At the start of my senior year, I felt an urge to reach out and give back something for everything I’ve received. My friend, Wendy Lane, and I had been talking about what an awesome opportunity it would be for us to get together as students and sponsor a child from a foreign country. To sponsor a child would be a significant financial commitment and, as teens, we don’t exactly have a lot of money. Many of us had been on mission trips, but this would be different. We would be taking money from our own pockets every month, receiving nothing tangible in return, and continuing to support the child for a long time. Sponsorship would be a major commitment for a bunch of busy teens, but we decided the least we could do was try.
We planned a vespers all about child sponsorship to introduce our idea. The response from the rest of the students was spectacular. The next step was choosing a child. A group of students met with Darren Wilkins, Mount Ellis Adventist Academy principal, and picked two children to sponsor. We chose a five-year-old girl from Togo and a nine-year-old boy from Guatemala.
Sponsoring these children has been such an amazing experience. We receive a letter from each child every month, which usually includes a picture the child has drawn of something he or she is interested in. Each month we collect and send $38 per child, a total of $76 a month. MEAA enrollment is currently nearly 70 students, so each student gives approximately a dollar a month.
The key for this project is to think about the things one usually wastes a dollar on. Instead, by giving that dollar in sponsorship, we are helping a child survive and receive an education. A dollar doesn’t seem like a big sacrifice at all when you see how much good it is doing.
Savannah Weaver, MEAA senior and ASB chaplain
