“This is Sury!”
Those words would be the beginning of a day that I will never forget. I looked down to see a tiny girl with a sweet face staring up at me holding a sign that said my name! I just started to sponsor Sury a few weeks ago through Compassion International.
I’ve never had a child of my own, but I imagine it feels a bit like I felt as soon as I met Sury. I got an immediate injection of love for this child that I had never met! She suddenly felt like family!
The second those little fingers wrapped around mine, I was gone. She had stolen my heart!
Sury is four years old and lives in poverty in Honduras, the most dangerous country in the world! I was surprised to meet Sury’s mother and realize that she was younger than I am and has two children. Sury’s father is employed in the transportation business, but does not have consistent work and her mother does not work at all.
Just being able to feed this small family is difficult on the money the father brings in. Many children in Honduras cannot go to school because their family’s cannot afford to send them. Sury’s mother dreams of sending her 
to school at the end of this year and having a sponsor through the Compassion program will make that dream a reality!
Sury shared that she wants to be a painter when she grows up, so I got sidewalk chalk out to let her practice! So many children in poverty never even think about what they want to be or do when they grow up because they know that they have to do whatever is necessary to survive. There is no talk of hopes or dream.
The difference when a child is a part of Compassion is so evident in the child’s vision for their future.
When a child has a sponsor they truly can achieve anything and I wanted Sury to know that God can do so many wonderful things through and that she could even be an artist if she wanted to!
All day I was consumed with spending time with Sury. Holding her hand and giving hugs was so important to me because I so deeply want Sury to know that she is loved and valued not only by me but by the God who created her.
One of the Compassion workers here in Honduras said, “Thank you for caring for these children, our children. When we tell our children that they can make it they do not always believe us. However, when you tell them they can make it, they feel special and it can change their life!”
I was amazed at the immediate non-verbal pact that seemed to take place between Sury’s mother and me. When we met and hugged it was as if we both understood that now we will raise this little girl together. We are both responsible for her. We both are committed to seeing her succeed.
In America, people are too proud to even ask for help but in Honduras the parents are so thankful to share their child’s life with you!
I loved visiting Sury’s home, however, was heartbreaking seeing the rough conditions that she lives in every day.
They did not even have a door on their one room home. Just a sheet to keep the bugs out. I know that Sury lives in a dangerous area, but I am so thankful that her Compassion workers through the local church are looking out for her.
Sury loved some of the small gifts that I was able to bring and share with her to remember our time together. One of my favorite moments of the day was trying to teach her how to jump rope. I guess it would have gone better if I had been good at jumping rope! Ha!
At the end of the long day of playing and interacting, Sury fell asleep while I was holding her. I do not think my heart has ever been so full! She so quickly learned to trust me and was comfortable enough with me to be resting in my arms. It was a physical representation of the support and care that I get to share with her and her family now through Compassion.
No question about it, Sury stole my heart today, but I learned that it’s not really about the money that we give to sponsor children through Compassion. It’s about the love, care and investment in a child’s life to rescue them from poverty and give them hope in a future!
