One year ago today I started the journey of sponsorship. It has been an amazing experience for me and I have learned so much through it. First of all, I wanted to write how this journey began, and how I first came to know about the plight of orphans all around the world.
It all started in May of 2008, when I heard that Christian music singer, Steven Curtis Chapman and his family were going through a loss. It was the death of their 5 year old daughter, Maria Sue Chapman. I heard the news on the radio. I didn’t really know much about Steven Curtis Chapman at the time. I had only heard a few of his songs that played on the radio. As I started to think about how this family must be feeling after their loss, I started to look for more information. I found the blogs of Steven C. Chapman and his family members. I started reading through them and finding out more about this family. It took a very long time to read through all the blogs, but I enjoyed getting to know them through their posts. I thought it was really great that they had adopted 3 girls from China. I don’t think before that I had really been exposed to adoption, or orphans even. I had always loved children, though. And I thought their children were so adorable. After reading more about the Chapman family I noticed they were advocates for orphans and adoption. I found out about their organization that they started called “Show Hope”. Through their blogs I found more blogs of people who were also had an interest in the same things. Also I started reading books about adoption, orphans, and what our responsibility as Christian’s is to do for the poor, widows, strangers, and orphans. My heart started to break for the children in the world who had no one to love them. I took on more blogs and started to get to know many people through the internet. Through a blog called “Hope Now” by Annie I learned about a children’s village in China called Shepherd’s Field Children’s Village. I found out that Annie sponsored a little girl there, and I was interested in sponsoring as well. So I went to the website (chinaorphans.org) and looked through the children that needed sponsors. It was very hard to choose out of all the cute little faces. I went through all of them, and the very last picture was a little baby boy. His name was Tristan and I could see that he, at least, had a cleft lip and palate from the picture. The thought went through my head “I don’t want to choose him. I want a healthy little boy that doesn’t have any noticeable special needs.” After thinking that I knew it was totally wrong of me, and I regretted even thinking it. But that's just how I felt about special needs at the time. I wasn't really open to it, and I didn't accept it. Then, I just knew he was the one I was going to sponsor. I remember thinking “He needs me.” So I started sponsoring him in January 2009.
But really through this whole experience of sponsorship I have realized I needed him. Tristan has changed me in many ways. He has given me a better understanding of what many orphans have to go through, just to survive. He has helped me to understand that it doesn’t matter how you look or what special needs you have, you are important. God made everybody the way they are for a reason, He makes no mistakes. If a child is born with a special need it is for a reason. And I began to see God slowly opening my heart up for children with special needs.
Tristan has gone through a lot in his little life. Surgeries, infections, many sicknesses, and not to even mention abandonment soon after birth. But because of a great organization called The Philip Hayden Foundation, he has hope. He has hope of proper medical care, loving people to care for him on a daily basis, and even hope of a forever family in the future.
So I put together this slideshow of sweet little Tristan. These are only a handful of the many pictures I have gathered over the year that I have been sponsoring him. They were all taken by incredible people that have gone to China and met Tristan themselves. So a big thank you to everyone who took these pictures, and allowed me to have a little glimpse into his life.
