An Invitation to Make A Real Difference - Four Sponsor-Child Connections In The Waiting

 

If you've been to our blog before, you know how this goes.

And for all our faithful, beautiful Sponsors, you really know how this goes!

Four New Children

Four new children have arrived at Hot Springs and we are hoping to make good connections between them and folks who can come alongside and love and lead them on to strong futures.

Let me introduce you:

Fah

Fah is 12 years old in grade 6.  Both her parents are living and are together as a family.  However, the mountain village where she is from only has school up until grade 5.  For her to continue in her education and have wider opportunities, her parents have asked if we could bring her to Hot Springs.

Sharon

Sharon (pronounced Sha-Lon) is 16 years old and in her last years of high school.  Her story is complicated, with both parents living but neither of them in Thailand.  Her mother has had previous connections with the church at Hot Springs, and Sharon has spent holidays there while at her previous boarding school.  Now that school has closed down, and Sharon was left virtually homeless.  We are glad to have her become part of our circle.

Colour

Colour is 9, from a very rustic village with no school.  His parents, both living, have heard how well one of the other children from this village has done so well at Hot Springs; Kratae, now in post secondary education, and contacted Suradet and Yupa to ask if their son could be given the same opportunity.  This isn't new this year, but it's always affirming to have parents contact us because of good referrals.

Goo

Goo is is 7 years old from a Hmong village.  His divorced parents have left him to be raised by his maternal grandmother who is herself still working as a farmer.  Unfortunately, this is a common story among many separated families. There is no school whatsoever in the village.   The grandmother heard about our home from a relative, and asked if he could come to be with us.  Another of our new children (Jua, already sponsored) is his first cousin.  So the boys have each other to keep fluent in their original language and culture, an important value at Hot Springs.

Each of these children need Sponsors to come alongside and be partners in their future.

"Sponsors' Expectations" are carefully laid out in the document I would be happy to send you.  And for that and any other questions you can connect with me at rabreithaupt@hcckw.ca.

But a warning.

When our kids come to us, they already have big challenges written into their stories, as you can understand from the little I've told you about the children above.  Our hope is to see them find hope and safety in a journey that takes them through to the end of high school and beyond.  Indeed most of our kids stay with us for this consistency and stability, and you can go back to previous blogs or keep checking in for those stories.

But sometimes the challenges, combined with our commitment to keep them connected with living family members and their original tribal culture, interferes.  As with our own children at home, they have the freedom to make their own choices and not all of those choices are wise.  

So the caveat is this.  We invite you into a very relationship-based, hands-on kind of Sponsorship experience where we will do our best to keep you meaningfully connected with one another.  AND that may mean some heartache as you walk them through to their adult lives.  Just sayin.  To be fair.

So if you are up to that, let me know.

You will make a difference.  No question.