I will be home till further notice. I do know that Mekdelawit (one of my Spotlighted Kids) will be celebrating her 11th birthday in 2 months! I am really excited! I have been thinking of the things i can send her for her birthday. I always go to see them on their birthdays. I think it makes them feel better. :) and i will probably bring her a birthday card with stickers.

I found a great website page that I think allot of people should see. 
https://www.live58.org/survive125/ 
So many of the world's poor live on less that $1.25 a day. (what the national poverty line is at when they will consider you "poor") and this si a glimpse of what live would be like if you had to live how they lived for a month. Let alone a day. Its scary. I took the quiz. I was able to live on less than 1.25 but could you?Tell me if you passed! I am really curious to see if others passed as well. :)
 
I would like to give my sincerest apology to you guys. I promised that i would update you guys every day and my last post was 5 days ago! I didn't want to be one of those passengers that Logs their travels everyday for a short period of time and then dropped off the face of the earth.

With that being said, I would like to talk about my last 5 days where I was M.I.A. I would like to tell you that I was home fora little bit on Saturday, but by Saturday afternoon I was on a plane to Bolivia! I feel that I have been there so often that the drought from which I wasn't there didn't even exist!

But, before I went to Bolivia, I went to Chuck e Cheese with my family. It was really nice. My little brother, Riley, was allot of fun! He played with all the games and loved to bowl! and there was a scary time when he got stuck in one of the play tubes and I had to rescue him. But He loved talking about his prize he got at CheeCheese. It was funny. Hes only 2 so it was cute.

But then i went to Bolivia and I (finally) received a recent photo of Abraham. He looks so handsome! He would make his sponsor very proud. I wish there was some way to let her know, but if I cant, then that is ok too.
Picture























Abraham- age 14


 
The contest winners for the booklets are as follows:

Teresa Oldridge- BC, Canada
Shadera Lorrain- Missoula, MT
Belinda Crowe- winconsin Dells, WI
Lori Mills- Peck, KS
Jennifer Doiron- NB, Canada


 
I will announce contest winners officially tomorrow, but if you have recieved a email from me, you can guarantee that you have a clear shot of winning! What I would like to know is, for people who did the contest, or saw the contest, what did you like about it? What do you think I could improve upon? Please leave your comments below so i can make my website a website that everyone can enjoy!

Thanks and GOOD LUCK!
 
So, I am not at home right now. :) I am in the beautiful country on Bolivia. And I got the pleasure to see a really great friend of mine named Abraham. He had been busy caring for his siblings, but was able to stop and talk with us for a few minutes. He said that he greeted us with peace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was ecstatic for the photos and stickers and books that his sponsor had recently given him. He really enjoyed them and thought they were very nice. He was telling us that on Christmas he helped his mother cook dinner, and he was telling us about the struggles that his sponsor was having recently with being in the hospital and how she was having problems with her brain, and he said that he really hoped that her brain is well and that she didnt have any problems. :) I noticed that he was all bundled up in warm clothes and he said that it has been very cold lately. And he asked me how the weather is in Florida, and I explained that to him. He told me that his sponsor had also said that she had hurt her nose (I'm guessing his sponsor is a real klutz) and that he prays that she would get better and heal soon. Before we left, we had asked him if there was anything that we could pray about, and he said he really wanted us to pray for his previous sponsor. I didn't ask why he wanted us to pray for him, but he did say that he wanted his life to go well and that he wouldn't turn away from God. He told us that he really hoped that we had had a good Christmas with our families. He said that now Christmas and New years are over, he is back in school. He asked us when our birthdays are and that he wanted us to know that his birthday is May 11. He had told us in the past that his family might be having problems, and i was praying for that, and he said that now there are no problems in his family. and that thanks to God, there were no problems in his family. He said he was giving thanks to God to hear that his sponsor was doing better. He was really worried about her. He said that his brother, Alfredo, went into military training, and that is makes him sad because he misses him allot. He said that his birthday was May 6 and he turned 20. He told us that his brother, Kevin, has a birthday in April 26th. And he said that his little sister's birthday is June 22nd, and his younger brother's birthday is April 20th. And he said that he heard that his sponsor and her sister fight allot. :) and he said that he is praying that that situation improves. We conveyed out goodbyes and he said that he loved his sponsor and that he said he always signs each letter with "with love, Abraham"

I hope to get to talk to him some more soon. This is the longest ive had to wait to hear from him. So I am hoping it wont be another 3 months before i get to see him again. :)
 
I am still home for now. I don't live a really interesting life, (no matter what FaceBook tells you) and so I really didnt have a well- thoughtout Log entry for today. As I thought of theings to log about, I thought of all the kids i have met and how even though I may know a thing or two about poverty, there are people out there who have no idea the magnitude of poverty and how it affects its most vulnerable victims... children. I was on the Compassion website when I saw a list of poverty facts. And I thought "How many people know these facts?" and I thought of turning it into a quiz.

                                            Poverty Quiz

 
I found out from Compassion that i will be heading to Bolivia to meet Abraham. I havent been to see him since February so I'm really excited! But, while I am home, I was looking through somethings and I found a lost letter from my friend,Wally, who wrote a letter to my mom while she was in the hospital for cancer treatment. I never knew how much he loved me till I read this. This is the letter:

Hey Mrs. Peters: I know you don't know me at all. My name is Wally and I host Total Axxess (now The Wally Show) I have been trying to help Kimberly for the past year. (he wrote this when i was 19. I'm 21 now)

I was sad to hear about all that you have been through and I know you are dealing with some pretty tough stuff right now. My mother in law had a 7 year battle with cancer and she definitely had good and bad days. She was an amazing woman who was an inspiration to everyone who came in contact with her during her battle. She constantly pointed people to God through even her darkest time. I really hope and pray that this time will be as painless as possible and that you can get back to your family as soon as possible.

I know though my conversations with Kimmy, that she loves you very much and wants this all to be over for you soon. She just wants you guys to be close and that even through this has been so tough she loves that it has brought you guys closer.

I am proud of where Kimmy is today compared to a year ago when we met. She has matured. Before when there was a problem she made it all about her. Anything in life that went wrong she used it an example of why God hated her and was punishing her. I was happy to see that when you started all of your treatments she was first concerned for you and how you felt and not how this was so horrible for her. It was a huge step forward for her.

Kimmy has a big heart and I can only think that you have played a big role in fostering that in her. I think that someday she will do big things to help people. That seems to be where her heart is at.

For what it is worth you and your family are constantly in my prayers and I hope and pray this troubled time will be followed by and amazing time of peace for you guys becuase Lord knows you have earned it. Take care of yourself.

Wally

It made me really happy to read that and it made me cry. I didnt know howm much he actually loved me. I kept thinking he didnt care about me and that I was just another listener on the radio. And that my life didnt really matter to him. This letter is a letter that God wanted me to find so that I could be reminded that Wally does care about me. He hasn't written to me in a long time and I thought that was because he didnt care. This shows that clearly he does.
 
I am home for now. I celebrated Mother's Day with my family. And I celebrated it big! (ok, not really) i went to church were we read 1 Samuel 1-2:11 and it was very nice. It was about Hannah and how she was faithful in praying to God for a son and even though she didnt know if God would fullfill his promise, she still remained faithful in the hope that he would. And what I find awe inspiring in this story is that Hannah cried out "O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, if you will look upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime, and as a sign that he has been dedicated to the Lord, his hair will never be cut." I don't know about you, but I don't know any mother who would be willing to sacrifice their son for God. It shows honor, and respect. And what is more amazing to me, is that when the child was weaned (about 3 years old) she gave him to the church. And God used him in a huge way. That is something no one (except for God) could have ever known. I dont think i could do that to my child. I thought of my sponsored kids. And the children I saw at the countries we have visited. I thought, "What if that was one of mine?" but with the false religions our children are exposed to, I know that sacrificing children in some religions is acceptable. But, in today's society, if we did that, we would have IRS on us faster than anyone I know. That is amazing. But then again, I also believe that if Jesus roamed Earth like he did 2,000 years ago, he would be in a mental hospital. And diagnosed with insanity. Who knows? Maybe most people in mental institutions are probably as smart as Jesus, just misunderstood and not accepted by society.

I think of my sponsored kids and how they celebrated Mother's Day. And since all my kids have moms its going to be interesting to see how they celebrated it.

How did your mother's day go?
 
Today is Abraham's birthday. And even though we haven't spoken to him in a while, i still like to remember the birthday's of our highlighted kids. He is 14 years old as of today. I remember when I first met him. It was in June and even though I knew it was after his birthday, I still recognized his birthday. He had just turned 13 and that is a big age to turn. He went from being a kid to being a teenager. And I found out from Compassion he is expected to graduate October 1, 2017. So I will be able to communicate back and forth with him for 5 more years... God willing. He has really grown up since I first met him. Allot happens in a year, and I know that he will have an amazing birthday. I can't wait to be writing a Travel Log for his 15th birthday. Oh and then his 16th birthday! That will be so cool! To see how much he has grown look at his pictures in our Bolivia Spotlight its amazing.

This is what he looks like now:

 
We went to the Philippines last week, and we were able to speak to Mark's mom. One of our spotlighted kids. He wasnt there the day we visited them, and the conversation we had was very informative.

She started telling me about her and her family. She said Mark has a sister named Gen Macas and she is 9 years old, and his mom's name is Levilita Macas and she is 44 years old. His father's name is Gregorio Macas and he is 46 years old. She was telling of his favorite things. She said that his best friend is named Janjle, and he loves the color yellow. She also told me his favorite food is fried chicken. She said that when he is at church, his favorite song to listen to is "God is good to me" and his favorite game/sport is biking. He loves playing with toy cars, and he loves horses. I think the next time i visit, i will bring a picture of a horse for him to have. I think he would love that. I was blown away when she told me that his biggest dream is to become a soldier. I was really amazed. Not many kids want to be a soldier when they grow up. I might also bring some pictures of soldiers as well for him to have. He would love that. He said he weighs 24.6 KG (54 lbs.) and is 124 cm tall. (4' 1") She said that they live in a rural town/village.

Then we were able to talk to his mother more in depth and this is what she had to say:

"Dear Kimberly Warren,
Have a nice day to you. Mark is so fine and thank you very much for being his sponsor. We live one of the provinced in mindanao, it is in lanao del norte. He have only one sister her name is Gen Macas. She is coming 10 years old this coming July 6, 2012. And my name is Levilita Macas and my husband's name is Gregorio Macas. Mark will be in grade 4 this coming opening of classes this June. Like you, Mark also loves playing with his sister and friends. You know what theres a lot of fun here in my home country Philippines. Once again, thank you very, very much for being so kind to us. May God Bless you and your family always. Havea nice day to you and your family.

Love,
Levilita macas
Mother
Mark was kind enough to us to draw a picture for us. it was a picture of 2 trees, 2 people, and his house. It looks think the houses my friend, Wally, saw when he was in Thailand. I thought itwas really neat. And in top of the letter he wrote Philippians 1:3 "I thanic my Gode evrytime I remember you." It made me cry. I love it! I cant wait to have the opportunity to meet him again!

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