another son in the family

As if we didn't have enough boys in our family already, we've added another son to the family, however, today was the first day we got to meet him in person... Nelson David - our child that we sponsor through World Vision. We regularly pray for Nelson as a family and we are always excited to get updates, photos and letters from him. We've had the privilege of sponsoring him since he was about 3 years old and now he is 7 years old. We also met his mother and almost 2 year old sister.

Nelson is from the town of Nandaime, which was a pretty good drive for us from Managua, but I started to see familiar sights and realized we were in an area near Granada and Rivas, which is not too far from where I take our camp team each year. We arrived at the World Vision complex to see a shy Nelson sitting quietly with his mom and sister. (Oh, we have loads of pics, I just didn't get around to uploading them tonight). He seemed a bit overwhelmed, which would be expected when my three boys come crashing in a room! But his eyes lit up when he started to look through the Christmas bag we brought him that was loaded down with toys and goodies.

Hearing his story was difficult, but unfortunately, it's one that I've heard many times over here in Nicaragua. His mother is only 22, which means she had Nelson at the age of 15. The "dad" was likely never around, but after the second child was born, she found herself without a job and a single-mom to her two kids. So she is living with her family to survive. But she seems committed to being the best mom she can and is striving to raise her children in the faith.

World Vision was amazing in hosting us and showed us what they do and even drove us all around to other areas where they are working, so we got to see them in action. We also had a great lunch with Nelson's family. I was really impressed by the WV staff and how they are using their resources to bring Gospel hope and healing to the communities where they are working. They are meeting more than just physical needs for these children and families participating in their programs. In the Nandaime area along, over 3,600 children are sponsored.

I'm coming away from our time today just amazed at how God can so quickly graft hearts together. Our families couldn't be more different. We're separated by miles, countries and even language... yet the love that we already had for Nelson and his family has now only grown deeper. They boys now have a better understanding of why we support Nelson and what life is like for him here in Nicaragua. We all walked away wishing we could do even more, but realizing God is a faithful God and we will continue to pray for His protection and purposes for Nelson and his family!