A Seattle 4 Lempira Anniversary Update

Second in a series of post about the Sister Church Sponsorship programs. The first post was: A Vision for Guacutao.

The Seattle 4 Lempira program is unique among the sister church programs, because it isn't directly connected to any one church. Anyone living in the general Seattle Washington area is welcome to sponsor children in this program!

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It has been a while since we’ve given an update about the Seattle 4 Lempira sponsorship program, which kicked off last spring. Since this particular program is very near and dear to Kelsea’s heart, there was no better person to give what is almost a first-anniversary update.

In April, a team from Kelsea’s home church in the Seattle area was on the ground in Gracias. This is the first team from that church to visit unless you count the times Kelsea’s family members have visited. On this trip, the first official Seattle 4 Lempira team had the opportunity to visit one of the schools in the program.

For those of you seeing this as an email, click here to view the video - you don't want to miss it!

Kelsea said, “The kids were a little wary of us when we first showed up in May of last year, but this time when we pulled up to the school, close to 100 kids were there.” The kids showed up to see them, even though school was out at the time, for their Easter (Semana Santa) break.

The team brought a lot of balls to give to the school. Some of the men taught kids how to throw an American football, while another team member blew bubbles with the smaller children. A couple of the team members got to meet their sponsored kids.

Kelsea had a fun opportunity, too. Her family members sponsor four children. One of the little boys recognized Kelsea from a family photo he had received. He ran up to Kelsea and said, “Your brother is my sponsor!” It was like a little family reunion, sponsorship style.

Some of the children were asking, “Do I have a sponsor?” and “Will someone sponsor me?” Approximately fifty children have sponsors, but that leaves eighty-eight kids who are still waiting. The unsponsored children hear their friends talking about their sponsors and they, understandably, want to know if their turn will come.

Speaking about the Seattle based program, Kelsea observed, “It’s challenging trying to get sponsors from a new area and to get connected with more churches.”

It takes time to grow a program, but Seattle 4 Lempira is off to a great start. If you or someone you know has a church in the Seattle area that might be interested in involvement, please reach out to Sowers4Pastors. No child should have to wonder if they will get a sponsor.

 - posted by Christi