Brian
Saturday, February 14, 2009 at 11:40PM Today I got to meet one of mine and my wife's Compassion Sponsored children. His mane is Brian, he's seven years old and lives in the slums of Mathare Valley, the second largest slum in all of Africa.
I have to say, I was pretty nervous about meeting him. Being so young, there's a really good chance that I'll just scare him more than anything else. Turned out to be one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I will honestly never forget it. He's funny, confident, and extremely bright. He wasn't supposed to know any English yet but he understood me a lot and communicated very well. I even taught him how to take a picture:
We visited his home with a couple LDP students (these are Compassion sponsored kids who have graduated from thr program and gone to college with the aid of an LDP sponsorship.) Jennifer, who is now a lawyer, began to talk to Brian and his mother about what Compassion was about to do to their lives and their family. There was something quite amazing to watch living proof of how Compassion works explain to the child I am know sponsering that his life will never be the same again. It was an emotional moment for me, I am confident his children will not know poverty, the cycle ends, just as it did for Jennifer.
The Mathare Valley region was not an easy one to take. Just the shear size of it is overwhelming.
Reader Comments (5)
Look at Brian in his Braves cap. Wonderful. THese pictures are amazing. Well done, sir.
Love the photos of Brian! And the one he took of you. Doesn't it just completely change everything after you meet the very child you've been supporting and writing to?
Love the pics on this post and the ones for the Maasai tribe!
How sweet are these pictures?! I love seeing little Brian's face and hearing of you meeting with him. You're work is inspiring.
[...] Last year I had the amazing experience of meeting one of our sponsored kids with Compassion. His name is Brian and he lives in the Mathare Valley slum, one of the most dangerous in all of Africa. It was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life. So when they told me we were going to have the opportunity to spend a half day with our sponsored kids, I was pumped. [...]