I haven't really written on my blog in about 14 days, but I have like 5 different topics that I want to write about over the next week so get ready!
Today, I want to tell you about this beautiful child pictured with me above. Her name is Helly and she is the youngest daughter of Elvis, a man I told many of you about this summer when I was home on furlough. Elvis was a very hard man when I first met him, angry, upset, and on his own. At the beginning, the times that I was able to talk with him he had usually drank too much liquor beforehand. Or it was about how many bags of cement we could carry down the road to our work site. One time it seemed that he even wanted to pick a fight with me. After a few weeks of working with Elvis, though, I began to see him change. He wasn't as hard-hearted towards me or anyone else in the group. He was smiling; and I hadn't seen him drunk...maybe even using restraint. Either he was just trusting us as people coming to serve him, or he was being changed by the Holy Spirit. I think it was both!
It is hard to stay in touch with Elvis because, well, communication isn't so good in their area--and there is a lack of technology. But each time that I've returned to Lucumo, we basically pick up where we left off.
So what does this all have to do with Helly? The last time I was in Lucumo was November 4th and 5th with Pastor Jorge Groh and Anthony Diliberto. On November 5th Helly was baptized along with her older sister Karol. Elvis asked me if Heidi and I would be Helly's sponsors, or God-parents, and I, of course, accepted! It is such an amazingly beautiful journey that God is letting us be apart of in Lucumo and Peru. A story that is about Him. That's what happens when God brings you into life with him--He gives us a role in the greatest story ever told--His Story.
Yes, it is an honor to be sponsors now of two young and beautiful little girls; Allison and Helly.
But we don't take this lightly. I've been thinking about this lately. A God-parent is called to be a witness of Christ to the children they sponsor, to be their prayer warriors and to use every opportunity they have to teach them about Jesus and what He has done for us. Being a God-parent is not just a title that you get to wear, or an honor that friends and family give each other to say that they really do like you; it's a responsibility. When someone asks you to be a sponsor, they are asking you to be their second. That if they should pass on you will be responsible for their child's spiritual growth, to teach them all you know about Jesus and the Scriptures.
If you are a sponsor, I challenge you to look at what that means for you. Are you praying for that child daily? Are you preoccupied with his/her spiritual growth? Please don't take it lightly!
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