Child Sponsorship Matters!

Yesterday was an epic day for our church! In the span of about 3 hours, 1104 children were sponsored through World Vision in Nkhoma, Malawi!!! Yes, read that again. Slowly. Outloud. Let that sink in. It's unreal.
We've made a 10-15 year commitment to Malawi through doing sustainable development in Nkhoma, a community in Malawi. We are doing this through a ground breaking partnership with World Vision and Y-Malawi. I couldn't recommend these 2 organizations more!

Here are some highlights to move you to worship…

Countless people took 3, 4, 5 kids to sponsor – one for every member of their family or matching the birth dates of their biological children or adding to their existing partnership with World Vision.

We had 3 separate individuals say they were going to sponsor 100 kids – that’s $3500/month!!!! Unreal.

Last night I was talking to a young adult at dinner who had never considered sponsoring a child. He sponsored one child yesterday.

Others [like Brian & I] decided before yesterday they were sponsoring “enough” children already, but were moved into action to sponsor another one. Actually, some of our friends were one of those families, and ended up sponsoring 3 more kids – they had their kids pick them out.

James Sanchez, our World Vision Rep, said in 18 years of doing this he’s NEVER seen a community respond like this.

Two college girls sponsored a child together. It was so amazing to watch them choose a child together and fill out the packet together. They were all smiles.

The stories are endless. I literally had envelopes thrust into my hands by the handful. I could hardly keep up. I can only imagine where this goes from here. Newsong’s heart has been captured by Africa!!!! Personally, it’s a dream come true. A prayer 5 years in the making coming true! The best is yet to come…

I love our church – our people – more than ever. What an example of what the church is called to do and be - caring for widows and orphans. Today is a day to be celebrated. What’s next!?!?!

In 2 weeks, we are doing another sponsorship drive and we're going to try to get another couple hundred sponsored. Child sponsorship matters. Poverty isn't a statistic; it's personal (Rich Stearns). And for 1104 children, their lives were changed yesterday. And our lives were changed, as well. Nkhoma has more hope than ever before!

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April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

1 Year Anniversary!!

One year ago today Brian and I completed our initial online application to adopt with Christian World Adoption. It's hard to believe that happened 365 days ago!!

Much has changed since that day...
...so much healing in our lives - body, heart, and spirit
...Brian is less than 2 classes away from graduating from Biola (May can't come soon enough!)
...we decided on adopting 2 little ones, not just Baby Girl Ethiopia
...our house is physically more ready to bring home a couple little ones
...my ministry is way more prepared to be a momma and a pastor

Today, we find ourselves waiting for that much anticipated phone call when we learn the faces and stories of our babies. But for today, waiting is okay. We know there's a purpose in our waiting, so we are soaking it in and trusting God with every detail - large and small.

Thank you for walking with us this past year. And for those of you who've been a part of the years before our adoption started, you just get a closer and more real version of this story! Keep praying that these babies are connected to us SOON!

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

3 Comments

April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.

Daddy's Birthday

Today is Daddy's birthday! Next year at this time, Brian will not just be "ah-BY-ay" [daddy] at heart, he'll be "ah-BY-ay" in practice.
To our little ones: Just a few things you have to look forward to in your daddy.
Your ah-BY-ay is...

  • kind beyond words
  • thoughtful
  • the strongest and most tender man I've ever met
  • really, incredibly funny and silly. But you have to listen to it to get it!
  • really fun to watch sports with
  • family centered. He loves your momma very much and always put me first. And he's very committed to raising you with me. We're going to take care of you together every day.
  • a great chef. Get ready for some Puerto Rican food!
  • really responsible. He'll take really good care of you.
  • a really good listener. When you have a good day or a bad day, he'll listen to you. And when it's right, he'll give you really good advice.
  • a hard worker and he works with great integrity.
  • your daddy...that's the best part!

And that's just a short list that took me a few minutes to write. You're gonna love him. We can't wait to celebrate his next birthday with you!!

Love, Your eh-MY-ay

Comment

April L. Diaz

April has been a visionary activist her entire life. She has made it her mission to lead high performing teams and develop leaders in the margins of society while caring for our bodies, mind, and spirit. Secretly, she’s a mix of a total girly girl and a tomboy, and is still crazy about her high school sweetheart, Brian. Together, they co-parent 3 fabulous kiddos and live in Orange County, CA.