A Letter From Benjamin

I have this week off, because it's my birthday in the middle of the week; and because I can. I don't know quite what I'm going to do, I'm hoping to see several friends, but one of my aims this week is to write to my sponsored child. Here he is, a young chap by the name of Benjamin Mutai.

The last time I heard from him was late November, and I haven't written a letter since, but as you may remember (from this post), his birthday is in December, so he has received a birthday and Christmas card from me in the meantime.

And that letter was a bit different, because it was the first one he actually wrote. Up until now, he has been interviewed on a subject, and the interview translated, but this one he wrote. In English. His first language is Kenyan Swahili (known as kSwahili, often-I don't know the differences between this and other versions); but, people in Kenya feel that in order to have the best chance at a good job/career, they need to speak English. So he's learning it at school. And for anyone who doubted it, the two languages are not at all similar.
When I went out there in 2012, we were taught a few words and phrases by our mission partners, Anna and Keith Traill (whose adventures you can follow through their blog Follow the Traills, if you wish); but the only word I can really remember is 'muzungu'-which basically means 'white person'. And I've just been reminded that 'safari' is the Swahili word for 'journey'-any journey.

So, there we have it. Not only is he seizing the opportunities he's being offered, but he's working hard at making the most of them. As I said in the last post, he has a dream of being a teacher, though he didn't say any more than that before. I hope to hear more about that as he gets older. He's 9 at the moment, and I'm committed to supporting him through his his school years; which is what the basic programme entails. And after that, there is a programme to help with higher education, if it's applicable-so who knows what the future could hold for him? I look forward to finding out. So I guess I'd better get on with that letter, then...

And for anyone who is really wondering about the effectiveness of the Compassion programme, probably the best thing I can say is that the Bishop of Kericho, Jackson Ole Sapit, came through the programme as a child. He comes from a Masaai tribe and now he's a bishop. So, if you want to find out more for yourself, have a look here.

A Letter To Benjamin

At church last week, we had another big promotional campaign for Compassion UK. There are a lot of people around who already support a child through them, but there are still people who want to do it-and as our Compassion advocates could tell you, there are always more children who need support. And the really great thing about how it is all set up is that supporting a child actually supports their whole family.

Anyway, it reminded me that it was about time I wrote to my sponsored child again-Benjamin Mutai is his name. I last got a letter from him in November, but he has heard from me since. His birthday is in December and then obviously there was Christmas, so he had a card from me both those times. I just hadn't sent a letter. And now I have. Last time he wrote, he was talking about his dreams. He wants to be a teacher. Apparently, all the children there know that education is their best hope, so they work really hard at school-he's particularly good at Maths and Science and enjoys them, so I wonder if he will go into teaching one of those subjects. At the moment, his letters are really short, as he's only 8. He basically gets interviewed about a subject, and gives quite short answers. And probably the fact that it has to be translated doesn't help with that.

And my replies aren't able to be much longer either, as we only have a small amount of space to write in. Which is fair enough, as he's still young-I wonder if there will be more space as he gets older. Anyway, I wrote my letter. He told me about his dreams, so I told him about one of mine. I told him I want to be a writer, and help encourage people through what I write. I did wonder how to tell him about this blog, but couldn't think how to do it. So I just told him that I wrote poems, I think. So now I'm waiting to see what he thinks of that.

If you want to support a child yourself, just follow the link here. I would recommend it if you can. And I would recommend it even if you don't think you can

Now, Beginnings

Finally I get around to writing another post. Not only is it several days into the new year, but also almost two weeks since I last posted. Pretty much the longest I've ever been between posts. Which in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, but at this particular time of year, it seems more important. Because it's the New Year, and a time for reflection, it seems that the longer I leave it between posts, the harder it is to write.

And so, one year ends, and another begins. Traditionally a time for taking stock and new beginnings, that sort of thing. Well, there's certainly some new things in my life-quite a few from Christmas. I am currently wearing new socks (marked Tuesday) and sleeping in new bedclothes, among other things. As well as reading new books (of course there would be books). All of which is good, and which I am enjoying; but not really the sort of new things people remember about this time of year.
What people remember is new ideas, new opportunities; even new outlooks on life. As we look back on the good and bad things that happened over the last year, we can see what worked, as it were, and look at the decisions we should make in order to keep going in that direction. And over the past couple of weeks, I've had plenty of inspiration to think about it. In a lot of ways, my life went on pretty much as normal, though there were some pretty amazing things that went on in 2012, such as going to Kenya to do some building work. That was absolutely fantastic, something I will remember for a long time-and I would definitely like to go back. I also signed up to support a child in Kenya through Compassion UK, an 8 year old boy called Benjamin, so I won't ever forget it-maybe someday, I'll be able to meet him. I went to New Wine to help in the art gallery, which was great fun. And actually really relaxing to be around people who were interested in art and creativity, as I don't meet too many. I also wanted to get back into being creative myself, to do some more writing-which worked a bit. The main way that happened was through this blog, which in itself was a great thing, as I've been thinking about doing one for ages, and now I've finally started.
I'm not sure how many of those things I would really have been able to visualise happening the year before. And at the moment, I feel the same way-that I don't really know what is going to happen this year. I have no idea, but I know something is-and I have no doubt that when I look back at the beginning of next year, I'll have some things that I honestly can't visualise right now. I know God can do more than I could ever ask or imagine, and definitely some different things. As long as I'm willing to follow where He leads, I will end up with some very surprising memories.

I look forward to that, and at least having some new things around me at the moment may help remind me of that as the year goes on.