut off people’s access to adequate food supplies and means of income, etc.

All people worldwide are affected in some way by fluctuations in the global economy.

Since 2006, the worldwide purchasing power of sponsorship contributions – $30 a month – has decreased 5 percent, and in some countries where we work it has fallen more than 20 percent.

We hear from projects all the time about rising prices, inflation and economic crises in the countries where we work.

Meanwhile, we often hear from sponsors about how difficult it is for them to meet their monthly contribution in the midst of rising prices, inflation and economic crises in their own country.

What does this mean for project teams struggling to provide quality benefits and services for sponsored friends?

Embedded in our Hope for a Family program are practical strategies for sponsored members and their families to help them move toward economic stability and lessen their overall dependency on monthly sponsorship benefits.

CFCA projects have begun implementing programs to help families be more self-sufficient. Here are some examples:

Savings

A CFCA mothers group meeting in India.

Staff members in India’s Hyderabad project say that for many sponsored friends, the idea of building personal savings is a new concept. Everyday life is a struggle for them.

However, experience around the CFCA world has shown that even when it seems that a family does not have extra income, they can be encouraged and given incentive to save even small amounts of money each month.

As we tell mothers of sponsored children the implications of inflation and ask them to save some money for emergency periods, they have been able to build up even a small amount of savings, becoming better equipped to survive difficult economic circumstances.

Social safety nets

Through the Hope for a Family program, many projects have built programs that promote mutual accountability and support among sponsored friends and their families.

Families who interact with other families in the sponsorship program regularly are more likely to build relationships that develop into support networks.

Through these networks, families are better equipped to make it through difficult times.

In the effort to withstand unstable economic conditions and food insecurity, several CFCA self-help groups have developed a food production program that ensures that each sponsored friend and their family has at least 200 cassava plants and 10 banana plants in each family’s garden, according to members of the Kampala project in Uganda.

Increased family income

Helping families build their own ability to earn income is key to helping them achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Joel, 58, is sponsored through CFCA’s Hope for a Family program in Timau, Kenya. The water pump that sponsorship benefits helped him buy is bearing fruit.

Through the Hope for a Family program, many project teams have proactively created opportunities for families to increase their own income.

These include providing access to credit, offering skills training and capacity building, and supporting families in developing income-generating activities that will provide them the ability to handle more of their financial needs.

The Meru project in Kenya says when families embrace and develop their own capacity for personal and economic growth rather than just receiving material goods, then they will be able to adapt to changes around them.

When families are able to maintain multiple means to bounce back, they are not as affected by the volatile economic conditions.

If our overall goal is to help families over time rely less on sponsorship benefits and more on their own income-generation activities, our programs must be focused on helping families increase their earning potential.

Through implementation of the Hope for a Family program, we offer families so much more than material benefits in uncertain economic times.

Helping families meet some of their immediate material needs through benefits is only the starting point.

Our goal is to go well beyond simple, material handouts and offer spaces where families can develop their own sources of income and economic stability for long-term resiliency.

Since I was a child, I always told myself I would never forget CFCA.

CFCA scholar Juan René from Honduras. He is studying to be an engineer in agricultural administration after growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa.

It was directly involved in my development for 10 years, supporting me with education, clothing and nutrition to give my world faith and hope, transforming my mind into something useful to my family and society.

In my childhood I lived in Colonia la Trinidad, one of the poorest neighborhoods of Tegucigalpa along the banks of the Choluteca River.

After five months, a hurricane left my family and me on the streets, sweeping away what my mother had constructed as a single mother.

With my brothers, Edwin, 4, and Moises, 5 months, in 1998 we moved to a shelter closer to where my mother was working when the hurricane hit our community.

Months later, a volunteer at the CFCA project in Suyapa, Fanny, arrived at our home and determined I was eligible for sponsorship.

During 1999-2002, we lived in Trebol. I finished primary school full of enthusiasm, knowing I could count on my sponsor’s assistance.

Her faithful support provided me with new shoes and a school uniform every year, food, Christmas celebrations and other benefits that only CFCA could provide for me in spite of living in a place without love, with much violence and above all, in extreme poverty.

Upon leaving school well-trained with excellent grades, I started at a community technical school, always maintaining my relationship with my sponsor.

I turned in my letters regularly and kept my grades up.

During this time I was a leader in the community, helping volunteer with the New Year’s lectures on the project’s anniversary and at Christmas.

I helped with caring for sponsored aging and special-needs children, since my brother suffered from hydrocephalus (a buildup of fluid inside the skull, causing brain swelling).

The years 2006-2007 were one of the toughest, but also most important, stages of my life.

I began my bachelor of science in education. In this year, I became part of the CFCA Scholar Program.

A CFCA social worker sent me to the CFCA office to do my community service.

The project also taught us to make an expense budget to track our educational expenses, and this helped us be more responsible.

At the end of 2007, my mother received a diagnosis of advanced stage of cervical cancer.

She was very worried that she would not be able to help her three children: me, 17; Edwin, 13; and Moises, 9. Holy God! What to do!

The mothers of sponsored children at the project helped my mother fix food, wash my brothers’ clothes and generally make my mother happy.

I finished my year of education, and my mother continued her chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

I graduated successfully – the best in the class! They gave me a medal, trophy and good scholarship.

In 2008, a year of challenges, I started at the National University of Agriculture and Livestock in Catacamas after graduating.

I finished two trimesters in Olancho, but my dream was to attend the agricultural school at the Universidad Panamericana El Zamorano.

One day, I decided to call and ask for an admission test and did everything I could to obtain a scholarship to this prestigious university, where one year of tuition costs $15,000!

This was a challenge. For a time, I told myself I shouldn’t go and walk away from the state university scholarship.

October came, the month when I had to confirm my admission to whichever university I would be attending.

The government did not give me a scholarship for Zamorano because I already had one to the public university.

My mother’s cancer was advancing, and I didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile, I taught classes at night to earn some income.

In 2009 I was accepted at Zamorano with a scholarship.

It was due to the art of questioning and persistence that the Zamorano scholarship department called me three times and told me:

1. Hello. Who is this kid we want to have here at Zamorano?
2. Juan, if I told you that you were coming to Zamorano, what would you do?
3. Juan René, the best agricultural university in Latin America is waiting for you.

My mother died a few days after I started at the university in 2009. I am now on the verge of becoming an engineer in agricultural administration.

I am very happy to have been directly part of CFCA. The day is not far when I will return something as someone who is prepared in society.

My dream is to support a child in the sponsorship program so I can offer the same opportunity one day that someone gave to me.

Thank you,
Juan René

Editor’s note: Read more about Juan René’s story on our website!

A growing number people are hearing about us from their friends, especially through social media outlets like Facebook.

We’ve outlined five ways that you can share CFCA through Facebook. If you’re a Facebook pro, this may be a little rudimentary for you.

But we hope everyone learns something from this. Even Facebook pros can be surprised by its quirks!

1) “Like” us on Facebook.

If this button still appears whenever you visit our Facebook page, it means you haven’t “liked” us yet!

Clicking on the “Like” button will allow you access to post to our Facebook wall, view other comments from sponsors and gain greater interactivity and engagement with our page.

2) “Like” or comment on one of our Wall posts.

By clicking on the “Like” button just beneath a Wall post, that shows other people that you appreciate the item.

It also tells Facebook that this is a Wall post other people like, which can help us reach a wider audience.

If you comment, you add a little message of your own that other people see when they view this Wall post.

3) “Post” on our Wall.

You can write a text message (post), share a photo, copy and paste a website link, and even share a video on our Facebook Wall.

4) “Tag” us in a status update or photo.

On your personal Facebook profile, you can update your status and “tag” our page using the @ sign.

After the @ symbol and as you start typing our page’s name, a window similar to this should pop up. Once you click on our Facebook page, the following window should appear:

5) “Share” one of our Wall posts, a photo album, a video or event.

By clicking the “Share” button, you can choose whether to post this on your personal profile Wall, to a Facebook group or other organization, or even send a private Facebook message to one or more of your friends.

You can also write a personal message before you share it.

And even the text in the Wall post can be changed, if you like:

As an added bonus, check out this video that shows how you can “share” one of our photo albums of children who are waiting for a sponsor!

http://www.youtube.com/cfcausa#p/u/6/ZwPs173kxdE

Anything we’ve missed? Feel free to suggest other ways in which people can share CFCA through Facebook!

Related links

CFCA social media policy

Sophie Samson

Fourteen-year-old Sophie Samson of Osseo, Minn., sponsors Linda, a girl her age in Kisumu, Kenya.

Sophie’s parents pay for the sponsorship, but Sophie writes the letters, said her mother, Toni Samson.

Sophie has always been a compassionate person, so Toni wasn’t surprised when one Christmas, Sophie asked to sponsor a girl her age instead of asking for material gifts.

Compassion runs in the Samson family. Sophie’s 11-year-old brother is thinking he may sponsor a child, too, Toni said.

With Sophie’s support, Linda receives educational support, health care and participation in Christmas and birthday celebrations.

Questions for Sophie: Why did you choose to sponsor Linda?

I wanted to help someone who is less fortunate than me.

Describe your correspondence relationship. Do you exchange letters often, occasionally or seldom? Does Linda write good letters?

I try to write as often as possible, but it takes awhile to receive letters since we live so far apart. We write about every other month. Linda writes good letters. She usually tells me about her family, tennis, and school.

How do you feel knowing your support has given Linda the opportunity to play tennis and discover her amazing talent?

I think it’s awesome. I am very proud of her, and I hope she continues to play tennis for a long time.

Have you met Linda in person? Have you considered meeting her on a CFCA mission awareness trip?

I haven’t met Linda in person, but I would like to someday. I think it would be really cool to go on a mission trip, so maybe sometime soon I can go.

Is there anything you would like to share about Linda or sponsorship?

I have had a good experience with sponsorship, and I would encourage other people to try it out. It’s a great way to help someone out and meet someone from a different place in the world.

I think it is a really great opportunity for the person being sponsored and for the person who is sponsoring.

Note: Linda is a talented tennis player. Read more about her story.

Here are answers from three projects in the Philippines: Quezon, Antipolo and Legazpi.

Sponsored children in the Antipolo project, Philippines, at the CFCA Christmas celebration.

How do you select the types of gifts for sponsored children?

Quezon: We choose practical things for sponsored friends to use and celebrate the Christmas occasion with family, in school and during the CFCA Christmas party.

The celebration usually features a theatrical play by sponsored friends, a musical/band presentation and a talent competition.

As we empower and sustain our local livelihood products and services, some CFCA communities started to have their food catered by the livelihood project during this celebration.

Antipolo: Because of the families’ limited income, they often spend their money on food and other high-priority items, and the need for clothing goes unmet. Our clothing gifts were selected to address what sponsored friends requested. These gifts are very meaningful to them.

They wear these gifts at CFCA Christmas parties, school, community gatherings, birthday parties and church. What is amazing is their joy to extend their gifts with their siblings. Sponsored aging friends have shared their gifts with their grandchildren.

Legazpi: Christmas is one of the favorite celebrations, not only by sponsored children but by people of all ages because it brings peace, hope, joy and love. Sponsored members and families marked the Yuletide season as the most-awaited event in their lives.

We selected our gifts based on what parents of sponsored children requested during our annual planning session with project staff members.

What gifts did you offer sponsored friends for Christmas 2010?

Sponsored aging friends in the Antipolo project receive their gifts.

Quezon: We gave clothing and shoes. For sponsored elderly, blankets and towels are most common.

The project also gave products from our livelihood programs such as chocolates, peanuts, bags and curtains.

Antipolo: In 2010 the sponsored children, youth and aging shopped for their own gift.

The girls bought dresses, skirts, blouses and jeans, and the boys bought T-shirts/polo shirts and pants. Some chose a pair of shoes or slippers, underwear and more.

The celebration helps the project and sponsored friends deepen their spiritual understanding of Christmas celebration by having its physical and symbolical aspect.

Christmas is their time to enjoy, give and receive. It is the most-awaited event of the year by sponsored friends and their families.

Legazpi: We gave them a Christmas party for sponsored members, which enriched unity, bonding and camaraderie.

The Jollibee mascot appears at the CFCA Christmas celebration in Legazpi, Philippines!

Sponsored friends enjoyed and participated in presentations, parlor games and the appearance of Hetty and Jollibee mascots (fast-food chains in the Philippines).

The project decided on bringing in Jollibee considering that not all families can afford to bring their children to it!

Everybody received fruits, chocolates and a Noche Buena package for their families.

Sponsored children received a stuffed toy and wristwatch for girls and basketball for boys; a sling bag for male sponsored youth and a wristwatch for female sponsored youth. Sponsored aging friends received a comforter as Christmas gift.

The next “Faces of CFCA” profile picture is up on our Facebook page!

Pictured are, from left, Joel; his mother, Irma; and Jane Von Dohre, who recently visited the family on a mission awareness trip to El Salvador. Jane lives in Ohio and has sponsored Joel since 2001.

We’d like to thank everyone who submitted pictures for this profile picture series. We have more than enough photos to last us for the next six months, so if you’ve submitted a picture, it may be a little while before it appears on Facebook.

To submit, simply email a .jpg photo file (the higher the resolution, the better) to cfcacommunications@cfcausa.org.

Include your name and your preferred form of contact (phone, email, etc.) in case we have any questions about your submission.

Thanks again for your support!

The Hope for a Family program in the Dar es Salaam project is aiming to level the playing field in a culture that typically gives boys priority in education.

Girls who wish to continue their education may receive help through sponsorship, providing alternatives to early marriage. The CFCA Scholarship Program provides additional help for older female students.

In a place where most young girls only finish primary school, the CFCA program in Tanzania offers another possibility for them to accomplish their dreams. Lucy is an example of a young woman benefiting from this opportunity.

Read Lucy’s story.

Mothers of sponsored children in the Philippines give massage therapy to sponsored elderly friends.

The saying “scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” comes to mind as many mothers of CFCA sponsored children and youth in the Philippines have found a new way to earn income.

In a CFCA community in the Legazpi project, mothers train to learn massage therapy, and in turn provide their services to sponsored elderly friends.

Staff members and individuals belonging to a CFCA livelihood group suggested the idea of giving massage therapy to the elderly to apply the knowledge they learned from the training.

The program has accompanied success for these mothers around the area.

“I get a lot of demand for massage therapy, especially in our community,” said Aster, mother of Rose Ann, a CFCA sponsored child. “And through word of mouth, I became known to many people not only in our place, but also in neighboring places.”

Aster, mother of sponsored child Rose Ann, gives a head massage to Eufersina, who is also sponsored.

Sessions occur at least once a month and have already served 50 sponsored elderly. The training helps provide more income to many mothers of sponsored children.

“The money I get from my customer is of big help because it is one of my sources in my children’s allowances and projects in school. I also have a chance to give my children delicious foods,” Aster said.

In addition to training, CFCA also helps the mothers make herbal massage oil used in therapy sessions.

Some of the mothers’ first customers post-training were the children, but as they continue in practice, the sponsored elderly have seen positive results.

One sponsored elderly, Ignacia, acknowledges the notable differences the massages have made in her life.

“When I experienced massage therapy from the trained mothers, my pains were lessened and I’m now able to perform the daily functions at home much easier,” she said.

From left are Maria, Kristi Sands and Isabel. Kristi sponsors Maria and Isabel in Nicaragua.

I’ve sponsored Maria for 12 years and Isabel for two months through CFCA. They have the same name — Maria Isabel — but the younger one goes by her middle name.

Both live in Nicaragua — a country that 12 years ago I had little interest in and had difficulty pronouncing.

While sponsors aren’t required to write, I knew letter writing would be essential to building a relationship with Maria, my first sponsored child.

Sometimes I was tempted to give up. Communication through letters that CFCA staff members then translate isn’t always easy. I felt there were huge gaps in our ability to get to know one another.

Letters took a long time (generally six to eight weeks) to arrive. When I learned that one person does translations for an entire regional project, and that he/she generally translates 30 letters a day, that helped put things in perspective.

So despite the frustrations of not being able to read or write in Maria’s language, I felt inspired to stick it out.

God had given me this precious relationship and responsibility, and I intended to see it through to the end. Gratefully, communication eventually improved.

I didn’t know that Maria planned to go to college until she announced she would be studying accounting at a university. She also wants to get her master’s degree and become a CPA.

I tucked that away as something to ask another sponsored child much earlier. I didn’t know that college was an option for her, so I never asked what she wanted to do when she grew up.

For several years I considered a CFCA mission awareness trip to Nicaragua, but it never quite worked out.

Finally I figured my opportunity to meet her was now, because she was 23 and would graduate from college and exit the program.

About a month before my trip, during a Holy Spirit moment, the idea came to sponsor a second child now so I could meet both!

I went online and browsed the Nicaraguan girls awaiting sponsorship, and 9-year-old Isabel stretched out her little arms and wrapped them around my heart.

Before the trip, I was nervous about the small amount of time between disembarking the plane in a foreign country with a foreign language and meeting my group beyond customs, and also about trying to communicate.

But this week had been covered in prayer. From the beginning I was anointed with an overwhelming feeling of joy in being able to experience “my girls’” world. Everything was beautiful to me.

Isabel and Kristi – not shy for long!

In the Nicaraguan airport, I decided to swallow my lack of confidence in trying to communicate, paste on a wide smile, and try to use the language of love and my little Spanish to the best of my ability.

As my spiritual director would remind me, I know how to smile in Spanish!

During the trip, we passed many homes that I suspected were much like Maria’s and Isabel’s — some in better condition than others.

Corrugated metal roofs, many of which are not well sealed for the rain. Walls of wood, plaster, cement block, tarp, trash bags — whatever they have.

Many have no windows, no security, no way to lock up at night.

They live on so little and need to work very hard, just to get by. Both girls have dirt floors, and Isabel’s home is in “poor condition.”

All 25 sponsors on this trip got to meet our friends for the first time Monday evening. I was so pleased that Maria and I recognized each other immediately.

[CFCA staff worker] Ana was very helpful in translating, but before we had anybody to aid in communication we just stood there, hugging and smiling.

Isabel said she was a little shy, but that only lasted a few moments. She was soon attached at the hand and sitting on my lap.

We couldn’t speak much in words, but our smiles spoke volumes. I told her we’ll have to catch up in letters later.

Whenever she did understand something I said, her face would break out in a wide grin as she shook her head vigorously up and down and said, “Yes!” (very clearly in English).

I enjoyed pointing out anything in Spanish that I know, asking for more words (having the girls write them down for me in my notebook). Not exactly heart-to-heart dialogue, but we managed to have fun.

One sponsor said we were the giggliest three he knew!

Kristi and Isabel dance together during the mission awareness trip.

On Wednesday, Maria rode with us to her hometown.

I found a page of menu items in my dictionary and we had fun learning Spanish/English words and asking “Do you like…?”

We discovered we both don’t like mushrooms and like baking better than cooking.

I also saw her high school and where she works! She runs a snack bar at a car wash to help her dad with the family income.

A highlight was meeting Maria’s family (mother, father and brother) and seeing her house. I am so grateful for all the benefits her family has received through CFCA.

Twelve years really makes a difference!

I really had no idea how much their living situation had improved. I didn’t know that when the family applied to the sponsorship program, they lived in a small shed-type dwelling in the back yard.

When Maria pointed it out to me, I was amazed. I knew that when I first started sponsoring her, the family cooked with firewood. Most families do, often in outdoor kitchens.

Maria’s family no longer needs to rely on firewood, nor do they need to cook outside. For four people, their home is quite spacious.

The most recent addition they proudly showed me was a new bathroom with a flush toilet and shower!

As we were parting, I taught Isabel how to say “I love you.”

She mastered it beautifully. I wonder what her house is like. I hope CFCA can help her family as it has helped Maria’s.

How good it was to meet them both face to face! They will always have a special place in my heart.

The theme of the trip was so fitting: Esta aventura solo comienza! This adventure is just beginning!

I’ve taken Maria up on her challenge to join her in becoming bilingual and have begun learning Latin American Spanish. So far, so good — and it’s been fun, too!

Maria and Kristi say goodbye.

I have also come away pumped and enthusiastic to try and find sponsors for other children — since I’m not able to sponsor them all myself!

I got to see firsthand that CFCA is doing a phenomenal job of helping impoverished families build a path out of poverty.

It serves more than 300,000 children and aging persons in 22 developing countries.

Thirty dollars a month goes so far in these countries — providing food, education, medical assistance, and in Maria’s case, a much improved housing situation.

I encourage those of us who are already sponsors to go a step further, whether it’s to:

• write a sponsored friend for the first time or more frequently
• display photos at work or home and share the sponsorship experience with those who inquire about them
• invite others to join in the sponsorship experience
• take on another sponsored friend
• remember our friends more frequently in prayer or by living more simply on occasion
• if circumstances allow, plan on meeting face to face!

Go ahead and get creative. This isn’t an exhaustive list.

I’ll wrap this up with a simple prayer. As they say in Central America, Gracias a Dios! Thanks be to God!

Members of the Kansas City dance group El Grupo Folklorico Atotonilco perform Sept. 25 at Shine a Light, CFCA benefit concert.

Update: We also have a Facebook photo album of the event, as well as a video of the concert finale song, “Shine a Light.” Enjoy!

Thanks to your support, we celebrated our 30th anniversary and the completion of Walk2gether with a splendid concert and celebration at The Theatre in the Park in Shawnee, Kan.

Our gratitude goes out to all the performers:

• CFCA President Bob Hentzen and Friends
• El Grupo Folklorico Atotonilco
• Nate Gawron and Friends
• World Percussion Ensemble of Kansas City Academy
• Sampaguita Choir of the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City
• Barclay Martin with the Barclay Martin Ensemble

… as well as all the volunteers, staff members and sponsors who made this event such a success!

Read more about the event on our website.

Floréat’s 10-year-old son, Fenosoa, is sponsored through CFCA’s Hope for a Family program. Sponsorship enabled Floreat to save money and grow the business.

Floréat now teaches other women to weave baskets so they can generate income for their families.

Read their story.

Simiona, CFCA sponsored youth, carries the Independence Day torch in Guatemala this year.

María, another CFCA sponsored youth, also helped carry the torch during the celebrations.

Cruz Quievac Choy, a CFCA staff member in the CFCA project in Atitlán, Guatemala, sent us this report about a popular tradition on the eve of Guatemala’s Independence Day, Sept. 15.

After 190 years, Guatemala still commemorates its independence in a unique way.

This initiative was promoted by María Dolores Bedoya (Guatemalan leader who participated in the independence movement of Central America), together with the heroes who sought freedom and called for citizens to sign the Act of Independence.

History tells us that the people joined the celebration, burning fireworks to the sound of the marimba. Independence brought great joy for the Central American countries.

The euphoria of the citizens continued as Dolores Bedoya ran through the streets of Guatemala with the light of a lantern.

Many people joined this procession, carrying a lantern as the symbol of independence for their country. In addition, it represented the light that illuminates the path of Guatemala.

Today to commemorate this celebration, people run with a torch through town after town.

Many people gather in front of the municipalities or in the atrium of parish churches where the parish priest blesses the torch or the mayor gives his approval.

On the roads, entire families come out to encourage the runners carrying the torch.

CFCA sponsored youth Simiona and María participated in this year’s civic activities.

They said it was exciting to celebrate their independence by running the torch because it is a day of celebration and living as a community with other students from different schools.

They said it was also an opportunity for everyone to demonstrate their talents in contests of folk dances, poems and songs.

Pupusas, or stuffed corn tortillas, from El Salvador ... mmm!

CFCA serves more than 12,000 sponsored children and elderly in El Salvador. Our staff members there sent us this tasty recipe for pupusas, or stuffed tortillas!

This is the most traditional food in El Salvador. It is very popular, probably for its flavor and low cost. The stuffing ingredients will vary according to the type of pupusa made. The dough can be made of corn or rice.

This recipe makes about 20 pupusas.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of stuffing (cheese, ground pork, beans, fish, etc.)
• 2 pounds of corn flour
• Salt to taste

Accompaniments:

• Salsa (at least half a bottle)
• Pickled cabbage (about a pound)
• Onions, carrots and lemon juice (optional)

If you’ve never made pupusas before, we recommend watching this YouTube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe96acRppe0

Take two full tablespoons of corn flour and make a tortilla.

Take one tablespoon of stuffing and put it on top of the tortilla.

Close the tortilla, maintaining the stuffing inside, and make a ball.

Note: Be careful that the stuffing does not drip out of the tortilla. The stuffing should stay inside and the maize flour dough will cover it, looking like a thick round tortilla.

Oil a frying pan and warm it up for few minutes. Throw the pupusa to the frying pan and turn it around until the corn flour is a little cooked (like cooking pancakes).

Keep turning it around every 2 – 3 minutes until it is fully cooked.

Serve with tomato sauce or cabbage relish, lightly fermented. It is usually served with pickled cabbage, onions, carrots, and sometimes lemon juice.

Related links from our projects in El Salvador:

Watch a video of Maria, the mother of two sponsored children, selling newspapers

Juan Antonio – the dancing man

Meet Hazel from Santa Ana, El Salvador

Her mother was 14 years old when she married Everline’s father. She was his fourth wife.

CFCA social workers in the area of Kisumu, Kenya, see many sponsored children come from polygamous families. They encourage youth to retain traditions and customs that are worthwhile and discard those that can be harmful.

They teach girls like Everline to believe in themselves and pursue a good education.

“I think it’s an outdated tradition,” Everline said. “My wish is to excel in my education and have a good job so that I do not have to get married to a polygamous man.”

Read more of Everline’s story.