For a shining Queen!

At long last, meeting of your sponsor was a dream Rafonzel (age 21) had for many years growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the Philippines. The story I'm about to share with you is in courtesy of another non-profit, but I hope we can all relate ourselves to the power of sponsorship over religious doctrine taught behind.

I'm a Buddhist, believing core principles of Buddha's teachings, yet my god children are followers of other faiths – Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Because of them, I'm used to watch TBN UK channel on TV learning their faith and blessings that transcended across continents and into my own life, even when they are no longer around me – a powerful gift of sponsorship.

After 3.5yrs in my care, Adela (age 19) from Ecuador has just moved on to become a successful (or as she calls "professional") person. She was to embark on veterinary science at the university this year, and I wrote my final letter inviting her to keep in touch with me post-graduation.

Adela was the shining Queen of my family and I missed her beautiful friendship. In fact, I gave a rather unusual gift on her 17^th birthday – a star named (see if you can spot it by scrolling cursor over the image) in her honor in Ecuadorian night sky as a fitting tribute to her inspiration on this earth. The sheer determination put herself focused on none other than her studies during the latter years, although she was an active youth in early days at CI in care of one sponsor for 12yrs prior to finding me.

Thinking of my former sponsees, I’ve just launched my own blog, hoping to eventually reach out to not only them but also all child sponsors around the world to share my stories and experiences of this life adventure.