General Discussion & Chat: Compassion International, 1 by kbaumle

kbaumle wrote:
We sponsored a little girl from Ecuador through Compassion International from 1993 until this year, when she turned 18 and graduated from school and was no longer eligible for sponsorship. Her name is Gabriela and I'm sad that we are not able to keep in touch now, but I do understand why they have the rules they do.

I had the joy and pure pleasure of getting to meet Gabriela when she was 7, in 1994. We had had an exchange student from Ecuador and I had flown down there to visit her. Karina's family was kind enough to drive down to Guayaquil from their home in Quito, so that I could meet Gabriela. That was an 8-hour drive down there.

I cannot describe the feeling I had when that little girl saw me walk in and ran to me and put her arms around me. And then when she said she wanted to sing me a song, and I realized it was "Jesus Loves Me" in Spanish, and I told her I knew that song, too, and we sang it together, each in our own language......I was crying, it was so neat. I have it on video, too. What a wonderful moment!

It really makes it real when you see them in person, meet their family, and see where they live. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Here is a picture of us from that meeting in December 1994: