I am not positive, but I think I sat on a child.

Today was another great adventure in Honduras where we met some Amazing kids, and Bekah got to meet her sponsor child. So now I turn the blog over to Bekah to tell you about it.

A week ago, I was standing in the toy aisle trying to figure out what kind of doll to buy for our brand new sponsor child Angie. I was getting ready to travel with Compassion to Honduras to meet her, and I wanted it to be perfect. Would she want a baby doll? A doll with eyes that closed? A hispanic doll that looked like her, or did that even matter? In my mind, my visit centered around this one purchase. It had to be perfect so she would like me. I quickly found out that none of that mattered.

Meeting Angie today was surreal. I don’t know that anything could have prepared me for this moment. I gave her a hug and stumbled over, “Me llamo Bekah” and heard a bit of her story. Her older brother received a sponsor through Compassion a few years ago, and ever since then, Angie has been heartbroken that she didn’t have one. Her mother told me through the translator that Angie would cry and pray that God would send her a sponsor, and after finding out that she finally had one, she was so happy!

We then traveled through the streets of San Pedro Sula to Angie’s house. We were told by the local workers that we would need to take off our jewelry, conceal our cameras, and be extra cautious since Angie’s neighborhood had a lot of gang activity, and the police were not present in the area. Of course, my first reaction was to be scared for my own safety, until I realized that this is the reality that Angie lives in every single day.

We arrived at her home, and her parents expressed their sincere gratitude. They told me that whenever they had a need, all they could do was have faith that God would provide, and every time, he answered their prayers. They said that I was an answer to one of those prayers and that they would pray that God would richly bless me and my husband. There I was standing in their tin roof home that’s barely bigger than most master bathrooms, and they were praying blessings for me?? Her mother started crying, and I could see the tears in Angie’s eyes as well. My caring for Angie meant the world to them.

In case you were sitting on the edge of your seat wondering, yes, Angie liked the dolls I brought. She scooped them up in her arms and proudly carried them back to the project with her, but that’s not the part of this that counts. My new Honduran family is now a permanent part of my heart with a love I never thought was possible. A little girl now gets to grow up feeling loved, valued, and encouraged to pursue her dreams.

“Dare to Care” with Compassion International is so much bigger than providing aid, although they do a fantastic job equipping local churches to care for these children in poverty. It’s so much bigger than second guessing a financial commitment. I did that for such a long time, and if I had let my negativity win, my life would still have an Angie-shaped hole.

“Dare to Care” means knowing your sponsor letters will become some of their most valuable possessions as they hold tightly to your every word. It means adding a child to your family and becoming a part of theirs. It’s the difference between leaving someone stuck in that cycle of poverty and giving them hope and opportunity to be more.

It means I’m going to stop overanalyzing and applauding my doll shopping efforts and focus on showering Angie with prayer and love. Because in one day, she and her family showed me more of those things than I could ever deserve.